Luke 2:36-40; December 31, 2023; First Sunday of Christmas
So, in the first couple of years of Seth’s life, my wife and I have had wildly different parenting styles. It’s made for interesting conversations, or arguments, depending upon your definitions.
To put it plainly, we disagreed about how much Seth should be allowed to fail and get hurt. We would be at a park, for instance, and he would be climbing up one of those fake rock structure thingies, and while Anya would be panicking about a turned ankle or falling on his face, I would be off to the side saying, “Buddy, jump! It’s going to be awesome!”
Fast-forward, Seth did poorly on a math-test last year, and I thought it was great. Because now I knew what he needed to learn, and where we needed to do better to help him grow in his understanding. Anya however, my beautiful and amazing wife (let it again be known), took it as an indictment against his future and wondered if he would be living at home until 30.
Now while I am perhaps, just a little, embellishing things (as I’m known to do), it has been somewhat of an issue for us in our marriage. We are getting better at it. 2023 was better than 2022. But we still need to grow together in our parenting, both for us and for him. Pray for us, my friends, and I will pray for you too.
The point of all this though, I think (I hope) is that we all need to keep growing. To get better. Individually. Collectively. Mutually. And our goal in life should be growth. Growth in understanding and wisdom. Growth in faith and spirituality. James says, “faith without works is dead” (and, he is likely right). And I often say that faith without growth is just as dead.
We can’t be afraid to grow. To learn. To even get it wrong so that we can eventually get it right. Because that’s how we gain new insight and perspectives. Of ourselves, our spouses, and our kids. But, also of God and scripture. It’s how we increase in our understanding of what God was saying thousands of years ago, and, what God is still saying thousands of years later.
So, what can we learn then from our text today that will help us grow tomorrow? Well, let us take a look:
There was a prophet named Anna. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. And she began to praise God and to speak about the child (Jesus) to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. – Luke 2:36-38
You see, right off the bat, something to learn. A woman. Another woman. The Gospel of Luke in its first two chapters features three different women. Mary, Elizabeth, and now Anna. Three in two. And each of these women teach us things that we need to hear.
You see my friends, women in scripture get things done, and efficiently at that. And though there is still more work to do, The Presbyterian Church (USA) has done right by women of late, recognizing their gifts in scripture, and the autonomy over their bodies, and their equal standing in ministry and in every single arena of life. My wife is not less than me because of her anatomy. No way! In fact, I know she is more.
And so is Anna. Anna here in our text is 84, so we are told, and after the death of her husband, she took an opportunity to carve out a new purpose for herself. To learn and to grow. It happened to be in the church. In the temple. And we learn that she stays there for almost the entirety of her days. She prays. She fasts. And, she also prophesies. Luke calls this woman a prophet.
And prophets, my friends, weren’t cooky foretellers, or misty-eyed crystal ball-watchers, but advisors and guides. They helped kings and queens make good decisions (if they were willing to listen), and they offered instruction to the people (if they were willing to hear it).
And the wisdom/prophecy that this woman offers to us all… is that a little child will lead everyone to redemption.
At 84 then, with all of her experience and age, she yet saw something amazing and historic happening in the most inexperienced and unhistorical of creatures, a little child. There is wisdom in that, my friends. And something for us to learn ourselves.
For you see, too often, as we get old, we get so settled in our ways of thinking that we end up believing that nothing and nobody can teach us anything new. We’ve seen it all. We’ve heard it all. We know it all. And yet, here, even at 84, this woman was willing to buck all of that, and to notice that in a little child God was about to do something worthy of hers and our attention.
Indeed, a lesson for us all then: That we are never too old to listen. And that we should never be too experienced to ponder and consider something new. For even Jesus himself, we are told in verse 40, “grew and became filled with wisdom.” As if he too had to learn and grow, even as God’s anointed, even as God’s son.
So, I think for 2024 our resolution should be to do the same. That if Jesus was made to do it, then so should we. To look with fresh eyes at this world we inhabit. To be willing to be amazed and surprised by events and people we might have otherwise not paid attention to. That no matter how youthful their face, or how inexperienced or ancient their age, no matter their gender, orientation, or race, we should be willing to give everyone a chance to help us collectively, mutually, and individually advance ourselves forward.
Because the truth is, we really need to stop going backwards and return to advancing forwards. And quickly at that. Because both yours and mine and our kids’ futures depend on it. So let us not run it back again in ‘24. Let us not rely on outdated traditions and ignorant slogans. And let us not continue to make old mistakes new again, resulting in more injury and greater systemic failure. But rather, let us learn and grow from all that we have seen and heard, so that tomorrow might prove better than yesterday.
Amen.
