Lutheran Church of the Palms
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Presentation of Our Lord
Introduction
The Presentation of Our Lord is referred to in some corners of the church as Candlemas because of an ancient tradition of blessing all the candles to be used in the church in the coming year at the mass celebrated on that day. It was a way of underscoring the truth of Simeon’s confession that this baby Jesus was “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” and a light for glory to Israel. Let the light of every candle in church be a little epiphany of the love of God for all people in the person of God’s son, Jesus, the light of the world.
Scripture Readings
-
Malachi 3:1-4
My messenger is a refiner and purifier
-
Psalm 84
How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord. (Ps. 84:1)
-
Hebrews 2:14-18
Jesus shares human flesh and sufferings
-
Luke 2:22-40
The child is brought to the temple
Hymns:
287 Let All Together Praise Our God
417 In His Temple Now Behold him
815 I Want to Walk As a Child of the Light
Anthem:
In Peace and Joy I Now Depart
Communion Hymns:
482 I Come with Joy
472 Eat This Bread
Commentary
Presentation of Our Lord
Forty days after the birth of Christ we mark the day Mary and Joseph presented him in the temple in accordance with Jewish law. There a prophetess named Anna began to speak of the redemption of Israel when she saw the young child. Simeon also greeted Mary and Joseph. He responded to the presence of the consolation of Israel in this child with the words of the Nunc dimittis. His song described Jesus as a “light for the nations.”
Because of the link between Jesus as the light for the nations, and because an old reading for this festival contains a line from the prophet Zephaniah, “I will search Jerusalem with candles,” the day is also known as Candlemas, a day when candles are blessed for the coming year.
Prayer for Epiphany
God of surprises and gifts, you revealed yourself as a newborn baby and, with a star, you led the peoples of earth to worship Jesus, your only Son: lead us to see you face-to-face, and help us to discover our gifts and talents so that we may offer them up to you and your service. Let us be Jesus’s light in the world today.
O God Among Us, may we be visited by angels, may we follow stars and embrace the journey and travel in love. May Christ bless our homes and find a home in our hearts throughout the year.
Jesus, you revealed yourself to the world so that all people might look to you and be saved: may we know the wholeness that you bring. Guide us by your true light through the dark that we may not stumble, and lift us up again if we fall.
O God of steadfast love, at the wedding in Cana, your Son Jesus turned water into wine, delighting all who were there: Transform our hearts by your Spirit, that we may use our gifts to show forth the light of your love as one body in Christ. Amen.