This past Sunday I had the sweet privilege of opening God’s Word with and for my home church. On that first day of Advent, looking through the lens of hope, as I’m sure many others scattered around the world did, I highlighted the characters of Simeon and Anna in Luke 2:22-38. Oh how I love that story!
One commentator writes of them being spiritual twins. They were both:
mature in years
genuine in their love for God and their devotion to Him
pregnant with yearning for the Messiah/Saviour/Rescuer to come
prophetic in nature
I wonder, how does this story come alive for you as you enter into it with your own holy imagination, filled with your own sense of holy longing?
Monthly Musings: Holy Longing
I so love the character of Anna! She is shrouded with mystery. From these 3 verses (Luke 2:36-38) we learn so little and yet so much.
There are many comments we could make about Anna, but one point that keeps hooking me, drawing me back are those few words in v. 38 - “She came along just as…”
Imagine this moment with me. Here is Anna, walking and talking with God the Spirit as she goes throughout her days, her months, her years (potentially 62 years, if she was married at 15, widowed at 22 and went straight to live at the Temple, being 84 years old in this story). She lives and loves and serves in the Temple complex, waiting with hopeful, expectant anticipation for the coming, the arrival of The One. And God the Spirit, in His kindness, takes her hand one day, and says, “Come. I have someone you need to meet.”
She came along just as
Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph,
and she began praising God.
She didn’t walk past the moment before and miss them, perhaps when they were still busy buying the turtle doves or pigeons acceptable for the poor to offer as a sacrifice. She didn’t come 5-10 minutes later so that they had already gone, perhaps heading off to actually offer the sacrifice and dedicate little Jesus.
She came along just as… just as…
In the same way that the Spirit guided Simeon to be at the Temple at the right time, He guided Anna to this most holy of meetings and introductions. Maybe she came along just as Simeon scooped the infant Jesus from Mary’s arms into his own. Maybe she came along just as Simeon was bending his head over baby Jesus, speaking out prophetic words from Isaiah 42, 46, 49 and 52. Maybe she came along just as the weight and wonder of what Simeon was saying hit home with Mary and Joseph and emotions flickered across their faces.
Immediately Anna knew, without a doubt, that this was the Messiah/Saviour/Rescuer for whom she had been waiting.
A friend of mine used to work in a bank. She told once that when they were trained to spot counterfeit money, they were never given counterfeit notes. They were always given the real notes to study well. They were to study the true thing so that when they saw a fake, they would know it completely.
With Anna, she had studied the true thing so long, that she knew its kind. She knew the Father so well that she knew His Son without hesitation. She recognized Him and couldn’t help but spill out in worship.
I imagine her words of praise mingling with Simeon’s. That, together, they created a duet of praise to this Christ-child who had come. I imagine Mary and Joseph filled with bewilderment and awe and perhaps some trepidation. This child - their child - was the Messiah/Saviour/Rescuer. Could it be? Little did they know what was to come.
And so, as we enter more deeply into this Advent season, may each one of us live in deeper rhythm with God revealed in Jesus, brought to life through the Spirit of God, as we see in the life of Simeon and Anna. May we lean into this season with hopeful anticipation because Jesus is the and our Messiah/Saviour/Rescuer. And because of this, with Simeon and Anna, may we spill over with praise for God come in the soft-skin form of a baby.
I’m on leave at the moment and wanted to share some pics with you. May you have moments of ‘recreation’ in God’s beautiful creation this Advent season as we pause, remember, celebrate and reset.
Book News
The SPCK editorial team is working me hard! (I’m so grateful to them for their hospitable professionalism.) This week I’ve been going over the copyedited manuscript, doing a final review of the text. The typesetters will then put together a PDF ‘proof’ soon after that, with the final EVERYTHING due by early January.
This is such a learning curve for me as I enter the world of publishing. Please continue to pray for God the Spirit to go before us in every way. Thank you!
Koorong now has the cover and blurb up on their website, which is good fun, as they are the major Christian bookstore in Australia. Feel free to pre-order as it’s a great way to encourage them to order the book in bulk. :-D
UK - SPCK
USA - Barnes & Noble, Cokesbury or Walmart!
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