Redeemer Lutheran Church, DeSoto, MO

“My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.” Luke 2:30-31

Dear Redeemer Family:

Do those two verses about sound familiar? They should. We sing them fairly often during the worship services. They are from what is called the “Nunc Dimittis,” or in English, “Simeon’s Song.” When Simeon encounters the baby Jesus in the Temple. The day of that event is celebrated as the Presentation of Our Lord, which happens on February 2^nd, or 40 days after Christmas. Yes, it has been forty days since Christmas. On that day, both Simeon and the aged Anna prophesy in the Temple about what Jesus will do.

There is another interesting thing about that day, which I didn’t know until I read that section in the Sundays and Seasons book. Since Simeon also speaks in his song about Jesus being “a light for the nations,” and because an older reading for this festival from Zephaniah contains, “I will search Jerusalem with candles,” the day has also been historically called, “Candlemas.” You may have occasionally come across that word. In older traditions, all of the candles that will be used in the church in the coming year are blessed on this day. That was new information for me! But during the Season of Epiphany, even the light of one church candle may be seen as an epiphany.

There is another significant day in the month of February. That is February 18^th. On that day we commemorate the death of Martin Luther in the year of 1546. Luther had been asked to arbitrate a dispute between two people whom Luther knew. For that purpose, he journeyed to a neighboring village. But the weather was poorly on the journey, and Luther wasn’t feeling well already, and he was 62 years of age. It seems from the written accounts of Luther’s friends that he suffered one, or more, heart attacks when he arrived at the village. His last request, as I have mentioned in sermons when the text comes up, was to have a friend of his read to him the 8^th Chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. Shortly afterwards, Luther quietly died, comforted by the words. We commemorate that towards the middle of February, a light going out of our world.

In Christ,
Pastor Rose

“Worship the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion.” Psalm 147:12

Dear Redeemer Family:

As I write this, it isn’t quite Christmas. In fact, it was a bit strange writing “January 2025” above. But this is for the coming month. As Christians, we tend to look forward to Christmas, and then bleak January. After Christmas, and then New Year’s maybe, we are stuck in only frozen winter. Well, that’s not quite true. There are several festivals which actually fall in January which many actually miss, unless they fall on a Sunday, which isn’t too often. Here are a couple to keep you going through your bleak January.

The first is on January 1^st, and I don’t mean as New Year’s Day. January 1^st on the Church Calendar is also known as the “Name of Jesus Day.” It was celebrated as such as early as the 6^th century. Not so long ago on the Lutheran calendar, it was called, “The Circumcision and Name of Jesus Day.” That’s because by Jewish tradition, all male children were circumcised and received their name formally on the eighth day after their birth. They still do, and so are joined to the covenant of Abraham. One way to think about this however is, we begin the new year in Jesus’ name. Think about it.

January 6^th is the “Epiphany of Our Lord Day.” Generally, however, we only celebrate this when it falls on a Sunday. But we do celebrate the following Sundays as the Sundays of Epiphany always. This day officially ends the Season of Christmas (remember the 12 days?). We celebrate God breaking into our world, and lives, and made manifest among us in our Lord Jesus Christ. We also celebrate God’s light shining in our world, which is helpful during bleak January. It is one of the three major festivals of the Christian Church.

The First Sunday after Epiphany is usually known by another name. It is also called, the “Baptism of Our Lord Sunday.” As we celebrate Jesus’ baptism by John in the river Jordan, we also celebrate that we are joined to him through our own baptisms. Through that, we are also made to be adopted children of God, and receive his blessings. That is something to really celebrate in the cold and gray of January, the warmth of God’s family.

No, January isn’t so bleak after all. If we look to the Church’s calendar, we find a lot of things to rejoice and be hopeful about. Christmas is not the end. It is only the beginning. So, rejoice and celebrate the blessings which God has bestowed. Praise God!

In Christ,
Pastor Rose