In Peter Allison's sermon 'Called to Wait,' he explores the biblical characters of Simeon and Anna from Luke chapter 2 as exemplars of faithful waiting and devotion to God. The sermon highlights their roles as significant despite societal notions that some callings are beneath one's potential. Simeon and Anna are depicted as devout individuals who were filled with, led by, and taught by the Holy Spirit. Simeon, a just and devout man, was waiting for the consolation of Israel and had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Messiah before his death. When he saw Jesus, he declared that he had seen God's salvation. Anna, a prophetess who spent her days in the temple with fasting and prayer, gave thanks to God and spoke of Jesus to those looking for redemption. The sermon contrasts their humble yet spiritually rich lives with the superficial righteousness of the Pharisees, emphasizing the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit and faithful to one's calling. Allison criticizes contemporary societal values that diminish certain roles and encourages believers to seek wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit in whatever calling they have been given.

Please turn in your scriptures to Luke chapter 2. I think we will have one more message before returning to our study of Proverbs, but in light of our plans for next year, I think we will be coming back either on a monthly basis or quarterly. I haven't quite figured out what would work best. But to have two series going, and I think Luke and Acts is a good place for us to be. So here, God's Word this morning, beginning with verse 22 in Luke chapter 2, after Jesus has been circumcised on the 8th day.

This is now 32 days after that. A month after this, we begin reading verse 22. Now when the days of your purification According to the law of Moses were completed. They brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as It is written in the law of the Lord every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel.

And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord Now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him, and then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against, yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

Now there was one Anna, the prophetess, the daughter of Faneuil of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years who did not depart from the temple but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem." Thus far, the reading of God's Word. Almighty Heavenly Father, We thank you for your Word and we also thank you for your Spirit that opens the eyes of our understanding, that opens our heart, that opens our minds, that enables us to understand these spiritual things.

For Lord, apart from Your Spirit opening us and teaching us, we could not understand these things. So We ask for faith this morning. To believe Your Word is read and brought to us. And we ask, Father, that I ask that you would sanctify this vessel of clay for this purpose. In Jesus' name, amen.

A couple months, maybe it's been a year, I was listening to a panel that was at Rice University. They had three or four business and government leaders, I think the mayor of Houston, the CEO of a big large multinational company was there, some professor with expertise in these matters was there. And then they had a representative from a small business in the Houston area. You know, it wasn't a mid-sized business, owned by a husband and wife, run by them. And she had a very interesting perspective, very different from all the other participants on the panel.

She was somebody who was living, if you will, in the trenches. And the comment that has stuck with me is the fact that in their business, they make things out of metal. They're a fabrication business, so they have these milling machines. Some of them can be very expensive. And their business consisted primarily of about 20 or so of these machines that they hire people to operate to make stuff, all the stuff that you need to drill an oil well or make a car or all the other things that we need to do to put food on our table and gas in our cars and have equipment in our hospitals to treat our illnesses.

They make these kind of components. And she said they've had a very difficult time finding people who want to be a machinist. They can't find people who want to be a machinist. There aren't children growing up who say, I want to learn how to use this milling machine to make very complicated and intricate parts and do it well. There aren't those people.

Because we live in a culture where feminism has taught us that some things are beneath us. That there are Some callings that are more worthy than other callings. And there are some things that are not fulfilling. And certainly being in the home is one of those things that feminism has said is not fulfilling. It's beneath you.

It's second rate. And you're not truly realizing the potential as a person if you are relegated to one of these callings. And certainly being a machinist could be put into that same category. A calling that is beneath people who want to maximize or realize the full potential of their ability. Their ability.

The two people that are described by Luke here are a very strong rebuke to that sort of thinking. A very strong rebuke to the idea that some callings are beneath our potential as people create an image of God. Simeon was a man whose post, whose calling in life was waiting for the consolation of Israel. And Anna was another woman whose calling was to live a life of prayer and fasting day and night. And so we want to look, I'd like to look this morning a little closer at these two people and the calling, the job that God gave them.

They were called to wait upon the Lord. That was all. They weren't great and mighty. They didn't have great titles. Nothing is said of Simeon about having any great office or title.

