The Prophetess Anna

First Sunday of Christmastide                                  Luke 2:22-24, 36-40

The performer might or might not wear a kippa/ yarmulke, or a
tzitzit.  Highly anachronistic but might bring it to symbolic life. 
If doing so, we Christians have to make sure
we're not caricaturing the speaker or mocking him.

The speaker is a Jerusalem Temple equivalent of an Anglican churchwarden.

Shalom, good morning, now I don’t think I’ve seen you here before, have I?  Welcome!  I’m a church warden here at the Temple of Jerusalem.  There’s a wee psalm book.  Did you have a nice Hanukkah?  Here over New Year?  So nice to have visitors with us. 

What’s the name?  Joseph.  And this must be your lovely wife ... Mary, pleased to meet you.  Ooh!  And who’s this little fellow?  Hello Jesus, coochie coo.  Beautiful name.  What does that mean again?  “God saves”.  Great name.  Why, of course you can present him!  It’s the law for wee boys, after all! 

We’re a friendly bunch here at the Temple of Jerusalem, let me help you find a seat, and maybe somebody you can chat to before worship begins.

Is that a Northern accent I detect?  Aha, I thought so.  Nazareth – gosh, you’re a long way from home.  How did you get here?  Camel?  Oh donkey?  Yes, it’s hard this time of year, all the transport’s on holiday schedule.

Nazareth, Nazareth ... that’s Galilee, right?  Tribe of Asher country?

Oh, we have a regular here from your part of the world!  Mind you, she’s been here in Jerusalem ever since ... ever since uh ... actually, I think she’s always been here!  Anna, her name is.  Tribe of Asher.  Her father was a fellow called ... Phanuel, that’s it.  Unusual name that.  “Face of God” it means.

Poor old Anna.  She’s a prophetess.  You know, very godly.  Good Jewish woman, very devout.  She’s here day in, day out.  Never misses.  You know, I think she must sleep here!  Worships day and night, night and day.  She fasts and prays.

Sure, I’ll just take you over and introduce you, you know, seeing as you’re all from up North.

Yes, poor old Anna.  Was married at what, 13, 14, and the husband had passed away by the time she was in her 20s.  She’s what, mid-80s or so now.  Still keeps going.

Of course, many in her shoes would’ve given up. 

Aye, fair play to her.  You Northerners have suffered more than most.  Exiled, then you come back home and have to put up with a load of blow-ins living alongside you, living on land that used to belong to you.  No wonder a lot of you don’t bother much with temple-going any more. 

And then for the husband to die that early on ...  She must feel a bit invisible, you know powerless, insignificant ...

She’ll love chatting with some visitors.  Be nice for her.  I don’t think she has much to look forward to, you know.  It’ll give her a wee lift.

Now she usually sits ...  – oh, in fact here she comes.  Looks like she recognizes you!  Eh, Anna.  Anna.  (Jo, you might have to speak up for her.)  Anna, love, we’ve some visitors here from near where your folks came from.  What have you got to say about that?

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What did Anna have to say that morning, when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple to be presented, according to Jewish tradition?

She probably said something along the lines of ‘At last’ – because she had waited 84 years to see God’s promises come true, for him to send his Son to save us.

She probably said ‘I knew it’ because she was a faithful woman.  Maybe a bit invisible in a patriarchal society, maybe a bit powerless and insignificant to others.  But then God doesn’t ask us to be big and important, he asks us to be faithful.

Faithful, like her ancestors who continued to believe and pass on God’s promises.  Faithful like her grandparents who named her father Phanuel, Face of God, because they believed God would come and reveal himself to them in a special way.  And here Anna is, years later, looking into the very face of God!  Jesus is born!  God is with us!

Anna could have thought at 84 that she was past anything new and exciting, that she should let the next generation worry about those things, she could put her feet up and wait for ... well, heaven!  And whatever Anna said, she didn’t keep to herself.  She thanked God, and she went and spoke to anyone, everyone, waiting for God to fulfil his promises in their lives. 

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As we look on Jesus this morning, with eyes of faith, what do we say in response?

Are we ready and expectant, full of faith in God’s promises?  Or have the years worn us down ... ?

What promises has he made you?  I wish I could say from this book (Bible) that you’re promised health and wealth, but I can’t find those verses.  And anyway, that’s not what sustained Anna all those decades.  But in the Bible, there are many, many promises to his people, promises of Jesus coming to save us.  Which ones are special for you?

Anna was 84 and she kept going with more faithfulness and enthusiasm than most people a quarter of her age.  Whatever your age, how is your faith?  Are you sharing it?  Passing it on?

What a lot we can learn from this remarkable woman.  And in a very youth-oriented society, what a lot we younger folk (I include myself) can learn from the generation/s above us, their wisdom and experience, their enduring faithfulness?  Because wait till I tell you, as we’re about to enter 2013, a new year, the Lord has not finished with any of us yet!

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Let’s take a moment to hear how God is calling us to respond. [ pause ] Lord, help us to recognize Jesus and rejoice, this Christmastide.  Help us to pass on the joy of our salvation, from generation to generation.  Help especially the elderly in our parish.  Help them as they demonstrate your faithfulness.  Help them, and all of us, to know how beloved we are to you.  Amen.