Sermon Preached At All Saints, Datchworth

If you are American you may know the rhyme?
If Candlemas day be sunny and bright,
Winter again will show its might.
If Candlemas day be cloudy and gray,
Winter soon will pass away.
Or the traditional version
If Candlemas day be fair and bright,
Winter will have another flight.
If Candlemas day be shower and rain,
Winter is gone and will not come again.
At the heart of this special day is the theme of darkness and light. Believe it or not it is a theme brilliantly picked up by Spielberg in his Star Wars trilogy. Perhaps you remember Luke Skywalker referring frequently to Darth Vader as the “dark side.”

Would it surprise you to know that this is straight lift from the Gospel of Luke that we read this morning, where we have this marvelous story of Simeon who had been told

"that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:

The Nunc Dimittis
Lord, you are letting your servant go in peace as you promised; for my eyes have seen the salvation which you have made ready in the sight of the nations; a light of revelation for the gentiles and glory for your people Israel."
But Simeon finishes with some disturbing words. This marvelous salvation through Jesus had a dark side.

The novelist Anthony Burgess wrote a novel about the life of our Lord and at the same time the screenplay for one of the best films ever made on the subject, Zeferelli's Jesus of Nazareth. In both, Simeon is portrayed not only as old but as blind as well. In the film we see Ralph Richardson waiting in the temple precincts. Suddenly, as the rabbi circumcises the baby Jesus, the old man is drawn by the sound of the baby's squeals and crying, lifts the tiny infant high in his trembling hands and says

"Lord now wettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word."

By portraying Simeon as blind, the film intensified our understanding that …..it is  with the eyes of faith that every promise of God is seen to be fulfilled.

Candlemas exemplifies the encounter between Darkness and Light.

Simeon calls Jesus "a light to lighten the Gentiles".

So this is the feast of candles. The warm candlelight is a tangible reminder of that greater light which, for and beyond all time, radiates from the figure of Jesus.

Imagine a world before electric lights, when candles were the only source of illumination after dark. Rarely do we experience such darkness. Yet deep within us there is some sort of warm yearning for and joy in candlelight dinners, candle lit weddings, and candlelit services like Christingle. And yes, we will light candles this morning at Daniel’s baptism.

Sadly, it can be a dark and painful world. What is the saying, “Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness," is sometimes the motto for those who try to do good in a dark world.  But today our light is not the bright, burning glow of human good will, human hope, and accomplishment.  Our Light (candle) is in recognition that a special light has come to us from outside of our darkness, a gift, the child of Bethlehem, the light of the world.

We light a candle this morning for Daniel because of Jesus the true light of the world, the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness, two thousand years later, has not overcome it.

So we go out from here today with the reminder that the light we take is not our own light, but the light of Christ - a light to lighten the lives of every man, women and child whoever has the eyes of faith and believes.