ADVENT: The Silent Voice of Anna

This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

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I want us to, if you got a Bible, you take it and open up to Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 2, and I'll start reading in verse 36, and I want to focus on one of the characters of Advent.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

And if I told you I wanted to talk about one of the greatest examples of female piety in the entire Bible, like one of the most profound, godly women in the entire Bible, and if there's this one woman, and you had to say, This is this one woman, most of you would say that woman's name is Mary, and you'd be wrong.

Thank you.

Anyway, no.

I want to talk to you today about the silent voice of Anna.

The silent voice of Anna, as recorded in Luke chapter 2, verse 36.

Luke 2:36

And there was uh the Bible says, and there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanul, of the tribe of Asher.

She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.

She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

And I want to just stop right there, and we'll no doubt get to Mary on the third Sunday of Advent, on its first Sunday, where we talk about and kind of focus on, and we see a picture, the silent voice of Anna.

There's two things that Anna tells us, and I'll I'll get to those just in a minute, but I want you just to kind of not miss what the uh, well, let me just give you the two things.

First of all, the two things that the life of Anna, we see in her life is number one, worship is unconditional.

In other words, her worship of God doesn't depend on everything being just right in her life.

Now, I don't know how you came this morning, but uh you you you could be uh in a great place.

You could have had an argument on the way to church this morning, you could have had to beat your kids, then pull in the parking lot and go, good morning, good to see you.

Uh however you came, your worship of God is not dependent on how you feel.

We have to kind of escape that.

Uh and so she tells us, first of all, that the worship, worship is unconditional.

And secondly, she tells us that waiting is universal, that we all have to wait.

We have to wait for something, and and and we'll get to that in just a minute.

So, just two points in the talk this morning.

And the first one is that worship is unconditional.

What do you mean?

Now, there's a couple things I want you to notice about Anna that she worshiped, number one, and and and how, or the substance of her worship.

Uh, that she worshiped, what do you mean?

Uh, look at the text again, and I want you to see what the Bible tells us about this woman.

She was a prophetess.

Her dad's name was Phanul, it is from the tribe of Asher.

She was advanced in years, which is uh the Bible way of saying she was an old lady.

Okay?

She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin.

That's usually around, they consider that to be the age of 13 or 14.

I'll err on the side of extra time and say 14.

So she got married when she was 14, and no, your kids cannot get married when they're 14.

That's not our culture, okay?

Uh some of your kids are here.

If they're, by the way, our students, most of them are out that are student retreat.

Uh and they'll be back later this afternoon.

Somebody asked where the kids were today.

That's where they are.

But she gets married at 14.

She's married for seven years, and her husband dies.

Uh, and so she is a widow from the time from the age of 21 until she was 84.

And and just just breathe this in.

She she's a widow at the ripe old age of 21.

Can you imagine that?

She's 21.

And her husband dies.

And then the Bible says, here's the thing that blows me away.

It says, and she she was then as a widow until she was 84.

Next sentence, she did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

Can you imagine going to church when you're 21 and not leaving till you're 84?

Some of you are like, oh, we're not doing that today, are we?

No, we're not.

But just don't miss that she's 21, that she worshiped, that she worshiped.

She didn't, she she didn't have to have a husband.

She didn't come and say, you know, hey, where's the 20 to 30 year old group?

Because I kind of need to put myself in that environment so I can find me a man up in here.

No, the Bible says that worship is unconditional.

It doesn't, she teaches us that I don't have to have all the things in my life just right.

I just need to be given the opportunity to worship God.

It's been 400 years, and she said, why does she never leave the temple?

Because that at that time, that's where God's presence, God's spirit, He that's where God lives.

God abides there.

You know, this is, we're still in the time of darkness.

It's still God stopped speaking in Malachi, and it's been 400 years.

People were born and lived and died and never knew the prophetic, illuminating voice of God in their life.

Can you imagine that?

Just never anything.

400 years.

Can you imagine going to church for 400 years and never getting anything out of it?

