Well, thank you, John and Fiona. Good evening, folks. As has been said, my name is Alistair. It's my joy to be the assistant here and to bring us God's word again today. Keep that passage open in Luke in front of you as we go through it. But as you maybe turn there again, let us pray together. Let's pray.
Father, we come before you and as we spend a few moments thinking about your servant in Luke, as we think about Anna, the prophetess, Father, would we be encouraged? Would we be challenged? Would we be spurred on to be better disciples who love you, who serve you and who give you everything? We ask this in Jesus' name and for the upbuilding of your kingdom. Amen.
What are you waiting for? Maybe you're waiting for the return of normal life as we've gone over yet another weird Christmas. Maybe you want normal Christmas again. You're waiting for the ability to go out and meet all of your friends and all of your family members to have fun and laugh together without thinking about masks or hand sanitizer or restrictions.
Or maybe you're waiting for the return of normal life as we've gone over yet another weird Christmas.
Or maybe you're waiting to hear the result of a job interview. You've been out of work for a while and you really, really need that job.
Or maybe it's a doctor's test result that you're waiting for and it's terrifying. Waiting isn't always fun and it isn't always easy, is it?
Waiting isn't always fun.
Waiting isn't always fun or easy, but it is something that we do all the time, is it not?
And for the Christian, there's an added element of waiting because as Christians, we are called to wait on the return of the Lord.
Jesus told us that he will return one day and we are to eagerly anticipate that day.
but the question I find a lot of people ask is how exactly should we be living in this period
of waiting how can we wait well for that day when the Lord Jesus will return well this evening we're
going to look at the example of Anna in Luke 2 and we'll see how she too was waiting for the Messiah
to come and I believe Anna can be a great example for us today of how we can live our lives as we
wait for Jesus to return so let's do a little bit of background work in Luke 2 before we spend most
of our time thinking about Anna together and what we can learn from her extraordinary life
so in Luke 2 we are given signs to tell us the reality of Jesus's identity that he is the sent
one from God the Messiah of God's people the Savior of the world Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the
temple to present him before the Lord following the Old Testament law that you can read all about in
Leviticus but in the temple something different happened this day Mary and Joseph were met by two
people first Simeon and second Anna two faithful servants who were looking for and waiting for the
Messiah but unlike the rest of Israel they weren't looking for a strong political leader they weren't
blinded by the popular desire of a military Messiah who would come and kick out the Romans and free
Israel to live as they pleased
Simeon and Anna were drawn by the Holy Spirit
to see the Son of God in the humble form of a baby
helpless and in the arms of a poor young mother who walked into the temple that day
it's interesting that in Luke 2 the only
it's only the humble and so-called unremarkable people of the day who actually recognize Jesus for
who he really is the shepherds and these two people in the temple not exactly the trumpet sounding
entrance we would expect of a king and yet isn't it fitting because this king is humble and he is gentle
so let's take a look inside the temple
Simeon prompted by the Holy Spirit goes into the temple and meets this new family
and he realizes who Jesus is
Simeon has been waiting and the passage says for the consolation of Israel meaning the moment the Old Testament promises
would be fulfilled and the Messiah would come to save the Lord's people
and so after seeing Jesus Simeon knows that he can die peacefully because this promise has been fulfilled
before him his eyes have seen the Savior of the world
that's why in his short song of praise Simeon declares
for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples
a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel
and then in verses 36 to 38 we are introduced to a wonderful woman of God called Anna
we don't have a huge amount of detail about her her life all we have are these three verses
but they do tell us quite a bit about her
so let's meet Anna briefly and then I want us to focus on three things that characterized her life
and how they should challenge and encourage us all this evening as we wait for the return of the Lord
so Anna's described look at verse 36 as a prophetess or a prophet
she was someone who knew God's word who loved the Lord and who spent time in the temple
based on what we see in verse 38 how Anna kept on telling people about Jesus
I think I think Luke wants us to see Anna as a great fourth teller of God's word
by spreading God's word she's joined the ranks of other women in the Old Testament
like Miriam, Deborah, Hannah and others go check them out in your own time
Anna is a prophetess because she is proclaiming God's word
verse 36 also tells us that Anna was from the tribe of Asher
one of the northern tribes of Israel who were largely seen as the unfaithful ones
because in the Old Testament they had separated from the southern kingdom
and they'd followed a different line of kings from the line of Judah
who were under the lineage of David
so Anna represents a faithful remnant within the northern tribes of Israel
and the last biographical detail we get about Anna
before we dive into the three characteristics of her life
is that she was a widow
so Anna at this point is an old woman
now probably around 83, 84
and she has not had an easy life at all
she was married
but just after seven years her husband died
and she has been a widow ever since
now why do you think Luke highlights that?
