I had some fun with this sermon. Not sure how it well it was received by the congregation, but I enjoyed working on it and preaching it. I had not read the infancy gospels in a long time, so that was an interesting part of my preparation. I forgot to mention that this sermon finished our Advent/Christmas preaching series this year.
“Looking for God among the 12 yr olds”, December 29, 2024; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Luke 2: 41-52
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” 49He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50But they did not understand what he said to them. 51Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52And Jesus increased in wisdom, years, and divine and human favor.
Introduction: IN the Tradition of Feast Days, this Sunday is known as the Feast of the Holy Family, with the purpose of portraying the Holy Family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as the model for all Christian families.
Let’s see - the perfect family has the 12 yr old son disappearing from his parents’ watch
or better yet, the parents don’t even notice until they’ve traveled toward home a day or so.
The perfect family? Hmm!
In the birth story in Luke, we are told that Jesus’ mother Mary “treasured all these things.” She does not seem to be treasuring much about Jesus in this story.
maybe Jesus is just beginning to separate himself from his parents as any 12 yr old middle schooler is beginning to do (he’s almost a teen-ager!)
or maybe this story is here to show that the Son of God is one day going to break free from his earthly parents and do his thing.
It is the only story about Jesus as a youth, at least in books that made it into the Bible.
there is a collection of what is known as the non-canonical gospels (ones that did not make the cut) and they contain some infancy gospels, stories told about Jesus growing up, some of which seem to fit this 12 yr old. Son of God trying to grow up.
as a young child, he does not even know the alphabet but can speak by the power of the Holy Spirit and teach people
some show temper tantrums when Jesus gets mad at other kids, in one instance he even strikes one dead;
he also heals his brother when he is bitten by a viper
he does a miracle to get water back to his mother when the jug he is carrying breaks and cannot hold water
my favorite - he raised a boy who had died from falling off the roof so the boy can tell everyone that Jesus did not push him off the roof, as some had accused him of doing. (The Other Gospels: Non-Canonical Gospel Texts, ed Ron Cameron, 122-130)
This morning I invite you to reflect on looking for God among the 12 yr. Olds.
Move 1: we see God as Jesus begins to claim who he is.
a. This is the Second time Jesus has been in the Temple in Jerusalem
1. The first time, his parents present him in the Temple.
2. That appearance is another moment when people talk about who Jesus is
go back to the angel Gabriel - he tells Mary about her who her son Jesus will be
the angel of the Lord tells the shepherds who Jesus is
when Jesus is presented in the Temple, Simeon and Anna speak about him, announcing who Jesus is.
b. now, as a 12 yr old, Jesus is starting to speak for himself.
1. The story finishes with the comment: And Jesus increased in wisdom, years, and divine and human favor.
2. Like Samuel who grew up in the Temple and grew into his role as one of God’s prophets, Jesus is growing into the leader he is going to become.
3. He is not quite there yet - after this time in the Temple, we are told that Jesus went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them.
4. But we are seeing Jesus growing into the who the son of God is.
c. As we look for God a,one the 12 yr olds, we see God in our own growing up and claiming who we are.
1. John Wesley, the prolific Methodist preacher and songwriter, understood this passage to mean that Christians can and should “increase in their holiness and their love of God.” (William Danaher, Jr., Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol 1, 166)
2. A life of discipleship is about continuing to grow and lay claim to who we are as children of God.
3. As we watch Jesus grow up before our very eyes in his interactions in the Temple, we are reminded of how we find God at work in us.
d. might take note of the role the Temple plays in the development of Samuel and Jesus.
1. That is why we gather Sunday mornings at church for SS and worship;
that is why we gather for Super Wednesday;
or join in the men’s weekly breakfast;
or the women’s Tuesday afternoon Bible study
or the Presbyterian Women’s Association
or the choir
or with the youth group.
To put ourselves in situations where we can grow in our discipleship.
2. We grow by intentionally being in community.
we grow by being part of intentional communities that nurture and guide us.
3. We can find God among the 12 yr olds
or among the 40 yr olds
or among the 60 yr olds
or among the 90 yr olds
because God is continually at work in our lives, shaping us by the power of the Holy Spirit, for our work as disciples of Christ
Move 2: as we look for God among the 12 yr olds, we might note that The aha moment may be a long time in coming.
a. Mary and Joseph did not understand in the moment.