I mean, you'd be like, how do you get your kids interested in that?

Come on, get up, we're going to church.

Why?

It's horrible.

400 years.

And in this context, Anna is worshiping because her worship doesn't kind of depend.

You say, why are you making a big deal out of this?

I'm making a big deal out of this because I think we confuse worship with appreciation or worship with gratitude.

We come and God's been good to us, and so we kind of want to pay God back or tell God thank you, set to music, or whatever.

And with what or for what does Anna have to thank God?

She's not heard God.

The heavens are just shut up.

It's silent.

The heavens are brass.

All she hears when she prays is her words bouncing off the ceiling of the temple, back down into her lap.

And yet the Bible says from the time she was 21 to the time she was 84, best I can tell, about 63 years of worshiping.

Because worship is unconditional.

She doesn't have to feel it.

She doesn't come and say, Thank you, God, that I came to this cool church, had an awesome singles ministry, and I found me a husband, and now I'm on the road to recovery.

I think of what the prophet Habakkuk said in Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 17, when I think of Anna.

Habakkuk 3:17

See, it's not appreciation or gratitude.

And by the way, those aren't bad things.

Those aren't bad things at all.

I'm not narking on that.

I'm not making light of that.

I I was laying in my bed the other day, and I just out loud I just said, Oh God, you've been really, really good to me.

I I haven't I haven't missed that.

That's not been lost on me.

But but but I thought of Anna when I read this in Habakkuk chapter three.

He says, Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls yet.

Then just get the get get get that condition.

Get that.

There's no fig tree, there's no blossom on the fig tree, there's no fruit on the vines, the produce of the olive crop has failed, and there's no food out in the field, and the flock is cut off, and there's no herd in the stalls.

We got nothing, God.

We are dead broke, our kids are hungry, we can't even afford to pay attention.

And the Bible says this yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

God, the Lord, is my strength.

He makes my feet like the deers, he makes me tread on high places.

This is what Anna's worship is like.

And she relates to this and she understands that.

And what I'm saying to you and I today is that we need to get close to this.

That's why when I do premarital counseling, and then we talk of their last session, session five, we talk about their service, and I ask them, what do you want your service to say to all your guests about you and your marriage?

And they always go, I don't know.

I don't know.

That's the guy.

Now the woman reaches down, pulls out a folder of clippings she's been cutting out since she was six.

It's got dresses and sketches and articles from Bride magazine.

And I'm like, we're not incorporating this in the service, are we?

Well, I got some ideas right here.

Uh and can we clear the stage?

Can we move the drums?

Can we bring in live animals?

No, no, this is not a Christmas pageant, okay?

Then they ask me, What do you think?

Well, I just here's what I would invite you to.

I would invite you to this one thing to let maybe think about Habakkuk chapter 3, verses 17 to 19.

Habakkuk 3:17–19

And usually the phrase or the response is, that's in the Bible?

Yes.

And it says, and I read it to them.

And then invariably, these two 20-something, 30-something-year-old people that are just all happy at the thought of being married go, that's kind of depressing.

And I look back across my desk and say, There are going to be some depressing days in marriage.

Brace yourself.

And then look at me and they go, Oh, really?

Yeah, are y'all sure you're ready to do this?

Because this isn't going to fix you.

Matter of fact, this man is so gonna aggravate you, you're gonna fantasize about killing him.

And the woman always goes, Really?

And I look at the guy and go, and this woman is so not gonna meet your needs the way you think she should, when she should, that you're gonna fantasize about being married to somebody else.

And you're gonna get on Facebook and you're just gonna troll and see what your ex-girlfriend's doing.

At that point, the guy looks nervous because he's like, Oh, you've been on my Facebook page.

How hard is it to worship God when you get everything you want?

That's what the life of Anna says to us.

Hey, the worship of God is unconditional, so let's just don't miss the fact that here's a woman who's been widowed since she was 21.

She's now 84, she's wrinkly like a prune with feet, and she is going hard after God.

