Biblical Text: Luke 2v22-40

What was the last thing you truly looked forward to? That you waited for expectantly? Christmas has just been and gone. Perhaps there was a particular present you were hoping to get, or to give. Or perhaps you’ve had the experience of waiting for a baby, whether yours or someone else’s. You know it’s coming…it gets harder to ignore the further the pregnancy progresses, but you have to wait. You never really know when this tiny human will arrive, and even with modern medicine, there’s always a small fear they won’t.

Today we celebrate Candlemas, the presentation of Christ in the Temple, and we have before us two people, Simeon and Anna, who encountered Christ as a child. Simeon was waiting, waiting for the Lord’s Messiah, but as far as we know he didn’t know he was waiting for a child. Anna, on the other hand, does not even seem to be waiting at all. But she has been faithfully worshipping in the temple for perhaps many years. Both get to encounter Christ.

They are a good example of two different, yet faithful lives. Simeon, we are told, knows he will see the Lord’s Messiah, the anointed one. The Holy Spirit had revealed it to him. And he is guided by the same Spirit to come to the Temple, where he finds Jesus, still small enough to hold in his arms, and proclaim, “now let thy servant depart in peace…my eyes have seen your salvation.” His words form the basis for the Nunc Dimmittis we hear at Evensong.

On the other hand, we have no idea what Anna did or didn’t know about the Messiah. What we do know is this…she was a faithful worshipper of God, night and day. The gospels are filled with examples of people who met Jesus and clearly didn’t realise who he was, but not Anna. Anna knew…and she began to praise God and tell anyone who would listen about this child.

Both Anna and Simeon had faith, but that faith was not identical. The Holy Spirit rested on Simeon. That’s quite the affirmation. If I get to the end of my life and people can say, “The Holy Spirit rested on Paul,” I’ll be very happy. Simeon was devout, for sure. But it doesn’t seem as though he was in the Temple night and day. The Holy Spirit guided him in, and there, as promised, he met Jesus.

Anna, on the other hand, was the one who turned up. She was there, night and day. She was a constant presence: consistent, committed, reliable. Her habit of never leaving the Temple, of prayer and fasting, meant she was bound to be there when Jesus came. If he’d been there the week before…or after, she’d still have seen him.

Lest you think I’m trying to suggest there are two ways to have faith, please rest assured I am not. There are far more than that! Go read Hebrews 11! The faith of so many is commended there, and no two are identical. Noah had faith, as did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses, the one who received the 10 commandments, had faith, and so did Rahab, the gentile prostitute. Gideon, the one who had to lay down a fleece before he’d do anything, had faith, and so did Samson, who was not known for his self-restraint. I could go on.

Faith looks different in different people. But what is not different is the object of that faith, Christ himself. Those mentioned in Hebrews 11 had faith even though they did not receive what was promised. Anna and Simeon were privileged indeed. Their faith found its fulfilment that day in the Temple, when they looked upon Christ and saw their and our salvation with their own eyes. Not just salvation for the Jews, but for Gentiles also. All people were to be included.

We are not in the same position as those mentioned in Hebrews. We know far more about the Christ in whom we have faith. But neither are we in the same position as Anna and Simeon. We will not meet him face to face…yet. But Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have come to believe.”

May we all put our faith in Christ, who comes as a revelation to us all, and who is our salvation.

Amen.