This sermon was delivered to St Oswald’s, Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 30th December 2012; St Oswald’s is a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries.
“Please join me in a short prayer from Psalms 19:14, and ” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Amen.
Today’s gospel reading is taken from Luke chapter 2, verses 41 to 52:
Verse 41 “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
Verse 41 “And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
Verse 49 ”And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man”.
Prayer: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit let these words bring you honour, and prepare us to live in the world which you have given us. Amen.
Introduction
Today’s service according to the lectionary is the “First Sunday after Christmas” and the gospel reading is a very familiar passage. The reason why it is so familiar is because most of us learn it at Sunday school; and I must say that I for one find it one of the most boring, uninspired verses of scripture; with the corniest of endings.
Lets us go through it again quickly, in the vernacular to remind us. Basically, Jesus goes to Jerusalem at the Passover with his parents, and gets lost. His parents are up to high doh, and search for him everywhere; and three days later they eventually find him in the temple sitting talking to the so called “teachers”. And then the ending, “Did you not know that I would be in my fathers house”.
Yuck, what a horrible ending, such an anticlimax, … it just crawls all over you. I mean we are taught all over Sunday school that Jesus was the son of God, the most important man that ever lived, and now we are told that he could be found in the house of God. What a revelation that is! Is that not worth getting out your bed on a Sunday morning to hear that?
God how I hate this passage: and possibly the bible school teachers who taught me it; with their perfume, and fur coats, and the wee broach on their lapel. Well it was maybe not them I did not like; it was certainly the word school being mentioned on a Sunday, God I hated Sunday SCHOOL as well.
And now, I have to use this passage to make a sermon, and you know how I love to fit the Gospel in, just where can I fit the Gospel into this? ... Where can I say, God needed to save man from himself, and so he sent his son Jesus to live and died for us here on this earth, to free us from our sins so that we can be at one with God, and have our eternal home in heaven. Well I have just said it, but where does the Gospel fit in today’s reading. Do you see my problem? Just where do we start?
Well here goes. The first thing we notice is that these are the first words spoken by Jesus who was 12 at the time, and as with anything Jesus said, his words are full of meaning, and therefore have an impact on all of our lives. Let us look at four major topics from this passage.
The first is the reaction of Jesus to his parents, because no matter how special they may be, children should obey and bring honour to their parents. Parents, on the other hand, should encourage, and make room for their uniqueness and support them.
We have already mentioned the fact that Mary and Joseph were at their wits end looking for Jesus, who for some unknown reason decided to stay behind without telling them, thereby causing a moment of tension; … well quite a lot of moments of tension, I am sure.
And we cannot blame them for this; after all what parent would not be worried; however in finding him there would be gratitude, then consternation and then joy.
First they would be so full of gratitude in seeing him, “thanks be to God”, but this would quickly turn to consternation out of concern, “where the hell have you been”, … “why did you not tell us”; and then this would turn to joy, … “he is safe”.
Notice, both parents were anxious here not just Mary, and it is significant the he was found in the third day; as this would not be the only time he would be found after three days; the three days after the crucifixion would be more concerning. Is this a forerunner? I do not know.
Joseph and Mary knew a lot about Jesus, but the full understanding of him had not been revealed to them. Jesus was both human and divine, and we heard a few weeks ago that when Jesus as a baby was presented to God, again in a temple, that the Holy Spirit came upon a man called Simeon, who said to his parents, that salvation, would come through this child.
So when Mary and Joseph eventually found Him, Jesus was totally preoccupied with His interest in spiritual matters, and surprisingly, Jesus was very surprised by their anxiety and concern, and that is why he came away with the condescending, “Did you not know that I would be in my father's house?"
The bible hints here that Jesus knew who he was, and what he was doing, that is, his Fathers work, and that Mary and Joseph should know better than to ask.
We are led to believe that Jesus was a model child, perfect in each stage of His growth and development; but we as parents and teachers know, high performing children need high maintenance and constant attention.
There was no higher performing child than Jesus, but did you notice what he did next. Rather than defying his parents, he was obedient to them. Verse 51 "And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and He continued in subjection to them."
The will of the God the Father, was for Jesus was to grow, develop, and mature, but under the guidance of His parents, but, and it is a big but, … at some stage this relationship with them would end, he would leave, and go to work for his real father who is God.
I do not believe that was the day he left Mary and Joseph, but it was the day he made that intension known; and Mary and Joseph would have no choice but to let him go.
The Son-ship of Jesus
The second point I want to discuss is the son-ship of Jesus which we see emerging here.