Anna never left the temple. These were people who outwardly speaking, outwardly speaking, looked like they were down and out, looked like they didn't have any purpose in life. But we see in this text how the Lord looked upon them. Because the Lord looks upon our heart and not on the outside. And what is described for us here with these two saints is a very fulfilling and God-honoring calling and people who were precious in the sight of the Lord, who were righteous and devout, people who are commended by the Lord.

Simeon is in the temple when Mary and Joseph bring Jesus back to the temple. Or actually, We don't know whether he came to the temple to be circumcised. He was circumcised on the eighth day. It says, the days of her purification according to the law were fulfilled. You can read about that in Leviticus 12.

That's where God's law describes what Luke refers to. And so it talks about a woman who is given birth to a son is unclean for seven days. And then it says, and then she continues in this impurity for another 33 days. What happens after seven days? Well, our text says, and the law says, that Jesus is circumcised.

But there's a process of purification that's described in Numbers 19. It has to do with the ashes of a red heifer, hyssop and sprinkling and so on, and there's a baptism that occurs on the third and on the seventh day to purify a person who is unclean, such as Mary was and Jesus was by virtue of being born of her. And so there is this waters, and the waters of Nidah are applied on the third and the seventh day. And Jesus as a baby then is cleansed and on the eighth day, as our text says, he was, When eight days were completed, he is then circumcised. Then Mary continues in her impurity for another 33 days.

Then at the end of that period, it's 33 days more for a son and it's 60 days total for a daughter. But when those days are completed, then she is to come to the temple and offer a sacrifice. So Leviticus says, when The days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter, there are two different times there. She shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering." She brings a lamb. And a pigeon or a turtle dove as a sin offering.

And she brings it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So The temple here is Herod's temple and it is in Jerusalem. She shows up at the appointed time, according to Luke, who is giving an ordered account of the life of Jesus and his works. She shows up, but she doesn't show up with a lamb, does she? Our text says that a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons, as it says in the law.

Luke doesn't quote the full law. The full law said she was to bring a lamb and a turtle dove, but If she could not afford a lamb, if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtle doves or two young pigeons. So instead of a lamb and a turtle dove or pigeon, she's allowed to bring two turtle doves or pigeons because she's poor. You can't even afford a lamb for this sacrifice at the birth of her son. That tells you something about the status of Joseph and Mary.

They were not on the upper end of the societal status. They came from the North, from Nazareth. They were too poor to find a place to stay. Jesus was born in a stable. There was no room in the inn.

I'm sure there was room if one had enough money. There was a room somewhere for those that had money. But For those who were poor, there was no room in any place that they could afford to stay. That's the way it is if you've ever looked for a room anywhere. I was just earlier this year looking very surprised when I was looking for a room in Denver area and there was nothing available.

I was astounded. Unless I was willing to pay a thousand dollars a night, then there were rooms available. I wasn't willing to pay that. That was beyond my means. And so Joseph and Mary were poor.

And so they brought a pair of turtledoves. But there was another purpose for which they were coming. There are two things being put together here in their visit to the temple. Every male who opens the womb is holy to the Lord. Why?

Because of the Passover, when God killed every male that opened the womb, man and beast, throughout the land of Egypt. Except where the blood of the Passover lamb was applied to the door of that house. Then God's angel of death passed over that home and did not take the firstborn. So the firstborn, God said, belonged to him. And every child that opens the womb was the Lord's and needed to be redeemed.

That's first given in Exodus 13. And it shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of Canaan, that you will set apart to the Lord all that opens the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have, the males shall be the Lord's, but the firstborn of the donkey you shall redeem with the lamb, and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. So it shall be when your son asks you in time to say, what is this? Why does the firstborn belong to the Lord?

Why do we have to redeem the firstborn of every animal? Why can't we have that lamb, that ram, that firstborn ox? Why can't we have it? Why is it the Lord's? When your son asks you, what is this that you shall say to him, by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

And it came to pass when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed the firstborn throughout the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. And therefore, this is what Moses said, parents, fathers, and mothers were to tell their children when they asked. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord, all nails that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem. It shall be as a sign on your hand and as a front-link between your eyes, for by the strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt." Now, having claimed all the first born as a remembrance, a sign of what God did in delivering the children of Israel. When the Israelites did get into the land of Canaan.

