Preaching Christ + February 2, 2025 + The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple

Luke 2:22-40

In the gospel reading for the Presentation, we get a picture of a young mother and her husband heading to their place of worship in a way that would have been expected of them in their time. Forty days after Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the Temple for presentation. We recall that in scripture, that amount of time marked a holy time or a significant time (forty years in the wilderness, for example...). Here, it means precisely that, also concerns a mother’s healing, her menstrual cycle, and entrance into sacred space after giving birth, now being declared clean by religious law.

The account of the Presentation comes immediately after the appearance of the angel to the shepherds and their flocks. The Presentation is still part of the Christmas story, even though we are knee deep in the Sundays after Epiphany; Presentation Day marks the end of the church's Christmas Liturgical Cycle. The festival comes to us in a time when we celebrate that God shows up, revealing Godself to humanity and creation. As the baby Jesus is brought to the Temple, God’s mercy and love is revealed to all who are there. It is also revealed to all of us who hear this story millennia later.

"On this festival day, we witness how God’s wisdom and truth are not limited to people of a certain age or of certain credentials."

To an aged Simeon, it is revealed that he will live to see the Messiah, and Luke tells us that he is guided by the Spirit to the Temple on the day in question. Simeon's words have captured the attention of many a hymnwriter and composer in the many settings of the Nunc Dimittis. Old lady Anna is open to God’s word - or perhaps wholly dependent on the community of the faithful - as she spends all her time (so Luke tells us) in the Temple precincts. Anna may not sing a song as so many others do in Luke, but her presence and proclamation here are clearly important enough that Luke includes it as a vital part of the Presentation narrative. Both these aged prophets hear and speak the truth about who God is and what God is doing; they point to the baby, the one who will grow and become strong, filled with wisdom and with God’s favor. On this festival day, we witness how God’s wisdom and truth are not limited to people of a certain age or of certain credentials.

The good news of the Messiah’s birth is accompanied by Simeon’s words: that this child will also cause division and will be as a piercing sword. To the young mother’s world as well as to ours, Simeon’s words bring challenge. Jesus’ life ended in violence, even as he was born Prince of Peace. Early disciples endured persecution for identifying themselves as his students and followers. Proclaiming this child as God’s begotten one does not guarantee us easy roads ahead, but we know that we are folded into God’s promises and care for today and forever. With Simeon and Anna, Mary and Joseph, and the saints who have gone before us, we know and trust God’s love and care. In turn, we care for one another in community and in creation.

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PASTOR KELLY FAULSTICH serves as Pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois. Before that she served as Pastor at Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Warren, Ohio and as Associate Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, Illinois. She grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago and attended Valparaiso University receiving degrees in English, education, and theology. Pr. Faulstich received her MDiv from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago where she served as student assistant to the Dean of the Chapel under Mark Bangert. She also received her DMin in preaching from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.