SIMEON and ANNA
During Sunday’s sermon we learned more about Simeon and Anna and their response to Jesus being brought to the temple as a baby. I invite you to read it if you haven’t already (Luke 2:21-38). Simeon, filled with the Holy Spirit, was told he would not die before he saw the Lord’s Messiah and here is Jesus, the one who was promised. Simeon’s response? He scoops Jesus up in his arms and praises God… he sings!
Then there’s Anna, a prophetess who fasts and prays in the temple each day. She is going about her daily faithful duties and Jesus shows up. She, too, recognizes that Jesus is the one to redeem Jerusalem and so she gives her thanks and praise.
But it is not lost on me that Jesus hasn’t done anything (YET). He’s just a baby. He hasn’t healed anyone, forgiven anyone, saved anyone, taught anyone. He just showed up. Anna and Simeon don’t ask anything of him—they just give thanks and praise.
It reminds me of the time Karla, Randy, and I traveled to our partner congregation in Nyanzwa, Tanzania, in 2018. When we showed up the first message Pastor Mponzi gave us in front of everyone is that we help them have faith. We said we were going to come and here we were. Because people they can see kept their promises and showed up to a little village in a remote area of Tanzania, they can believe in a God whom they can’t see to keep God’s promises.
We showed up.
OR are there any dog owners out there? Maybe you can relate. You get home from work, walk in the door and your dog is fired up to see you! You literally haven’t done anything. You just showed up! (cat owners can’t relate)
Anna and Simeon give their thanks and praise to God for keeping God’s promise by showing up. What if we ended this year not by asking anything of God but by just giving thanks and praise.
I challenge you:
Write down at least one way God showed up in your life this past year.
Write down at least one thing you thank God for from this past year.
We give our thanks and praise to a God who showed up even during a challenging year. Praise be to God!
~PB