There's a lot of you that what you really believe about God will be most on display after you get your kids raised and you're free to do what you want.

So just notice, first of all, that she worshipped, and then secondly, the substance of her worship.

The Bible says it was fasting and prayer.

With fasting and prayer.

Our worship, we cannot let it erode down into just singing songs and and that kind of thing.

And it's fasting and prayer.

It's always been a those have been always components of biblical worship.

And so when I say fasting, what I mean is intentionally not eating for the purpose of focusing on spiritual things, pushing away from the table and just saying no to this, not as punishment, but as preparation, so that when spiritual things begin to happen all around you, you kind of have the eyes to see what is happening.

It's like Jesus says to his disciples, you know, these kinds don't come out except by prayer and fasting.

If you find yourself consistently frustrated with yourself and your lack of spiritual progress or your lack of spiritual understanding, it might be that your soul is kind of saying, Hey, let's just do something besides what we've always done.

And this is crazy, but I'm gonna say it anyway.

Here's the application part of the sermon right here towards the front.

Pick a time, sometime during this uh uh this great Christmas party month of December, where Americans eat seven billion pounds of cheese and processed meat and all that good stuff, and and and maybe just push away from the table and fast.

And maybe just say it's preparation or trajectory for Advent.

And by the way, fasting is not, hey, you've been bad, you don't get to eat.

I don't know about you, but I grew up, sometimes when we would do something at the table we weren't supposed to do, we were sent to our room with no supper.

That's not fasting.

That's not the heart of God.

And matter of fact, feasting ought to accompany fasting.

You say, what do you mean?

I'll give you the great example.

Tonight, I'm gonna go with a friend and we're gonna have dinner at Decker's out in Fulshire.

Most of you have no idea what I'm talking about, but Decker's is this joint out there, and they have a chef, like a real chef, not a high school kid who likes to smoke pot and cook in his spare time.

Like a guy with a white jacket with his name stitched on it that knows what he's doing.

And at Decker's, they have these things called quail legs, and it's grilled quail legs with cream cheese and jalapeno wrapped in bacon.

Oh yes! And I am gonna go and devour those to the glory of God.

And they have at Decker's a pork chop about that thick.

And the chef comes out and meets you and says, How would you like me to prepare that?

I'm like, man, this is not Lubies, is it, huh?

You ain't got no carrot raisin salad.

This is awesome.

And he says, Would you like me to grill something on the side?

And I'm like, Oh, absolutely.

Grill whatever you want on there, and I am gonna consume it to the glory of God.

Here's why.

Because feasting prepares you for fasting.

And fasting prepares you for feasting.

You gotta do both.

It's not punishment.

I'm not gonna go there and go, oh, I probably shouldn't have this.

Oh, yes, I should.

I worked hard this week.

Thank you, Jesus.

I should be burning in hell, but there's a man back there wrapping stuff in bacon, and he's about to bring it to me.

See, y'all take your food for granted, I can tell.

Shame on you.

And so the Bible says of her that she fasted.

She intentionally, see, here's my fear that we hear fasting and we recoil in horror and then we start just kind of saying no to everything.

You know, like I'm gonna fast from my mother-in-law.

How about that?

How hard is that?

Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna fast from uh and we pick some random thing.

Here's the deal: here's what scares us about fasting, because fasting reveals what controls you.

That is the most threatening thing about fasting.

And the Bible says of Anna, that she worshiped the Lord with fasting and prayer.

With fasting and prayer.

Now, it's not the kind of prayer, like if you're in Luke chapter 2, I want you to turn to the right to Luke chapter 11 and say to me, I'm not preaching about prayer.

Luke 2 · chapter mention Luke 11 · chapter mention

I just want to read you what Jesus said about prayer so you don't think I made it up because I got in trouble this week talking to somebody, because a friend of mine said, Hey, you know, when you pray, I just never know what's gonna come out next.

Uh uh and he looked at me and he said, Do you ever feel that way when I pray?

