Epiphany 4, Presentation of Christ
By Canon Dr John Toy, Sunday 1st February, 2009
Joseph and Mary being Jewish parents naturally took their new-born child to the Temple to fulfil the law of Leviticus 12. This prescribed that a woman who had given birth to a male child must wait 40 days ( or 80 days for a female child) ” because her blood requires purification”. During this time she must not touch anything holy or enter the sanctuary. Then, when this time had elapsed, she must bring the child to the priest with a purification offering, a ram, or if she cannot afford one then two turtle doves.or two pigeons, the priest then kills the offering ” in expiation for he,r and she will be clean from her issue of blood”.
When Luke tells us of this event he writes “when the time came for their purification in accordance with the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”. Luke acknowledges that the purification took place according to Leviticus but adds to it, which was perhaps the practice of Jews in his day, that both parents came and present the child to the Lord in the person of the priest in the Temple. Now the emphasis is not only on Mary but also on Jesus
But unfortunately the church did not listen carefully enough to the New Testament writers who proclaimed that the Old Testament laws were no longer valid for Christians,and for many centuries the church taught that that most of it had much the same authority for Christians as the New Testament and took over this idea that a woman was impure after birth and needed ” purification” after it. So in the medieval period today`s feast was called The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and also all women were regarded as unclean for several days after a birth, not allowed to go to church, and in many places not even to go out of their house until they had come to church to be purified and to present the baby to the priest: the offering they were to bring was changed into handing over the baptismal gown and some money.
The Reformation Prayer Books changed the name of today`feast to The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, putting the focus on Christ and not on Mary and softening, though not abolishing, this notion of purification. In recent years also the ancient title of Candlemas has been revived, not so much with the idea of purity but picking up the words of the old Simeon about Christ being ” a light to lighten the Gentiles”, the Epiphany theme of Christ as the light of the world. But but for several centuries women were still required to come to church after childbirth in a short ceremony called The Churching of Women,. I am one of the not so many clergy who has in the past taken this service, for in 1956 when I was a curate in South London, where the tradition of purification still lingered on, a women asked for the service so that she could go out freely among her friends again.Generally however the service gradually died out in the 1940s and 50s and was abolished in the Prayer Book of 1980 and replaced by a Thanksgiving for the Birth of a Child.
The tradition of the Christian Church concerning women over 2000 years, is something to be deeply ashamed of, not only their uncleanness after childbirth but also their subjection to men, their so-called weakness and lack of understanding about deep matters and the exaltation of virginity over the married state. The church has been party to much injustice and oppression of women over the whole of this time, assisting the political and cultural theories of the superiority of men with spurious theological arguments drawn from the Old Testament.
Now, thank God,the last century has seen a slow and gradual change in this on all fronts. A hundred years ago it was a battle to give women equality with men in voting for parliament, in which my mother took part as a suffragette in 1912, and then to allow them into all professions and lastly it has moved to the church with the campaign to allow women to be ordained, which I have taken part in throughout my ministry..
There is however one aspect of this tradition about purification that can be rescued: purification of all who have the care of children.We are liable to have our own prejudices, our own notions about conformity to our own ideas, and even often our desires to control others. All these need looking at, examining, and some of them need purifying out of us if we are to be good parents. So while rejecting any notion of uncleanness about God`s miracle of birth, we still must do some self-examination about our own attitude to children and pray for all those undertaking the responsibilities of parenthood, including Michael and Britt today
Let us do this now, thanking God for our parents and others who have cared for us and influenced and taught us, thanking God for our children, nieces and nephews, grandchildren, asking forgiveness for where we have failed, and for grace to continue the task wisely and lovingly as long as it is ours:-
O God, we thank you for the gift of children, and pray for all who have the care of them that they may be purged of sin, jealousy, lust and the desire to control and rejoice with their children in happy homes where they can grow to be themselves and there is food, security and love.
Grant also that all children and young people may grow up to do good and not evil in the world, to think of others as well as themselves, to be useful and happy and blessed by you now and throughout all their lives. This we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
