With Jesus and his life among us, there is always the two-tier, if not three-tier, and perhaps even more layers to all that he does among us.  Each action, at least those that are recorded, is loaded with meaning.  Mary and Joseph, Jesus’ earthly parents, were fulfilling the religious laws of good Jews in bringing the little Jesus to the temple to be presented.  They were on the run from Herod, most likely—but this they had to do first!

Coming to the temple, which was Jesus’ first time of several that Scripture records for us, was about fulfilling an earthly, religious law, but it was also about the beginning of a short life, fully immersed within humanity, doing what his God asked of him. This, my friends, is a good reflection for each of us, “doing what God asked of him,” and ultimately—of us.  In the words of the prophet Malachi, “the messenger of God’s promises is surely coming!”

The basic action of bringing a newborn to the temple to be presented to God with the prayer that this same God would protect the child and assist them throughout life was the top tier of the meaning of this feast.  There was a dual purpose for Mary, his mother—or any mother, presenting herself as a way to be, “purified” according to the law, after the birth of a child.  And again, Mary and Joseph, being good and faithful Jews, would have felt the need to do, “all that was right.”

With these surface actions fulfilled—those that all good Jews would do; we then must go deeper, to have well-known prophecies fulfilled, in order to make the connections to a greater plan.  We read in Luke today that, “Simeon was prompted by the Spirit to come to the temple,” on the very day that the parents of Jesus arrived to present him.  We also know that the Spirit had spoken to Simeon earlier, “a devout and just man,” Scripture says, that, “he would not see death until he had seen the Messiah of God.”

So Simeon and his counterpart, Anna, had the task of confirming for Mary and Joseph that their child was indeed the Messiah of God! We can only imagine in the day- to-day life of caring for an infant, and those of you who have done that know what I am speaking of, the miracle of all that they both had learned along the way of how this child had come into their lives, would need confirmation throughout their life times of who he truly was.  Simeon and Anna were two such people in God’s hands to “shine a light” into so much that this young couple more than likely just didn’t know.

And the layers of meaning continue—Simeon lets Mary know that, “a sword will pierce her heart.”  A reality check, yes! Again, she didn’t fully know what lay ahead for her precious child, “meant to be the rise and fall of many in Israel—a sign to be rejected,” the prophet continues. And then there was Anna, a prophet in her own right.    Don’t you wonder—what in fact, she may have said to the young Mary?  I like to think, a woman to another woman would have said what Simeon said, but through a woman’s compassionate heart and words for another sister to hear.  This is yet another layer to think about as we try to make this story real for our own lives.

Because my friends, these Scriptures, or any Scriptures really only have purpose and meaning in our lives if we take their lessons to heart—make them our own.  The Scriptures can’t just be “nice stories” that we read each week and forget about until the same time next year—but stories in fact that help us reflect on our own lives and how we are “to be” in our world, as followers, we say, of this Jesus, from a backward town called Nazareth, of which some asked in his time, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?! Indeed!

We cry out with the psalmist today in our search to make sense of all of this, “Who is this holy one?” And we might add, “Where can we find him?” And why does it matter if we do?  The writer to the Hebrews tells us basically that, Jesus is “strength” for us in our search for right living—he was one of us, having gone through all that we do.  In other words, we must keep our eyes on him, checking—always checking, with each new situation—how would our brother Jesus respond to this?

Our present lives have many places for us as followers, we say—of Jesus, to first ask, what would he do and when we have figured that out, doing likewise.  And you see, for each of us, this is where we often get stuck—following through! We are often like Paul who said, “I know the right thing to do”—it’s doing it, is the thing!  I will offer just a few examples for you to consider that I looked at and reflected upon this week:

• Jaimie Mason, writer for the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) wrote on climate change in this week’s paper, quoting Sister Elizabeth Johnson’s words. “We have to be converted to the Earth,” adding that our care for the planet must become, “an intrinsic part of our love for God.” She continues, “The ecological crisis makes clear that the human species and the natural world will flourish or collapse together.”  This seems true, doesn’t it as Australia and its wildlife burns, as storms—hurricanes and tornadoes become more lethal, as temperatures on the planet rise and ice sheets, long intact, melt.  We, each of us, who sees these changes and can make the connections, must do our part and speak out when the leadership of this country continues to weaken the safeguards put in place over the years by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect our planet. And when we realize that these protections are being done away with merely for momentary, monetary gain, we should feel righteous anger at this endangerment.

