在聖誕節之前一個忙碌的日子裡，我家附近的郵局人滿為患。一位年邁的婦人緩緩走向寄信櫃台，櫃台服務人員很有耐心地看著她緩慢移步，跟她打招呼：「您好，年輕的女士！」他的話表達善意，但有些人也許覺得話中的含意是「年輕」比較好。

聖經裡年邁信徒的榜樣卻讓我們看見了盼望。當約瑟與馬利亞帶著嬰兒耶穌來到聖殿獻給主（路加福音2章23節；參閱出埃及記13章2、12節），兩位年邁的信徒成為重要的角色。

首先是多年來一直等著要見到彌賽亞的西面，他把耶穌抱在懷裡，稱頌上帝說：「主啊！如今可以照祢的話，釋放僕人安然去世。因為我的眼睛已經看見祢的救恩，就是祢在萬民面前所預備的。」（路加福音2章28-31節）

接著是「年紀已經老邁」的女先知亞拿，她在西面跟馬利亞、約瑟談話時進前來。亞拿結婚七年後丈夫就去世了，此後一直守寡，這時已84歲。她「禁食祈求，晝夜事奉上帝」，從不離開聖殿。在看見耶穌時，她開始讚美上帝，「將孩子的事對一切盼望耶路撒冷得救贖的人講說」（36-38節）。

這兩位滿懷盼望的僕人提醒我們，無論我們現在幾歲，都不要停止殷切期盼等候上帝。

On a busy day before Christmas, an aged woman approached the mail counter at my crowded neighborhood post office. Watching her slow pace, the patient postal clerk greeted her, “Well hello, young lady!” His words were friendly, but some might hear them saying that “younger” is better.

The Bible inspires us to see that advanced age can motivate our hope. As the infant Jesus is brought to the temple by Joseph and Mary, to be consecrated (Luke 2:23; see Exodus 13:2, 12), two elderly believers suddenly take center stage.

First, Simeon—who’d been waiting for years to see the Messiah—“took [Jesus] 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’ ” (Luke 2:28–31).

Then Anna, a “very old” prophet (v. 36), came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph. A widow who’d been married only seven years, she’d lived in the temple to age eighty-four. Never leaving, she “worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.” When she saw Jesus, she began praising God, explaining about “the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (vv. 37–38).

These two hopeful servants remind us to never stop waiting on God—no matter our age—with great expectations.