God made a deal with them. He made an exchange. And He took all of the Levites in the place of the firstborn. They counted out all the Levitas And they counted out all the Levites and they counted out all the firstborn and they down to the number. This is one of the places, sometimes the Bible gives us round numbers, but this is one of the times that the Bible gives us a number down to the ones digit.

Down to the ones digit on the Levites and down to the ones digits on the first born. And God makes a swap. He says, I will take all the Levites as the first born. But there were 276 extra first born over the Levites. And for those, they had to make a redemption, they had to redeem those.

And for the redemption of the 273, sorry, of the firstborn of the children of Israel who are more than number than the Levites, you shall take five shekels for each one individually, and you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, and you shall give the money with which the excess number of them is redeemed to Aaron and his sons." And so in the very beginning there, there was this exchange. But after that, the firstborn son that opened the womb had to be redeemed with those five shekels. And so they have come to redeem their firstborn son. Every male who opens the womb is called holy, holy to the Lord. And so they have come to the temple to conduct this business according to the Word of God.

And when they get there, behold, there is this man Simeon. He is described as a just and a devout man. It's a lot like the Bible described Job, a just man in all his ways. Simeon is described as just and devout. Devout is a word that only Luke uses in the Bible.

And it means, the word literally means to take hold well and carefully, to take hold of well and carefully. In this case, he's devout in terms of taking hold of this hope of the gospel, taking hold of the Word of God and the promises that are in Scripture and being careful to do all that the Lord has commanded him because he is looking for something. He is wanting to be righteous. He is wanting to be righteous. That is the desire, that is the ground out of which devotion arises.

The desire to be righteous, to be received. Now The Pharisees had a desire to be righteous as well. They were just trusting in their own ability to do all that God had told them to do in their flesh with their own strength. They were seeking to be righteous. And Jesus said they had a pseudo-righteousness, an outward righteousness.

They were like, but they weren't truly righteous. They were like, Jesus described them as a tomb that looks nice on the outside. It's whitewashed on the outside. It looks clean and beautiful or acceptable. But inside, Jesus said, it's full of dead men's rotting bones.

That's the righteousness the Pharisees had. But Simeon is filled with the Spirit. Just look at, He's filled with the Spirit, he's taught by the Spirit, he's led by the Spirit, he's satisfied by the Spirit. Simeon is righteous because by faith he is looking for the consolation of Israel. Looking for the consolation of Israel.

He's different. In a day where the church was consumed with titles of respect, outward symbols of authority, he had no special office calling title training. Remember Jesus said of the Pharisees that they loved to be called by titles of respect. They loved to be called rabbi. They loved to be seen in their robes of authority.

They loved to be seen and heard making lengthy prayers. They loved to be seen giving their gifts and their alms, to bringing their sacrifices, all these outward aspects of their righteousness. They loved to be seen. Simeon had nothing of that sort. What he had was being filled with the Spirit, being led by the Spirit.

He had a faith and he was looking for the consolation of Israel. Now the Pharisees were also looking for the consolation of Israel. The Jews, all of them, were looking for the consolation of Israel. But He was looking for something different than what they were looking for. Most of them had this term in the Old Testament, this is a reference to the Messiah, Old Testament reference.

But the Jews were looking for a political savior who would exalt Israel through military conquest and rule the rest of the world with a rod of iron. But that's not what he was looking for. He was looking for a consolation. Now, consolation is something you need when you are sorrowing. Sorrowing because of sin, sorrowing because of our guilt.

And so he's looking for a Savior. Christ's anointed is who he's looking for, Or God's anointed, Jesus Christ, who was the consolation of his, who was the comfort of the gospel, the comfort that God would bring for those who were sorrowing for their sin. And so by faith Simeon is waiting for this. That is his job. It says that Simeon was just and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ, the Lord's anointed. That word means anointed. If we were to translate that word, it would be the anointed. The one who was chosen and set apart and called. The Hebrew word is Messiah, the Greek word is Christ, and we use all three of them, but they are all the same word in three different languages.

