The Simeon-Anna Model: A New Year’s Resolution
Scripture reading from the Gospel of Luke 2:25-32; 36-38
In the passage from the Gospel of Luke, the third book in the New Testament, we know of a man named Simeon. Scripture says Simeon was a righteous and devout man, filled with the Holy Spirit. But Simeon had also received a revelation that he was to see the Messiah before he died. Scripture also teaches us that when Simeon saw Mary and Joseph with the child, he immediately knew that the child they were holding was the Messiah.
Anna had just been married when she lost her husband seven years later and is now an 84-year-old widow. She didn’t remarry but spent all her days in the temple worshiping, fasting, and praying in moments of anguish, sadness, and loneliness after losing her husband so soon into their marriage. Her relationship with God never wavered. It intensified and deepened. Her newfound relationship with God gave her life a new meaning, something to look forward to daily.
Have you ever waited for something or someone for a very long time, and suddenly, unexpectedly, the wait was over? The joy, the sigh of relief, and the anxiety lifted are just a few of the emotions we go through! In Simeon’s case, it was nothing other than seeing the Promised One! The Boy-Child may not have been what Simeon expected to be a Savior to the people of Israel. Still, Scripture does not speak of any disappointments but of a profound attitude of praise so deep that Simeon was willing and ready to breathe his last breath “for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared”!
Expecting, waiting, praying, and fasting; sounds like a complicated and time-consuming new year’s resolution. But in reality, is it? Scripture contains real-life stories closely related to events and situations we go through today. Time after time, we see that God uses the unimaginable and the unthinkable, the meek and the lowly, to reveal God’s glory and perfect plan for our lives, proving that God does not forsake us EVER. And we, too, have had hope revealed to us during our waiting and expecting periods without being as devout, righteous, prayerful, or humble as Simeon and Anna. Except that we belittle God’s unique and unconditional love and care for us by crediting it to chance or luck.
That’s who we are. But we don’t have to stay that way. God loves us too much to let that happen. Through Jesus, “Immanuel” (God with us), God has revealed hope beyond measure and comprehension. Through Jesus’ birth, life, teachings, death, and resurrection, the Messiah and Savior reveals to us God’s story. Jesus’ story, our story, IS good news to the poor, sets the prisoners free, gives sight to the blind, and lifts the oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor! (Luke 4:18-20)
We can only expect that God has great things in store for us. It’s God’s promise. And God is faithful. As we expect, we can only wait. We can either wait in desperation or wait in hope. The latter is healthier for the mind, the soul, and the body. Expecting and waiting is possible when we pray. We pray for strength, courage, wisdom, and a deeper relationship with Christ. We often do not receive because we do not know how to ask. When we ask for God’s will in our lives, we know that we will receive what is best for us, for God desires no ill or harm upon us; just the very best, even when it means not granting us what we want. Expecting, waiting, and praying is not easy, especially when we insist on doing it alone. But we worship when we gather, study, fast, and live together as a faith community. Praise flows from our hearts and fills the emptiness left by our sorrows, fears, loneliness, and doubts that lead us to isolation, loneliness, helplessness, hopelessness, and sin.
Let’s encourage one another this new year to seek and learn more about the God who gave it all for you and me out of love born of a heart filled with compassion, justice, mercy, and grace. Let’s encourage one another to live a life like that of our Savior, Messiah, Deliverer, and Redeemer, who risked it all for the lonely, the marginalized, the widow, the orphans, the poor, the sick, the naked, the hungry, and the bound and imprisoned. Let’s encourage one another to deepen and intensify our relationship with God, with one another, and with ourselves by opening our eyes to the revelation, direction, guidance, and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
Have a happy, blessed, and healthy new year!
In Christ,
Pastor Iraida