Passing on the light

I've mentioned Walter Smith and his sister Lena before, including in my last blog. In my mind they were always old, but I see them through the lenses of a nine year old, the age I was when I first met them, an age at which everyone over 25 is old. Actually, they were probably in their early sixties when I first met them. I was the new girl in the church choir, and they were choirmaster and church organist. There was a new baby as well as two other small children in my family home, so to help my Mum out the Smiths would time their walk to church so as to meet me at the point where I had to cross a main road, and after choir they'd see me safely over the road again. At choir, Walter introduced all the silly jokes about hymns 'most highly flavoured gravy' was a favourite, and allow us to sing them and get the joke out of our system before the service. He'd stop us as we practiced hymns and ask use what the hymn was about, and make sure we knew what the meaning of the singing was, as well as what the notes were. His gentle approach meant that we not only became capable choristers but also became worshippers. He quietly shared his faith with us, through teaching us hymns, psalms and anthems, and supported and encouraged us as we grew up to become people who could take a lead and share faith in our turn. Lena gave practical support and calm friendship. When as a teenager I ran a childrens music club, Lena was there when I needed her to play the piano or the organ to accompany the children's songs.

Luke's account of the presentation of Christ in the Temple bring together two remarkable older people who for me have the same sort of qualities as the brother and sister who were so helpful to me as a child. Simeon and Anna had reflected on their experiences and all that they had learned of God in their lives, and through prayer and experience were open to hear new and marvellous things from God. Their steadfastness and encouragement, even to face the hard things that might be ahead, were hugely important to the young couple and their 8 day old child. Mary remembered what the two people said to them, and considered their words, perhaps finding strength from their certainly about the baby's future calling in the hard days that followed.

Anna particularly is a wonder to me. Luke tells us that she had been in the temple constantly since becoming a widow many years before. This suggests that she had stayed in the temple area praying throughout a period when it was rebuilt on a massive scale. King Herod the Great, desperate to assert his right to be King of Israel (a right he didn't really have) chose rebuilding the Temple in its grandest ever form as the way to prove that he really was a good Jew and was loyal to the country. The building project lasted years, and Anna would have been watching the new Temple rise and Jewish rituals renew themselves in this grand setting throughout that time. And yet, it wasn't to the wonderful new building that she looked to see a glimpse of God, but to a child. She and Simeon understood that the light that would bring hope to all people, Jews and all the other nations, would not come from the large and impressive lamps in the Temple, but from a person, the Messiah, the Son of God.

Anna and Simeon, in their years of experience and prayer also understood that God very often chose to reveal Himself in children. The greatest leaders of the Jewish people were identified when very young: Moses, saved from the death imposed by a jealous King by that kings own daughter, was set aside for leadership when only a baby. Samuel, the last and greatest of the judges of Israel and a great prophet of God, was dedicated like Jesus, to God's service as a baby, and began receiving the word of God at the age of seven. David was a little older, but still a child, when Samuel first anointed him as a future king. All of these children needed time to grow up and learn what their calling meant, but the call was clear as children and those children were to be listened to and taken seriously. Since that was how God called leaders before, Simeon and Anna had no trouble recognising that the greatest leader of them all, the messiah promised in huge scriptures, would be revealed to them as a baby. They were there for that wonderful moment when the child was dedicated to God's service, a calling he would grow to understand through childhood, and live out as an adult.

Each of those biblical children were guided by adults, sometimes - like Simeon and Anna- much older than themselves. Moses was returned to his birth family and always kept in touch with them, even when living in the King of Egypt's palace, (we know this because later in life when God asked
Moses to go and act on his call, Moses was in contact with his brother and sister, and able to get their help), and his mother and the other adults he would have known were important to him. Perhaps the adults in the King's palace were also influential, for example in showing him the qualities needed to lead a nation. Samuel, like Moses growing up away from his parents and only seeing them occasionally, was guided by the priest Eli, who enabled him to listen to God and become God's servant at a very young age. David was guided by Samuel, who became a guide to him as he grew up and learned what it would mean to be a king.

I think that pattern still holds good. God calls children into active service. They are not the church of the future, they are his chosen and called people right now. But if they are going to be able to live that calling out, they need to be guided, supported, prayed for and loved by the adults around them. So adults, we need to be able to make part of our service of God the job of looking for those children who God calls to be a part of his church, and to encourage, pray for and help them. Children, you need to know that you are called by God, and your call is real and important now. Listen to the adults who help you, and with their support get involved and do whatever God is calling you to do.

Adults, yours may be only a passing meeting with some children, as Simeon and Anna's was with Jesus. Use those moments and know that you may be as old as Anna - older - you could still be an important part of that persons story. Or you may see a child regularly, as their teacher or club leader or choirmaster - the influence that your prayer, word and example will have will help to shape and enable a servant of God.  So pass on the light that you have received from Christ and help the children to carry it forward.