Light in the darkness

A reading from Luke chapter 2:

In Jerusalem was a man by the name of Simeon. He was an upright man, devoted to the service of God, living in expectation of the “salvation of Israel”. His heart was open to the Holy Spirit, and it had been revealed to him that he would not die before he saw the Lord’s Christ. He had been led by the Spirit to go into the Temple, and when Jesus’ parents brought the child in to have done to him what the Law required, he took him up in his arms, blessed God, and said—“At last, Lord, you can dismiss your servant in peace, as you promised! For with my own eyes I have seen your salvation which you have made ready for every people—a light to show truth to the Gentiles and bring glory to your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother were still amazed at what was said about him, when Simeon gave them his blessing. He said to Mary, the child’s mother, “This child is destined to make many fall and many rise in Israel and to set up a standard which many will attack—for he will expose the secret thoughts of many hearts. And for you … your very soul will be pierced by a sword.”

There was also present, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher, who was a prophetess. She was a very old woman, having had seven years’ married life and was now a widow of eighty-four. She spent her whole life in the Temple and worshipped God night and day with fastings and prayers. She came up at this very moment, praised God and spoke about Jesus to all those in Jerusalem who were expecting redemption.

Today’s reading is about the meeting between Mary, Joseph and Jesus and Simeon, and then Anna. A meeting between someone at the beginning of life and someone near the end of life. You can see the contrast in the picture…

There is another other contrast in the reading, and in the picture. As Simeon holds Jesus he says he will be a light to all peoples. You can see the light shining down on Jesus and Simeon. The day when this story is read, 2^nd February, is called Candlemas, because on that day people brought their candles into the church to be blessed. In our church on Sunday we turned off the lights and then passed the light from candle to candle.

But as we can see in the picture, this light shines against a background of darkness. Jesus is the bringer of hope, but his coming will also bring division and pain – Mary’s very soul will be pierced by the sword of grief.

I found it helpful on Sunday to have these contrasts held together – hope and pain, light and darkness. We had with us Palestinian visitors from our link church in Ramallah in the West Bank. We had heard on Friday from Fadi, Kareen and Ramsey about the nightmare that they are living through. Living in the West Bank is like living in one big prison – they cannot even travel to Jerusalem half an hour down the road. And they can’t travel easily to other places in the West Bank – so actually it’s like there are lots of smaller prisons in this big prison. Meanwhile there is terrible news of events in Gaza, and frightening results of settler violence closer to home.

All this is very dark. Last week I also went to a Holocaust Memorial Day event, and heard again about the terrible way that so many Jewish communities were wiped out and so many men, women and children were killed in the Holocaust. How do we make sense of a world with such darkness in it?

This story brings a promise of something, but also faces the reality of the world as it is. The new kingdom of love which Jesus brings is both here now and not yet here fully, and we live in the space of the now and the not yet. Light and darkness, hope and ongoing pain – they will both be known by Jesus, as we remember in this service. Jesus will enter into the full depth of darkness on the cross. His resurrection promises that darkness will not have the last word – that light and love cannot be defeated. But for now we have to trust in that promise, and look for signs of light amidst the darkness.

The partnership between our two churches is a small glimmer of that light. So is the description Fadi gave us on the community in Ramallah. The community in Ramallah is like a family, he said. Noone is left to go hungry. The churches – and the mosques – support each other and share together – the Muslim sheikh joins in with the Easter vigil procession. There is light in the darkness. There is hope amidst the pain. They believe that God’s grace gives them strength to carry on. The one who was a tiny baby, carried in Simeon’s arms, is with us in all of this, and holds us in it all.

So we bring all of this into our prayers:

We hold before our loving God places of pain and darkness –  Gaza and the West Bank, and Ukraine, and Sudan and others known or unknown to us…

We hold before our loving God people we know who are living with pain, physical, mental or emotional…

We hold ourselves before God’s loving gaze, with all that troubles us, the swords that pierce our souls…

Lord Jesus, you showed a love which could hold the pain of the world. You brought a light which could shine in the darkness. May we know that love and that light in our world today – may it be known by those we pray for – may we know this light of your love in our hearts, and may it shine out in through our lives.