Read Luke 2:25-40
You Can’t Take That Person Seriously.
Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple in order to do everything the Law of Moses required of them. It just so happened on that same day that Simeon and Anna were in the temple. These were two separate elderly people who loved the Lord with all their hearts. God used both of them to speak powerful words of praises and truth. They spoke of Jesus as the one who would bring redemption to Israel, to the Gentiles, to All Nations. Mary and Joseph marveled at their words.
Every time I read this passage I can’t help but think of Simeon and Anna as two old people who faithfully attend church but are not taken seriously. People often look down on the elderly and see them as an inconvenience. I wonder if people saw Anna as the crazy lady always in the temple.
However, it was these two old people that God chose to speak of God’s coming Salvation through Jesus. He could have chosen a young priest, a wise Pharisee, very religious Sanhedrin, or a devout elder of the church. But instead, he chose to old people with no specific leadership role in the church.
Let this be a reminder that:
1. We’re never too young to be used by God.
2. And we’re definitely never too old to be used by God when pointing people to the redemption of Jesus.
3. Be very careful how you categorize other people based upon their age, their appearance, their popularity, and their gender (male or female). In fact, the one person you think is crazy, overzealous, not popular by any means, and maybe even made fun of in church, may in fact be the very person God uses to reveal his truth to others.
Years ago, we had this “weird” lady come to church. She was passing through and stopped at our church that Sunday. She was weird. During Sunday School she made some comments about how the churches are compromising their faith, and even eluded to our church as having flaws. She continued making comments even after church. I remember making a comment about how weird she was. The senior pastor quietly confronted my spirit cuz he felt perhaps God sent her to church for a purpose and did not want to dismiss her constructive criticism as just mere words from a crazy weird lady. He wanted to entertain her thoughts as possibly coming from God himself.
Who are you? Guess what? God wants to use you!