I think he highlights it so that we can know that regardless of your age and stage
regardless of your marital status
regardless of whether you have children or not
Luke wants you to know that nothing, absolutely nothing
hinders us from serving the Lord
Anna didn't let her circumstances stop her from serving God
she didn't think that she was too old
or detached from the younger generations
she recognized what she could do
and she got busy doing it
which is precisely what we should be doing as well
but more on that later on
so these are all the biographical details we have about Anna
but it is just the beginning of the story
because in these three verses
we can see three things that characterize the life of this extraordinary woman
so we'll look at each of these
and see how they should also challenge us
as we wait for the coming of Christ
the first thing we see that characterizes Anna's life
is faithful devotion
faithful devotion
look at verse 37 with me
it says
she did not depart from the temple
worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day
Anna was always in the temple
so imagine for a minute you're the one with the keys to open the temple gates
you are the first there and the last one out
you get up early
so that all the people in Jerusalem can start their prayers and sacrifices on time
you walk to the gates just as the sun is coming up over the horizon
and as you twist that key and pull the gate towards you
you are greeted with the same face every single morning
that was Anna
she'd become a feature of the temple
but she wasn't just hanging around the temple because it gave her something to do
or because she got company there
she was in the temple all the time because she loved the Lord
and she was eagerly and patiently waiting to see the Messiah
that's why in verse 38
after Anna saw Jesus and gave thanks to God for him
she went out telling people about him
she's an example of faithful patience and devotion
as she waited in the temple day and night
learning the Old Testament promises about God and the coming Messiah
praying and fasting
joining in with others as they prayed and waited for Jesus to arrive
her patience was the result of her devotion to the Lord
and brothers and sisters I pray that we too would be characterized
as a people of faithful devotion
not devoted and patient for the arrival of God's Messiah to save his people
that already happened when Jesus came and lived the life that we never could
when he died the death that we all deserve
and was raised to life victorious over sin and death
but faithfully devoted and patient as we wait on his second coming
I pray that we would be faithfully patient for the return of our Lord
the risen ruling and reigning King
who has promised that he will come back
and who is currently seated at the right hand of the Father
interceding on our behalf
and who will come and take us to be with him in the new creation forever
but until that day comes we are called to be faithfully patient
and have faithful devotion
what a timely reminder Anna is for us in our present times
because throughout this pandemic we've become used to sitting behind screens
haven't we
isolation
social distancing have become normal
but it has affected churches too
it's become easy to watch church from the comfort of our couches at home
it's become easy not to engage with church meetings
and to almost forget about church altogether
until Sunday morning comes around again
friends if we are Christians
we are called to eagerly anticipate the Lord's return
and we are called to gather with the Lord's people
gathering as a local church body is not a Sunday activity
churches aren't social clubs that gather around tea and cake
we gather out of a devotion to the Lord
out of a love for his word and a love for his people
we gather to give God all the glory
and to help each other grow in our understanding of his word
and his will for his people
Anna isn't here to teach us that we simply need to get busy with church
and have a full diary all the time that we always need to be in the building
but Anna is a reminder to us of the importance
of spending time with the Lord's people
and building one another up
spurring each other on until the day where we are taken to be with the Lord
or he returns
so brothers and sisters please gather together
fellowship together spend time in God's word together in church
in coffee shops around your homes around tables around meals
do everything you can to have faithful devotion
until Jesus returns
and the second thing we see that characterizes Anna's life is
faithful prayer and fasting
look at verse 37 again
she did not depart from the temple
worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day
Anna used her time to pray and fast
but she goes above and beyond what was asked of her under the Old Testament law
according to the Old Testament law
there was only one day a year
where Israel were required to fast
and that was the day of atonement
but it does seem that around about this time of Jesus' birth
fasting had become quite a common practice
among some Israelites
remember maybe in Matthew 9
when Jesus is asked by John's followers
why his disciples don't fast
and Jesus says that to them then
why should they mourn when the bridegroom is with them
but a time is coming where the bridegroom will not be there anymore
and Jesus says his disciples will fast
now prayer and fasting go hand in hand
fasting means voluntarily going without food
for spiritual purposes
now when I was studying at the Faith Mission Bible College
here in Edinburgh a number of years ago
I did my final dissertation on fasting
the role of biblical fasting in the lives of believers today
because I had no idea about it
I wasn't taught about much in church
and I hadn't really thought about it much
and in my research for that paper
I realized that fasting is either focused on too much
and almost seen as a
some kind of secret spiritual superpower
that strengthens your prayers
or in the other extreme
it is neglected
and not talked about at all
and not practiced at all
sadly we don't have time to go into this
massive but wonderful topic of fasting in depth
but in your own time please do read Isaiah chapter 58
Matthew chapter 6
and Matthew chapter 9
to learn more about what biblical fasting is
but Anna used her time for prayer and fasting
so much of our time is spent with food in front of us
isn't it?
