Second Sunday after Christmas                                                Rev. Keith Loesch

St. Luke 2:40-52                                                                Grace Lu Ch, LaPlata, MD

“About Our Father’s Business”                                         January 3, 2010

Today’s Gospel Lesson is the only recorded incident in early years of Jesus – when he was 12yr old boy

• There was great curiosity about what Jesus’ childhood was like in early centuries of Church

1. Questions arose: “What was it like to be a God-boy?” “What was playtime like for Jesus?”
2. Wild speculations were made – which gave rise to some wild stories

• One Sabbath, Jesus molded 12sparrows out of mud – was scolded for working on Sabbath – so he clapped his hands and sparrows flew away
• Jesus and another boy were playing on roof of house – boy fell over side, broke his neck and died; Jesus went down, brought him back to life and healed his broken neck
• One Spring, Jesus planted just one grain of wheat – when harvest came, he got 100 measures of wheat from that single seed!
• Father Joseph, as a carpenter, by mistake, made a bed too short for a customer – Jesus pulled on one end and stretched it out to its intended length
• Fanciful stories like that tell us that some people wanted to present Jesus as a Super Hero – it was a misguided idea – no wonder such writings were never included in the New Testament!

Luke avoids that track and presents an account that realistically gives an accurate glimpse of Jesus growing into the fullness of a human being that is truly God Incarnate.

• Jesus was in Jerusalem because Jewish law required all males to appear at Temple 3 times per year

1. He came for Feast of Passover – Now it’s over and group from Nazareth heads for home
2. Everyone in group knew each other – Mary and Joseph figured Jesus was with friends – they didn’t notice his absence until nightfall – so frantically went back to Jerusalem to find him
3. They looked for 3 days – finally found him at Temple “sitting among teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.”
4. Here is Jesus – (like all boys were expected to do) engaged in usual process of learning and growing – listening, asking questions, and giving answers – like he was at school!

• Jesus resembled a Child Prodigy (somewhat like the boy Mozart, who was a musical genius)
• Jesus did it so well that all the rabbis were amazed at his insight & knowledge!
• The 12-yr-old Student was teaching the Teachers!

When his parents found him – Jesus said: “Didn’t you know that I must be in Father’s house?”

• Literally – “in the things of my Father” – The phrase can mean both “in my Father’s house” & also “about my Father’s business”
• Notice – in very 1^st words of Jesus recorded in Bible –  he refers to God as his Father.

1. Mary, who Luke says “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” could remember what the Angel Gabriel told her when she first learned that she would be mother of the Christ: “your child will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High!” – Now Jesus brings that reality home to all who are present in the Temple (and he continues referring to God as his Father throughout his earthly ministry).

Through Jesus, God now becomes OUR Father as well!

• God sent Jesus into the world on a Top Priority mission of mercy to redeem us.
• That mission was uppermost in his mind every day throughout his life.
• By his life of complete obedience to his Father, and by his suffering, death and resurrection Jesus bought us back from Sin, Death and the Devil.
• By Baptism he has washed away our sin, and the Father has forgiven our sin, given us eternal life and salvation, and has adopted us into His Family.
• Now we are his very own sons and daughters whom God cares about and keeps in the very forefront of his mind and always under his watchful eye

1. He wants only our welfare and he richly provides all that we need for daily life
2. He has provided an eternal home for us in heaven – so that Jesus can say most assuredly, “In my Father’s house are many rooms” – and we know one is reserved for each of us
3. He is with us day by day, walking with us through good times and difficult times

• He is always calling upon us to trust him, because we know he wants only what is best for us
• And he is always guiding us through the difficulties, sufferings, disasters and persecutions that always lie ahead.

The Swedish Lutheran hymnwriter, Carolina Sandell Berg, put it so well:  “Children of the heavenly Father, Safely in his bosom gather; Nestling bird nor star in heaven such a refuge e’er was given.  Though he giveth or he taketh, God his children ne’er forsaketh; His the loving purpose solely to preserve them pure & holy.”

As God’s children, WE – like Jesus – must be “about the things of our Father”

• For us – it most certainly means going to church & studying Bible & catechism
• But it also means for us to see ourselves as an extension of Jesus’ life & ministry in world today.
• When Jesus healed the blind man, he said: “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; the night comes when no one can work.”  Jesus had a mission to accomplish – and so do WE.
• Jesus felt it most strongly when he set his face to go to Jerusalem – “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and on the 3^rd day be raised.”   Nothing was more important for Jesus than to fulfill his mission of redemption!!!

We should also feel the urgency and necessity toward our mission that Jesus felt for his.

• Paul – (2 Cor5:14) “For Christ’s love COMPELS us, because we are convinced that one died for all…”
• The very love that flows from God’s heart to ours should motivate us to relate Jesus and his salvation to everyone around us.
• The story is told about Dr. Martin Luther – One day there was a knock on the door.  “Does Martin Luther live here?”   The voice came back from inside:  “No, he died!  Christ lives here now.”

1. So it is with us, as St. Paul says:  “We were buried therefore with Christ by Baptism into death, so that as he was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
2. Our desire to serve God comes from the love of Christ and the  Holy Spirit works in us to help it happen.
3. What is it that Children of the Heavenly Father do?

• It’s nothing less than carrying on the mission & ministry of Christ in our world today – loving, helping, witnessing, giving, teaching, praying – anything and everything that Jesus wants to happen so other people will know his love, mercy, and forgiveness.

We’ve just celebrated Christmas! It was a wonderful time of worship & praise.

• Now the challenge is for Jesus to be born in us and come to life in us so that others will look at you and see Jesus’ commitment to his Father and his love for people reflected in your commitment to Christ and your daily ministry as a son or daughter of God.
• It’s a new day & it’s a New Year – because of Jesus and work ne calls us to do.
• Let us be about our Father’s business with all our hearts.  Amen

Now may the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.  Amen