ANNA CONTINUED TO WORSHIP
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 who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:37–38)
Often the thing we most want to do when church hurts is to stop showing up. Sunday becomes the hardest day of the week, and it feels easier—and safer—to stay home. If we don’t engage, we can’t get hurt. If we don’t try, we won’t be disappointed. If we don’t go, we can’t be ignored.
As we saw on day 3, Anna had many reasons to stay away from worship. Because she lived in a fallen world, her husband had died and her own body was wasting away. Because she lived among sinners, she was vulnerable. Because Satan prowled, she faced temptations to discouragement.
Anna could have allowed these circumstances to cut her off from the place of God’s promised presence, but she didn’t. As a faithful Jew, she would have known the words of Malachi: “The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple” (3:1). Anna knew that the Messiah was going to show up in the temple, and so she didn’t let anything keep her from showing up there too. Night and day, with fasting and prayer, over months and years, she continued to worship the Lord exactly where he said he would be.
Then, “coming up at that very hour,” Anna saw Jesus. To unspiritual eyes, the baby didn’t look much like a savior or a king, but to the eyes of the elderly woman who had already been worshipping him for decades, he looked like a promise fulfilled. Joyfully, she announced his arrival to all the faithful. In that moment in the temple, Anna was still old. She was still a widow. She was still vulnerable. But she was not alone.
We too have the Lord’s promise that he will be present by his Spirit when we worship with his congregation: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matt. 18:20). Although the actions of sinners and the devices of Satan might be significant obstacles as we consider going to worship, they can’t nullify this promise or bar us from drawing near to Christ.
Whatever our individual circumstances, corporate worship is always an act of resistance. In every pew sits a person whom Christ has rescued from the clutches of hell and redeemed for his glory. What’s more, each worshipper has defied Satan’s entrapments and sin’s discouragements that very day in order to come into God’s presence with praise. Like Anna, each of us shows up to worship against the world’s odds. And Christ—who triumphed over evil on our behalf—meets us there.
Read. Read Luke 18:1–8. What did the widow do? What did the judge do? How is God like the judge in this passage? How is he different? Why does Jesus say he told this parable? How can this parable encourage you to continue approaching God in worship even when church hurts?
Reflect. Why might Satan want to keep you from worship and from being in Christ’s presence? How does recognizing his evil intent help you to withstand his tactics?
Pray. Tell the Lord about a time when you wanted to stop going to church to worship. Ask him to give you the spirit of Anna, who “did not depart” from the place of worship. Thank him for promising to meet with his people when they gather (Matt. 18:20). Look expectantly for Christ’s presence the next time you are in church.
BUY NOW
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