A Thrill of Hope

By Meegan Zillman

Denver, Colorado, USA

Scripture Reading:

Luke 2:25-38

As I have gotten older, my habits and hobbies have become more, shall we say, old lady-ish. Case in point—three Christmases ago I bought a sweet little book about Christmas carols, and now I pull it out this time every year and read through the lyrics and their stories. This always involves a warm drink and a cozy blanket. Certain songs can bring me to tears through the power of their meaty richness. One such carol is “O Holy Night,” written in 1847. My three favorite lines state: 

“Long lay the world in sin and error pining, til he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees!”

These lyrics hit so succinctly on some of the most profound experiences we have as humans: brokenness, weariness, hope, and healing. There is a longing wrapped up in our hearts that these words capture, a longing to escape the sin and error that trap us and weigh us down and break our hearts. In the face of such honest despair, we can either plod along hopelessly through this life or instead choose to place our hope in Him who appeared on this “new and glorious morn.” 

In Luke 2:25-38, we have the truncated stories of a man and a woman who understood this “thrill of hope” in the midst of long waiting. As newborn Jesus is brought to the temple by his parents to be presented to God, they meet Simeon and Anna, two devoted, pious Jews who knew where to place their hope and who understood that for which they were longing. 

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 

Luke 2:25

Over the centuries, much speculation has gone into the story and identity of Simeon. However, the only things we know for sure about him are what Luke records. We know that his name means God has heard; surely not a coincidence, but a fact that roots this man into an honest relationship with his God. We are told he was righteous and devout; so much so that God had entrusted him with a unique, specific promise through His Spirit—Simeon was promised that he would live to see the Messiah, the hope of God’s people, with his own eyes.

The “Consolation of Israel”

Nowhere in this passage is the word hope used, but it is so clearly implied in Simeon’s wait. Here was a man who looked around, saw the despair and hopelessness of the world around him, undoubtedly had his own specific troubles to add to the mix, and made a choice. He was going to wait on God, to wait for God. He was going to live a life of stubborn refusal to give in to the hopelessness. He was waiting for the “Consolation of Israel.” What a phrase!

“The Consolation of Israel” was a term given to the long-awaited Messiah God had promised His people. The word “Consolation” here means comforter, one who would come alongside and minister to and advocate for the people. It is the same word Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit in John 14. Simeon, in his pining, had pinned all his hopes on this Consolation…this Comforter.

I wonder what other places he might have been tempted to place his hope. A stronger government? A stable job for himself? A happy family? And when was this promise made to him that he would see Messiah before he died? Was he a young man who had to fight to hold to his hope over the course of a long life? Or was this promise whispered in his aging ears after a long night of crying out to God, perhaps on the brink of giving in to the weariness of waiting? At any rate, because he placed his hope in God and was willing to wait, when the voice came telling him to act, he did:

Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

Luke 2:27

A thrill of hope indeed! A weary world rejoices! 

Simeon’s hope was grounded in God’s word. It was rooted in scriptures that his ancestors had been reading for 1,500 years; and it was rooted in a life lived in obedience to what he saw therein. While the world was stuck in sin and error, he trusted God and placed his full hope in Him. And because he was so willing, he saw his hope in the flesh! 

A Widow who Dared to Hope

And he was not alone in his hope. In that same afternoon at the temple, we are told of another who dared hold to hope.

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 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.

Luke 2:36

I’ll tell you what—I cannot wait to sit down with dear sister Anna when all things are made new to hear the details of her story. What tragedy made her a widow in her late teens/early twenties? Had she ever had children? Was the temple her only viable safe shelter? Who supported her and welcomed her into their lives? It’s not hard to imagine such a story being driven by words like despair, rage, anguish, and hopelessness. And yet…in those four short sentences that make up the entirety of her place in the biblical narrative, I hear a different set of words. I hear joy! Gratitude! Devotion! Connection! Hope! 

Whether her early years prepared her for such faithful expectations or the losses accrued over time molded her heart to cling to God alone, here was a woman with properly placed hope—the redemption sent from her God. When I picture this scene, she is uncomfortably loud and demonstrative in her thanks and her evangelism! 

Every time I read these handful of verses, I am moved by the simple faith and dogged hope of Simeon and Anna. I’m inspired and convicted by the ferocity with which they fixed their eyes on God and waited on Him. And I get shivers at the fact that God saw this in them and gave them what they hoped for. 

Holding on to Hope

I have been a disciple of Jesus for the past 27 years. I was 18 when I said, “Jesus is Lord,” and went down into the waters of baptism. When Jesus promised us life to the full, He was not kidding. My life since that day has been way fuller than I could ever have anticipated. It has been full across the spectrum—from joys, laughter, friendships, challenges, anguish, health, sickness, abundance, loss, discipline, refinement, growth, sin. Life to the full. All of it. While I have never regretted my choice, I have often fallen short of my pledge. But I stand here still, amazed at how God has continued to love me and desire our connection.

Over these past handful of years, I have realized how easy it is for me to become weary in holding on to hope. The longer this life goes on, my own mistakes, the hurtful choices others make, a desire for an easier way—all have stood as temptations to letting go of hope.

But perhaps even more than a weariness in holding to hope, I have a growing awareness of how easy it is for me to misplace my hope. Through different losses, disappointments, failures, and victories, I see that I am prone to placing my hope in the wrong things. I have put my hope in the church. I have put my hope in my marriage. I have put my hope in my children and my desires for them. I have put my hope in health and an assumed longevity. I have put my hope in my abilities. Don’t get me wrong—each of those things are great gifts in my life. They are all things worth fighting for and finding joy and delight in. They are all worthy of an intentional cultivation. But I can never put my hope in those things. They were not designed to carry, nor were they ever intended to hold, the weight of hope.

Only God can do that. He is the only one who can hold up under the weight of our hope. Interestingly, when we dive into the scriptures and study out the places where hope is discussed, a pattern emerges. What does the Bible say we are to hope in? God. His word. His promises. His love. Resurrection. Loud and clear, He spells out for us where we are to put our hope. 

Perhaps this is why the stories of Simeon and Anna resonate so powerfully in my heart. Their example of holding to such properly placed hope over the course of long and faithful lives is worthy of imitation. Just as they waited for Messiah, let us be women who wait for Him as well and rejoice that He has appeared and our souls can feel their worth.

“Long lay the world in sin and error pining, til he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees!”

 Lyrics from “Joy to the World” (Isaac Watts)

Questions for Reflection: 

1. Do you currently feel more hopeful or weary? What circumstances are driving that? 
2. What must Simeon have felt when he took Jesus in his arms? What do you think went through Anna’s mind as she came upon the scene? Take a few moments to write out a first-person response from each of their perspectives.
3. What are possible places you have misplaced your hope? Spend some time in prayer talking about them with Jesus, then do the same with a trusted friend. 

Today I will:

Find seven different scriptures that talk about hope. Write them out on individual notecards. What patterns do you see?

About the Author:

Meegan Zillman is a middle-aged Midwesterner with old-lady hobbies currently living in Denver, Colorado, where she and her husband, Chris, lead the Denver Church of Christ. They are high school sweethearts with four sons and one daughter, ranging in age from 20 to 7.

To hear a special version of "O Holy Night" performed by your sister Amy Kinzer, please click the image below: