There is this old prophetess, Anna, in the Nativity Story. Luke gives us the only glimpse into her existence. We don't know anything about her other than she appears in the story and sees the child, Jesus, as the hope for her people.
She is said to be 84 years old. Her husband died when she was young. She is reputed to have worked in the temple. She made a contribution. She is one who saw Jesus as the Messiah and proclaims it.
Luke likes to bring in women in roles that are almost equal to men. That is a unique feature of Luke's approach.
The story of Anna is so brief you wonder if there is enough of a story there to do anything with it or to trump it up into a sermon. Maybe not. But it could be the better story is the brevity of the story itself. Anna is not featured. She is peripheral and incidental and yet her proclamation is a remarkable addition to the narrative. Her role is authenticating and important even in its brevity.
What is the role of the aged in our world? Is it incidental? Is it vitally important?
Why would we have a Senior Sunday at our church and a week after we have Children's Sabbath if we didn't value our senior members as much as our children?
Truth is, if we are ever going to have a society that measures up to the strength is had within it we are going to have to value every part of it.
What do you think?
Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have your thoughts read by the other readers of the blog click on the 'comments' box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
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