I mean I don't know about you guys
but I definitely had a food coma over Christmas
we sit around the table
we catch up with people
and we spend time together
Sabina and I were in Austria with my in-laws in September
and we always laugh
because when we're there
our lives revolve around food
we have breakfast
and at the breakfast table
we're already thinking about what's coming for lunch
and then we have lunch
and it goes straight into coffee and cake
and then thinking about dinner
and then there's a few snacks in between
before we actually hit dinner
and then there's some sweets afterwards too
food is a very good gift from God
that should be enjoyed
and it takes up a lot of our time
which is a good thing
but Anna voluntarily gave up food
for periods of time
and devoted herself to prayer
we don't know exactly what she was praying
but based on these verses
I'm sure she was thanking God
for his care for her
over all the years
that she'd been a widow
and I'm sure that she was praying
that the Messiah would come
and save the Lord's people
so she is an example of faithful prayer
of time dedicated to the Lord
and spent on her knees
before him in worship
our brothers and sisters
I pray that we too would be
a people characterized
of faithful prayer
and fasting
why don't we very practically
take Anna as an example
and look into the practice
of fasting
and if you are physically able
and if it's wise for you to do so
think about voluntarily
going without one meal
and spending that time
in prayer instead
start a prayer list
keep it on you at all times
as you go about your day to day life
and when you have a second
pull it out
pray for people
pray through psalms
pray prayers that we see in the Bible
use whatever tools you can think of
to raise your voice in praise
and thanksgiving to the God
who loves you
and who gave his life for you
fast and pray in light
of the return of Jesus Christ
pray that the church
both this church
and the global church
would be strengthened
in the knowledge
of God's word
pray for our elders
for boldness
and strength
as they lead this church
pray for wisdom
for you to know
how to glorify Christ
in every area
of your life
every single day
and pray for the non-Christians
in your life
that they would come
to a saving knowledge
of Jesus
and that they too
would eagerly await
his return
jot down those names
pray for them
keep them in your phone
in your wallet
anywhere
but pray for people
to come to know Jesus
Jesus will return
and that will be a glorious
and a dreadful day
glorious for those
who are Christians
and have put their trust
in Jesus
because on that day
we will go to be
with our Lord forever
in perfect harmony
but a dreadful day
for all those
who have rejected Jesus
because for them
that day will not be
one of rejoicing
but one of judgment
and so we need to pray
that people would come
to know Jesus
that they would have
forgiveness
and that they could
look forward to
eternal life
that is only possible
through Jesus
so we should be people
characterized by
faithful
devotion
faithful prayer
and fasting
and the third thing
that characterizes
Anna's life
is faithful
proclamation
faithful
proclamation
read verse
38 with me
and coming up
at that very hour
she began to give
thanks to God
and to speak
of him
that's Jesus
to all
who were waiting
for the redemption
of Israel
so Anna realizes
who this little baby is
and she gives thanks
to God for him
and then she
immediately
goes out
and starts to speak
about him
she proclaims
to every single ear
that will hear
who this little baby is
and it's her role
as a prophetess
she began to share
Jesus
with those
who were patiently
waiting for the Messiah
but that didn't just happen
on this day
the words used
in the original language
point to a continuous
talking
so basically
from this
moment on
until the day
that Anna breathed
her last
she kept on
spreading the news
of Jesus
the news
that the long
awaited Messiah
had already come
this extraordinary
woman
proclaimed Christ
to the people
of Israel
and because
she was probably
around 84
she most likely
died before
Jesus' public
ministry began
some 30 years
later
she saw
who he was
before the rest
of Israel
even got a glimpse
she knew
that the Messiah
had come
and she could not
keep that good news
to herself
she needed
to spread
the news
to all
those who would
listen
so that they knew
the one who could
save them
had arrived
Anna was
still only able
to see a little
part of the story
she couldn't tell
people of the
teachings of Jesus
of his miracles
of his perfect
life
she couldn't
tell people
of his death
and of his
resurrection
and how Jesus
was the perfect
sacrifice
needed
to take away
the sins
