Luke 2:40-52            Mary and Our Children        Dec 6, 2009

      A group of American tourists were visiting a very beautiful English village in the Lake Country.  They passed an old man leaning against a fence and asked him, “Were any great men or women born in this village.”  And the old man replied, “No.  Just babies were born in this village.”

  No great men or women are born.  There are no instant heroes.  There was not even an instant savior.  Jesus was born as a baby, became a boy, then a teenager, and finally a man.  Jesus had to grow and develop just like we do.  In our scripture today, we read the only story contained in the Bible about Jesus between his birth and when we was about thirty years old.  We know nothing about him in those years.  But this story tells us an important point.  It is the story of the twelve year old Jesus in the temple.  But most important to this story are the first and last verses.  Notice verse 40 says that “the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom.”  Then verse 52 says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and people.”  At the beginning and end, Luke repeats this “growth formula.”   It means it is an important point.  Jesus had to grow and develop in every way just as we do.  This morning, I want to see what we can learn about Jesus’ growth, our own growth, and about the growth of our children. 

  First of all, Jesus developed in his life just as we all do.  The Incarnation means that Jesus was a real human being.  Jesus was like us in every way except sin.  He was like us in all ways that matter, unlike us in the one way that lets him help us the most.   Jesus developed in the life of his own family with Mary and Joseph guiding him and he developed in his relationship with his Heavenly Father.  These verses in Luke remind us of the verses in the Old Testament in I Samuel 2:26: “Now the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with God and with all people.”  Do you hear the echo?  Samuel was a great prophet of Israel and Jesus would be the greatest prophet of Israel.  But both men grew, developed, and matured into their roles. 

  The same is true for you and me.  Some folks want to come down the aisle to join a church, maybe attend a few times, and then wonder why they have not reached the spiritual mountain top yet.  Spiritual growth is years in the making.   And in continues all our lives.  Jesus was once a child growing in God.  You who are children can grow in God.   Jesus was a teenager just as some of you and he grew in God.  You who are teens today can grow in God.  Jesus was an adult and grew in God.  So can all of us.  We need never stop growing.  As long as we live and breathe and even into all eternity beyond this life, we can grow in the grace of God.  God is infinite so there is no limit or end to all we will be and become. 

 Well, when Jesus reached his twelfth birthday, his family was going to the temple for Passover.  It was the celebration in the spring time to remember Israel’s escape from slavery in Egypt.  Now all Jews who lived within 15 miles of the Jerusalem were required to attend the temple each year.  However, in an age of walking, Jews who did live farther away would only attend every few years.  But vs. 41 tells us that Mary and Joseph went up to the temple every year for Passover according to the spiritual custom.  Again, we see the pious devotion of this couple.  They went beyond what was required to worship the Lord.  Furthermore, Mary went with Joseph.  In that day, only the man was required to attend.  Only devoted families with a shared faith in God would go together every single year.  This family did just that.   To travel to Jerusalem from Nazareth, about 70 miles, to stay for the week of Passover, and return home would take almost 2 weeks.  This was a significant yearly commitment.  It would be part vacation, part family reunion, and part religious observance. 

 Well, the feast was over.  The bags were re-packed.  The many groups were on the way home.  Suddenly, Mary and Joseph realize that Jesus is not with them.  He is not with the women and children, traveling along.  He is not with Joseph and the men.  He is not with any relatives.  And so, in a panic, they turn back to find Jesus. 

  When my son Charlie was about 3 years old, he and I were at the old downtown public library.  I was at the check out desk and he was right beside me.  Then I looked back down and he was gone.  I ran around the library.  I went out the front door.  I looked down every stack of books.  I began, right there in the library, to call his name.  Probably 5 minutes passed and it seemed like 45.  I thought, “Marley is going to kill me if I cannot find Charlie.”     All parents have had this happen.  Children disappear quickly in a store and you cannot find them.  Well, a librarian just then told me that there was an elevator right next to the check out desk and she thought a little boy had stepped on it when it opened.   I pressed the elevator button.  And when the door opened, there was a security guard holding the hand of a little boy.  

Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple, sitting among the teachers and all were amazed at his wisdom.  But Mary asked, “Son why have you done this?”  In all the years before, Jesus had never done such a thing.  He was always obedient to his parents.  Ephesians 6:1 says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for it is right.”  Parents have a holy responsibility to raise children in the ways of God just as Mary and Joseph raised Jesus.  They took their responsibilities seriously.  And Jesus was an obedient child.  Verse 51 says that Jesus returned with them and was obedient.  The years of childhood are to be years of obedience.

  But this story also shows us that change is in the air.  Jesus also says to his mother, “Do you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”  There is a season in life when children grow up.  Teenagers know those awkward moments of transition when they are no longer a child.  Parents know those moments too.  The truth dawns that our children do not really belong to us and that their life is not completely tied to our life.   There is a time in life when a separation happens.  And unless that separation occurs, we never grow up.  A mamma’s boy and a daddy’s girl are never fully mature.   Each child, each teen, each person needs to become their own person.  And become a person of God. 

  You see, each of us finds our real identity in God.  In our Father’s house, doing our Father’s business.  In a deeper way than even our own families, we are part of the family of God.  Jesus, as a man some day, in Mark 3:31-35 would have to tell his mother that.  She wanted to protect him.  She wanted him to come home and be with his family.  But Jesus said, “My family are those who do the will of God.”   But on this Passover Feast, when Jesus was twelve, he went home and was obedient. 

 On another Passover, twenty-one years later, Jesus would return to Jerusalem.  He would not be with Mary and Joseph, but with his new family of disciples.  He would again teach in the temple and this time, he would not be so welcomed.  And again, Jesus would be lost for three days and those who loved him could not find him.  And another Mary would go looking for him.   And the angel would say, “Why do you seek the living among the graves?  Jesus is not here.  He is risen.”  

 This Christmas season, may you know this resurrected Jesus.  He is the one who enables us to grow and develop and mature.  In him, we find our true identity and our true Father and our true family.  We are empowered to love our children and to let them grow up.  We become united all together as we do the will of God.   Amen.