The Music of Christmas, Day 18

 Widow’s Minuet

Read Luke 2:36-39
… at that very hour, she [Anna] began to give thanks to God and to speak 

of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The holiday season and waiting. The two are inseparable. We wait in lines and for checks to clear. We wait to hear from loved ones and for the Christmas turkey to emerge from the oven. We wait, impatiently, to open gifts.

   
God waits, too. In fact, He was silent four hundred long years between Malachi and Matthew. While people practiced the ceremonies and sacrifices required, at least two people thought to look beyond the religious routines, and truly longed for God: Simeon and Anna. On Day 16, through Simeon's story, we explored the concept of longing — expecting God, and actively looking for Him.

The Greek word for anticipation implies "waiting with anticipation." How did Simeon and Anna know they'd found the Messiah in the arms of a poor young couple? They recognized the fulfillment of their longing because they lived every day in expectancy, remaining fully present with the Lord.

While Simeon administered the priestly duties before the young couple, Anna was also nearby, perhaps within earshot. Anna is called a prophetess by the Gospel writer, but she would not have had a preeminent place among the priesthood. Scripture merely alludes to her as a fixture in the Temple after 84 years of serving and praying there.

 
Assuming Anna was married at age twelve (the youngest age permissible), and if her marriage spanned seven years and she occupied quiet corners of the Temple for eight decades, then she would have been a spry 103-year-old by the time Mary and Joseph showed up in the Temple. Given the trajectory of her life, she could have grown bitter thinking about all she had lost — a husband, the opportunity to have children, and a reliable source of income. Instead, she patiently waited on the Lord, fully present with Him in worship and actively praying for God's people.

Her story makes us wonder why bad things happen to good people. Why does God make us wait? It's simple. He wants our faith to grow. It is simple but never easy. Faithfulness requires patience. "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) And just five verses later, the author adds, "and without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

 

Live expectantly. Earnestly seek Him, like Anna, and lead a life of expecting to see God.

 
Questioning the wait is natural, especially when we consider the times in God's bigger story when believers were urged toward action. After Jesus' ascension, the angels said to the disciples, “Why are you looking into heaven?” Translation: “Why are you guys still standing here like you've got all the time in the world?”

 

Anna didn't need prodding from an angel or anyone else. Neither did she hesitate when the time came for action. She recognized her Savior, went directly to His family, and sang a prayer of gratitude. For those who, like Anna, grew old while anticipating the redemption of Jerusalem, their wait was finally over. Jesus had arrived at last, albeit in the form of a helpless child. As Anna's song began, God's lengthy silence came to an end.

 

 

Omnipotent God and Everlasting Father,

I praise You that though You are often silent, You are never inactive. 

Give me the faith of Simeon to see You in the unexpected routines of my life. Grant me the patient endurance of Anna that I might remain faithful in the face of adversity. Help me never to confuse Your silence with Your absence, and to always wait patiently for You.

Amen.

The Music of Christmas is available in print or digital formats.