of all those
who trust
in him
and to bear
the full wrath
of God
against the sins
of the world
but friends
because of where
we stand
in history
we have
the full story
we know
the whole gospel
and we have
a job
to take it
out to the world
and to spread it
as freely
as we possibly
can
if you're looking
for a new year's
resolution this year
make that one
that you take
every single
opportunity
to share
Jesus Christ
with the world
that needs to know
of him
Anna only knew
a little bit
of the story
but she makes
sure everyone
knows about it
are we
faithful
in our
proclamation
of Christ
or do we
hide it
maybe you're
sitting here
this evening
and you're
nodding away
sounding your
amens
but thinking
that this
devotion
this prayer
and fasting
and proclamation
is only for
the younger
generation
maybe you think
you've served
your years
in the church
and you just
need to step
aside
and let the
young folk
do their thing
let me push
back on that
a little bit
and say that
you cannot
retire from
the Christian
life
there is no
such thing
as being too
old to serve
look at Anna
probably in her
80s and yet
she gathered
with the Lord's
people and she
proclaimed Christ
all the time
she spent her
time in prayer
and fasting
out of a deep
rooted devotion
to Christ
friends
if you are
old
teach the
younger
generation
because we
need to know
how to follow
Christ well
we need to
learn from
your experience
we need to
know how to
faithfully
proclaim Christ
to the world
let us learn
from you
we need to
know how to
serve Christ
to the best
of our ability
but that doesn't
mean you stop
I know so
many people
in this church
and elsewhere
who are too
frail
who are too
ill to gather
with the rest
of the church
family on
Sundays and
other meetings
however
their service
has not
stopped
they spend
every free
minute they
have praying
for the people
of this church
praying for the
outreach of this
church praying
for the leaders
and praying for
individual members
and caring for
them as well
praying that the
Lord would do
his work
praying that the
church would
grow and
ultimately that
God would be
glorified
so regardless
of how old
you are
the Lord has
a work for you
to do in your
season
do not neglect
it
but out of a
deep love for
the Lord
a deep love
for his people
a deep love
for his word
serve to the
best of your
ability like
Anna did
that goes for
both young
and old
and you will
be mocked for
sharing the
gospel
persecution
may come
and you will
definitely have
awkward conversations
but that is what
we've been called
to do
we live in a
world that is
dying without
the knowledge
of Jesus
and the gospel
and we have
a responsibility
to take that
news to the
world
we should never
be ashamed of
the gospel
or hide it
out of sight
but instead
we should boldly
and faithfully
proclaim Christ
to the world
that needs to
hear
I think if each
one of us
lived this kind
of life
using Anna
as an example
I think the
church
this church
global church
would be a
different place
we would be a
people marked
by a great
love for the
Lord
for his words
for his people
and a great
love for the
lost
of our country
that is the
life that we
are called to
live that is
how we live
in light of
the return of
Jesus
so our lives
are full of
waiting
waiting for
important days
doctors
results
interview
outcomes
time with
friends and
family
and that
waiting isn't
always fun
and it isn't
always easy
but Christians
should be waiting
eagerly for the
return of Jesus
we should be
waiting well
by following
Anna's example
of her faithful
devotion
her faithful
prayer and
fasting
and the
faithful
proclamation
of the gospel
living like
this
will bring
glory to
God
and will
prepare us
for that
glorious day
when we see
him face to
face
let's pray
together
heavenly father
we thank you
for the
wonderful promises
in scripture
we thank you
for the lord
jesus christ
who promised
that he would
return and
take us to
be with
himself in
a wonderful
new creation
father we
ask forgiveness
for the times
where we don't
take that
seriously
for the times
where your
return is not
something we're
even thinking
about
father would
you give us
a burden
for the people
around us
give us a
burden for
this city
for this
neighborhood
for this
country
and for the
world
that people
would come
to a saving
knowledge of
jesus christ
father we
recognize that
that work
must start
in our own
hearts first
and so we
ask that by
your spirit
you would
convict us
you would
challenge us
and that you
would give us
opportunities to
share the gospel
help us be
faithful
help us use
our time to
pray and to
fast and
help us
proclaim christ
at every
opportunity we
get we
ask this in
his name and
for the upbuilding
of your
kingdom
amen