Do you ever wish people didn't ask you questions?

And by the way, I'm not the general man of the universe.

I'm not the like the official scorekeeper or the judge of people's prayers.

I don't listen to people's prayers.

I mean, I listen to their prayers, I don't evaluate them, but I have a good long relationship with this person, and when he prays, it's just weird.

It's like he's he's kind of hurrying up before anybody realizes he's talking to God.

When there's affection, there's a sense of combustion, and there's no telling what comes out.

Not to be inappropriate, but to be intimate.

Jesus says this in Luke chapter 11, verse 5.

Luke 11:5

He says, And he said to them, Which of you has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him, and he will answer from within, do not bother me.

The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed.

I cannot get up and give you anything.

I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, hear that.

Jesus is talking.

Jesus says, He's not gonna get up and give him anything because he's his friend, yet because of his impudence, he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

Just stop right there.

What Jesus is saying is this right here, beloved.

Sometimes I'm gonna tell you no just to see if you really want what you're asking for.

And here's how you demonstrate that you really want what you're asking for: impudence.

You're like, well, that'd be good if I knew what that word was.

That means that you forget your manners.

And you don't act, you know.

I have to say to my 15-year-old every once in a while, hey, remember who you're talking to.

Basically, he says, hey, hey, hey, comes at night, knock, knock, knock, hey, I got some people.

Get up and give me some bread.

Hey, man, I'm already in bed.

We done locked the door.

We took the dogs outside.

You know, you got your nighttime rituals.

We let the dogs out one last time.

We're all hunkered down here, we're good.

And the Bible says he's not gonna get up because he's hey man, we're friends.

Come on, we've been BFF since seventh grade.

No, but because of his impudence, because he starts beating on the door, he gets a jam box and holds it up and plays achy breaky hard until he comes out.

That's punishment there.

No, hear me, beloved.

I ain't time to go into this.

It's advent.

We're supposed to be taking a bath.

Sometimes God just tells you no, just to see if you really are willing to get undignified and just say, you know what, God, I respect that, but I'm just gonna keep on asking.

I'm gonna keep coming.

Yeah, I got a ladder, and I'm gonna go over here to this side window, and I'm gonna climb in here because I need some bread.

Instead, you appeal to your friendship and your relationship.

Well, I've been a Christian since 1968, and this is the way I've always done it.

And I think what Jesus says to her, to his disciples in Luke 11, we see Anna living in Luke chapter 2, and I just want to say to you one last time.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

And my friend, by the way, he was just like, and he said to me, Well, I just want you to know that that kind of language about God offends me.

Talking about lovers and wine.

Oh my gosh, that's horrible.

And I snapped and I got impudent.

And I said, You know what's horrible, you little religious weasel, is that you talk to God like you do, and you think that's prayer.

If I was an unbeliever and you were talking, I would think you were talking to the sky fairy trying to get more sugar.

Because he's been in church his whole life, and he relates to God out of his relationship.

We're afraid.

I'm a child of God.

I don't doubt that.

I just doubt that sometimes I think his prayer life is more about information than intimacy.

Second thing we see from the life of Anna.

Number one, we see that worship is unconditional.

It doesn't depend on your circumstance.

You just worship.

And secondly, you see that waiting is universal.

Verse 38, you still with me?

Did I lose you back there?

Ooh, he said that twice, and that was really creepy and awkward.

Verse 38.

And coming up at that very hour, says she did not depart from the temple worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all those, to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

She's waiting for the redemption, not just her, but these other people.

You say, waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

We'll get to that in a minute, but let me just give you a couple of four thoughts on waiting, because the hardest and most necessary thing you will do as a Christian is to wait.

Let me say it again.

The hardest and most necessary thing you and I will do as Christians is to wait.

And so we need to have our thoughts kind of shaped around waiting.

And I want to give you four shaping thoughts about waiting.

Number one, waiting is a learned behavior.

It is a learned behavior.