They mean the same thing. He was looking for, he would not see death until he had seen the Lord's anointed, the Lord's Christ. And when he sees Christ come into the temple by his parents, he took them up in his arms and he blessed God. He said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace. That word that he uses, you're letting your servant depart, is a word that is used to describe the men you mission the freeing of a slave From his from being a slave from a duty here.

It is the word of for releasing somebody from their post relieving them of of a duty or But it's but it's it was comp this word was commonly used is what's the word you would use if you said you were releasing a slave. You were giving a slave his freedom, emancipation. He says, Lord, now you are releasing your servant. And that word for servant, there are several different words. That's the do-loss.

That's the slave. That's the lowest of all the words that one might use. That is not a hired hand, the employee who could also be a servant. This is a slave, somebody who is owned by someone else. He says, Lord, now you are releasing your slave.

Now you are releasing Him. His office, His function, His calling has been completed. His calling was to wait for the consolation of Israel. There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of his wrong.

And now he says, Lord, now you are releasing your servant because mine eyes, according to your word, mine eyes have seen your salvation. His seeing of Jesus as a baby in the flesh, he said, my eyes have now seen your salvation. Those were eyes of faith. This was a man who was taught by the Spirit, filled by the Spirit, led by the Spirit, satisfied by the Spirit. And with those eyes of faith, he saw in this baby, God's salvation.

None of the other people who were running around this temple. And they probably were in maybe the court of the women, because Mary is with Joseph at this point. And so there was a court of the women outside of that. There was a court of the Gentiles which only which all the Gentiles couldn't come into the inner courts and then there was a court further on which only the men could go into the court of Israelites but so there Mary is with them so they are no farther than the court of the women where they are doing this. They have come.

And so you have off in the corner, on this temple compound, this old man who is, I think he is old, he is ready to depart, he has fulfilled his calling, he has been told he won't die until this happens and now this event that the Holy Spirit told him would happen before he died has now happened. So he is ready to die. He's completed his life's calling, his last job. He is seeing this and you can Probably imagine the Pharisees, remember these are the people who Jesus described as going out of the way to walk around somebody who is lying injured, the Samaritan that is injured in the road. Here are some Jews, but they are poor Jews.

They are not bringing a lot into the temple. The priests and the Levites lived off of the sacrifices and This money that is given for these things and these are poor people so there's they're not going to have a lamb from them today There They're only going to have two turtle doves, two pigeons, not much meat on that. So you can imagine they're probably not paying much attention to Mary and Joseph and this old man Simeon, who didn't have any titles, he didn't have any great office, he wasn't indignatory, he had no great importance, people didn't go out of their way to say, Rabbi, and genuflect. But Simeon is over there with eyes of faith, seeing Christ, the consolation of Israel. My eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all people, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles.

That's another way that Simeon was very different from the Jews around him. They were looking for a Christ who would come and not comfort them in their sorrow, but rather beat all their enemies down, make them a strong military might to throw off the hated Romans and bring vengeance on the Romans. And we know from the accounts of the battles in 70 AD, just how vengeful and almost irrational these Jews were in their hatred of the Romans, in their seething to throw off the hated Romans. He's got a very different idea. He recognizes that Christ, this baby in front of him, the incarnate God, has come to bring a light to the Gentiles.

Even the believing Jews didn't understand this. When God showed the vision to Peter in Acts 10, Peter recoils and says, no, no, I could never eat these unclean things. And God has to tell him what I've called clean, don't you call unclean. And so Peter goes to the house of Cornelius and the Holy Spirit comes upon Cornelius, God brings a light to this Gentile. And Peter sees that and recognizes that the Holy Spirit has come to the Gentiles just like he came to them.

And he says, Well, why don't we baptize you? You've gotten the Holy Spirit. And they do. And then, remember, Peter comes back to Jerusalem and what happens? The believing Jews, not the unbelieving Jews, the believing Jews call Peter to account for why have you gone to give the gospel to the Gentiles.

And Peter has to explain to them that, well, when I saw the Holy Spirit fall on them just like he did on us, how could I forbid? I had to recognize this is what the Lord was doing. And when he answered them, the believing Jews then were silent. Their argument was answered. And they'd glorified God because they were believing Jews.

