St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh
Midweek Devotion 29th December 2022
Led by Rev Professor Kenneth Boyd
Welcome to online devotion with St Giles’ Cathedral, today, Thursday the 29th of December 2022.
Scripture Reading
Our reading today is from the 2nd chapter of the Gospel of St Luke, verses 22 to 35
22 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
25 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. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 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, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word,
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 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 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”
Reflection
The Reverend Alexander Murray, who died earlier this month, was probably best known to the Scottish public as the Free Presbyterian Minister who invited a Roman Catholic priest to lead the prayers at a Highland Council committee meeting – and thereby contributed to yet another split in Presbyterianism. An obituary in The Scotsman last week however records how much more there was to the life, pastoral commitment and public service of this principled but large-hearted Highland minister. It concludes by reporting that days before his death, ‘in prayer…he murmured: “The Lord knows what He is doing and does what He says.”’
Mr Murray’s prayer echoes that of Simeon in today’s reading. Both men lived in difficult times when the survival of their ancestral faith was in doubt and the future full of foreboding: yet both were inspired by a larger vision of what was really going on. One way of talking about that larger vision has been as God’s education of the human race; and although I suspect that neither Simeon nor Murray would have used that language, it is consistent both with Simeon’s vision of ‘a light for revelation to the gentiles’ and with Murray’s confidence that ‘the Lord knows what he is doing’. It may not appear, of course, to be consistent with our increasingly secular culture. Yet modern secular culture, however often hypocritically, respects the persons and possibilities of individuals and minorities neglected or repressed in more formally religious cultures, and thereby embodies values at the heart of the gospel. The present time thus might be seen to be, like adolescence perhaps, a painfully necessary stage in God’s long education of humanity, ‘soul by soul and silently’, towards a deeper understanding of what Christian faith calls ‘the mind of Christ’. And on a practical level, our progress at this stage in our education might be measured by our response to the crises of our times, both cost of living and climate. For as St John wrote: ‘Those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.’
In peace let us pray to the Lord.
A prayer by John Baillie from A Diary of Private Prayer
I falter where I firmly trod,
And falling with my weight of cares
Upon the world’s great altar stairs
That slope thro’ darkness up to God,
I stretch lame hands of faith and grope…
Eternal God, you have been the hope and joy of many generations, and in all ages you have given women and men the power to seek you, and in seeking, find you. Grant me, I pray, a clearer vision of your truth, a greater faith in your power, and a more confident assurance of your love.
When the way seems dark before me, give me grace to walk trustingly;
When so much is obscure to me, may I be all the more faithful to the little I can see;
When the distant scene is clouded, may I rejoice that at least I can see the next step;
When what you are is hidden from my eyes, let me hold fast to what you command;
What I lack in faith, may I make up for in love.
O infinite God, the brightness of your face is often covered from my human gaze. Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to be a light in a dark world. O Christ, you are the Light of Light; thank you that in your most holy life you pierced the eternal mystery, as with a great beam of heavenly light, so that in seeing you, we see the One whom no human being has ever seen.
And if I still cannot find you, O God, then let me search my heart and know whether it is I who am blind rather than you who are hidden; whether it is I who am running away from you rather than you from me. Help me to confess my sins before you, and seek your forgiveness in Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom the power and the glory, for ever and ever. AMEN
Blessing
And now may the love of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
bless, preserve and keep us and all God’s children,
in the joy, simplicity, and compassion of the gospel. AMEN
Organ Music
J.S.Bach In dulci jubilo BWV 729