TITLE: THE FAMILY BUSINESS
SCRIPTURE: ST. LUKE 2:49
It was just two months ago we gathered here in the sanctuary as we celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior. We had special programs like Candlelight Service, attended Christmas Sing Along over at Macedonia Baptist Church, and of course culminated with Christmas Sunday Worship Experience. Here we are just two months down the road, and we catch up to Jesus as he is now 12 years of age.
In reality life really does go by just that fast, doesn’t it? It seemed like yesterday Michelle and I were raising the children next door in the parsonage, which is now the First Touch Learning Center, we first arrived here in the year 2000.
• Nicole was a Senior at Ardmore High School
• Bryan was a Freshman at Ardmore High School
• Cory was in the 8th Grade at the Ardmore Middle School
• I believe the schools were referred to as “New” back then
Hard to believe, next year Nicole will turn 40 years of age, our young men are in the mid-30’s – I can’t help but wonder every now and then, where did the time go. Oh, how they do grow up! They start out as cute little babies, but before you know it, they’re twelve, and that original cuteness has begun to wear off. 12-year-old kids are liable to speak their minds – even to their parents. So, would it surprise you to learn that Jesus was no different?
Babies do grow up, taking on their own identity, and breaking free of their parent’s grasp. In most societies this begins to happen around age twelve, and while we have a long period of preparation called adolescence, ancient societies lacked this intermediate period of life. You went from childhood to adulthood almost over night.
• Even in our society there is what is called a BAR MITZVAH
• It is a solemn ceremony held in the synagogue, usually on Saturday morning, to admit as an adult member of the Jewish community a Jewish boy 13 years old who has successfully completed a prescribed course of study in Judaism
We don’t know very much about Jesus’ process of maturation. The Gospels are rather silent about his growing up years, with Matthew being the only other canonical gospel that even offers a birth narrative, and he is silent on the years between birth and baptism. Look at VS. 51 which takes place shortly after Jesus is found – “AND HE WENT DOWN WITH THEM, AND CAME TO NAZARETH, AND WAS SUBJECT UNTO THEM….”
What we have before us in this morning’s text is the lone canonical picture of Jesus’ growing up years, and it’s just one snapshot, that’s all we get, that is all we are offered. The picture comes from a trip South to the annual Passover celebration. Jesus is twelve and the family had traveled from Nazareth to Jerusalem in a caravan. On the way home, about a day into the trip, the parents discovered Jesus was missing. That sounds sort of odd to us – we would probably report parents like these to Child Protective Services, but this is a different time and place.
• I must admit however, that I have forgotten and left a child or two over the years
Upon returning to Jerusalem, the frantic parents finally stumble upon the young Jesus after a three-day search. I can only imagine how frightening that must have been for Mary and Joseph. They find their son, Jesus, he’s just sitting there in the Temple courts, talking theology with the teachers of the day.
• Everyone is amazed at his level of understanding
• This is a precocious child!
• It might be worth noting Jesus ends his teaching ministry in the same Temple precincts – but His message twenty years down the road will not be as well received
When the parents confront Jesus, he seems rather surprised they were worried about him. As he saw it, they should have expected him to be about his father’s business!
• If you read between the lines, it would appear his tone isn’t all that pleasant
• It almost seems as if he is talking back to his parents
• Maybe he thinks they’ve embarrassed him in front of his new friends
• You remember how it was to be age 12
• My grandson is 12 and I watch he and his Dad
• At 12 somehow he things he already has all the answers!
• I am sure we were the same way at that stage in our lives as well
“WHY ARE YOU LOOKING FOR ME? DON'T YOU KNOW THAT I NEED TO BE ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSINESS?” Well that's interesting. Because Jesus had two different roles that He played in, just as we do too.
• He was a son - but He's also about His Father's business - The Family Business
• He's about the family business - and He's a son at the same time
• You know, I would suggest that we also have those different kinds of roles in our life
• When you introduce yourself to someone, what do you say? -- I'm an Educator or I'm a Lawyer, or I'm an Engineer or I’m a Liberian or I’m a Nurse or I’m a Pastor
• I think those are things that we have the tendency to do
We tell people our occupation. But we have a Vocation that's bigger than that and helps people understand who we are. And if we have opportunity, we would share with them, “oh my real passion in life is to serve Jesus.”
