A New Year's Challenge From God
A homily based on Luke 2:41-52, Sam 2:26, and Col 3:12-17
by Rev. F. Schaefer

Have you heard this one?: The Millers had some people for dinner. At the table the lady of the house turned to her 6-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" The little girl said, "I wouldn't know what to say." The mother said, "Just say what you hear Mommy say." The little girl bowed her head and said: "Dear Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

Children can pick up the darndest things from their parents. They learn everything from vocabulary to habits--for better or for worse. Think about the huge influence your parents had on your life. For most of us, our mom and/or dad had a lot to do with who and what we are right now.

This is true for Jesus, too. We tend to attribute Jesus' teachings, his compassion, his care for others to his divinity. However according to proper "incarnation theology" Jesus had a divine and, at the same time, a human side.

Lest we forget it: for all his Godly attributes and his divine status--Jesus was human too. In fact he was born like any other baby, crying and fussing just like the rest of them, I imagine.

Luke reminds us of Jesus humanity when he says in verse 2:52: "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor." I think we can all agree that Luke is talking about Jesus human side when he talks about his growth in wisdom and years.

In his humanity, Jesus must have been a kid like you and I; He probably had his goofy phases as well as his mature ones. He must have learned by trial and error and in the process got hurt, just as any other kid. He too, must have discovered first-hand the force of gravity, the heat of a fire, the dryness of the summer drought. He must have experienced the pain of teething, thirst, hunger, growing pains, cuts and scrapes, etc.

Today's NT Scripture lesson features one of the rare accounts of Jesus' childhood years we can find in the canon of the bible. Joseph and Mary lose their twelve-year old son Jesus--they actually leave him behind--and finally find him after three days of searching for him. He spent all this time in the temple. Not in the local arcade, or the mall, or the roller rink--he hung out at the temple flipping through Scripture scrolls and turning some heads with his theology.

But, of course, young Jesus wasn't really supposed to be there in the first place.   Or was he?  Before we talk about the remarkable display of Jesus' wisdom, let's look at the conflict we have in this story. Listen to this again:

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."

"He said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he said to them. Luke 2:49-50

Now, doesn't that sound exactly like a slice out of real life?  A real parent-teenager conversation!

Can your remember back to when you were twelve or thirteen years of age? At that age, you are in Middle School, just beginning to get interested in boys / girls, you are getting a sense for fashion, a sense for what's cool, and what's not, you start to want hanging out with friends more, have sleepovers; you're watching Dawson's Creek, and MTV and you're listening to Brittney Spears or N'SYNC, and you have realized that parents are not all-powerful, in fact you notice that they're making mistakes too, and they really don't have a clue about what's "cool." In a nutshell, at 12 years of age you're beginning to become an independent person.

But let's keep it in perspective: at twelve, there are a lot of things that you cannot do. You cannot legally drive a car, decide where to live or who to live with, quit school, own property, or vote. While you are beginning to assert your independence, you realize that you are still very dependent.

This lesson raises a host of questions. Was Jesus disobedient to his parents? Or did he follow a higher calling? Did his parents neglect their supervision duties? What is the meaning of it all?

Whatever else may be in this lesson, we certainly see Jesus on the verge of something new. Something happens in his first expression of independence. He has a spiritual awakening. Perhaps for the first time ever, Jesus becomes aware of the predominance of the Heavenly Father over his earthly father; the fact that there is a higher purpose on his life that is above and beyond his family life, his social class, and his human existence.

Isn't that something all parents want for their children? To become aware of a higher purpose and calling on their life? Isn't that something we want for ourselves? I, for one, want to know in my heart that God has called us me to something higher than the daily grind; to a purpose that goes beyond my earthly tasks; to a purpose that lasts beyond the grave; to a purpose that takes precedence over the strife and the sweat and the pain of eking out an existence for me and my family. I want for my life to make sense in the grand scheme of the universe. I want my life to matter.

And that's what the good news is all about, isn't it? God came to us in the form of a human being, to remind us that there is a higher calling on each and every one's life, that our lives can be meaningful beyond the grave, that we have a place in God's kingdom for eternity, that this life with its sufferings and temporal joys is not all there is. God is calling you and me with a higher calling and God has a purpose for our lives.

Today, thousands perhaps millions of people around the globe will make New Year's resolutions. I believe that new year's resolutions express a deeply-rooted human desire for a higher purpose of existence. Somehow, we want to rise above the ordinary, have purpose and direction to our lives and achieve something lasting.

What can we learn from all of this? What advice, what help can we get from our Scripture lessons for our spiritual lives? I believe that they pose a challenge to us. They remind us that there is a part that we have to do to get help from God for our lives. There is something we must do if we want to grow toward fulfilling the purpose God has for our lives.

Both Samuel and Jesus are reported to spend time in God's house when it is said of them that they "continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and with the people."

Colossians 3:16 reminds us to "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

This morning, God is clearly speaking to us concerning spending time in church. And how timely this message is in a day and age when attending church services has become very irregular. We, the body of Christ, need a reminder of how important it is to come together in unity, to worship God together. We need to nurture one another in order to allow God to fertilize our spiritual growth.

Let this be a challenge set before us by God for this new year: to renew our commitment to worship God, with the people of God, in the house of God. Let us chime in with the young boy Jesus when he says: "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" Not for God's sake, nor for the preacher's sake, but for your own sake. What is at stake is your higher purpose in life and getting equipped to fulfill it. Sounds like a good New Year's Resolution to me. In plain English, God says: get your "behind" in church! What will your response be?