As we have seen, Joseph and Mary knew the identity of Christ, but this was still a moment of revelation for them; after all, they raised him from a baby, clothed Him, fed him, disciplined Him, and taught Him. They had seen Jesus do all the normal things that children do but at some stage the Son of God had to emerge.
So here, unambiguously, Jesus talks about God as His Father. He recognises Joseph as His earthly father and he would continue to do so; but His emphasis is now turning to God his father; bringing everything into focus for His parents.
We do not know how much Jesus understood, but we do know that Jesus knew enough to be in complete harmony with the will and the plan of God for His life; as his proclamations make this very clear.
Third.
The third point I want to discuss is the strong sense of destiny Jesus had; and the plan for his life, as throughout his ministry, His Son-ship would be challenged. This was the most controversial aspect of His life.
The controversy over this fact would lead Jesus to the cross. Even today, this is the great point of controversy in the world. Many will accept Jesus as a prophet or teacher or as a good man, but not as the Son of God. Despite this controversy, no fact is more central to the gospel that Jesus is the Son of God.
This fact came to a head at the midpoint of his ministry where Jesus asked Simon Peter in, Mathew 16:17 “who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
… Now, many people claim that all roads lead to, not Rome, but God. Madonna the famous pop star, was once asked, "Do you believe in God." She replied, "Yes, I do. I study all religions including Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, and others. I believe that all roads lead to God." ... Clearly, Madonna does not know who Jesus is, and because she does not know Jesus, she does not know God.
All religions say that if you do this, this and this, then God will bless you: however Christianity says, if you believe in Jesus, then God lives in you, and will bless you me from within. Do you see the difference?
Christianity is unique because Jesus was unique. He is the Son of God, the only person worthy to die for our sins; and to set us free. It was God himself, who was in Christ dying on that cross.
The apostle Paul writes 2nd Corinthians 5:18 & 19 “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
God is the Father of all men, but there is a special relationship with those who believe in Jesus. Paul writes in Galatians 3:26: “For ye are all children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Christ is unique, the only begotten Son of God, and through Him, we become sons and daughters. We are brothers and sisters of Christ, and heirs with Him. Through Christ, we are children of God.
You may feel that you are unworthy, that you lack talent or ability, or are simplify not liked. But just remember that if you can say Jesus is Lord, and believe it with all your heart; then you are a child of God; and God will help you overcome everything, but to his purposes and glory, purposes which will be linked to your own.
As Christians, we believe that God has a plan for each of us, and a different plan from others, so that we can all have a sense of destiny. We are all his servants, but we are all sons or daughters of God, and are being led by the Holy Spirit individually. The Holy Spirit will guide us faithfully to fulfil the plan of God in our lives.
Fourth.
The last thing I want to talk about is that we must be obedient to the commandments, be about our Father's business.
Jesus was concerned about His Father's business in today’s reading because when translated from the original Greek and as written in my favourite translation, the Old King James, Luke 2:49 reads “I must be about my Father's business?” and not “my fathers house”. Both in Greek are very similar.
The main desire of Jesus was to do the will of His Father and to accomplish His purpose. Jesus claimed that He must be about His "father's business." His Father's business that day was to learn, being interactive, both listening and asking questions.
The full nature of "my Father's business" would become clearer later throughout His ministry: Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom, He healed the sick, He cast out devils, and He set free those who were downtrodden.
We are often challenged to God’s work, although we are not clear on what our tasks are. For some, that task will simply be to learn and understand the scriptures, like Jesus did that day in the temple, and once informed, the Holy Spirit would us to teach the Gospel to others; but there are so many different tasks God would like to perform for him, but the all start by learning.
Today we have talked about: the reaction of Jesus to his parents, the Son-ship of Jesus, the destiny of Jesus, and the duty of Jesus. We do not need to apply each of these points to our own lives, and be obedient to his commands. We too must be about our Father's business.
I started this sermon saying how boring, and uninspiring today’s readings were, I think now, that I was wrong. Amen.
Let us pray.
Father we thank you for Jesus, we thank you that he lived on this earth in the same way we do and for that we can thank you that you can understand us. You understand what we are going through, you understand our problems and frustrations, yet you also understand our Joy and our Triumphs.
Today we recognise you are our heavenly father, looking over us, guiding us and protecting even though we do not always feel your presence. Help us therefore to be the children you want us to be, and show us what you desire from us, as it can be difficult.
Father we recognise Jesus as your son, yet we do not always know you are working in us. Give us today a revelation of your will for us, show us where we have been and where we are going.
Father it may even help to show us where we would be if you had not intervened.
For your purposes and glory, we ask in Jesus name.
Amen.
