Margaret Amanda Pankow

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Lamentations 3:22-33 - The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;^[a]
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.
²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.
²⁷ It is good for a man that he bear
    the yoke in his youth.

²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence
    when it is laid on him;
²⁹ let him put his mouth in the dust—
    there may yet be hope;
³⁰ let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
    and let him be filled with insults.

³¹ For the Lord will not
    cast off forever,
³² but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
    according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
³³ for he does not afflict from his heart
    or grieve the children of men.

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

Luke 2:36-38 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, ³⁷ and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.^[a] She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸ 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.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Dear friends in Christ, especially family and friends of Margaret.  When Baby Jesus was just a few weeks old, his parents took him to the temple to fulfill the law of Moses (Leviticus 12), and presented him as a firstborn child.  At this time Mary made an offering of two turtle doves to be forgiven of sin. 

However, while they were there in the temple, they ran into two other people.  Simeon, who upon seeing Jesus sang the following, “Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to you word.  My eyes have seen your salvation in the baby Jesus.”  These are words, we too will sing today in just a little while. 

The second person is the one I’d like to focus on today.  After seeing Simeon, the Holy Family ran into Anna, the prophetess.  Anna had been living in the temple as a widow for many long years.  And after many years of waiting, after many years of praying and serving faithfully in God’s temple, Anna finally sees Jesus, her Lord and Savior Jesus face to face. 

And upon seeing him, she rejoiced and told all around her about how Jesus would save His people all from their sin.  She rejoiced, because Jesus would be her saving grace.  She rejoiced that Jesus would die so that her own death would be temporary.  She rejoiced, because having seen Jesus, she could depart in peace the same as Simeon. 

Dear friends in Christ, these last few days, I’ve been considering the story of Anna, because I see so many parallels between Anna and our dear friend Margaret.  Anna had been a widow for many years, as has Margaret since Rueben passed away in 1985.  Anna loved the temple and worship, and receiving God’s gifts in Divine Service, and so did Margaret here at St. John’s, serving as LWML president and attending bible studies as long as she was able.  And for Anna, the most important thing that she looked forward to was Jesus, and dear friends, I believe the same was true for Margaret as well. 

I don’t want you to hear that Margaret was perfect, or that she was without sin herself.  Those things wouldn’t be true.  She was a guilty sinner just like you and just like me.  But she did, as did Anna in our lesson, look to Jesus for salvation from that sin.  She did, as did Anna, trust in Jesus to be her salvation, even up until the very end.  Margaret always looked forward to receiving the Lord’s Supper for forgiveness of her sin.  Margaret knew that she was a baptized child of God, who was washed in the forgiveness earned by Christ on the cross.  Margaret looked forward to the day when she would see Christ with her own eyes.  And it was then, just a few days ago, after weeks and months of struggling to breathe, that Christ delivered her from the evil of this world. 

Now Margaret is in God’s heavenly temple, rejoicing at seeing Christ face to face.  Now she worships God in his very presence.  Now she no longer struggles to breathe, now she no longer is easily exhausted, but now she is with Christ awaiting the resurrection on the last day. 

So you see, dear friends, today isn’t really about Margaret, and it isn’t really about Anna, but it is about Jesus, who loved Margaret, and who loves you enough that the cross was not too much to ask.  He suffered, bled and died, so that faithful widows, along with you and me might be saved from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil.  He went to the cross to set all free from their guilt and shame and sorrow.  He died so weakness would be destroyed in His death and resurrection. 

He gave that forgiveness and salvation to you in baptism, just as he did for Margaret.  He fed that faith in you through the preaching of his Holy Word in this church, just as he did for Margaret.  And dear friends, he fed that faith as you receive the Lord’s Supper – Christ’s very body and blood, as Margaret always desired when I visited her. 

And so, today, we know exactly where sinful but “faith-filled by Jesus” Anna is, where sinful but “faith-filled by Jesus”  Margaret is, and dear friends, where we sinful, but also forgiven by Jesus people will one day be – with Christ, in his eternal and gracious forgiveness forever.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.