(Luke 2.22-40)

Simeon has been promised that he will not taste death until he has seen the Messiah.  When the baby Jesus is presented in the Temple, he is clear that he has seen the person he has been waiting for.  He is satisfied.  He has seen enough and wants nothing more.  He then says the prayer famous as the Nunc Dimittis (Lord now let your servant depart in peace).  The question that I want to ask you today is what would it take for us to be happy to say our Nunc Dimittis.  How do we get to that point where we are prepared to let something go?  Do we feel that there is always something else we can do and so we cling on wondering and worrying – finding it hard to switch off over the weekend because there is always something that needs to be done.

This incident happens in the Temple where Jesus was presented.  There are two parts to the ceremony in the Temple.  One part is to offer a rite of purification to the mother.  The other part is an acknowledgement of the new child – wetting the baby’s head (so to speak).  According to Jewish law a woman became ceremonially unclean on the birth of a child.  On the eight day the child was circumcised after which the mother was unclean for a further 33 days (66 if the child was female (Leviticus 12:1-5)).  At the conclusion of this period the mother offered a sacrifice.  This would either be a lamb or if she was poor, two doves or two young pigeons (Leviticus 12:6-8_.  In addition the first son was to be presented to the Lord as a part of the offering of the sacrifice.

There are two immediate things to note within the story.  The first is that the offering of a bird rather than a lamb indicates that Jesus was born into a poor family.  The second is that Jesus’ parents were scrupulous in following the demands of the law.  There is no short cut because he is the son of God.  He still has to follow the religious requirement of the society.  If they had been living now they would be getting their tax returns in on time, doing homework with the children and then getting them to school on time – all a part of the fabric of social living.  Jesus is not exempt from any of this.

Now how hard is it for us to do the same as Simeon and to say our Nunc Dimittis.  There are social reasons as well as theological reasons why we may find it hard to say our Nunc Dimittis.  The social reasons are that Britain is in the grip of an epidemic of stress say researchers.  Money has overtaken work as the top stress factor (51% of those questioned said money compared to 38% work) according to a survey of 2000 people carried out by the Samaritans to mark National Stress Day (February 1st).  Global issues seemed to cause little anxiety for most people (3%).

• Women were more likely to be stressed than men (at least once a month 55% women to 40% men)
• One in three said that they drink for stress relief
• Those in the 35-44 age group are most stressed.  Those over 65 felt least stressed.
• Those living in London and the South East were most stressed while those living in the North East suffered least.

Stress, like worry is when we hold on to things and feel that everything is our responsibility.  It is a light, inward-looking attitude.  Someone who is stressed is going to find it hard to say his Nunc Dimittis because s/he will always feel that there is something else that they should have done.

The theological reasons why we might find it hard to say our Nunc Dimittis is that very often we don not have a thorough working knowledge of what is meant by God’s grace.  The free gift of God’s grace is that in the fact of eternity we are accepted and loved as we are.  God knows everything about us.  We are justified, made righteous and “all right”.  If we struggle to justify ourselves to ourselves on a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis what chance have we got of absorbing this truth into our lives … and so we worry.

God’s gift to us is to die for us to set us free from the power of sin and death – we say “Thank you”.

The reason that the Eucharist plays such a central part in the church service is to teach us about grace.  We are doing together what every generation of the church has done before us.  It is not about us/how well we understand it/how meaningful it is to us.  It is about God.

Lord, raise me up or take me down, use me or don’t use me.

The Christian message is that who we are is more important than what we do – what we do is an expression of who we are.  In the light of God’s eternity we have nothing to prove and we are accepted, loved and cherished just as we are.  If we struggle to justify ourselves to ourselves (convince ourselves that we are all right) then our ability to take on, absorb and reflect back God’s love will be limited.  We would not recognise the call of God if it hit us in the face