Purification

Presentation of the Lord

Mal 3: 1-54; Heb 2: 14-18; Luke 2: 22-40

Deacon Larry Brockman

 

Purification!  That’s what the Presentation of the Lord is all about.  For 40 days after birth, a Jewish woman was considered unclean.  And so, the mother and baby visited the temple for a purification rite at the end of those 40 days, and the mother offered a ritual sacrifice to the Lord.  That is what Mary did in this morning’s Gospel.  So, the Presentation of the Lord is all about Purification.

   

Now in the first reading, we hear of the promise of a messenger.  Sometimes this passage points to the promise of the messenger John the Baptist.  But today, the meaning is quite different.  Because our first reading also says something about purification.  In fact, the rhetorical question is asked- who can stand such purification?  Indeed, this purification is so extreme that Malachi’s promised messenger will engage in that it can’t refer to John the Baptist, but rather to Jesus himself; and in the role of Jesus second coming- as the Judge of all.   

Now in the letter to the Hebrews we hear about people being subject to slavery because of their fear of death; and that this plays into the devil’s hands.  Isn’t that the truth?  Just look around you for the truth of that statement.  People will do anything- literally anything, to preserve their human life, but even more to the point, to achieve a certain quality of life.  Sometimes, they do so in such a way that it is clear that they don’t believe there is anything except human life.  And that is the point.  Some people will seek extraordinary measures to achieve comfort; and some people submit to medical procedures that prolong life, even at the expense of the quality of their own life; and some people do whatever it takes to enhance the quality life, even if it means that it hurt others.  In doing so, they are demonstrating that they are slaves to the flesh and to death- the works of the devil. 

  

Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t be concerned about our physical well-being.  But I am suggesting that there is more to our life than life in this world as we know it.  All of us need the proper perspective on what the meaning of this life is all about.  If our life is oriented to self- that is, self-preservation and self-satisfaction, then we are slaves to the flesh.  Jesus came into the world just like all of us- born in flesh and blood.  But he suffered- suffered the consequences of human life.  Jesus lived the balance between living life in this world as a human and pleasing God.  We have got to learn to die unto ourselves in order to be purified in the sight of God.

 

The choice is ours- just like it was Jesus’ choice.  If we learn to live life with that balance now then we need not fear judgment when we die.  Otherwise- “Who will endure the day of his coming?   And who can stand when he appears?”

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