Anna

Magnificent Old Street Lady

 

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 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 2:36-38 (NIV)

 

 

 

The setting is the temple in Jerusalem.

Mary & Joseph are coming about 6 weeks after the birth of Jesus.

On the 8th day Jesus had been circumcised, the first Jewish ritual.

Now it is 40 days after his birth and time for two other rituals:

(1) The first is the "redemption of the firstborn."

Since each firstborn male belonged to God, the parents had to buy him back with an offering to the temple.

But this ritual isn’t mentioned—the boy was already God’s son and would buy us back.

(2) The second ritual is mentioned—the purification for Mary.

A woman could not enter the temple until 40 days after the birth of a son.

Mary came to offer the required sacrifice of two pigeons to celebrate her return to full Jewish life after childbirth.

The new parents bring Jesus along with them. This was before day care centers.

It is in the Temple, that Anna encounters the young family.

 

Picture Mary & Joseph coming across the open Temple court.

Mary is carrying her six-week old baby. Anna starts toward the little family. She's an old-woman baby-lover.

She insists on holding and praying for every baby passing her way.

Sort of a lay dedication ceremony. The people let her do it, of course.  "A godly woman wants to pray for my baby" how could I refuse?

Simeon—a fellow messianic Jew beats her to the couple. He takes the baby into his arms. He prays a blessing.

Then the family heads toward Anna.

 She too will pray for the baby. But as she takes the child she senses something is different.

The baby is ordinary enough. And so are the parents... poor parents offering only two pigeons as their offering.

Yet something strange is going on. Could it be? Could this be the messiah? This little baby?

 He is! He is the messiah! She knows it!  Anna announces to the crowd around her:

Here he is!  The messiah! This one here! He is the redemption of Israel! Our promised messiah!

And she prays aloud... right in public... thanking God for his promised messiah.

What a scene! What confirmation for Mary and Joseph.

 

Anna plays only a short scene in this drama. Supporting actress at best.

After this, she disappears.

But you can imagine her going about her day in the temple with a new energy after this.

You can imagine her smiling as she prays for other babies, wondering...

Which might turn out to be the messiah's disciples?  Which his followers? Which his enemies?

She had seen God's promise come true -- He did send the messiah... She had seen him...prayed for him.

Held Him in her arms!

 

Anna has only three verses in Luke, but they are packed with information on her.

In a way they would have been suitable for carving on her gravestone.

What a wonderful old woman! This is what we know of her:

 

 1. She was a prophetess.

 In this she kept company with other Old Testament women: Miriam or Deborah.

She was to be the first in a long line of New Testament church leaders who were women.

Mary the mother of James & Jesus,

Mary the mother of Mark,

Dorcas the woman committed to serve,

Lydia the businesswoman church planter,

Priscilla, an almost-Apostle,

Pheobe the deaconess,

and, of course, the four single daughters of Philip who were also called "prophetesses."

If anyone doubts a woman's right to be a prophet, they will need to get a new Bible.

 

2. Her name: Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.

 This wonderful woman has lent delight to all the derivatives of her name down through the centuries:

Anna, Annabelle, Annette, Ann, so many others.

Of her father Phanuel we know nothing.

Except that his claim to fame is being Anna's father.

However, being from the "tribe of Asher" says plenty.

The tribe sprang from the 8th son of Jacob.

They numbered about 50,000 when they entered the Promised Land.

They settled along the rich Western seacoast near the prosperous Phoenician cities.

But their history is one of failure.

Intimidated by the strength of the worldly Phoenicians, they never even took full possession of their assigned territory.

They became so anemic that they were gradually swallowed up by the secular culture.

The tribe disappeared by the time of King David, a thousand years before Anna.

 Yet here is strong, sturdy, stalwart Anna "from the tribe of Asher."

Still hanging in there.  

Isn't it interesting? Have you ever seen it?

A home of exceptionally weak moral fiber producing a sturdy example of moral fortitude?

Anna was such a person.

Anna... from a loser tribe. Anna from the secularized tribe, Asher. A tribe fully assimilated by the world.

Her tribe was no longer different. They were no longer a peculiar people. Like Lot's wife, they fit in -- perfectly.

They had become just like their secular neighbors.

These are Anna's roots. The tribe of Asher.

 

But she was not victimized by her roots.

She did not say, "Because I come from Asher I can not be a prophet."

She did not join a support group for "women from loser tribes" and give up on her future.

Neither did she hit the road with her harrowing story of her abuse.

She simply decided to rise above her past.

And she did.

 

Anna is a story of greatness coming from littleness.

Strength from weakness. Boldness from fear. Faith from failure.

Anna tells us today that you can rise above your past.

You can escape your failures, your family, your home town, your childhood abuse.

Anna did.

We can too.

 

 3. She was a widow.

 Anna knew both joy and sorrow.

You can imagine how excited she was when she got married. "The man of her dreams." "Just what I always wanted."

And I suspect her marriage was a happy one.

Perhaps they got a starter house,

and she made it  a cozy happy place.

And she had... Seven wonderful years of marriage

They passed as quickly is if it were a honeymoon.

 

Then tragedy struck.

We are not told how her husband died.

