Rev. David Holwick ZL Women of the Incarnation, #3
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 15, 2013
Luke 2:36-40
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I. Important things take a while.
A. How long are you willing to wait?
One of the things Celeste and noticed in Denver this summer was
the large billboards on the highway that gave the current
wait times at local hospital emergency rooms.
This way when you read the sign and wander into the next lane,
you know how long you will have to wait to treat your broken
neck.
It is actually a big deal - the average wait times in national
emergency rooms was as high as a four hours and seven minutes
in 2009.
How long would you wait to rub elbows with Mickey Mouse while
sipping martinis in the most magical place on earth?
Disneyland's exclusive Club 33 has a wait list as long as 14
years.
This is only slightly longer than the line for Splash Mountain
in the summer.
The most dedicated waiters must be Green Bay Packer fans.
Started in 1960, the Packers' wait list for season tickets has
grown to 96,000 names.
The average wait time -- 956 years.
That may be an exaggeration because another website lists it
as only 100 years.
The New York Giants waiting list has 135,000 names, but they
won't even give a guess as to how long you will have to wait.
#64333
B. There are more important things than football tickets.
1) In the time of Jesus, one woman spent her life seeking God.
2) How dedicated are you to seeking God's will in your life?
II. Anna was a woman of incredible devotion.
A. She was alone for most of her life.
1) She had probably married as a young woman, and had only
been married for 7 years before her husband died.
a) Scholars disagree on whether she was 86 years old,
or had been widowed that long.
b) She could have been over 100 years old.
2) She had an ordinary background.
a) Her family was a remnant of one of the "ten lost tribes."
1> The Old Testament tells us some of their people
had not been deported, but moved into Judah.
b) There is no mention of children.
B. She devoted her life to God.
1) She worshipped in the temple area, continually.
2) She didn't necessarily stay there 24/7, but it was the
total focus of her life.
3) Fasting and prayer were her only activities.
C. She wasn't a professional.
1) As a woman, there weren't any positions open for her.
a) She could be the wife of a priest, perhaps, but there
is no indication Anna was.
b) "Prophetess" was not an official position.
1> It just means people felt she had a genuine
connection with God.
2> They trusted that she could communicate God's
thoughts to others.
3> You might call her a spiritual freelancer.
2) God uses people who are outside the religious establishment.
a) I am an insider.
1> Last night I went to a Christmas dinner with
families we had homeschooled with.
Who was asked to say grace before the meal?
[Me, of course.]
They even complimented me on how I did, but added,
"Of course, you're a professional."
2> I think we have more admiration for those who don't
do it for a living.
b) The most impact usually comes from those who do it on
their own.
1> Think about the people who have had the greatest
spiritual impact on you...
A> How many of them were religious professionals?
B> How many were family members, friends,
neighbors?
2> God can use YOU in a mighty way, if you let him.
D. Anna wasn't young.
1) Our culture values youth and vitality.
a) Unfortunately, most of us are going in the other
direction.
2) Anna shows that God is no respecter of age.
a) He can use young people, and he can use the old.
b) The only thing that matters is your commitment to him.
III. Are there limits to devotion?
A. We tend to think people who do this are nut-cases.
1) They are the kind of people who shamble down the streets
in the bad parts of town, mumbling to themselves.
2) Or the kind who corner you at family gatherings and talk
about spiritual things for an hour without letting you
get a word in edgewise.
3) Spiritual devotion and mental imbalance can seem
interchangeable at times.
B. Ancient people were more open to extreme spiritual dedication.
1) Seeking God was valued by them.
2) In the early church, thousands would spend their lives
holed up in caves or isolated on rock pillars, doing
nothing but praying.
a) Kings would come to them for advice and direction.
b) You have to wonder if this might have been a prime
motivation for those spiritual warriors.
C. We should not discount the value of someone's choice.
1) Our culture values accomplishment over contemplation.
a) We want to do things that are concrete.
b) The ancients would say we are too worldly-minded.
2) Seeking God has value on its own level.
a) It can be good to go off and just focus on God for
a while.
b) Philip Yancey once spent several weeks in a Colorado
cabin, just reading straight through the Bible.
1> He wanted to review God's plan in one fell swoop.
2> But it ended up being practical - he wrote a book
about his experience.
c) If God is real, it is valuable to desire and seek him.
1> Even if there is no tangible payoff that we can see.
2> God is worth it on his own.
IV. Anna recognized Jesus.
A. She only sought God in her life.
1) The man Simeon, who also devoted his life to prayer, had
a revelation from God that he would see the Messiah.
a) Luke calls it "the consolation of Israel."
b) Simeon prayed because he had a God-given goal.
