Malachi 3 and Luke 2
As I was researching for this sermon for Candlemass I came across a title of Jesus that I had never heard before.
Some of you might have heard it, but I had not, it is;
The Consolation of Israel
Meaning, as the Messiah, he would provide Israel with consolation and comfort.
We heard Malachi prophesy that this person would visit the temple at a time unknown to anyone, and this would signal the start of the new covenant between God and his people.
Malachi speaks of a time that will then follow of preparation, purification, and ultimately of divine justice.
We heard in St Luke’s gospel the baby Jesus was recognised as that long awaited person as he was presented for consecration at the temple.
He was validated by two devout Jewish people, Simeon and Anna. They declared his role would be to fulfil the prophecy’s and law of the Old Testament.
That he would be ‘the consolation’ of Israel and this is where this not often referred name comes from.
I don’t know about you, but I love the way ancient prophecy’s are revealed as coming to pass in the person of Jesus.
I see it as the formation of divine circles – yet to be completed when Jesus returns to build his Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.
The Cyclical Nature of God
I once had an experience that formed this view
It was about 25 years ago, perhaps during a crisis I cannot remember exactly, but I know that I felt a desperate need to connect with God.
I prayed asking him somehow to reveal his truth to me, and I sensed being told, “My ways are cyclical”.
I must say this was not quite what I was expecting!
But then in my minds eye came the intricate inner workings of an old fashioned clock with multiple cogs and wheels interconnecting with each other, all perfectly in sync.
In fact it was more than one clock, it was multiple clocks.
This, I thought in awe, is how God operates – with cyclical precision.
I cannot say for sure if it was divine revelation or a distant memory, but the experience remains as true to me today as it felt then.
Because everything God creates is cyclical, each part dependent on others to function precisely.
Examples include the solar system, ecosystems, families, communities and the human body itself which is a mass of cyclical events.
But it was Jesus who demonstrated the ultimate divine cycle of: birth, life, death and resurrection which offers the Christian hope of life eternal.
So yes I see God in the cyclical nature of the world and our lives and I also see it in the scriptures.
The Holy Spirit
We are told that Simeon and Anna had long been waiting and watching for the Jewish Messiah at the temple.
But have you ever wondered how out of all the many people that passed through the temple, the baby Jesus was recognised as the one they were waiting for?
It was by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And so too it was the Holy Spirit that prompted each one of us to come here this evening for this choral evensong and prompts us to come here back time after time.
The Holy Spirit is a bit of a mystery to most and not something that either Simeon or Anna, or you and I, can either see or touch, or command in any way.
Because it is God’s holy power that is invisible and intangible and can only be ‘felt’ within the heart.
Then as we regularly spend time together with God, our souls are gradually refined by his spirit to become all that he intended us for.
As we start this new year, none of us know what lies ahead, good times hopefully, but possibly also trials.
But when things don’t seem to be going our way, then we must like Simeon and Anna, trust that as we continue in faith, God has a specific plan in action for each one of us.
Then suddenly, as with the long awaited arrival of the baby Jesus at the temple, a new cycle develops in our lives.
New beginnings germinate.
And as we surrender our hearts and minds to Jesus, we can be assured of being ever encircled by God’s light and love.
Because as Jesus came as a consolation for Israel, so too God works in unseen ways to comfort each one of us still today.