I don't think we are born people who understand how to wait.

It's a frame of mind, it's not an activity, it's a way of being, it's not a list of tasks.

In other words, waiting, it kind of reminds you that you can't do anything about your situation.

And you say, well, that's kind of heady.

I don't quite get that.

Let me just bring it down to where you live.

Go to lunch today.

Go to Papacitas about 12:30.

And they're gonna say, you're gonna say, how long's the way?

Because it's gonna be packed.

There'll be people everywhere, people standing around, and you're gonna say, How long's the way?

And they're gonna say 10 to 15 minutes.

Okay?

Regardless, they're gonna say, that's what they always say.

That's what they said to me three weeks ago when there's people everywhere, oh, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Oh, okay, come on, we're good.

We'll stay.

All right, I'll take the little thing, sit down, and I don't know about you, but I kind of pick out the person right after me who put their name on the list, and I watch them because if they get a table before I get a table, they're gonna be trouble.

And so I sit down, and when they say 10 to 15 minutes, I hit my watch and mark.

And the 15 minutes are going.

And about 18 minutes, I need some justice up in here because I got myself on a trajectory about how you said 10 to 15 minutes.

I don't know if you lie all the time or just circumstantially lie, but it's been now 22 minutes.

And here's the thing my wife is over.

Just kind of like, for the look, can Jesus come back now so this man does not embarrass me yet again?

There's empty tables over there.

Oh yeah.

And I go up to them and say, hey, excuse me, did this we sneak up on y'all?

The lunch rush on Sunday?

I mean, you're right across the highway from Six Flags Over Jesus.

You didn't think some of those people were going to come here and eat?

And you got empty tables right there.

They stick a sir.

Where are you on the list?

Not high enough, I can tell you, because two people who came in after us have already been seated, and I'd like a free dessert.

I'd like to see the manager.

Who do I punch in the throat to get the ball rolling around here?

And they're laughing and snickering, and my wife's just like, Oh, I've seen this movie before.

And I'm like, what is funny?

I am hungry.

And my wife, she goes, What's the big deal?

She asked me one time, what is the big deal?

Why is the bug?

Here's the big deal.

It's a violation of my sovereignty.

That's horrible, isn't it?

You feel the same way.

That's why you're laughing.

You think I'm the thorough god of control.

What I do and what I want should happen.

And the lady said to me in a moment of just weakness, she said, Well, we're backed up in the kitchen.

Not my issue.

We can't see people because we can't cook enough food fast enough.

Why?

Do you not have enough people back there?

Again, did Sunday and lunch?

Is that like a new reality for you?

It's one of the busiest lunch days of the week.

Well, sir, if you'll just wait over here, don't say that word to me.

I've been waiting.

It is now 26 minutes.

You said 10 to 15 minutes.

You know what makes this right?

This is not costing you anything.

You'll get better at this when it comes.

Not only, if you make me wait, not only am I not happy, but I have a list of suggestions for how you could do your job better.

And you ought to be happy.

I came in here today to help you do your job better.

But they're not.

Because I said, hey, when should this start costing you?

Just tell me on the when Mickey's hand gets where should I get a free dessert?

Because if this cost you, you wouldn't do this again next Sunday.

But it doesn't cost you.

You just say, hey, hold the little red circle of lights and wait for it to light up.

I'm not six.

This is not fascinating.

It is frustrating.

And then there's my sweet wife just standing there, like, why do you think you're so important?

You don't have to wait.

I waited for 10 to 15 minutes, like they said, and now they are robbing from me.

Because I'm sovereign.

Oh, I see some of you out in the crowd.

Oh, well, I'm going to pray for you, Pastor.

You just got some issues.

Remember the last time you were coming up three lanes of traffic to the red light, and you're way back there, and you're trying to figure out which car is going to go faster?

And you go, I oh, I got to get over here in this lane over here.

I don't want to get behind that minivan.

This sports car is going to go faster.

And then the sports car took off, and the guy's going eight miles an hour, and the woman in the minivan, whoom.