2) As far as we can tell, Anna didn't have a goal like this.
a) She just prayed.
b) She was open to whatever God wanted to reveal, in his
time.
c) And God revealed something big to her - a little baby.
1> Anna had the spiritual insight to recognize this
baby was part of God's plan.
2> She calls him the "redemption of Jerusalem."
B. Redemption is a critical concept in the Bible.
1) The essential meaning is buying something back.
a) First-born children had to be bought back from God.
b) This was done in a symbolic way by giving an offering
at the temple.
c) Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to do this.
2) The redeemed was actually a Redeemer.
a) What Mary and Joseph did for Jesus, Jesus would do for
his nation -- and for the world.
b) His death on the cross would be the sacrifice to
purchase us for God.
3) The term became a code-word for the Messiah.
a) Anna basically is telling everyone, "This baby is the
one."
b) It was the ultimate divine revelation to her.
C. Would you have recognized Jesus? Do you recognize him now?
1) Spiritual truths are only revealed to spiritually-minded
people.
2) This season has a religious basis, but the average person
doesn't get it.
a) To them, the "real meaning" of Christmas is loving
your family and being nice to people.
b) All of these are good things, great things -- but they
are not the real meaning of Christmas.
c) Christmas is God coming down to earth in the form of
a baby, that he can bring us back into a
relationship with him.
V. Real devotion pays off in the end.
A. Seven decades of waiting for a dead man.
On June 7, 1944, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower gave the final order
for the allied invasion of Normandy.
It was the eve of D-Day.
Among the Americans who fought to liberate France in the months
ahead was 1st Lt. Billie Harris.
He was a fighter pilot he was sent on a mission on July 17, 1944,
over Nazi-occupied northern France.
He never returned.
He had married Peggy Harris of Vernon, Texas, just six weeks
before being sent overseas.
She never got a knock at the door, never got a telegram, never
got anything definitive explaining what happened to her
husband Billie during World War II.
And so, in the absence of answers, she has remained dutiful to
this day.
Mrs. Harris said, "Billie was married to me all of his life,
and I choose to be married to him all of my life."
At first Billie was reported as missing.
Then he was reported as alive and coming home.
Then Peggy got a letter saying actually he'd been killed and
buried at one cemetery -- then another letter saying he was
buried at a different cemetery.
Then she was told maybe those aren't his remains at all.
Peggy was very frustrated.
She waited.
Months turned into years -- "and still no answer."
Years turned to almost seven decades.
So in 2005 she wrote her congressman.
His office wrote back to say he was "still listed as 'missing
in action' in the National Archives."
Billie's cousin, Alton Harvey, didn't feel it was right that
he had just went off to war and didn't come back.
He wanted the family to know what happened to Billie.
So a few years ago, he decided to try and get to the bottom of
it for Peggy.
He started by requesting Billie's military records.
And that's all it took.
Few missing soldiers have ever been easier to find than
Billie Harris.
In Normandy, France -- at the world's most famous cemetery --
along its most traveled path, the answer has been lying all
along -- clear and sobering as a white marble cross.
Since learning her husband was buried here, Peggy has been
sending flowers - ten times a year she sends flowers.
Billie's grave is the most decorated grave in all of Normandy.
Cemetery officials say she's also, as far as they know, the last
widow who still visits here.
After 60 years, she's clearly got a lot of mourning to make up
for.
Peggy says at this point that's the best she can hope for is
the acceptance of reality.
And her visits help her get there.
Plus she says, after just six weeks together as husband and wife
-- and more than six decades apart -- any time together is a
treasure. #64324
B. Christmas can be compared to this woman's wait.
1) Peggy waited to find someone who is gone.
2) We wait to find someone who is gone, but yet alive.
a) We find a grave that is empty because death could not
hold him.
b) And we wait knowing that we will see him again,
face to face, just as Anna looked at the baby Jesus.
3) Anna lived in hope.
a) She wasn't punishing herself by praying all day.
b) It was her passion - she enjoyed her time with God.
c) Do you?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#64324 “For Soldier’s Widow, A 60-Year Mystery Finally Solved,” by Steve
Hartman of CBS News; edited by David Holwick; June 7, 2012;
<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/for-wwii-soldiers-widow-a-60-year-mystery-finally-solved/>
#64333 “How Long Are You Willing To Wait?” by David Holwick, adapted from
"The Longest Wait Times In The World," Verizon FiOS BuzzFeed
Partner, June 29, 2012; <http://www.buzzfeed.com/verizonfios/the-longest-wait-times-in-the-world-6gye>.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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