1. We are told that when they saw Jesus in the Temple, they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.”
2. The text is not clear as to what astonished Mary and Joseph:
the fact that they found him in the Temple?
the fact that Jesus did not seem to have even noticed that they were separated?
the fact that Jesus was teaching with authority?
3. They are not the first parents of a middle-schooler to not quite get it.
3. Eventually, I suspect they will figure it out.
Maybe one day when they hear him read Isaiah in the synagogue and announce the he had come to fulfill the prophecy
maybe as Mary watches him on his way to the Gethsemane;
maybe when they hear stories about the resurrected christ?
maybe they have already some aha moments along the way.
b. I told this story one Maundy Thursday service, but I was reminded of it as I thought about a 12 yr old Jesus.
During seminary I did a two year internship as an Intern Associate Pastor. As part of my work, my wife Leslie I taught middle school Sunday School class for a year. It was a class with about 12 Jr. highs.
I learned a lot about kids and parents that year.
one Sunday the kids all seemed tired; I asked why they were so tired.
“We were up until 3:00Am toilet papering houses;
how did you keep from getting caught by your parents?
They were driving us. They did it want us out there on our own in the middle of the night!
One of the kids was the typical statistic we read about in magazines, or hear about on the news.
parents divorced in bad situation; mother a recovering alcoholic; father a continuing alcoholic; the young man reputedly joined his father and step-mother as they smoked pot;
history of petty thievery; sometimes brought his knife to Sunday School; reeked of smoke most Sunday mornings; in and out of counseling; known to lash out at others if they didn't do what he wanted;
smartest kid in the class; knew the Bible stories from SS better than anyone else; he had two stepsisters who worshiped him and he them;
he was a complex, contradiction, a scary kid seemingly headed for jail or suicide; he was the oddball in the sea of middle-class suburban Houston.
He also happened to be there the Sunday this intern read the story about Christ washing the disciples' feet;
he heard me tell the group that now we needed to find partners with whom to exchange this ritual; as could be
expected, the jr. highs weren't sure they wanted to wash each other's feet,
it was clear none of them would be his partner. So there I was, left to be his partner.
It started out as a clash of will. “We are going to wash each other's feet” I told him.
“You can't make me,” he retorted.
he was right. “Look, I'm not leaving here until we do this.” As the others in the class giggled and hurriedly washed each other's feet, made jokes about the smell, as they
probably missed the whole point of the lesson, I was in a battle of wills.
Whatever the reason, he finally gave up the stare down, tore off his shoe and very dirty sock, laughed and stuck his foot in my face. “Okay, wash me.”
In truth, there wasn't much to it. I took his foot, washed it, and then gently dried it off. he never did wash my foot.
to this day, my lasting memory of him and foot washings, is the silence and the stare he gave me as I washed his foot. The insolence was gone; something in the moment quieted him and caused him to stare as the intern/minister to be bowed before him.
I wish I could say that in that moment this kid's live was turned around. It wasn't.
I wish I could say I made such a great impression on him, he changed his ways, but he didn't.
I feel certain in that Sunday School room that kid didn't understand what was happening. I”m not sure I understood either.
1. But I have a hope, I have a hope that one day that memory will come to him.
As Christ told Peter, “what I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand.”
I have a hope that one day when he desperately needs a reason to live;
when he needs some type of change;
that memory of getting his foot washed will bring to mind the memory of the one who can meet his needs—Jesus Christ.
2. As we look for God among the 12 yr olds, we act now in the hope and the promise of the God who never gives up on us,
who is never done with us.
Move 3: Final takeaway from this story as we look for God.
a. The lesson is not that you can learn from anyone, even a 12 yr old.
1. Although it is undoubtedly true we can learn about God from kids.
2. I suspect we all have stories about how we have discovered God from something said by a12 Yr old
b. But do not settle for that lesson and miss this point made by the story.
1. Jesus is the one.
1. The baby born in Bethlehem
the 12 yr old teaching in the Temple
is the one who will be crucified and resurrected to redeem and save us.
2. When we look for God, we need look no farther than Jesus Christ himself.
conclusion: amen
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