Sunday School...

"In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God: 'God, you can now release your servant; release me in peace as you promised. With my own eyes I've seen your salvation; it's now out in the open for everyone to see: A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations, and of glory for your people Israel.'


Jesus' father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother, 'This child marks both the failure and the recovery of many in Israel, A figure misunderstood and contradicted—the pain of a sword-thrust through you—But the rejection will force honesty, as God reveals who they really are.'

Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem."

Luke 2:25-37 (The Message)

All right. This is a story you would expect to see at Christmas-time. Baby Jesus. Simeon in the Temple. "For my eyes have see your salvation." (Remember the musical...Jerry looked like Santa all dressed in his robes and white beard! Ahhh, the memories!!)

Still...we are studying the women of the Bible in Sunday School right now. Today was Anna. I love this story. For many reasons. And I believe it appropriate for all "seasons". Including the one I am in as I write.

Can you imagine...in a time, an age, where they did not know the Holy Spirit? Understanding the infilling upon salvation? Know of His sacrifice? Hearing the words of the prophets who had gone on LONG before, sitting at the feet of the Elders reading about Isaiah, Daniel, Job, Ezekiel, Joseph, the mighty King David. Waiting, waiting, waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. For the Messiah to come. For freedom. That was Simeon. He had waited and lived long after his years should have been over...God made a promise to him. And God always keeps His promises. He sent His Holy Spirit to Simeon to cover him, to encourage him, to prepare him. So that when Mary and Joseph walked into the Temple, all Simeon had to do was lay eyes on the infant and he knew HE was the ONE.

But, Simeon wasn't alone waiting in the Temple in Jerusalem. A tiny, obscure few sentences about a prophetess named Anna. She had been a widow for 84 years. (Most people believe she was a widow UNTIL she was 84...but the King James says "she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years" which says she was a widow FOR 84 years, not UNTIL she was 84.) Married 7 years before that. Say she was married, as was the custom "back in the day" at the ripe old age of 17. By this time, she would have been 108 years old. She waited 84 years to behold her salvation. Eighty-four years. She rejoiced...praised in anthem and spoke of the child to anyone who would hear her.

For me, the story isn't incredible because the Holy Spirit had rested on Simeon, but because the Holy Spirit rested on 108 year old Anna until HER eyes had seen God's Salvation for Israel. She lived at the Temple. Praying day and night. Fasting. Praising. Singing. Waiting. Worshiping. Nothing is said of her impatience. Of her complaining. Of her whining that it was taking too long. Of her staunch independence or her soapbox where she undoubtedly stood to declare her rights as a woman.

She simply waited to behold her precious Savior. Did she know he would come as a baby? Well, if she was versed in scripture, she certainly did. If she listened to the Pharisee's and Sadducee's recite the book of Isaiah word for word she did. So did Simeon. It's in there! And then to top it off, she was covered by the Holy Spirit. Just like Simeon, all she had to do was glance His way...and she knew.

Can you imagine her delight? Her utter joy at the sight she had so long waited to see?? As her gaze fixed on the Savior, she must have leaped for joy...inside and out!!

Okay...my point. Why is it we cannot wait? We cannot wait one day for an answer to prayer. Not one moment. Just as Christ Himself asked His disciples..."can you not wait with me one hour?" We simply say..."no, we can't." You are taking too long. You are infringing on my right to speediness. In everything. Our worship is rushed so we can get to a quick-get-me-out-the-door sermon because we cannot wait with Him one hour. And forget the altar. We certainly do not want to "linger"...that takes too much time. Anna waited 84 years.

I'm not saying we have to sit in a pew all day...please...be realistic. We will sit two hours talking in a restaurant with friends, heaven forbid we didn't get right to that texting over and over. We will spend HOURS on the computer doing this and that (like THIS!). But we will not wait with Him one hour.

I so want my life to reflect that I waited with Him as often as I possibly could whenever I possibly could. I want my life to reflect His Holy Spirit. I want to glance His way and know beyond all imagination that He is my Savior...and I will know His salvation when I see it, because I stopped and waited for that brief God-moment of time to know and understand Him. Our lives are short in comparison to Simeon or Anna, but time in the eyes of God is even more fleeting. One hour. One moment. To know Him better. To know Him more.

84 years...one moment...whatever it takes.