Acts of Advent 15

We can’t neglect Anna this Christmas. Here is her story from Luke 2:

36 There
was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of
Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years
after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty‑four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming
up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about
the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of
Jerusalem.

Advent for this old woman, as it was for her old companion Simeon:

emerges from a longing for Israel.
emerges from a life of prayer for Israel.
emerges from mourning/fasting for Israel.
emerges from a messianic hope
emerges from a woman whose hope is the “redemption of Jerusalem.”

Advent, for Anna, is the redemption of a City — the City of God, the City of David, Zion.

Any sense of Advent that is not about what God is doing in this world to create the People of God, the messianic People of God, is not the biblical sense of Advent.