And they rejoiced at the light that God brought to the Gentiles, but not at first. That wasn't in their mind. That was totally foreign to their understanding, to what they were looking for. The Messiah was their baby, not a light to the hated Romans and the Gentiles. But Simeon, having been taught by the Holy Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit and led by the Holy Spirit, sees that Jesus is a light to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.

Simeon is faithful to his calling. It wasn't a high and mighty calling as it didn't earn the respect of the Jews and the Pharisees, but he was faithful to that calling. He's a devout man. He clung well to that calling. And he looked, he waited patiently for the consolation of Israel to come.

We don't know how many years he waited and prayed for the consolation, for the comfort of Israel. God's son, his anointed, who would bring comfort to those who were in sorrow for their sins. We don't know how long He was waiting, how many years it was earlier that the Holy Spirit had told Him that He wouldn't die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. But he waits. Now with Anna is another saint.

We are told how long she has been waiting. How long she has been engaged in this calling of hers. Anna is a prophetess of the tribe of Asher. She is an Israelite. So this is somebody who wasn't lost as we hear about the lost tribes.

She knew, scripture records she was of the tribe of Asher, one of the ten northern tribes that was carried into captivity and dispersed because of unbelief. It says that she was of a great age and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity and this woman was a widow of about 84 years. It's not exactly clear how those years are to be counted. Was it that she was a widow for 84 years? That would make her quite old.

Or was she 84 years old and a widow having only been married 7 years? Either way she's been a widow a long time. I think the way this is laid out here, it says she is of a great age. And then it goes on, she lived with her husband seven years and this woman was a widow of 84 years. So I think it's saying that she was married, she grew up, Maybe she got married at 13, 15.

She's married seven years and her husband dies and she's been a widow for 84 years. That would make her over 100. That would be somebody who was of a great age. But it could be that she's 84 years old. But she's at least 84 years old and I think probably well over 100.

Because we don't know how old she was when she got married. All we know is that she was only married seven years. Now to be a widow in that day meant to be without any social support, without an income, without really any means of support. Jesus had compassion on that widow of Nain because her only son had died. And you brought that son to life.

We see Elijah having compassion on widows who had nothing other than a little bit of oil. Nothing to provide for them. Nothing to provide for them. Anna has been a widow 84 years And she did not depart from the temple Now The temple was only maybe 600 feet by 600 feet compound, if you include the court of the Gentiles and the outer court. There is a temple mount that could have been a little bit larger.

So if we just look at the 600 foot by 600 foot compound that's about eight acres. Some of us live on eight acres or a little more a little less. It's the size of a large lot around here. It could have been, the compound could have been, if you look at the whole sort of the temple mount area that was elevated, maybe as much as 35 acres. But whatever, she did not leave the temple.

So it says, she did not depart from the temple, but she served God. Now how did she serve God? What was her calling? What was the means by which she fulfilled her purpose in life, by which she realized her full potential. She didn't have any great titles.

She was not a mother of, we don't read about any great sons who were kings. She was not a woman of outward importance. And yet she is serving God with joy. She's serving God with fastings and prayers. Fasting and prayer.

Now if she's 104 years of age or more, she may not have been physically able of doing a lot more. But she was doing what she could. She was serving God with fasting and prayers. She, night and day, many older people have difficulty sleeping. Maybe she did.

What did she do all night? She was fasting and praying. She was serving God. That was her calling. That was the means that she fulfilled her purpose.

That was a high and noble calling. God singles her out. God's word singles her out as someone, as a saint of note for her faithful service, for her faithfully fulfilling her calling, which was not leaving this area of 8 acres, or 30 acres, 40 acres, whatever it was, and serving God with prayer and fasting. She was alone. But we don't see her complaining of her loneliness.

She probably didn't have a lot to eat. That may be why she didn't leave the temple. She may have been dependent upon the charity of the temple, the alms of the temple. She may have been dependent on people simply who came giving her something to eat. And this would have been a place where many people were coming to make offerings.

Whatever the reason, she didn't leave this little area. That was her house and she never left it. And she had nothing there except this high and noble calling to serve God with prayer and fasting, with not eating. Fasting with not eating. This is a beautiful picture of what Psalm 92 talks about.

