Year C
After three days they found Jesus in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety." He said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor. (Luke 47-52)
To listen to the sermon, click the image below:
About two years ago I wrote an essay which tried to answer this question – highlight the relationship between a core Christian assertion and the goals of ministry. There are several core Christian assertions one could choose from, obviously – God as eternal – Jesus as fully divine – the church as the household of God on earth – but for me – there is primarily one Christian truth that fascinates me more than any other. It’s one we kind of take for granted – yet I think find hard to explain or articulate if we are pressed.
We say it in a variety of ways every time we gather for worship – we said it this morning in our opening collect. But the explanation within Eucharistic Prayer A – is the one I chose – and choose when I want to remind myself of God’s presence in my life…I’m sure it will sound familiar to you –
God, in your infinite love, you made us for yourself. And when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal son – to share our human nature, to live – and die – as one of us – to reconcile us to you – the God and Father of all.
Share our human nature – that’s the phrase that is so rich, so intriguing for me. It summarizes all we give thanks for during this season of Christmas, the miracle of the Incarnation. The reality that God – try as God might through all the prophets of ages past – just had to enter into – had to share in the human experience in the only way God could – by being born. Not wearing humanity like a costume or mask – that God could take on and off like a superhero – but literally share life – a finite life – to show that God refuses to live apart from us.
When we’re in a year of Luke’s gospel – as we are now – all of Christmas is contained in this chapter, chapter two – this morning’s section being the third and final part. The first is the birth – Joseph and Mary being sent out because of the census – finding no room at the inn – the shepherds and the angels – thanks to Charles Schulze (and I really do mean thanks) if there is any scripture story we’ve committed to memory, it most likely is the birth of Jesus as recited by Linus.
Section two is Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus to be presented in the temple as a baby, which would be the faith custom of their time – not a baptism, more like a dedication – dedicating the child to God while offering sacrifice, as would happen with any child of a faithful household back then.
And the third section is this – the last we hear of the child Jesus. Again we are reminded of Mary and Joseph’s faithfulness. This is an annual trip to Jerusalem – a pilgrimage for the Passover. They probably would have gone with a large group of family and friends to safely make the journey. So, while we may wonder how it is that Jesus (you know, being Jesus) could have so easily slipped away, unnoticed by his parents – it’s all too human. Think of being with a crowd of cousins. My daughter enjoyed her cousins (up in Lawng Island) this Christmas and there were many times one or another would come in the room and say – have you seen so and so – and we would say – check outside, check the basement. They’re around here somewhere!
And I’m sure it was the same in Jesus’ family. Kids everywhere – parents sharing in the watching – and all assuming a 12 year old was well aware of when he was supposed to be where he was supposed to be. And I’m sure all of us can feel tremendous empathy with Mary and Joseph when Jesus isn’t where he’s supposed to be. And they have to spend a day back-tracking – and then three days – in what I can only imagine would have been building, torturous panic – searching for their son. Only to find him – quite at ease, not at all concerned about the trouble he’s caused – and surprised by their anxiety and astonishment.
Can you picture this twelve year old boy? What is his tone of voice? Sarcastic? Self-assured? Mildly apologetic?
How about Mary and Joseph? Are they angry? On the verge of tears? Do they have that feeling that some of us know when you are telling your child – it’s not so much that I’m angry I was just so worried about you?
All of that – anxiety, amazement, fear, anger, sarcasm, terror, surprise, concern, panic, sighs of relief – all of that – is human nature. If you were God – if you were omniscient, all powerful and all loving – why in the world would you want to enter into that? What does that say to you about God and God’s love for all people?
In Luke’s telling of Jesus’ childhood – the only telling of Jesus’ childhood – he seems to imply that Mary is the first to get what God is up to. When the shepherds run to find the holy family – and tell Mary what they saw – the angels in heaven announcing Christ’s birth – it reads that Mary treasured their words and pondered them in her heart. When Jesus is presented in the temple, the priest Simon blesses both parents but turns to Mary to say, this child is destined for greatness – but a sword will pierce your own soul too.
And after this incident, when Jesus leaves the temple obediently returning to his parents – it reads – His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
For Mary, each experience is meant for reflection. And she grows in awareness of who her son is and grows in awareness of who God is.
And growing is a big part of human nature. We are not finished at any one particular point in our lives – well – yes, our lives are finite – but our faith is not.
We us this gospel story as the scriptural basis for confirmation – just as Jesus claims his identity in God at the age of 12, somehow around this age we too should be able to claim that identity.
Well, on the one hand I agree in the necessity of ritual. We need rituals to mark passages in our life of faith – just as in other areas of our lives. You feel like you’ve graduated, not so much because of the piece of paper – but because you attended the graduation.
But – confirmation is not graduation – although – as I discussed with family and friends over the past week – that’s often how we treat it, in a variety of Christian denominations. We prepare for confirmation by learning the answers – and then we get confirmed – and then – well, often times, we stop coming to church…at least for awhile. And who knows – maybe that’s what Jesus did too. Maybe that’s why we don’t know anything about him between 12 and 30 – because he got tired of being dragged on pilgrimages with his parents – and wanted to break out there and explore his faith on his own….And even though we don’t have the stories, I can’t imagine Jesus ever stopped exploring.
And the same is true for us – to keep exploring. We don’t graduate in Christianity – we just get born again and again. We keep seeking, questioning, discovering and wondering so that we too can treasure and ponder our experiences in our hearts. Asking God to help us sort through the experiences and the questions – asking God to lead us to that place where we will find reconciliation – wholeness.
This morning’s story – so rich in human experience – so filled with relationships and situation that even two thousand years later we can still relate too – reminds us that it’s within the human experience where we find God – because that’s where God sought to be found.
What aspects of your human nature do you connect with God? Mary says to Jesus – why have you treated us like this? When in your life have you asked God that question? Jesus responds not with an answer – but with another question – Why are you looking for me – you know where to find me? Do we know where to look? Are we looking – as Jesus encourages – in the most obvious places?
O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who shared our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ. May our New Year bring renewed awareness of our life with God and in God – through the richness of life that God has given to all of us. Amen.
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