Dear friends,
Welcome this week’s update, including an extended version of the sermon I preached this morning for Candlemas in Lealholm and Grosmont.
For details of all our upcoming meetings, events and services, please check out the calendar on our website at this link:
Middle ESK Moor - Services and Events Calendar
Some of you might be interested in an exhibition coming up entitled ‘Pilgrimage, making tracks; leaving traces’ at the Zillah Bell Gallery in Thirsk 3-17 February. Further details are at this link:
Pilgrimage, making tracks; leaving traces’ Exhibition
Looking slightly further ahead, on Ash Wednesday, 14 February, I would really encourage you, if you’re available, to join me at one of two very special Holy Communion services, at 10 am in Goathland or 6 pm in Grosmont. These will include the traditional ashing, but also a wonderful musical and poetic ‘Meditation on the Seven Last Words’ of Jesus. There will be poems by Kenneth Wilson and movements from the Six Suites for Solo Cello, by J.S. Bach. In between each of Kenneth’s poems he will perform a Sarabande on his cello from one of the Suites, and the work is framed by other movements from the Suites. I’m very much looking forwards to this. Kenneth is well known to some folk in Middle ESK Moor and his contribution is highly recommended. See this link for further info on the services and some background details on Kenneth and his cello:
Ash Wednesday Services ‘Meditation on the Seven Last Words’
I do hope that you have a wonderful week. Do email me back if there’s anything i can help you with.
With blessings and all good wishes,
Anthony
Collect for Candlemas (The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple)
Almighty and ever-living God, clothed in majesty, whose beloved Son was this day presented in the Temple, in substance of our flesh: grant that we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts, by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
Malachi 3:1-5
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
Then I will draw near to you for judgement; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow, and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
Luke 2:22-40
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, [Mary and Joseph] brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.’
And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed - and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’
There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.
Sermon
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts together be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock, and redeemer. Amen.
I’ve mentioned to some of you that I used to be a scientist, and then an engineer, and I started out in my working life designing water treatment systems. More recently, before I started to explore ministry as a priest in 2014, I ended up writing for various industrial magazines and journals about environmental issues and renewable energy technologies. I used to work within a community of scientists and engineers tasked with trying to solve some of the environmental issues facing our planet.
As part of my work I came across the term ‘eco-anxiety.’ The American Psychological Association has reported the impacts of climate change on mental health, describing ‘eco-anxiety’ as ‘a chronic fear of environmental doom.’ They describe ‘eco anxiety’ as a source of stress caused by ‘watching the slow and seemingly irreversible impacts of climate change unfold, and worrying about the future for oneself, our children, and later generations.’ They add that some people ‘are deeply affected by feelings of loss, helplessness and frustration due to their inability to feel like they’re making a difference in stopping climate change.’
Eco-anxiety is common in young people. Various scientific surveys have confirmed it’s prevalence. And I’m not at all surprised that many young people have, in part as a response to the anxieties they feel, been taking to the streets across the globe. Anxieties, real emotions that we experience, are leading people to try and make a difference and do something about the threats that face creation; the creation God gave us humans to look after.
I have considerable experience in the environmental sector, as a scientist and engineer, and that knowledge has the potential to raise my anxiety levels. But there are lots of new technologies being developed, many that don’t hit the news headlines, that can help us address the problems of climate change. Human creativity is being harnessed in many diverse and exciting ways to bring us hope. That hope is inspired and driven by a creative God, a God that wants and inspires us to be creative too, a God that brings hope to the future of humanity. Knowing about the harnessing of humanity’s God-given creativity brings me that hope.
In our Gospel reading there is, on the face of it, a lot of hope in the future flourishing of humanity as we imagine the joy of Mary and Joseph, like any other Jewish couple of the time, seeking God's blessing on their first baby. The purification of Mary, marking her re-entry into society after having been shut away while she was pregnant, and then the presentation of Jesus by Mary and Joseph, were a time of celebration!
There is celebration and joy for Simeon and Anna in the Temple too. They recognised Jesus as the One who brings salvation to all people: both Jews and Gentiles. We could say that celebration and hope is the dominant theme. A baby is born! The Lord has come to his Temple! But there are real anxieties about the future too. Mary is warned of sorrow to come, of a sword ‘which will pierce her soul.’ The arrival of God's salvation, witnessed and celebrated at that first Candlemas, is not the end. There will still be sorrow.
