During Advent 2020 at Chantilly Bible Church, our
pastors have been walking us through the "Songs of Christmas" in a
sermon series, focusing on the words of the familiar players of the Christmas
narrative in scripture, including Mary, Zechariah, the Herald Angels, and
Simeon, all found in the first two chapters of Luke. It has been a rich
time of reflection on the faith of those God chose to weave into the nativity
narrative, their hope in a sovereign, covenant-keeping God, their joy at seeing
the fulfillment of God's promises, and the words of praise that emanated from
their hearts and mouths.
An additional briefly-mentioned character, whose
part in the story we did not get to analyze during this sermon series, is
Anna. This inspiring older woman gets only 3 verses in the entirety of
scripture, but those 3 verses are packed with a powerfully faith-filled example
and provide another glimpse of God's hand of providence. I have recently
listened to a
wonderful series of podcasts about her and, having been pondering her in
recent days, I felt compelled to put to words some thoughts about her. In
Luke 2:36-38, we read:
And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel,
of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband
seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was
eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and
prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks
to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of
Jerusalem.
From these three verses, we can see a few things
on the surface. She is called a "prophetess," one who
either foretells or forthtells the things of God.
Her father's name, "Phanuel" means "face of God," something
that she was privileged to see when she saw the infant Jesus. We can see
that Anna was an old woman. Translations differ--some state that she was
a widow for 84 years rather than until she was 84--so she was
at least 84 but may have been as old as 103-104 depending on her age at
marriage. We can see that she lived a pure life as a virgin until
marriage, had short seven years of marriage, and then spent most of her life as
a widow. We can see that she resisted the temptation to fall into habits
such as becoming an "idler," "gossip," or a
"busybody" as described in 1 Timothy 5:13, but instead we can see she
devoted herself to the Lord, to prayer and fasting--a prime example of what
Paul describes as godly widows in 1 Timothy 5:5, having"...set her hope on
God and continu(ing) in supplications and prayers night and day."
Most importantly, from these verses, we can infer
that her daily life was centered on the Lord, on worshipping Him and communing
with Him, and on the hope that He promised.
We can see a heart of confident expectation, of eager watching and waiting, and
eyes open to recognize what God had done. She had a mouth ready to thank
and praise the Lord for His work; her immediate response was to give thanks to
God. Finally, she had a heart for
connecting with others who were like-minded in their own waiting; as she gave
thanks to God she also made a point "to speak of him to all who were
waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem." She was not waiting alone; she
had a community with whom to share the good news.
God's hand of providence is also clear in this
passage. When it states that she was coming up "at that very
hour," it is referring to the fact that she was there just
as Joseph and Mary were at the temple for Jesus'
dedication. Just as Simeon, who also had been waiting in
confident expectation that he would see God's ordained Messiah, had spoken his
powerful words of praise and prophecy over Jesus to Mary and Joseph. God
perfectly orchestrated what, to most Jewish families, was a routine part of
raising a child in the faith--a trip to the temple for dedication--to encourage
those who were waiting confidently and hopefully, even after 400 years of
silence, not wavering in their faith that God would fulfill His promise to send
a Messiah.
Anna is an example of waiting faithfully,
intently finding and focusing on the things of
God. Our life circumstances are much different than Anna's. We
likely are not called to spend day and night at church in prayer. Unlike in Anna's day, when God's presence was found only in the temple, we have God's spirit dwelling within us, His presence constantly with us. Nonetheless, we,
too, are often in periods of waiting…
…to finish education.
…to find
the right spouse.
…to
conceive and bear children.
… to one
day sleep through the night.
…for potty
training to finally take hold. 9n
…to find a job.
…for a hard
season of marriage to pass.
…for a
broken relationship to mend.
…for a
prodigal child to find his way.
… for a
medical crisis to resolve.
… for an
end to the COVID 19 pandemic.
There is no end to the things for which we each
may find ourselves waiting.
Like Anna, however, we have something to be
looking towards that God has promised. In His word we can find so many
promises--His presence, His attentiveness to our prayers, His help, His
care, His faithfulness. But often, it is only when life is at its hardest
that we remember to look for and find God’s redemptive plan, and to remember
the ultimate eternal hope:
Then I
saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling
place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,
and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear
from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning,
nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And
he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things
new.” Revelation 21:1-5a
May we wait as did Anna, with confident expectation, eyes wide open ready to recognize God's dealings in the mundane, mouths ready to speak forth words of thanksgiving and praise, alongside a community of like-minded believers with whom to share what God is doing. And, as we navigate the daily tasks of life, may we do so prayerfully, with minds set on eternity.