Who fear the Lord. For both of these saints. Psalm 92 is about giving thanks. And it's a song for the Sabbath day. This was a psalm that was possibly recited every Lord's day.

And her being in the temple, she may have heard this psalm every Lord's Day. Remember, many people in her day did not have a written copy of the scriptures that they could call all their own. You had to be somebody of great wealth. You had to be able to afford not only slaves, but people, scribes who could write out and copy the Word of God. So most people, certainly her, she would fit there, wouldn't have had a copy of the Scriptures.

They were dependent upon what somebody who did ascribe could read to her in the temple, the synagogue. So Psalm 92 is something that she may have heard every week. It's good to give thanks to the Lord. It's good to sing praise to your name almost high, to declare your loving kindness in the morning and your faithfulness every night. And that's what she did.

She served God with prayer and fasting, declaring His loving kindness and His faithfulness every night and in the morning. Because she did this morning and night, night and day. That's all she did. It says the righteous, the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God." Anna was literally planted in the house of the Lord and she was flourishing there, serving God night and day with prayer and fasting, giving thanks, declaring the faithfulness of God, praising Him. And then it says, They shall still bear fruit in old age. They shall be fresh and flourishing to declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him. They shall be fresh and flourishing.

Those who are looking for the consolation, the hope of Israel, who by eyes of faith are serving the Lord in the calling where they have been planted. They will still bear fruit in old age, they shall be fresh and flourishing to declare that the Lord is upright." And what does Anna do? She was a prophetess. The Holy Spirit spoke to her and gave her words, revelation. Today We have the scriptures, the complete scriptures, and so we don't need those prophecies in part.

We have the complete prophecy, the Word of God. But she, coming in that instant, What does she do? She sees Joseph and Mary, possibly Simeon there as well. And coming in that instant, I think that's the instant where Simeon is blessing Joseph and Mary. She gives thanks to the Lord.

She gives thanks to the Lord. And she speaks of him, of this consolation of Israel To those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. That's exactly what Psalm 92 describes Speaking declaring faithfulness In in the assembly in in the temple She is speaking of Jesus Christ to all those who are looking for redemption in Jerusalem. And she gives thanks. That was her calling.

To give thanks. To serve God with prayer and fasting. And prayer is offering up of our desires to the Lord, yes, but it's also doing it with thanksgiving. And it's praising the Lord, and it's waiting upon the Lord, And it's making confession of our sins and it's interceding for others in those same needs of confession, of praise, of giving thanks, of needs. She is in God's court, she is in God's temple, and she is flourishing in her calling.

Even though it wasn't a high calling as the world looked upon it. It was a call simply to wait. Called to serve the Lord with prayer and fasting. This is the triumph of faith by those who are led by the Holy Spirit. Simeon it says, he was filled with the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was upon Him. The Holy Spirit fills those who surrender their life, who dedicate their life to serving the Lord. Those who are led by the Spirit, those who are Christ's are filled with His Spirit. He's also taught by the Holy Spirit. This is what we want to be, taught by the Holy Spirit.

The most brilliant minds can only stumble in the dark without the Holy Spirit, but the lowliest of minds can be filled with wisdom by the Holy Spirit. That's what happened to the disciples. They were twelve unlearned, unschooled people who were filled with the Holy Spirit. And when they spoke, people listened and wondered and marveled at these unlearned men speaking in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Paul told the Corinthians, which things we also speak not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches.

This is the wisdom that we want. We don't want the wisdom of this world. That brings us things like feminism. It tells us our callings are beneath us. And it's an error that many people who have believed and followed regretting.

I think every day I see articles and blog posts by people who have realized the error, the folly of what feminism taught them. They now live with regret at the wasted years, in some cases made decisions in the wisdom of this world that will affect them for decades, maybe their whole life. We want to be those who are taught by the Holy Spirit, who are filled with his wisdom. We want to be those who like Simeon are led by the Spirit. He came by the Spirit into the temple.

