30th January - Reverend Jo Jones

Anna - Seeing Salvation                                                         

The origins of the festival of Candlemas lie in Jerusalem before the 5^th century. It was adopted by the Roman Liturgy during the 7^th century. The celebration recalls the encounter of the infant Jesus with Simeon and Anna in the Temple. The meaning o this is that the Lord meets his people, who by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit recognise and acclaim him. The Christ is revealed as the light of nations, and so the tradition is to bless candles on this day – Candlemas.  Out of the characters in the Candlemas narrative, we’ve chosen to focus on Anna – I’ve prepared some reflections to listen to and then questions for us to ponder alone and as a whole group.

Luketells us that Anna’s from the tribe of Asher - this links her with the Jewish Diaspora – Jews taken by the Assyrians into Exile and scattered far beyond Jerusalem. Anna would have seen Jerusalem as the centre of Israel’s faith and history, and she was looking and longing for the time when Israel would be redeemed and Jerusalem and the Temple would be at the heart of that rebirth. IncidentallyAnna is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Hannah –think of Hannah Samuel and Eli – that Hannah was praying of a child but Eli the priest dismissed her as drunk and only gave a blessing at the end – it’s worth re-reading that story for the threads of it picked up by Luke’s gospel - Luke shows Anna and the priest Simeon as the best of Israel’s faithful people. And Mary mirrors Hannah’s story by giving back her son to God – and Mary’s son is God.

Perhaps we feel sorry for someone like Anna – widowed for so long and alone – in her own time her personal tragedy may have been seen by some as a judgement from God – Anna offended him, this was her punishment. Others may have patronised her thinking she can’t have much of a life without home and family. Still others who would not take her seriously because she was a woman. But Anna was still there in the temple being an effective witness for God – turning the bitter experience of loss into the new calling of prophet.

And Anna shows dedicated and long-suffering obedience to a calling – she has a significant ministry of prayer and listening for the activity of God – her worship and witness and prayers is still seen in the lives of women in religious orders today. Anna’s reaction to Jesus is vital reassurance for Mary, so young and vulnerable, and for Joseph, so shaken by the events of Jesus conception and birth – it’s an affirmation that others with wisdom and insight had recognised the extraordinary nature of the son they had brought to the temple to fulfil the law of dedication of the first born to God and paying a ransom to the priest in the form of doves. This son whose whole life is a fulfilment of the law, who gives his life as a ransom for many, the one on whom the Holy Spirit rested like a dove.

[Pause for thirty seconds]

Annais waiting. How hard it is to wait for 30 seconds when all you have to look forward to is me speaking – how hard it is to wait in this culture which prides itself on instant access to everything, at least for those who can afford it. Anna is old – how hard it is to be old in this society where youth is worshipped and the old are made to feel redundant, a burden on society. Anna is alone – how hard that is in a world where people don’t know their neighbours and friendships are conducted through computers. Anna is poor – how hard to be poor in a country where material wealth is confused with human well-being.

So here is Anna, waiting, watching, hoping, praying, alive to the possibility that she may live to see a great work of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit … Anna a prophet of the most high, a woman of faith and substance, of prayer and fasting, not leaving but staying – what can you teach us as your voice carries down to us through the centuries  - what can you give us as a gift – courage, endurance patience, valuing the old and the wisdom of experience gained over years of faithful love – Anna – you saw in the baby Jesus the salvation you’d longed for and prayed for - what can you inspire us to do and to be as we watch not for a baby but for a king whose glory is revealed in the wounds of the cross?

Think of the years that Simeon Anna and Jesus spent unnoticed and in anonymity – think of their hidden preparation and unseen growth and nurture – it seems God is unhurried –we are impatient for change and solution and resolution – we want closure. We must learn to tune into the rhythms of God – if we are to bear fruit – then the gardens of our souls need times and seasons to allow space for the maturingof faith and the patient action of the Holy Spirit in us. What looks like inactivity in human terms can be the Spirit at work. Anna shows us that.  She shows us the unhurried timing of God.

Now as we pause for reflection maybe you’d like to ponder one or two of these questions …

How easily do we wait on God?

What are the disciplines we need - prayer and being at worship, patience, fellowship?

What are the hopes we have?

And what are our expectations about what God and the kingdom will be like?

Are they perhaps too small, too limited? Do we need God to expand our vision so that we don’t miss what he’s showing us?

How do we view our own aging in relation to our faith and spirituality?

And how do we see the place of the young in the church? do the young and the old have something precious to offer each other?

And if life is changing for us - what new ministries is God calling some of us to – what have we to lay down or to take up?