• We recently watched a public television program on the sand dunes in Indiana and of how in the early part of the 20^th Century, this complex system—home to a great variety of plant and animal species was almost lost forever to what some considered necessary material advancement in the form of a shipping port on the Great Lakes. In this case, through the advocacy of concerned citizens, a national park was eventually established, saving some of the dunes and establishing a shipping port as well. The point here being, all this natural beauty would have been destroyed except for concerned people speaking up.
• Another writer for the NCR, Father Thomas Reese wrote this week about the appointment of Bishop Nelson Perez of Cleveland to replace retiring Archbishop Charles Chaput, an ultraconservative in the Philadelphia post. Chaput followed Cardinal George, also a conservative who died in 2015. It has been the practice of Pope Francis, in his papacy, to replace bishops when they reach the age of 75 if they have disagreed with him in his pastoral approach. Chaput’s offense was to respond to Francis’ directive that remarried Catholics should be allowed to take communion by stating that, in his diocese, he would allow this, but only if the couple refrained from having sexual relations! Francis’ contention has always been that communion is food for the wounded, not a reward for the perfect, and Chaput’s successor, Perez, sees communion as Francis does.  Reese makes clear that Perez won’t make all the changes that many Catholics long for; birth control, ordination of women, and gay marriage, but his focus will be care for the poor and marginalized as Francis has directed for his bishops—that they cease being about clericalism and return to being shepherds, and this is a least, a very good start!  With the naming of Bishop Nelson Perez, the memory of pastoral leaders such as Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who died in 1996, and led American bishops in reforming the Church after the Second Vatican Council is again raised.

• And finally, I will just lump together a few things in closing—the fact that 10 years ago, Citizens United was sanctioned by the Supreme Court of our country, allowing unlimited amounts of dark money into our elections, basically buying great influence for the rich and powerful, to the detriment of the rest of the people—an action in need of change! At present, the Senate of our country is basically preparing to say,  that for all time, the president is above the law—that the person holding this office can do whatever they want, (forget the checks and balances of the other two branches of government) if they claim that they did it in the national interest!

Now, if you are sitting there wondering if your pastor had gone off the rails here—what in fact all this has to do with the Scriptures—let me say, “it all fits,” as Father Richard Rohr would say.  Our God is all around us—not, “out there, somewhere,” —in our lives, in our beautiful world for all of us to enjoy—in all the plants and animals and people, given into our care to protect and love as we say we love God.

Today we remember Jesus’ presentation in the temple, basically being offered back in service to the God who sent him—the God who sends us through our baptisms and confirmations.  If we as his followers, truly wish to follow him, we too must present ourselves as servants, seeing as many of the connections as we can, naming untruth, injustice, lack of mercy and understanding, hoarding of this world’s goods by the top 1% to the detriment of the rest in this world, pursuing war to get to peace instead of pursuing peace by eliminating war and demanding that these infractions to the law of love not be allowed to stand! We are all better than this and it is time, as our world struggles with poverty and the lack of basics for so many, where violence rather than goodness seems the tone in our own country, to speak our truth, saying, “Enough is enough! Amen? Amen!

My friends, let’s begin with the Scriptures—always a good place to start! Without being redundant, the 3^rd Sunday as with all the Sundays in Ordinary Time must be considered “extra” as we have spoken of in the past, as it is full of challenge for us.

Isaiah, first off, tells us that as people who tend to “walk in darkness,” from time to time, there is hope, because we have seen a “great light in Jesus!”  And the challenge for each of us, as his followers is to realize that we cannot allow, bullying, name-calling, lying—basically, abuse of any kind to stand.  I was pleased to even hear Chief Justice, John Roberts, in the impeachment trial going on at present, call the members of Congress back to being their “best selves,” in this regard, as the halls of Congress demand, if they expect to truly be heard by each other.

