Today we are celebrating the Feast of Candlemas, also known
as ‘The Presentation of Christ in the Temple’ and ‘The Purification of Mary’. Each one of these names places the emphasis
on a different aspect of it, but they all draw on the same occasion described
in Luke’s Gospel (2:22-40), which we just heard read, though
Luke seems to have conflated two events: the purifying of his mother and the
presenting the first born (Exodus 13:2, 13; Numbers 18:15-18). Forty days after his birth, Mary and Joseph
brought Jesus to the Temple for a ceremony set out in the Law. We have jumped back to an infant Jesus,
having been looking at bible stories of Jesus as an adult over the last few
weeks – though last week we took a brief excursion to celebrate the Conversion
of St Paul.
The events described are strange to our ears. They are
rooted in the Old Testament Hebrew faith and practice set out in the book of
Leviticus (12:1-8). And
note it’s just the mother who is purified, not the child and not Joseph. The use of ‘their’ in the Greek is odd here
and may reflect the conflation of the two events. The Law in Leviticus
prescribes that for a male child the period of uncleanness for the mother was
to be 40 days whereas for a girl it was doubled. If it wasn’t bad enough that this is about
women being seen as unclean after childbirth, the clear message is that a girl
child makes you more unclean than giving birth to a boy does. The Book of Common Prayer has a service for
the Churching of Women, or their purification after childbirth. In over 20 years I’ve never been asked to
conduct such a service, though I was once asked by a man to say some prayers
with his daughter when he was bringing her home from the maternity hospital. There was an echo of all of this, for he had
a deep sense that the first house the mother and her child should go into was
God’s house. Giving birth is precarious
and makes mother and baby vulnerable, even with all the medical care we have
available today. More so 2,000 years
ago. Even 60 years ago infant mortality
was much higher than it is today and we see this in the TV drama ‘Call the Midwife’. These kinds of rituals have
their roots in recognizing this and wanting to acknowledge it.
There is though a shadow side to this commemoration, which
we cannot escape. While cleanliness laws
probably have a root in some practical considerations, with some misunderstood
biology thrown in, regarding women as unclean, and the birth of girls as making
you more unclean than a boy, has a sexist ring to it; it is abusive and it
affects how people regard themselves, their self-esteem. It also feeds into how people are treated and
valued, and we know that has a very dark side.
Purification after childbirth is a concept we have abandoned as we have
rejected the notion and the misunderstood biology behind it, though we know not
everyone rejects it. The origin of
regarding a nursing mother as being unclean might again be rooted in facing the
reality of childbirth and in this case telling men to respect the mother’s need
to recover, what some years ago one woman rather delicately referred to as ‘not
bothering her’. We still see quite a lot
of domestic abuse and ironically such rituals, even though they carry derogatory
undertones, may actually protect where being more egalitarian might not, at
least when nothing else is put in its place.
To our ears it is a shame that it was couched in terms of uncleanness,
though it was a culture that saw all sorts of things as making people unclean,
probably for some practical reasons.
The sacrificial offering set down in the book of Leviticus
to restore her to cleanliness was either a lamb, in its first year for a burnt
offering, and a pigeon or turtledove, for a sin offering or if the mother couldn’t
afford a sheep she may bring either 2 turtledoves or 2 pigeons, one each for a
burnt offering and a sin offering.
Uncleanness now has sin added to the charge sheet. The offering in Luke’s gospel made for Mary
is the poor person’s offering: 2 turtledoves or 2 pigeons. (And those of us who have to deal with the consequences
of pigeon infestation in the city centre can appreciate them being on the list. They make a mess and are a nuisance!) The child who had a borrowed crib at his
birth, and will be laid in a borrowed tomb at his death, has the poor person’s
offering for the purification of his mother.
Jesus of Nazareth identifies with the poor not just in spirit but in how
he lives. The poor are blessed and
included where so often they are excluded and ignored. Those pigeons mean the poor are brought centre
stage.
A book has just been published called ‘On Rock or Sand?’. This is a collection of essays
edited by the Archbishop of York on the moral shape of our national life. It asks questions about social justice and
the tone to shape our economic and political life as we approach the general
election. Writing in this the Archbishop
of Canterbury, Justin Welby, talks about two Christian principles, those of ‘gratuitousness’
and ‘solidarity’. Gratuitiousness is a
phrase borrowed from Roman Catholic social teaching and refers to the gracious
love of God, which feely confers being and life on everything without
obligations. Everything is gift, and
gift shared at that. So being in solidarity
with someone doesn’t just mean standing alongside them it means that we share a
fundamental dignity and worth, inherent in each human being however rich or
poor they may be. The poor are easily
and often overlooked, even ignored, and so the poor person’s offering shifts
the balance of our perspective, of our concern, of how we value those we might
otherwise ignore. If that is us, then we
find that we have an advocate who raises our heads. This is not merely a call for charity but for
solidarity, for recognizing that we are equal and intimately connected, that
our life shares in the gift, the grace of God; it has its origin in it. This comes out of respect for the inherent
dignity we all share. People are not
economic units of production but loved by God equally. The affect of the poor person’s sacrifice is
exactly the same as the rich person’s. One
is not better than the other for both bring purity; the difference is merely
about means. We are called to gracious
living, respecting the inherent dignity, worth and value of everyone.
Justin Welby goes on to spell out four areas where he feels
solidarity and gratuitousness (gracious living) will be expressed for the
common good. He talks about the living
wage, the need for good housing, education and training, and greater financial
access. These are themes he has spoken
about quite a bit previously, not least on credit unions and how finance so
often does not work in people’s favour, so it is not surprising he should bring
them together in this collection. We
might have others that we’d like to add such as care for the elderly and the infirm,
both of which have been at the forefront of the news this week. They are about respecting the inherent
dignity, worth and value of everyone.
Briefly, then, the rest of the story. Two elderly people come into the Temple and
give thanks for this child. Simeon
speaks of him as a light for all peoples.
He is the fulfillment of the promise and the long hoped for
salvation. Jesus shines a light on the
darkest places, principally the darkness of death, which our first reading
touched on (Hebrews 2:14-end).
The inherent dignity of all people is held by God so dearly that not
even death can end it. Grace loving us
without limit. This is why today is also
called Candlemas. It is a festival of
light in darkness, of hope wherever there is despair, of inclusion where there
may be exclusion, of life and love over death. There was also a warning of what was
ahead. He will be a sign rejected, inner
thoughts will be exposed and for his mother a sword will pierce her inner being
to its core. Hers will be the deepest
tears, the rawest and the most desolate as she receives his lifeless body from
the cross. Solidarity with the poor and
lowly brings those who have been touched by the deepest grief to this festival
of light and hope. Anna sums this up praising
God for redemption.
Candlemas brings the vulnerability and dignity of human life
to the fore. It brings protection for
the vulnerable and includes all who would otherwise be shut out. It is at its heart about the gratuitous,
gracious love of God for creation. As we
approach an election the Christ presented in the Temple displays a bias for the
poor, requiring us to redress the balance so that we shape our policies for the
good of all, living his grace and hope.
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