And in your mind, you're like, oh, I knew I should have picked that lane.

And three lights down the road, you're still looking and kind of going, man, she's way up there.

Ah.

That's because it's a violation of your sovereignty.

And you are galled to the bone.

Why?

Because you find yourself in a circumstance over which you have no control and all you can do is wait.

So let's you sound all self-righteous.

Well, our pastor's got anger issues.

No, I just don't like to wait.

That's all.

It's a learned behavior.

I cannot go out to Sunday lunch until I demonstrate that I can wait.

That's what my boss told me.

I'm not taking you out to lunch.

You're taking me, who's paying for this?

By the way, that ain't the thing to say in case you're wondering.

Second thing about waiting.

Waiting teaches us to savor the future.

See, we live in a world that's convinced us with good credit, we can have anything we want right now, so there's never any need to wait.

The mantra of our culture, especially right now, is why wait?

Why wait?

Saw a commercial the other day.

Buy a complete house full of furniture, no payments till 2018.

Why wait?

You can have it all right now.

Ask yourself right now, what are you really looking forward to?

What are you just savoring?

What are you thinking about?

Like, oh man, savoring the future is not hating the present.

Not at all.

As much as it is living in the present affected by what you believe about the future.

Let me say that again.

I'll demonstrate from the Bible.

Savoring the future is not hating the present.

As much as it is living in the present, living right now, living today affected by what you believe about the future.

Paul says this in Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

He says, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time right now are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

The creation waits with eager longing.

How do you have, how do you wait eagerly?

But the Bible says that creation waits with eager longing.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope.

See, everything God does towards the world and with the world is done in hope.

He subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

And not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly.

Did you hear that?

We groan inwardly as we wait eagerly.

How do you wait eagerly?

It's like John Wooden, the great UCLA basketball coach, used to tell his players be quick, but don't hurry.

What can you imagine Bill Walton the first time he heard that?

Oh, dude.

Be quick.

What kind of Jedi mind trick is that?

Be quick, but don't hurry.

It's what Paul says.

Hey, wait, but wait eagerly.

He says, we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adopt for adoption of sons, the redemption of our bodies, for in this hope we're saved.

No hope that is seen is now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Third thing about waiting.

Waiting teaches us to learn to stay in the present.

To learn to stay in the present.

Our tendency is to idolize the past and anticipate the future, and to do both at the expense of right now.

Right now is not a prison sentence that God's consigned you to, that you've got to try to figure out how to break out of it.

Right now, whatever circumstance.

And I realize for some of you, that is, I'm divorced and I'm trying to heal.

I'm open to the possibility of another relationship, but right now I want to heal.

Or for some of you, it's like, man, I'd love to have a relationship right now.

Christmas just reminds me that I'm lonely and I just want to self-medicate.

I get that.

But learn to stay in the present.

Don't just always be looking forward to one day when I or when he or when she.

My wife said to me last night, our oldest is at the breathe retreat, and our youngest went somewhere with a neighbor's to get ice cream, and she looked at me kind of teary-eyed and said, In eight years, this will be our life.

It'll be just you and us.

And Mark.

Please, if Burr Rabbit, don't throw me in that briar patch.

Don't think that was the answer she wanted.

But anyway, learn to be all here right now.

Because here's what we do.

Once we kind of get in our head and we believe that God's not doing what he should be doing, then we're free to take matters into our own hands.

Once we realize, and by the way, it's always been this way.

God's people have always been this way.

If you read in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 27, this is what he says.

Isaiah 40:27

This is us.

Listen to this.

He says, Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel?

This is God saying to his people, hey, why do you numbskulls?

Why do you say, my way is hidden from the Lord and my right is disregarded by my God?

Translation, hey, God's not aware of what's going on in my life, and I got rights, and I'm not getting what I deserve.

Well, I'll tell you what, I I better take charge.

And then God says to such people, not that any of you in this room would be tempted to take charge of something right now and to make something happen.