We want to be those who are led by the Holy Spirit through His Word. And He brings His Word to us through the Scriptures and through other saints and through ministers and elders. He brings His Word to us. This I say, Paul told the Galatians, walk in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit and do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Those who are led by the Spirit, those who walk according to the Spirit, Paul told Romans, these are the sons of God.

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. We want to be those like Simeon and Anna do all things by the Spirit.

Galatians 5 says, For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of the righteousness by faith. We through the Spirit wait for the hope of the righteousness by faith. Christian, are you waiting for the hope of the righteousness, for the day that you will be free of all of the sin that dwells in you. Is that your hope? Is that what you are waiting for?

Is that what you are looking for as Simeon was looking for the consolation of Israel. Paul says that those who are in Christ are going to wait, wait in the Spirit, wait by the Spirit for the hope of the righteousness of faith. And we want to be those who do all that we do in the Spirit. We sing in the Spirit. We pray in the Spirit.

We serve in whatever calling God has given to us in the Spirit. And sometimes, and oftentimes, that means we're going to be very different from the world around us and sometimes even the church that is around us. Remember Joseph and Mary were coming to the church. The Pharisees were the leaders of the church. Simeon and Anna, Anna was serving the Lord in the midst of the temple.

This temple that was filled with Pharisees and Sadducees, These were the people that were the rulers in that church. They comprised the Sanhedrin, the court. They were the high priests and the Levites who offered the sacrifices. And Anna is in the midst, she lives among this. But while they were looking for their own righteousness and waiting for God to send someone who would take vengeance and fulfill their hatred against the Romans.

Anna was waiting, serving God with prayer and fasting. Right in the middle of all this. Right in the middle of all this. She didn't run away to some other place and say, I've got to get away from all these hypocrites here in the temple, all these self-righteous people who are full of dead men's bones and this side. No, she, that's where she lived.

And she served God right in the midst of these people because this was the place where God had Put his name. This is where Joseph and Mary brought Jesus This was where God was to be worshipped, even though the people at this time who were the rulers primarily were not looking for the consolation of Israel. They were looking for a death spot to come and take vengeance in their name. These two saints are in many ways a good example. They're often saints that we look right over, especially when we think of the Christmas story.

But here are two servants of the Lord. They weren't perfect, but with eyes of faith they were serving the Lord, waiting for the consolation of his will. They were faithful in the station and the calling to which God had given them. They were filled with the Spirit. The Spirit comes to those who by faith are looking to Jesus because salvation is only in Christ.

It is not in anything that we can do. It is not to be found in the things that we can do. It is not to be found in the great and marvelous accomplishments that we might do in this world. And that's not to say that we shouldn't seek to do great and mighty things for the Lord. But all that even King David did in all his glory.

He did because the Lord taught him. The Lord taught his fingers to make war. God called him to be a warrior and he was a mighty warrior. But he did it through the power of the Holy Spirit. It was the Lord, he said, who taught his fingers what they did.

It was the Holy Spirit who taught him. We ought to be those who are, whatever our calling, whatever it is, who are taught by the Holy Spirit, who are led by the Holy Spirit, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, who live, who are moved in and by the Holy Spirit. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we surrender ourselves to You. We surrender ourselves to you.

We surrender to you our fortunes, our reputations, our honor, and the esteem of this world for us. We surrender our income and our wealth. We surrender to you our rights, our relationships. We surrender to you our homes, our possessions, yes even our families, knowing Lord that you are the Good shepherd and desiring to spend one day in your house, in your court, than anywhere else. Father, we desire, we want to be led by Your Spirit.

We want emotions that are guided by Your Spirit. Please remove the sinful emotions that crowd us and give to us emotions that are Spirit-filled, as Christ's wire. Father, we desire a will that is governed by Your Spirit. Take away our stubborn will. Give to us one that moves as your spirit leads, that desires what your spirit desires.

Father, we want to be used by you. And we care not what that purpose is, as long as it is your purpose for us, as long as it is where you have led us, where your Spirit has called us. So we ask, Lord, for eyes of faith to lay hold of your promises and your words, the things that we cannot see, for faith is a substance of things that are not seen. The evidence of what isn't visible in front of us. Father, please fill us with your Spirit.

This we ask through Jesus Christ. Amen.