Sermons Online ...
Sermon: First Sunday after Christmas (C) - 27th December 2009
St Aidan's Anglican Church West Epping
Readings: 1 Samuel 2:18-20,26; Psalm 148; Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52
“GROWING WITH JESUS”
We know virtually nothing about the life of Jesus between the age of 2 and the beginning of his public ministry when he was about 30. We know that his home town was Nazareth of Galilee in the north of Israel, and that he doubtless learned the trade of a carpenter from Joseph. There are stories of his childhood found in the so-called apocryphal Gospels, written centuries after the Gospels of the New Testament. In their attempts to portray the uniqueness of Jesus, they present him as a pretty obnoxious child, using his miraculous powers to show off, and to get back at people he didn’t like! I don’t think they give us much information about Jesus to take seriously!
However we do have one story of Jesus’ youth which is provided in the Gospel of Luke. Oddly enough it is about how Jesus got lost! He was 12 at the time, a year before his bar-mitzvah when he would take on the responsibilities of an adult member of the Jewish family of faith.
Mary and Joseph had taken him up to Jerusalem for the Passover festival, and no doubt he would learn and observe things which would be relevant to his own bar-mitzvah the following year. He would have been present at both serious and joyful events. It must have been fascinating and awesome to a boy of his age.
At the end of the festival, it was time to return the 70 or 80 miles to Nazareth. There would have been a large group of people, probably hundreds of them, returning together to the town. The men travelled at the front of the caravan and the women and children towards the back. At the end of the day, at the place where they were to stop the night, Joseph came back to Mary, and you can imagine what happened. Mary asked Joseph where Jesus was. “I haven’t seen him all day. I assumed he was with you and the children.” And they suddenly realize that he is not with either of them. They rush around the other travellers, asking if anyone knows where Jesus is. And finally they realize that he is not with them at all. So next morning they have to retrace their steps back to Jerusalem, and start a search for Jesus in the holy city.
Next day they found him sitting in the temple where the rabbis gathered with students and interested people, talking about the Law and the things of God. But the twelve-year-old was not just sitting quietly: he was actively involved - asking and even answering questions. Clearly the people around him were impressed by his knowledge and insight. Twenty years later they would be even more awed by his teaching, although many would also be disturbed and offended by it as well.
Mary and Joseph were of course relieved to find Jesus, but also rather upset by the whole thing: I think we can understand that! “Why have you treated your father and me like this?” Mary asks. “Don’t you realize how upset we’ve been?” And then Jesus gives an answer that must have taken Mary and Joseph aback. “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?”
It’s not the answer you expect from a 12-year-old. But we need to keep in mind that Jesus is entering early adulthood. And he is actually setting some boundaries. Mary talks about “your father and I”, but Jesus says that he must be in his Father’s house. He is exploring God’s message and God’s purposes – what it means to be God’s child, and how to live as God’s people. Joseph may be his father in legal and community terms, but he and Mary are being reminded that Jesus’ true Father is divine, not human. And Jesus is already pointing out that, important though family ties are, there are claims made on him that are more significant than ordinary family ties. His priorities are those of the kingdom of God, and sometimes they will take precedence over the demands of parents and family.
Yes, Jesus clearly had a growing sense of just who he was, a developing sense that God has a very particular purpose for him….
Jesus was discovering more of what it means to be the Son of God in the light of God’s word. And in our reading from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, we discover more of what it means to be the children of God, what it means to live as the children of God, what it means to live as Christ’s followers in our world.
This passage from Colossians is a very significant one for Sarah and myself. It was the passage we chose to have read at our wedding 39 years ago. And our three daughters also had it read at their weddings. It would be nice to think that they observed at least some of Paul’s words in action in our lives and our relationship.
Paul describes his readers as “God’s chosen one, holy and beloved”. Jesus certainly is “God’s chosen one, holy and beloved”: and so are we – not quite in the same way, but in a very real way nevertheless.
And Paul has an interesting way of describing what sort of lives we ought to live as children of God. He talks of the clothing we are to wear.
Our clothing is part of the way we present ourselves to those round about us. Often by our clothing we indicate what we are on about, what our purpose or activity is to be. In the same way, by the clothing Paul describes we show something of who we are, who we belong to, what our purpose is in this world.
It’s a beautiful wardrobe. Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience: reaching out to others, caring for them in need, not putting ourselves first but giving respect and honour to others, and accepting their weaknesses rather than giving up on them or lashing out at them. Paul calls us to be forgiving people, knowing that we are forgiven people. And above all, love – treating others in the best way we can, always seeking their welfare, never their harm, never ignoring them in need.
And Paul goes on to describe other characteristics which ought to be evident in Christians – in their relationships with family, with neighbour – whoever that neighbour may be – and within the life of the church.
Paul calls us to peace: where there is conflict or difference, the peace of Christ is to be our umpire, our decision-maker. Not a weak peace that ignores problems and difficulties. This is the peace that seeks to deal positively with problems: seeking to understand one another, working out what really matters, looking to the word of Christ for guidance, seeking a balanced perspective, and where agreement cannot be reached, recognizing that we are not judges, treating one another with humility and respect.
Sadly this sort of peace has not been as obvious as it should be in the life of the church. And when we criticize the Diocesan leadership for failing to accept those who take different approaches on certain issues, we need to ask ourselves whether we make any attempt to understand where they are coming from and whether there are things we should be learning from them ! Peace needs to be worked on from both sides.
And Paul calls us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly as we take his message into our minds and hearts and lives. We are to encourage each other to live as Christ’s followers, and to sing and worship with real gratitude to God who has done so much for us in Christ.
And finally Paul calls us to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Jesus’ name is a name of authority. His name also speaks of his character. Could we say that all we do would have his authority behind it? Could we say that all we do reflects his character?
These things that Paul describes are pretty challenging, aren’t they? Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, love, peace, gratitude! Do we reflect the will of Christ, the character of Christ in all we do?
We don’t, do we? That confession we pray each week at church will continue to be relevant for us as long as we live on this earth. But Paul isn’t giving us a list of things to achieve before God will accept us into his kingdom. They don’t give us a mark that we have to reach before God will have anything to do with us. Rather they are a description of the character of Christ for us to imitate because he is our pattern, our leader, as well as our Saviour. They are a goal set before us, a path to keep following, a reminder that we haven’t made it yet. They are a challenge for us to take up as we respond to the love of God in Christ: let’s work at these things in our lives, and let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help these beautiful characteristics develop in our characters as Christ’s people.
We read this morning of Jesus developing in his understanding of God’s truth and God’s purposes for him. We are still on our journey of faith. As we come to the end of one year, and prepare to begin a new one, let us seek to move forward on the path as we follow Christ. May those beautiful clothes that Paul describes become more and more visible in our lives, and more and more evident in our characters. Amen.
Paul Weaver