Not to, none of us would be tempted to look around and go, you know what, this is what I have, and this is what I want, and this is what I deserve, and now and I'll I'm gonna be careful.

You might give birth to Ishmael.

Your Old Testament scholars are going, mm.

Some of you are like, I got nothing.

That's okay.

Abraham and Sarah, God made him a promise.

Way back in the Old Testament and said, Hey, you're gonna have a child.

Sarah was old.

I mean, like old, old.

I mean like go to your great-grandma and hang a right old.

And she came to her husband one day and said, Hey, I'm not getting knocked up.

I ain't getting pregnant.

I'm an old woman.

Here, take my handmaid.

Her name is Hagar.

He's like the name, this is Hagar.

She's got a brother named Hagar the Horrible.

He's right here, too.

This is Hagar.

She's a young foxy mama right here, okay?

Get her pregnant, she'll have a child.

And they're like, God's not doing this the way we think he should, and in the timely manner we'd like him to do it, so we're gonna take matters into our own hands and we're gonna make it happen.

And she got pregnant, and she gave birth to a son, and his name was Ishmael, and his descendants are at odds with the descendants of the child of promise to this day.

In a country called Israel, in a place called the Gaza Strip, and in a country like Egypt.

Be careful.

Learn to stay in the present.

What does God say to those people?

God says, Have you not known?

Have you not heard the Lord me?

I am the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth.

I didn't begin it, translation.

I didn't begin it and run out of materials.

I'm the creator of the ends of the earth.

I know how this all goes down in the end.

I do not faint or grow weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might, he increases his strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted.

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not be weary.

They shall walk and not faint.

See, waiting means learning to stay in the present.

And not always taking matters into our own hands and pushing things forward.

Fourthly and finally, waiting has a purpose.

And put a star by this if you're taking notes, because if you don't believe this, your mind's just gonna snap one day and you're gonna go, I can't take it anymore.

Waiting.

The Bible says of Anna, right here in Luke chapter 2, that she was waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

It's the capital of Israel.

It's a reference to God's people waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Notice how Anna, she begins to give thanks to all those who are also waiting.

She's not the only one waiting.

And all of a sudden, she begins to speak.

The Bible says she gives a gift thanks to God.

And why is she giving thanks to God?

I mean, she hadn't found a husband yet.

She's been at church for 63 years.

Has she not been to all the Sunday school classes and figured it out yet?

No, she begins to, all of a sudden, the old woman begins to kind of chuckle, kind of like, oh yes, now it's all coming together.

Say, what do you mean?

Remember when I first got up this morning and I said the Old Testament ends in Malachi chapter 4, verse 5, and God says this, remember the law of Moses?

Malachi 4:5

Remember that?

Hello?

Remember that?

Look at verse 39 of chapter 2.

And when they, that's Mary and Joseph, when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.

And the child, Jesus, grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon them.

If you're wondering what Anna was saying to these people, this silent life, who, by the way, in the text, Anna never says a word, but her life communicates volumes.

Her life says, hey, worship is not circumstantial.

You don't have to be happy to be recklessly joyful about God.

But also, hey, waiting is universal.

We all have to wait.

And what she has waited for for all this time begins to unfold right in front of her.

This is a horrible analogy, but it's kind of like men, if you're out deer hunting and you've been there since before dark and you're about ready to give up, and all of a sudden at the corner of your eye, you see something moving, you're like, holy cow, there is something with a rocking chair strapped to its head.

Look how big that thing is.

And you're afraid to move.

You're just like, and you start taking little breaths.

You're gonna hyperventilate.

Like, breathe, breathe normal.

And the issue is, how do I get my gun and get it kind of turned where I move and oh uh uh.

I mean, that's that surge of adrenaline, that tinfoil taste is in Anna's mouth.

She's an old woman, but she's like, all of a sudden, in a split second, God brings it all together.

You say, Well, I don't see it.

This law that he ends the Old Testament in saying, hey, remember the law of Moses.

