33. Anna's Reward for Faithfulness

Luke 2:36-38

Key verse: Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. 

Luke 2:38

Most people would have seen Anna as having had a wasted life.  She never had children.  This would have been seen as a curse to the people of her day.  She had been widowed young and never married again.  She spent her time in the temple fasting and praying, but we don’t know for what.  As far as we know, she never held down a job or produced anything of earthly value.

We are only given one clue to hint at how she came to have such a devoted life despite living such a seemingly tragic life.  We are told that she was from the tribe of Asher.  Asher is actually one of the tribes that was dispersed during the Syrian conquest seven hundred years earlier.  For knowledge of her origins to survive, and for her to be found in the temple, suggests that her ancestors broke away from the North back when the kingdom of Israel was divided, after Solomon’s reign, when those in the north, who still wanted to devote themselves to the worship of JHWH came south to join with the tribes of Benjamin and Judah and continued worshiping in the temple.  They were not swayed to follow idols.

Now, however, Anna was old.  She had nothing of earthly accomplishment to brag about and nothing to leave to others. It would seem that her lineage would die with her.  Her life had been one wholly devoted to prayer and worship of God.  What could possibly be the tangible reward for that?

Yet, at the age of 84, we see her purpose.  Her life of faith and sacrifice had earned her the privilege of recognizing Jesus and proclaiming to any who would listen, “our redemption is near!” 

Was it worth it to Anna?  Would it be worth it to you?  We are all created for a purpose.  Some of us are given big tasks that take a lifetime to complete.  Others of us, like Anna and Simeon, have small tasks that aren’t as visible to the world. We may wonder about these two elderly people who spent their entire lives just growing deeper in God. We might be tempted to ask them if all that time and all that devotion was worth it just to see a glimpse of a tiny, six week old baby?  Evidently, they thought it was and God honored their devotion by making sure that Luke reported it to us.

What is of the most importance is that we do our task, whether big or small, to the glory of God.  We need to be faithful, whatever our calling, even if it is just rejoicing over a six week old Messiah at the age of 84 and never seeing in full, how the story plays out.  Anna shows us again how it really isn’t about us, but about Him.  That is such a hard concept for us to grasp.  We want to be noticed and congratulated for a job well done.  Well, Anna, if no one has ever said it to you before, “Well done.  Thank you for your example of faithfulness.  Thank you for being content to be a bit player in God’s amazing story.  May we be content to follow your example if that is God’s call and purpose for our lives.”

Hymn:   “What Child Is This”