Little Things
“And
coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord,
and spoke of Him to all those who looked for
redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38)
While attending a recent event
at a local college, we were talking with the Dean of
a department, and in describing our church to him,
mentioned that over 60,000 visitors came to the
First Church On The Net (www.FirstChurchOnTheNet.org)
in March of this year. That number appears large in
one way, but considering the number of people in the
world, it hasn’t seemed so great. We just keep
doing what we do. But his reply was interesting: “Hmmm,
he said, we get 30,000 students a year. That’s two
years worth of students at our college!”
Interesting. We needed to hear that, but we really
need – GOD’S perspective!
Today’s Scripture is about a
little lady who lived in Jerusalem, 2000 years ago.
Most of the world has never heard of her and that
was also true at the time she lived. Her name was
Anna, and she was “of the
tribe of Asher” (Luke 2:36), a supposedly
“lost” tribe of Israel, although none of them were
“lost” actually. On their return from captivity,
the “lost tribes” simply merged with the tribe of
Judah, becoming the “Jews” of today.
Anna was a “prophetess,”
someone gifted by God to understand and tell others
something of the Lord. She was to see Y'shua
HaMashiach, Jesus the Christ, and authenticate to
others that He had at last come to this world. Anna
was one of only a few selected from all history to
be among those in attendance and see the infant
Jesus when He was at the Temple being presented to
God by Mary and Joseph (verse 22).
Another person in attendance
was a man named Simeon, and considering that Anna
was of the tribe of Asher, Simeon may well have been
of the tribe of Simeon, another supposedly “lost”
tribe. (God delights in finding the “lost”). It
had been revealed to the man that he would not die
until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah (Luke 2:26).
He was LED by the Holy Spirit to enter the temple at
just the moment Jesus entered in the arms of his
parents (verse 27). What did Simeon do? He took
the infant Jesus, the son of Mary (and step-son of
Joseph) into his arms (verse 27-28) and led by the
Holy Spirit of God, said, “Lord,
now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
according to Your Word; for my eyes have seen Your
salvation which You have prepared before the face of
all people, a light to bring revelation to the
Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel”
(verses 29-32).
Tradition holds that Simeon was
112 years old at the moment he held the Messiah of
Israel in his arms. As to Simeon’s contemporary,
Anna, her age is contained in Scripture. Luke
(2:36) reports that she became a widow after seven
years of marriage. In accordance with the customs
of the time, Anna was likely 14-years old when she
was married, and according to Luke 2:37, she had
been a widow for 84-years when Jesus was brought
into the temple. 14 years as a child plus 7 years
of marriage, plus 84-years of prayer and fasting in
the temple, equals a lady that was 105 years old.
She had been waiting for many decades for the
Messiah, the Christ to finally come into His temple.
God had revealed to Simeon that
he would not leave this world until he had seen the
Messiah, and you have to wonder, how many years did
HE wait before God’s promise was accomplished? Most
likely a long, long time! We know that Anna “did
not depart from the temple, but served God with
fastings and prayers night and day” for
84-years (Luke 2:37). She waited for what must have
seemed like an endless time, and very likely, so did
Simeon. How long are YOU willing to wait for the
promise(s) of God?
Simeon’s wait was suddenly over
when he took the Holy One of God into his arms and
testified that He is the Messiah of Israel and
Savior of the world. Anna “gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for
redemption in Jerusalem” (verse 38). Joseph
and Mary “marveled”
at the words about Jesus (verse 33), but after those
incredible moments, Joseph and Mary “returned
to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth” with
the infant Jesus (verse 39).
What happened to Anna and
Simeon? We don’t know, but it’s likely that both of
them lived a little while longer and then went to be
with the Lord; their part was over. But was it? –
For even though they are gone, their words and acts
continue until this day.
I teach in a convalescent home
on Thursday mornings, where we have been studying
the Book of Psalms for more than a year. Over 90%
of the attendees are in wheelchairs and most have a
hard time doing pretty much anything that younger
people take for granted. Speaking whole sentences
is difficult in many cases, though after a year in
Psalms, a lot of them are making the effort. “God
bless you,” many say to me.
Here’s what we have been
discovering in the Book of Psalms and in the lives
of Anna and Simeon – no matter WHAT our
circumstances, WE MATTER in God’s sight. We all
have limitations and don’t even know about many of
them, yet God seems to delight in using us for His
glory, sometimes BECAUSE, humanly speaking, we can’t
do very much.
Here’s how it works: You
encounter somebody and you have options. You can
give them a smile – or a frown! You can say “God
bless you” or just look away as though they don’t
exist. You may pat someone on the arm or shoulder,
or you can remain aloof. It’s your choice. What
you do or do not do for them, doesn’t end at that
moment. In the case of those in the convalescent
home where I teach Psalms, here’s the next step.
The one who gets the smile and “God bless you”
receives a visit from their grandchild during
lunch. The grandson had received a lot of frowns
from his grandmother recently and was pleasantly
surprised at her “new look.” He goes back to work
and passes that smile on to a co-worker, who is in
turn surprised, smiles at somebody else and on it
goes. How far will that smile travel? Perhaps
thousands of miles and possibly for many years!
That’s how it worked for Anna
and Simeon. Their faithfulness to God is still
reverberating around this world, and there are MANY
“Annas and Simeons” today, who are known only to
God. He can multiply “small” actions such as our
prayers, in ways we do not expect and we often don’t
know the outcome. There really are no “little
things” in the sight of God because He can take that
which is “little” and make it wonderful. Let’s
pray:
Father, enable us to not only
wait, but also act for You, no matter how long it
takes or what You would have us do. We love You,
Lord. We trust in You. In Jesus Name. Amen.