Take this seriously because I do.

Anna looks up, and here comes a man and a woman with a baby.

And they're satisfying the demands of the law.

And they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord.

And Anna knows what Galatians chapter 4, verse 4 and 5 says.

Galatians 4:4

And Paul writes this: He says, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem.

Why does baby, why do Mary and Joseph pay the temple tax and kind of pay homage and say, here, we have a firstborn son.

And this is what the law requires for that.

He was born of a woman, born under the law.

Why do they do this?

To redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

And in that moment, Anna, the old woman, who nobody, she's never left the temple, it's kind of like she's like a gym rat.

She's just always in here, okay?

She's a piece of furniture.

It's Anna.

And all of a sudden, it just kind of unfolds in front of her.

And she begins to speak of him to all who are waiting for the redemption of Israel.

It's no accident that we finished Romans where we did, and we just hit the pause button at the end of chapter three.

Because in that chapter, remember, he says, But now the righteousness of God has been made available apart from the law, although the law and the prophets testify to it.

Anna sees this all unfolding in the birth of a baby being brought to the temple to pay the tax responsible.

That's why the first Sunday of Advent, I just love you enough to say to you that your God loves you enough to make you wait.

And it's not punishment.

Waiting is a universal reality.

And while you're waiting, don't waste your time complaining.

Don't waste your time reminding God, hey, by the way, I I you told me 10-15 minutes, and my my answer is not here.

I went to church three times this month.

Waiting just has a purpose.

And you all of us are waiting for something in this room.

Every one of you.

And that's not what I want you to think about as I close this morning.

I want you to think about is the issue is not are you waiting?

Or what are you waiting for?

The issue is how are you waiting?

Let's pray together.

Take a moment, if you would, and just think about that part of the equation, how you're waiting.

We will end our service the way we began it in darkness.

And this room will go pitch black, and you'll be reminded what it feels like to wait.

It's a little unnerving and it's a little overwhelming.

But this is what it felt like for Anna spiritually.

It just got darker and darker and darker, and God kept speaking up to the Old Testament minor prophets, and the people of God just threw it off because they were stiff-necked and hard-hearted, and they say, We're gonna do whatever we want, and it got darker and it got darker, and the voice of God drew got softer and softer, and finally it just went away.

And so we find ourselves in the dark.

And if it gets darker, it can always get darker.

That's what God says to in Malachi.

He says, Hey, remember the law of Moses before I bring the prophet Elijah.

And if you guys don't change, it's only gonna get worse.

It's God's way of saying, just like in this room, it can get darker.

And God says, I'm not out to punish you.

I want your undivided attention.

And so on this first Sunday of Advent, we light this candle to remind ourselves there's meaning in the waiting.

And the issue before us is not, are we waiting?

The issue before us is not for what are we waiting or who are we waiting.

The issue before us today is how are you waiting?

Most of us, when we think about New Orleans and hurricanes, we think about what happened in our not too distant past.

But that wasn't the first hurricane to devastate New Orleans.

When Lyndon Johnson was president, hurricane with almost equal effects ravaged New Orleans.

Couldn't get in by plane, had to land outside of the city, got in a car and drove.

In the middle of the night, he insisted that he be taken to a shelter.

And he gets to the shelter where people are.

There's no power, you can't see.

Lyndon Johnson had a flashlight, and he held up the flashlight, and he announced, I am your president, and I'm here to help you.

The first Sunday of Advent, we want to remind ourselves that our God has come and punched a hole in the darkness and raised his voice to say, I am your God, and I've come to help you.

Stand to your feet if you would.

Hold your hands out.

I'm gonna speak a blessing over you.

Sometimes your God slows you down, not because he wants to speak to you, he just wants to smell you.

He wants to enjoy the fragrant aroma of his children.

Whether you smell like grill cream, vitalis, moose, or jail.

Your God just enjoys you and everything about you.

Depart now and live like enjoyed people in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you, you dismiss.