Sermon Tone Analysis

*Intro* – Read Luke 2:36-38 -- The great painter, James Whistler, once ordered some blank canvases which were lost in the mail.

The postal service adjuster asked Whistler if the canvases were of any great value.

He replied, “No – not yet!”

The value was added by his painting.

We face a similar challenge every day.

God gives us a blank canvas.

It is a valuable gift; but its ultimate value is determined by what we paint on it -- how we use it.

Hopefully we will be like Anna.

When Mary and Joseph went to the temple for Mary’s purification and to present Jesus, Simeon confirmed that they were on the right path in rearing Jesus -- that Jesus would be great and bring salvation to all people, even Gentiles.

But he also prophesied some tough times.

But at that moment, Anna arrived.

An extraordinary woman.

An encourager, sent by God to temper Simeon’s message of suffering.

Lu 2:36 says, “And there was a prophetess, Anna.”

This puts her into a special category of those who speak for God.

Five prophetesses are mentioned in the OT.

There was Miriam, sister of Moses, Deborah, a judge, and Huldah, who gave one prophecy for King Josiah (II Kings 22:14).

None of these 3 had an ongoing prophetic ministry.

Noadiah (Neh 6:14) was a false prophetess.

The fifth was Isaiah’s wife.

In the NT, only the daughters of Philip are called “prophetesses” with no explanation beyond that.

So Anna was part of a very select group of women in the Bible sent to speak for God.

Anna is from the tribe of Asher -- one of the ten northern tribes taken captive by Assyria in 722 BC.

Those tribes were absorbed by Assyria and quickly lost their identity, thus becoming known historically as the ten lost tribes of Israel.

But, King Hezekiah of Judah, in the south, invited Jews left behind to come to Jerusalem, give up idols and worship the true God.

The messengers were mocked by most people, but a few from the tribes of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun came.

Anna descended from those.

I think it is interesting that in identifying her, the HS mentions that background.

It reminds us that the Lord knows those who are His.

The tribes may be lost to the rest of the world, but not to God.

He always knows His own.

Jesus says in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd.

I know my own and my own know me.”

If you belong to God, you can never escape His notice.

He knows who, where and how you are.

And whatever is in your life is His gracious work to refine you.

So, why does Anna come at just this particular hour?

She’s giving assurance that suffering will not be in vain.

Yes, pain will come, but nothing will prevent Jesus being “the redemption of Jerusalem” (Lu 2:38).

In the end, He will prevail.

God promises all His children “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18).

Anna delivers that same message of hope and expectation right on time.

Both her life and her message present a beautiful portrait of an encourager.

And so we want to see this morning what characteristics of her life were used by God to encourage Mary’s heart.

*I.

Finishing Strong*

It is inferred that Simeon was getting old.

But it is directly stated in Anna’s case.

Lu 2:36, “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.

She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 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.”

Anna was either 84 or had lived 84 years after the death of her husband, which would make her over 100 years of age.

Either way, she was getting on in years but is finishing strong.

Age eats away the vigor of youth.

But so often it does worse.

The idealism of youth is worn away by disease, disappointment and the realities of life.

Cherished hopes die, and we become resigned to things as they are – or worse we become the dispirited, bitter, disillusioned curmudgeons we once despised.

Unwittingly, we see God as a failure.

Our hearts die a slow death, and our influence wanes or even goes from positive to negative.

Life has a way of beating us down.

In seeing life as failure, we see God the same way.

Not Anna.

84 years old and going strong.

Worshiping, fasting, praying night and day.

God had no trouble getting her to be “coming up at that very hour.”

Interesting phrase in Lu 2:38?!

At just the right time, Anna arrives on the scene, an aging portrait of encouragement.

She might have been like the elderly nursing facility residents who reveled in rehearsing their latest aches and pains in sessions known as “organ recitals.”

But not Anna.

She was about bigger things.

Thus at the right place at the right time God uses her.

Did you ever notice how many of God’s choice servants failed at the end?

It’s a grave warning to all of us.

We don’t want to be just living out our time – feeling useless.

Moses was one of history’s great leaders.

But in the end, the grumbling Israelites got to him.

In Exodus 17, the Israelites grumble about not having enough water.

God tells Moses to strike the rock and water gushes forth.

In Numbers 20, the same scenario plays out, only this time God tells Moses to speak to the rock.

Then Num 20:10, “ Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”

11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.”

God graciously provides the water, but Moses’ hostile resentment, his arrogance that he and God (we) would bring the water, and his disobedience to the Lord’s command cost him dearly.

A late-life failure.

David had years of great service to God only to fail the mid-term exam when his lascivious nature got the best of him with Bathsheba.

Gideon won one of history’s great military victories, but later erected his own idols.

Hezekiah was a good king; but when God granted him 15 more years pride took him down.

Don’t you want to finish strong?

Don’t you want to be strong beginning, middle and end – like Daniel, like Joseph?

The July 6, 2009 issue of SI told the story of Reuben Jordan.

Only 5’7” tall, he was nevertheless one tough dude -- nicknamed “Tuffy” by companions in the foxholes of WWII.

He could climb the stairs on his palms – once walked 5 miles on one leg to win a nickel bet.

Tuffy was tough and he passed the trait on to his two sons.

No one thought he would get old, but he did and on May 1, 2009 doctors told 86-year-old Tuffy that he had cancer of the bladder, liver and colon.

Nothing they could do.

The family loved sports, so Tuffy decided he wanted one last round of golf with his boys at his MI home.

Richie lived nearby; Barron drove up from Florida, and they headed to the local 9-hole course.

It wasn’t easy.

The boys took turns helping Dad from cart to tee box.

They caught him after almost every shot as his balance failed.

Eventually Richie carried him on his back like a toddler.