And where’s the hope amidst that sorrow?
Mary will suffer the agony of watching her son die on the cross. But that isn’t the only time when Jesus will bring Mary anguish. On another visit to Jerusalem, Jesus, now a growing boy, causes his mother great anxiety. He slips away from her before eventually being found with the teachers in the Temple. And later in Jesus’ ministry, Mary tries to see him but cannot reach him through the crowd: Jesus must have caused his mother many great anxieties.
The anxieties that we might feel about damage to the environment are real anxieties too. But, of course, it’s not just the environment that gives rise to our anxieties. There’s the many wars in the world, in Ukraine and Gaza, for example. I’m sure we can all list many anxieties. And our individual anxieties are endured each day at a very personal level. Illness, bereavement. Pain, suffering. Sadness, depression. Sorrow.
These emotions, physical and mental conditions, and their responses are all very real to us. These sorrows are real and personal. And Mary is alerted by Simeon to the personal anxieties she’ll face:
“…a sword…will pierce her soul.”
But our two readings today alert us to the anxieties we face too: we have Luke’s account of what Simeon said, and we have the passage written by the Prophet Malachi. Malachi says that our anxieties are like the refiner’s fire and the fuller’s soap. But, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God gives us all the endurance we need to face our anxieties and sorrows day by day. Hope has come to us in the person of Jesus, but anxiety remains amidst the celebration. Anxieties remain very real and personal for us, even if we seek to follow Jesus. But, of course, all this isn’t easy to understand.
Why the refiner’s fire? Why the suffering? Why the sorrow? Why the anxieties?
Well, maybe the answer is because the hope God brings us is both visible and invisible. We see possibilities, hope, that point towards a flourishing future for humanity, we see God’s creativity at work within us and within others, but some of that hope remains hidden, obscured.
Some of our hope is already present in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, but more hope is still to come when he returns in glory, in God's good time. All will be celebration ultimately, but not yet.
What do we do In the meantime?
Well, I think that each of us needs to find our own way to trust in God: a God so big, so beyond our comprehension, that we just need to wait on him and trust that all will come good in the end. Being here today will hopefully help each of us to build that trust. And being involved in any of our activities across Middle ESK Moor will hopefully help each of us build that trust too.
Is that fundamentally why we’re here today? To build our trust in God?
Do each of us, despite all the anxieties we feel, deep down in the depths of our souls, know that our hope comes from trusting in God?
Did Mary, despite all the anxieties she felt, deep down in the depths of her soul, know that her hope came from trusting in God?
Mary pondered ‘all these things in her heart.’
Mary knew a sword would ‘pierce her soul.’
Mary knew life would be hard.
And, if we turn to Jesus expecting instant cures, a straight path, a life without any anxieties, what happens when we find that we have doubts, or life's problems haven’t gone away? Do we suspect that we’ve failed, or do we think that God has let us down?
Neither is true.
We’re living in the visible and invisible times as we await the return of our Lord and Saviour. And, in this life we’re called to take up our cross and follow the one who was tested as we are; refined in the fire as we are.
Life will be hard.
But, and this is the BIG BUT, we can trust that Jesus is walking with us through our sorrow and alongside our anxiety, until we enter into his light and share his glory.
So, what can we do to reduce our anxieties about the future of humanity? Simeon and Anna show us the way. Simeon is devoted, caring and loving. Anna spends her life in prayer. And they had both dedicated their lives to building their trust in God. To see the world as these two people saw it, maybe we need to follow their example?
Amen.
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The Reverend Anthony Bennett
Interim Minister – the Benefice of Middle ESK Moor
middleESKmoor.org
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These two books, edited by Jane Williams, are continuing to be very helpful with planning my sermon writing:
Williams, J (2009), Ed., ‘Lost for Words, A Sermon Resource for the Anglican Three Year Cycle,’ Redemptorist Publications, Chawton, UK.
Williams, J (2011), Ed., ‘Lectionary Reflections, Years A, B and C.’ Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, UK.