To Help Those Who are Being Tested

Hebrews 2:14-18

The Presentation of Our Lord, February 2, 2025

Holy Trinity Cathedral

“To Help Those Who are Being Tested”

Ever taken something for granted until it’s not there?  Like light? One church I worked at had an ongoing challenge. The property was located in an area with a high water-table.  This meant that there were pumps in the basement kicking in all the time to keep groundwater away from the foundations.  Occasionally the water rose in the pit and the float would tip, at which point the pump would operate.  Which was fine as long as there was electricity to power the pumps.  One stormy winter night I got a call from the church alarm company.  The first problem was finding the phone- the power was out.  Then the dreaded news: the high-water alarm was sounding and the pump was out.  I sent the call to the other church leaders as I struggled into boots and raincoat over my pjs, then drove through the wind and rain through the blackness.  With a very small flashlight, I entered the building.  Everything was black, except for one small glow from the kerosene sanctuary lamp.  In the midst of the storm and the panic, I took a deep breath.  That light for me was a tangible assurance of God’s presence in the midst of the crisis.  I said a prayer as I descended into the basement, expecting my foot to touch water at every downward step.  But the flood was just outside the hall doors, lapping at the step.  With the help of arriving parishioners, we formed a bucket brigade until someone arrived with a portable pump and generator.  God was present with us that night.  Not because we saved the building from flood, but because we shared the struggle in the faith that Christ would give us strength.  He is able to help those who are being tested because he himself was tested.  In times of trial, he is can deliver us. 

This Sunday we remember the presentation of our Lord as a baby in the Temple in Jerusalem.  The Church also calls the festival Candlemas.  This is because it is traditional to bless candles used in worship and prayer on the day when Jesus was prophesied to be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel” (Luke 2:32).  Christ is a light that shines in the dark times when we are being tested by suffering.  This theme of testing runs through the readings for today.  The Hebrew prophet Malachi speaks of a refining by fire and a purifying by washing with strong cleansers. The pronouncement of Simeon in the Temple is his recognition of Jesus as the means of God’s salvation. He proclaims “this child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed, so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).  Jesus will be the means of testing, even as he himself is tested.  His own parents are not exempt: “a sword will pierce your own soul too,” says Simeon.  The prophet Anna is present in the Temple too, and she praises God as she points to Jesus as the one who will redeem Jerusalem.  Each person’s inner self is revealed in the light of salvation. 

When light shines into a dark place, it is sometimes not a very comfortable moment.  We may see things we don’t like.  Things we need to change.  It takes courage to pray for illumination.  Without help, the temptation is to stay in the shadows.  But the good news is that Jesus Christ is not only the holy one of God who shows up our failings: he is the one who has the power to make us clean and pure again.  Because Jesus was fully human, he understands our needs and our frailty.  He was tempted in every way, surrounded by frustrating and selfish and needy people, by systems of oppression and inequality.  But because Jesus was also fully divine, he could draw on holy love and wisdom to resist evil and demonstrate the power of forgiveness and truth.  And by his suffering and death, his light overcomes even the power of sin and death.  This shines a way for us.

It is not the easy way.  If we are to engage in this business of living, we will experience suffering.  There is no way around it.  We can’t avoid running the risk of being hurt.  Even if we were to practice being detached from our own or another person’s pain, that is not the answer.  To not feel is to lose something of our humanity.  Instead, what we can do is to call Christ alongside us.  To be our companion and a light for our journey.  Jesus knew what he was talking about when he told his followers how to pray.  “Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil”.  In the times of trial that we do have to face, we pray that we do not give in to the temptation to darkness.  We look to God to show us what is right to do and say.  We ask for God’s presence. In our daily struggles, we need to turn to the source of power for help.

May we each have wisdom to look in the right direction.  There are a lot of things that compete for our attention.  Who or what are you going to trust? Today, coincidentally, is also Groundhog Day.  This old custom, which has nothing to do with the Church, says that if a groundhog sees its shadow we’ll have six more weeks of winter.  If it is a cloudy or dark day, then spring is just around the corner.  Presumably, if the groundhog is covered with snow, it won’t see much at all.  Most groundhogs don’t have a very accurate track record.  The most famous, Punxsutauney Phil, is right in its prediction about 35% of the time.  By comparison, the prophets of our faith have an impressive history of pointing towards the Messiah as the one who will be a light to all the nations.  We look to Jesus Christ to be our light in dark places.  Amen.