Stop Minding Your Own Business

Stop minding your own business

Luke 2:40-2:49

I was thinking about a phrase that I remember hearing people say a lot when I was in high school I guess I heard it in lots of situations. It just seems that I don’t recall hearing it as much in more recent times… “Mind your own business!”

It is a statement that is often made by a person to tell someone to respect their privacy. It was a kind of scolding to another person for asking the wrong questions or making some statement or suggestion about another person’s situation.

I would think that all of us have had the statement made to us at some point and perhaps even made it to others. Perhaps we were sticking our noses in places that they did not belong or just over heard the conversation between other people.

Generally, most of us come to an understanding that we should not be the kind of people that are always trying to find out details of what is going on in other people’s lives.

Today we are considering a problem, perhaps the biggest problem in churches and especially in the lives of Christians today. The problem is simple and is wide spread and it has a profound impact on the success and failure of churches all over our country.

The problem is that of Christians that mind their own business!

Yes, you heard me right. I said the problem is Christians that mind their own business.

Maybe you are wondering, if I am not supposed to mind my business, then whose am I supposed to mind?

Let’s review our text. Jesus was 12 years old and He had gone with His earthly parents to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. They have been in town for at least a week and most everyone in town packs up had heads off toward home in all directions when the event is over.

At the end of traveling the first day Joseph and Mary figure out that they have a missing child. Their son is not with their group. They want to send out an amber alert but the technology is not around yet. They rush back to Jerusalem and search for their son.

We have talked about this situation before. We have considered how they felt as parents. We have even considered if they ever thought that they had misplaced Jesus and we have hopefully considered that question in our lives.

Our reading this morning tells us that after 3 days they found Him in the temple. He was sitting with the teachers…. Not just local small town teachers but teachers that hold classes in the temple. The men that would be considered college professors…. He is listening to them and He is asking questions…the people are astonished as how He clearly understands the answers to His questions.

Mom and dad appear on the scene and they are clearly upset and I would guess relieved, and angry, and amazed, and happy and angry.

They ask an obvious question, “Son, why have You done this to us?”

Ok, so we are caught up on the situation. We may have has some similar experience with our children or with friends.

But the problem is that the question is one that is pretty hard to answer.

Have you stopped beating your wife?

Yes, I stopped …no, I haven’t stopped…

Yes, I know what I did…..no I never considered you….

Jesus responds t the question like he does in many situations we read about in the NT with a question.

“Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

Joseph and Mary seem to decide not to make any bigger scene here in public. Besides that the scripture says, But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

Speaking from my experience with children, the response I get to my pointed and direct questions often leave me at a loss.

Why were you late getting home? Dah….!!!

After some special revelation form god to Mary and Joseph some 12 years before thin incident…..as far as we know, things had been pretty normal around the carpenter’s household. We know from an incident in Nazareth 19 years from now that the people there considered Jesus to be the carpenter’s son. And wanted to throw him off a cliff for his explanation of scripture.

As far as we know this is the first time that Jesus has defined a difference between his earthly father and God the father. There is just enough truth that Mary and Joseph know that it might be pretty hard to understand.

But the point that I hope you connect to here is that the statement, “I must be about My Father’s business” is important.