Bible Readings : Colossians 3:12-17, Luke 2:41-52
Let us pray:
Grant us understanding, challenge, trust
and hope in your word for us today O God.
Amen.
Just five days ago, Tuesday in fact, some
of us were gathered here celebrating the coming of the Christ child – talking
of nativity scenes and family gatherings and singing carols and looking forward
to some down time. And today its seems,
to me any way, rather longer than five days ago because family has come
together and separated again, it’s almost a new year and I’ve watch movies and
read books and walked beaches and eaten too much all packed into a few days
off.
Today we hear in the readings that Jesus is
12 years old and causing his parents some angst. That was a bit sudden you think. And then next week when we hear of the visit
of the Magi, we go ‘what’s going on here?’
When things get out of order we get a little perturbed sometimes –
thinking that all is not right. But all
is very right. This jumping of time is
a great way to get ourselves out of the sweetness, the joyfulness that we have
sometimes overly immersed ourselves in at Christmas time and into the reality
of family life with Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the rest of the family.
This reading we heard this morning is
unique to Luke among the Gospels and offers a link between the stories of the
infant Jesus, and his emergence at around thirty years old to be baptized by
John. This reading offers some small
insight into life for the family and relationships within it – in fact it’s a
story of reassuring normality. Extended
family go to Jerusalem for festival of the Passover, set out on their journey
home thinking Jesus is safely with others and only discover his absence after
some time. Reaction: horror and fear,
guilt and adrenaline pumped action searching for him – anything could have
happened. Most of us know that feeling
at some time as parents or carers of someone we are responsible for.
But Jesus is ok – he’s cool – he’s doing
what he wanted to do and can’t see why the parents don’t get that. Parents employ excellent parenting skills,
breathe deeply, count to ten and try to explain so he will understand and not
do it again. One thing I think that this
reading can do for us – encourage us to dislodge that unfortunate image of
Jesus as a perfect, non-crying, always obedient, never grumpy child and
youth. Jesus became flesh and dwelt
among us – and did so in all muckiness of human relationships and family as
this glimpse into his young life shows.
But there is more, much more to be found in
this story of the encounter of Jesus with the teachers in the temple. A poem by Bruce Prewer ‘Coming of Age’ speaks
to depth of this story.
COMING
OF AGE
He was not thoughtless,
but in the year
of his bar mitzvah
he went missing,
while parents with fear
went anxiously looking.
He was not thoughtless;
a greater kin
had caught him up;
his search was on
among the big questions
priests founder in.
He was not thoughtless,
but was on track
for that Divine
Friday of squander
when all heaven
would weep in wonder.
From ‘Beyond Words’ © B D Prewer
I believe there are a number of thoughts to
be found in reading this story. One is
that it is an important moment in the relationship between parents and
child. It is a moment of transition from
childhood to maturity, from the carefree to the beginnings of responsibility –
responsibility to his Father in heaven.
It was a shock to the parents at least if not to the child – this was a
new face they were seeing of their darling child and a beginning maybe of the
letting go.
You know it’s interesting - I heard on the
radio recently of a group in Golden Bay I think it was who were offering an
opportunity for ‘rites of passage’ for young girls from childhood to the
beginnings of adulthood. It struck me as both bizarre and interesting at the
same time. Bizarre in that someone
offers a course on something that ought to be integral to life, and interesting
that there was the obvious need for it judging by the comments of those
attending. I wonder how good we are at
letting go of those we feel responsible for.
I wonder if, not just with our children, our dependents, but also with
our faith we are reluctant, a bit like Mary and Joseph, to let our relationship
with God move past the place where we are in control, calling the shots and on
into a place of growing maturity where we hear God speaking to us in new ways,
showing us different priorities and establishing new relationship boundaries
that might not be so comfortable because it’s not on our terms?
Another thread to draw from this story is
that Jesus is making a statement to his parents - that there was more to life
than just fulfilling their expectations.
He was saying to us all that the business that his Father had called him
to was greater than anything we might require of him for our peace of mind,
that there would be times when we would not know what was happening, where we
were going, how the future would pan out – that life would be uncertain and
untidy. His response to the anxiousness
and, I guess, relieved anger of his parents was to say so very calmly and with
absolute assurance and not a little teenage challenge ‘Why were you searching
for me? Did you not know that I must be
in my Father’s house?” Jesus response to
our anxiety, our uncertainty, worry and fear, is to gently chide us for not
trusting that when we are with God we are also in God and God is in us. He is
telling us how important it is to respond to the call of God in our lives and
for us and others to trust that call over and above the worries of our heads
and hearts. But we note that Jesus went
home with Mary and Joseph and was obedient to them, that he increased in divine
and human favour. So he wasn’t about
trampling over everything that his parents held dear but rather asking them to
trust God with their precious son. That
trust was stretched to its limits on the cross!
And the final thought from this passage:
“Mary went away and treasured these things in her heart.” It was a changing moment for all involved, a
time of growing and understanding out of the confusion and the lack of understanding. There is a sense of releasing not just the
son from the confines of childhood but bringing new maturity and understanding
to the parents too. When we release the
control we are freed to bear more fruit.
Imagine some of the conversations that might have started to happen
between Jesus and Mary especially after this event. Something had changed in their relationship
and we are left to imagine, in the light of the adult Jesus, just what that
might have looked like for the family and the community they lived in.
When we are challenged with a rebellious
truth, we have two choices: we hold our ground and reject it out of hand or we
are encouraged to see new ways of doing and being that will change and grow our
understanding. Christ encourages this
maturing in faith, this continual examining of our own responses to challenging
happenings and asks us to open ourselves to growing in faith and
understanding. As the letter to the
Colossians says “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish
one another in all wisdom”. and thank God for everything you
Jesus, in this
small insight into his youth, is teaching us not only about his coming of age
but about ours as well. Thanks be to God
for the child come among us, Jesus Christ.
Amen
Margaret Garland
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