• Sometimes we have an opportunity to do that, sometimes not
• But the point is, Jesus is saying here, I'm about my Father's business
• I have another vocation here that's not just about being a son
• EPHESIANS 4:1 “I THEREFORE THE PRISONER OF THE LORD, BESEECH YOU THAT YE WALK WORTHY OF THE VOCATION WHEREWITH YE ARE CALLED”
I had a Preacher friend some years ago who enjoyed being in conversations with people and try to bring Evangelism right into that initial part of the conversation. He would be on an airplane flying or he would be at a doctor's office waiting and he would say to someone, -
• “What do you do?” They would say, “I'm an Accountant or a Lawyer, Engineer,” and he would say, “Oh, me too”
• That's what he always would say. “Me too”
• And then he would think about a way to tie it into the Gospel somehow
Somebody would say, “I’m an Accountant.” “Oh,” he says, “Me too.” “Oh you are?”
“Yes,” he says, “I try to help people see that they can't get out of debt by themselves. They can't balance the books. They need Jesus in their lives.”
• Or they would say, “I’m a Lawyer”
• He would say, “Oh I’m a lawyer too”
• “Oh you are?”
• “Yes, I'm on the defense side. I'm always defending the Gospel of Jesus Christ, help people understand what that's all about”
• Or they would say, “I'm an Engineer”
• He would say, “Oh me too”
• “Oh, you are? What kind of an Engineer are you?”
• “Well Engineers fix things. And I know that there's some things in life that can't be fixed except with Jesus Christ. So let me share with you about that”
He was continually tying this idea of occupation and vocation together. I would suggest there's a way in which we need to view ourselves primarily in our identity as being part of the father's business, the family business that God has established.
However the conversation may have gone that day between Jesus and his parents, in the end, he returns home with his parents, and Luke says he GREW IN WISDOM AND STATURE, AND IN BOTH DIVINE AND HUMAN FAVOR. And the next time we see Jesus, he’s an adult, who has come to John to be baptized. But, as Luke tells the narrative, Jesus doesn’t need to be forgiven of his sins as He was sin free – he just needs to be commissioned to take up his life work and join the family business.
In the ancient world you didn’t normally choose a career for yourself. If you were a male, you followed in your father’s footsteps. Joseph is said to have been a carpenter or some kind of builder or even a laborer, and so it would have been expected that Jesus would take up the same trade. I’m glad things have changed – my father was in the U.S. Army and a Pastor, my brother joined the Army and is a Minister I followed in Dad’s footsteps and served in the Army and have served as a Pastor for 38 years. Our oldest son, Bryan served in the U.S. Army, but I don’t think Bryan or Cory are planning to follow in the footsteps of the Ministry.
Parental influence on career choices of children, both intentionally and inadvertently, can be Positive and Negative. By the time children move into adolescence, they begin seriously considering their futures, often looking to their parents either as role models or for career advice. A parent’s approach to this can either inspire teenagers to explore a diverse set of potential occupations or to stick to a path they think their parents will approve.
Even before your child begins thinking about college, your attitude toward their elementary and high school classwork can have a big impact on their desire to earn a degree.
• It’s no surprise that many people are the third or fourth generations of their families to work in the same profession
• The impact of family background on career choice is often very large in successful families
• This is because children have an insider’s glimpse into their parents’ occupations, making it easier for them to break in to the industry
This holds true as it pertains to Jesus formative years as we have no glimpse from 12 to 30 years of age. We know his earthly father Joseph was a Carpenter as we read in ST. MATTHEW 13:55 “IS NOT THIS THE CARPENTER’S SON, IS NOT HIS MOTHER CALLED MARY?” Jesus followed in that line of work. We read in ST. MARK 6:3 “IS NOT THIS THE CARPENTER, THE SON OF MARY, THE BROTHER OF JAMES, AND JOSES, AND OF JUDA, AND SIMON? AND ARE NOT HIS SISTERS HERE WITH US?”
When Jesus told his parents that he was in the Temple doing his father’s business, he wasn’t talking about doing carpentry or stone work, he meant, talking theology. In a sense he was redefining his family boundaries. While he would return home with his parents – Luke says that he was obedient to them – in the course of time he discovers both a different vocation and a different sense of family.