I felt the psalm response this morning needed to be sung—“You are my light and my salvation,” that we beautifully sang, “of whom should I be afraid?”  Of whom indeed—when we have such a friend as Jesus.  The psalmist continues—“You are the stronghold of my life!” In modern parlance, we might say, “Our God truly has our backs!”  Therefore, fear is a “place” we really don’t have to go—at least not for long.

Jim Wallis, minister and creator-editor of Sojourner Magazine, in a new book, entitled, Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus, in a chapter on “fear,” reminds his readers, unlike the apostles who found themselves in a “storm at sea,” to invite Jesus into “our boats.”  The Scriptures show us that it can make all the difference!

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians; we find the people squabbling over small differences, failing to keep their eyes on Jesus’ message—one of love, mercy, attempts at understanding—basically being—again, “our best selves.  In our present day Church; we see the same—factions for Benedict XVI, pope emeritus fighting against those of Pope Francis.  And yet, the Scriptures tell us that, “a light has shown in our darkness” and it would behoove all serious Christians to keep an eye on its glow.

Now practically speaking, someone has said that in future, and I think, it could happen now, if and when a pope retires, he (dare I say, “she?”) should discard the white cassock and go back to their pre-pope name and cardinal clothes in order to be most clear about who is in fact—the pope.  I respectfully agree.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians continues by saying the same—keep your eye on the message and who you are following! Let the Spirit of our great God do her work!  And in that regard, let us lift up the fact that Paul in today’s reading is taking counsel from Chloe’s household church community—a woman leader no less—let Church men take heed! We still need to shine light into that darkness—inequality.

This past week our country, as you know, celebrated Martin Luther King Jr’s holiday.  I read several articles and news items with regard to this great man and one in particular, about a lawyer; Bryan Stevenson with Equal Justice Initiatives in Montgomery, Alabama especially caught my attention. I would like to share a bit of his story here as we remember the work of Martin Luther King Jr., truly a light in our midst!

• First, I was saddened to learn from Stevenson that in the State of Alabama, Robert E. Lee is honored on the same day as the King Holiday. In a new book and now a major motion picture—both entitled, Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson has this to say, “ The Southern landscape is littered with iconography of the Confederacy—we actually celebrate the architects and defenders of slavery…this has to change if we are to get past this and to a healthier place.”
• He goes on to document how the precedent has been set around our world and that we as a nation could learn from the example of others in order to get past racism. In Johannesburg, South Africa, there is a museum and monuments that talk about the wrongfulness of apartheid.  In Berlin—you can’t go two blocks without seeing markers and stones placed next to the homes of Jewish families that were abducted during the Holocaust.
• But in this country Stevenson continues, we don’t have institutions that are dedicated and focused toward making a new generation of Americans appreciate the wrongfulness of what we did when we allowed lynching to prevail and persist. Yet, our Scriptures tell us that, “A light has shown in our darkness!”
• Stevenson has worked for over 30 years with others against wrongful convictions, over incarcerations and excessive punishment of blacks. And it was because of the lack of institutions to address this wrongfulness that Stevenson and his organization opened the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.

Both are dedicated to the legacy of slavery, lynching, segregation and mass incarceration of blacks in the United States.

• For Stevenson, the above are a way to address the past and change the future—we need, he says, to create institutions in this country that clearly say, “Never again!” The museum tells the shameful truth about lynchings and of how when they stopped, they were basically, “moved indoors” through mass incarcerations and the death penalty for many blacks with a high rate of innocence among them!

As part of our trip last fall; we traveled through Montgomery and got there on the only day of the week when the museum was closed, but in walking around the block perimeter of the building, reading what we could about the site, realizing that it was built upon the spot of an actual “slave market,” the experience was quite soul-stretching.  Truly, we as a nation must shine a light upon such darkness!

Additionally, for this reason, when the leadership of our great country spews hatred for those who come to our borders who are different than those of us known as “white,” it should cause us to worry and vow to make changes.

Friends, our God calls us to be our best selves—always—to continue to shine a light into the dark places as Isaiah, Jesus and Paul spoke of in today’s readings—to see in fact when there is inequality, hatred, dishonesty, lack of mercy, justice, and do our part to better the situation .  We are capable as humans of so much good, but equally of so much bad—let us choose the good!  Amen? Amen!