But somehow he was taken from her.

She was heartbroken.

Sick. Pained. Lonely. Hurt. Grieving her lost lover every day.

He left a hole in her life which nothing could fill.

How would she ever recover?

 

God does not let her down.

He calls her to his temple...

she finds a ministry praying for travelers... and children, especially babies.

God becomes her companion. He never leaves her nor forsakes her.

Her sorrow could have hardened her into a bitterness, resentfulness. But it didn't.

God fills her life with himself.

Anna becomes a kind, soft, sympathetic, gracious, Godly woman of hope.

 

Tragedy can have either effect.

Driving us further from God or bringing us closer.

It seemed that nothing would ever fill the hole in Anna's heart.

But, God is in the business of filling empty heart-holes.

If you'll let him.

  

4. She was a godly woman.

 "She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying."

Really..."she never left the Temple."

Where did she sleep? At the temple.

Where did she eat? At the temple.

Where did she bathe? At the temple.

She did not have an apartment near the temple she lived in the temple! Day and night. She never left.

 Today we would call her a homeless woman... a sort of a "spiritual bag lady” living in the Temple park.

 

And what did she do?

She "worshipped day and night."

How?

By "praying and fasting."

A pretty good description of a godly woman.

Worshipping day and night, praying and fasting.

 

Listing such activities on your resume' may not impress your next employer.

But it impresses God.

This lady gave her life to "full time spirituality."

How did she support herself?

Perhaps she had some leftover funds...

Or perhaps, the travelers gave her coins or shared their lunch with her.

If she got nothing today... she simply fasted another day.

Anna was "living by faith." She was in full time Christian service.

Her full time job was to be a godly woman who prayed for kids and parents.

In the Temple day and night, cut off from the regular hubbub of life.

In a sense living in an "ivory tower"

—constantly praying and fasting...

—constantly attending worship in the Temple.

She lived in the spiritual clouds.

 

Her life seems strangely unrealistic to today's modern woman.

She is the woman who knows nothing of Ophra Winfrey

She hasn't heard about "gay marriage"

If she were alive today she'd think "gay" meant happy.

She knows nothing about inflation, or interest rates, or economic bailouts.

She has never seen CNBC, because she doesn't even have Cable.

She can't point out Iraq on a map. She is totally out of touch with the world.

But she is in touch with God.

Anna.

Out of touch with her culture. In touch with God.

I don't suppose you must make a choice between the two.

But if you had to choose... which choice would you make?

Being in touch with the worldly culture… or being in touch with God?

Which do we value more?

Which of the two gets the most attention in your daily schedule, in your budget?

Choosing only one,  to which would you cling? Which would you forsake?

Anna clung to godliness.

 

5. She was an old woman.

Really old.  84 years old to be exact.

Eighty-four is no spring chicken today, let alone back then. We need old women in our churches.

To help the preacher preach.

To smile when the preacher is on track.

To give the preacher a perplexed look when the sermon's not clear.

To correct the facts quoted wrong.

To pray every day for the pastor.

 

Godly old women have such charm, and elegance, and grace

A younger woman just can't find that sort of stuff in the latest make-up kit.

An "old woman" is at peace with herself.

She knows who she is and doesn't try to be someone else.

She accepts her age as an asset, not a liability.

You can always tell  when a woman becomes an "old woman"

She tells her age... like she did when she was a child... announcing it early...

"This September I'll be eighty-four" she says.

Such old women have confidence...

They know.

They've been there.

You can't fool them.

They've seen your type before.

 

Old women like this give advice... and warnings... and wise counsel.

And, we should listen.

 

Maybe that's what Paul was recommending to Titus.

Old women... teaching the younger women. "Old woman's ministry". Older women busy in ministry... like Anna.

Wandering around the Temple praying for babies.

Spending her days and night fasting and praying, attending worship services.

A retired lady... in full time spiritual work.

A special ministry for old ladies?

 The church needs more "old women" to do this kind of thing.

 

But where will we find them today? Who will volunteer?

Who will graciously accept the ministry of an "old woman" today?

 

Women are taught to fight old age with a vengeance.

Deny it, dye it, cover it up, lift it, nip it, tuck it.

But looks aren't the issue, here. A beautiful old lady is a magnificent sight.

The real issue is ministry.

Challenging more women in the church to graciously answer the call to "Old woman" ministry.

Anna turned her sorrow into opportunity to become a grand old lady of the church.

She spent her time in prayer, and fasting, and in worship... pursuing godliness.

 

She may have been thoroughly out of touch with the world... but she was in touch with God.

Not alone in her private chambers... but out in the open... ...where she could pray for pilgrims,

...and families, ...and little babies that will grow up to be the Savior of the world.

 

Who is God calling to become a "Grand Old Woman" in your church?

Is He calling you to become your church's "Anna?"

What a magnificent old woman!

We should honor such woman today!

 

Who is the “Anna” in your church?  What is she like?


 

So what do you think?

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Keith Drury   December 30, 2008

 www.TuesdayColumn.com

 

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This sermon was originally given by Keith Drury in 1989 at the quadrennial Wesleyan Woman’s Convention in Marion, Indiana and includes only a few updates for this 2008 edition.