SUNDAY SERMON
ANNA's STORY
The Feast of The Presentation
February 2, 2003
Gospel: Luke 2:22-40
Today's gospel is about age! I don't know if that strikes you as good news
or not.
Do you like the age you are? Do you wish to live to a ripe old age? Or do you
fear living too long and becoming a burden? We all want to age gracefully, don't
we? I have heard myself say on occasion, "I like the age I am" and
on another occasion, "I wish I still had my 30 year old physical endurance
or my 20 year old brain cells."
Today's gospel is about two older people. The man's name is Simeon and the woman's name is Anna. Simeon is more famous because many of us know his words as the Nunc dimittis (Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation… Luke 2.29). Today I want to tell you a story about Anna.
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The Jerusalem air was crisp and clear in the Temple courtyard. It was dawn and Jerusalem was golden. Anna walked slowly from her chambers across the Temple grounds. Thin and hunched over, she was still remarkably strong. For 100 years old there was a sprightliness about her step; a serenity in her wrinkled face. A deep sense of peace ---God's peace---emanated from her.
The other widows who came to the Temple fasted and prayed, too. But Anna was different and she knew it. God had called her to a special ministry and many years ago had spoken to her in a vision.
At first her life had been like most Jewish girls. She married in her early teens. Seven years later her world fell apart. At age twenty she was a widow. In the midst of her grieving the Lord spoke. He called her to be his prophet. He promised her his presence, his comfort and strength for the task. In his vision to Anna the Lord told her the story of her namesake, Hannah, the mother of the ancient prophet Samuel.
Hannah had been unable to have children. She and her husband were very old. One day she was outside the temple praying fervently for a child and the priest, Eli, had accused her of being drunk. But her prayers and her patience were rewarded. God gave her a son, Samuel. Samuel grew up to be the prophet who anointed David as king of Israel.
In Anna's vision God was saying to her: My grace was sufficient for Hannah. My grace will be sufficient for you, Anna. Remember your name means gracious.
And God's grace was sufficient for her. As the Lord gave her utterance she would prophesy. The years passed and her devotion to the Lord amazed the priests at the Temple. The focus of her life was prayer and fasting. She was quiet and unassuming about it. Seeing her faithfulness, the priests granted her one of the courtyard rooms to live in.
Over eighty years of Anna's life had been lived out, there, at the Temple. But this morning she sensed something special. Full of expectation she walked across the familiar courtyard. Several hours passed. She prayed. She saw Simeon, the devout and respected elder, pass by her. His face fairly glowed with the same sort of expectancy which she felt.
Before long she heard a rich baritone voice singing a song of praise like nothing she had ever heard before. She walked toward the singing and suddenly, she came upon Simeon holding a tiny baby in his arms. A young mother and father looked on.
Anna herself began giving thanks to God and immediately she knew that this child was the redeemer of Israel, the Messiah. This was why God had given her so many years to fast and pray. At her age she had real news to tell--good news: the Messiah is here and I have seen him face to face and he will redeem his people. And she told the news far and wide.
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Anna's reward by God's grace was that she recognized Jesus for who he was: her redeemer, Israel's redeemer, the world's redeemer.
What do you and I have in common with Anna? I'd like to suggest three possibilities for you to consider.
1. Anna had an encounter with the living God. God called her and sustained her for many years. Near the end of her life she met Jesus face to face. Have you? If not, has anyone told you that God wants that for you with all his heart? Perhaps my greatest privilege as a pastor and preacher is remind you again and again of how passionately Jesus loves you and hopes you will fall in love with him-or fall back in love with him if you feel your relationship has cooled as often happens in many of our relationships, human and divine.
2. Anna allowed herself and her living situation, even her eating habits, to
be changed by God's call on her life. She fasted and prayed night and day…
Have you been noticeably changed? I am embarrassed about how long it's been
since I have fasted. Lent is still a month away giving us ample time to decide
how we might change our habits through fasting and prayer like Anna.
3. Anna was full of hope when she had many reasons to be hopeless. Widowed at a young age, she lived in a culture that had little time for women much less widows. Not only was she full of hope, she was a willing evangelist at about 100 years old! Do you suppose people see you as a person of hope? Do you see yourself that way? Do you see yourself as an evangelist-someone who tells the good news? What do you have in common with Anna? What would you like to have in common with Anna?
I know someone who has a lot in common with Anna. This person is a well known Christian writer and speaker who travels widely. Her name is Becky Pippert. On one plane flight she found herself in a conversation with a skeptical university professor. The subject was the claims of Christianity. After all the intellectual ground was covered, the professor looked sideways at Becky and said, "What I see in you is a woman of hope, not despair." Though she was in the midst of some major personal upheaval including a divorce, Becky couldn't help but speak of Jesus, just like Anna after seeing the baby in the Temple courtyard.
Now here's the punchline. This is what Becky Pippert said to the professor: "I am a woman of hope because I've fallen hopelessly in love with Jesus Christ."
Though St. Luke doesn't put it quite like that, I can imagine Anna saying that she was a woman of hope because one day in her ripe old age in the Temple courtyard, she fell hopelessly in love with Jesus Christ.
Sermon preached February 2, 2003, at the Church of the Holy Communion, Memphis, by the Rev. Blair Both.