• For him, family would be defined by faith and not lineage
• ST. LUKE 8:21 BUT HE ANSWERED AND SAID TO THEM, “MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHERS ARE THESE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND DO IT”
• Instead of Joseph being his father, God would be his father, and therefore, his calling would be to take up the Father’s business
Jesus uses this idea of business and this idea of work to describe our vocation as well. Look what Jesus says in ST. JOHN 14:12 “VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME, THE WORKS THAT I DO SHALL HE DO ALSO AND GREATER WORKS THAN THESE SHALL HE DO.” He says about us – “I want you to believe in the word I sent so that you can do greater works than these.” works and business. Now those two words we don't usually associate with the Christian life. Because business and work, they tend to be commercialized. When you talk about money, you know, trying to sell something to someone. And so there's parts of those words we don't really like, but Jesus used them. I think the idea here of this understanding our position in God as this being part of the family business is strategic.
As we contemplate what it means to take up The Family Business, I hear another word in the text calling out to us. It’s a call to consider what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. In the verse that precedes this morning’s text, in a passage that bridges the infancy narrative and this narrative of Jesus’ youth, we hear that the child, living in Nazareth, grew strong and was “FILLED WITH WISDOM; AND THE FAVOR OF GOD WAS UPON HIM.” Then, in the closing verse of today’s text, we hear that “JESUS INCREASED IN WISDOM AND IN YEARS, AND IN DIVINE AND HUMAN FAVOR.”
• These two verses provide a set of parentheses for the narrative about the Temple encounter
• They both speak of Jesus growing in Wisdom and in Favor
The way of discipleship involves growing in wisdom and in the favor of God. As we continue to march forward in this new year, one that is full of new possibilities and opportunities, we hear in this text an invitation to prepare ourselves for taking up the family business – that is the business of the Kingdom of God and it comes with growing in Wisdom and walk in the Favor of God, that comes from being in The Family Business.
In thinking about what this means, I turned to a book by Philip Clayton, in which the author writes that “in recent years Christian churches have been losing the battle of significance.”
• Part of the reason for this is we simply don’t know our story very well, which means we have trouble living our lives from this perspective
• Many Christians find it difficult to say why their faith makes a difference in their lives
• This makes the call to bear witness to the love and Grace of God in Jesus Christ difficult, because we’re not certain of our place in God’s vision of the world
Clayton suggests we need a robust theology, one that is reasonable - inclusive - engaging - and rooted in the Biblical Narrative. In order to gain this confidence, we must grow in the wisdom that comes from our encounters with Scripture, tradition, and in the faith experiences that emerge from our encounters with God and with each other. In this, we discover a vision of the kingdom of God, one that invites us to work with God “for the salvation of this planet and all its inhabitants.”
• Jesus had that sense of vision, and it was one that he developed as he grew in wisdom and in stature
God could have entered into our world in any way that He saw fit.
• He could have descended from Heaven on a cloud in the prime of Manhood, riding a fiery stallion and leading armies into battle - But He didn’t
• He could have teleported into the middle of the desert and built up the Church as a one-man show, without any help from anyone - But He didn’t do that either
God chose to enter this world by becoming part of a family, and by sharing his mission with them.
• He chose a Mother to nurse Him
• He chose a Father to protect and provide for Him
• He chose Aunts and Uncles to proclaim His message even before His birth
• He chose a Cousin, a lifelong friend, to blaze the path before Him, to cry out in the wilderness, to make straight the paths of the Lord
• His cousin John did everything that Jesus did—and he could do that because Jesus chose to work through him
• You can do what Jesus did because Jesus chooses to work through you
I am sure we would admit having a family is no easy thing.
• It means you have to be vulnerable
• It means that you will at some point suffer terrible loss
• It means that every day you will have to pour out yourself, your very life, for those whom you love
But it also means you are called in love to participate in a reality far greater than the sum of its parts. Families are united by a shared story - a shared mission - a shared faith - that sees us through the darkness, that gives life when we are weary unto death. That’s what a family does. And now God calls us to be a part of His family.
--He could still save the world any way that He sees fit
--He could still come on a cloud or make the Church into a one-man show
--But He doesn’t, and that should tell us something
--God chooses to do His work - to renew His Creation - to save His people, through you
--Not because you’re so righteous or blameless before the Lord
--None of us are
--But because we are all His family
--We share in His mission
--We share in His story
--We share in His faith
--We share in His DNA
--And in this family, we are never alone
--You can join The Family Business today
--No application to fill out
--No interview required
--No background check
--No credit score requirement
--No contracts to renew
--No Pink slips to deal with
--No Layoffs to worry about
--All are welcome in The Family Business – the Family of God
--And these benefits are Out of This World
--I invited you to Join the Family Business this morning
