Lost at Home: Luke 2:41-52 (Christmas 1C)

 

I trust that everyone had a good Christmas. It seems strange that we are back here again so quickly, but I hear preachers only work on Sundays. Thank you for being here. I know the week after Christmas is considered a “low Sunday” whether that’s attendance, or maybe my preparation, so thanks for joining me. 

You may have seen that our topic today is Lost at Home, which I understand can be kind of confusing. As we’ve travelled through Advent, we’ve been on our journey to discover where our homes are, the places we can be ourselves, no matter who we are around or what’s going on. The places where we can let our guard down and just… be real. 

I hope over the last month or so you’ve never felt lost, but Advent is a season where we can easily lose ourselves in busy-ness, lose ourselves in decorations and preparations for parties, lose ourselves in trivial things that now that the holiday is over, you may feel a little more empty. 

I get that. We had such a high a few nights ago, and now - what? Family may still be around, having the week between Christmas and New Year’s to enjoy the extended time, but depending on how familiar everyone is with the space, it may feel… different. And normal routines are disrupted. We may feel lost in our own space.

That’s kind of how the Holy Family was feeling. They went to Jerusalem for the Passover (much like we travel for Christmas). Jesus is 12 years old. This story is significant because it’s the only story of a young Jesus, so that’s something to consider as well. Something you may not know about the travelling, unlike today, they would travel in large groups (safety in numbers, am I right?). We wonder how Mary & Joseph could just leave Jesus behind, and as much as we want to compare this to that great Christmas classic, Home Alone, I think it’s not exactly similar. But don’t get me wrong, I wonder if Mary has the same reaction once she realizes that Jesus is not with them. “JESUS!” She screams, like the mother in the movie on the plane. 

So - in the Jewish scriptures that Joseph and Mary have to work with, there are three pilgrimages that are important to make, annually. Typically, only men were required to make the journey, so it’s interesting that Mary joined him to highlight her faithfulness, and/or the need to make sure Jesus experienced this. 

They spent a whole day, trying to get back to their village, where they could unwind after the holidays, but at the end of the day, they’re missing their child. And it’s interesting, they travelled a full day, but the text says, when they did not find him, they retuned to Jerusalem and searched for three days. So - when they find him, it’s like five days after they originally left. I’m glad Joseph has patience, because I’m sure they were both furious.

Now, I think much air has been spared on the parents’ inattention to their son, but let’s consider this from Jesus’ perspective. He’s 12, so he’s getting into some holy trouble - he’s being typical for his age, even now, pushing boundaries to find out where he fits in, or maybe safe exploration. Does it worry his parents? Like all good parents, they are about to lose their mind. But, as Jesus responds to his mother once he is located, “What’s the deal? Didn’t you know where I was?” Now - this sounds like some sass Jesus is sending his mother’s way, and should not be taken as disrespect. It’s just showing, from Jesus’ perspective, how important the Temple is to him. 

This is important in faith development. It’s interesting to see that even Jesus grew in his faith. He needed that community to ask questions to make sure his understanding of scripture was accurate, even though he was divinity personified. 

At the same time, two more things we can take away from this. Young people - I know I’m considered in that group, but the couple others of you - hear this, your voices are valid, and I (and probably all the other adults) need you to be asking questions when you have them. You have a unique perspective that the rest of us don’t have, formed by your own experiences and thoughts. There are young people using their voices in amazing ways these days, and I’d like to highlight a couple. The first is Malala Yousefzai - she was an advocate for girls education in her home country of Pakistan, beginning when she was in her teens. This did not make everyone happy, namely those in the Taliban, who felt like they could silence her, and she was shot in the head on her way to school in 2012. She made a miraculous recovery, and at age 23, just finished her bachelor’s degree at Oxford in England. For her advocacy, she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, and is currently still the youngest recipient of that award. The second I’d like to highlight is Claudette Colvin. Claudette was a civil rights activist. She was actually arrested for NOT giving her seat up to a white woman in 1955 (at the age of 15), 9 months before the more famous Rosa Parks. She was one of the plaintiffs in a Supreme Court case that helped outlaw segregation on Alabama buses. She received less publicity from those in her cause because they found out that she was pregnant and unwed during the court case. Huh, that’s kind of interesting. But more interesting, is that we want to think that era in American history is behind us, but Claudette is still alive, at age 82. 

Anyway - my point is, young voices have power, and as a community of faith, we need to look after these voices when they seem to get lost. Maybe some of the elders can encourage the young ones with what they see in each of them. I want our young people to know that the things that you care about are included here at Bethany. Sometimes when we get to places like this, those opinions get thrown out the window. Or, in my case, I was too anxious or afraid to share my thoughts at that age. But this church is for everyone. We need all voices to be heard if we are going to grow, and find out the needs of our community. 

Next, the boundaries of Jesus’ family expanded drastically here. I’m sure, like most of us, we are used to having our families defined by either our nuclear families, or maybe extended families. But when Mary & Joseph get back to the temple, it looks like Jesus has blown out that  familial circle to include all of Israel - the teachers of the Torah in his “Father’s house”. But also, as we listened a couple of weeks ago, John had been talking about it doesn’t matter who your ancestors were, the righteous were being determined not by who your family was, but how you embraced the Holy Spirit and the fruit - results of that embrace; how your life was changed, and how you manifested sharing the good news that God has changed your life, how your faith has grown and given you blossoms and fruit to show.

Lastly, Luke writes often about the inclusivity of the redemption of the whole world, not just God’s chosen people, he doesn’t take away Jesus’ identity as one of them. He was Jewish, through and through. He is educated in Jewish ways, and preaches from that angle as he matures. He doesn’t grow IN SPITE of this upbringing, but FROM it. Verse 40 (right before this excerpt) says, The child grew and became strong, full of wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. This is echoed in verse 52 - “and Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.” Mary & Joseph found Jesus in the temple - in his “Father’s house”, but they were not informed as to this development in his life… the growth into being the Son of God. He was sitting in the temple, not being quiet, the text says that he was sitting AMONG the teachers, listening to them, and asking questions. He was there as an equal, not just a student, as his age may suggest. No wonder his parents were astonished. But let’s not forget that everyone, even the young among us, have something to teach us. 

This interaction really gets at the heart of Jesus’ call to ministry and how he defines it. He doesn’t make lists of do-s and do-nots. He wants people to have goals in their ministries, to be about positive change through transformation into disciples. Jesus wants to affirm his identity as his relationship to God. This is part of the development of childhood and adolescence. As parents and just adults in general, we go through these stages in our lives, and we think it’s linear.

Luke also has themes of “searching” and “finding” throughout his text. But doesn’t that mimic human nature? We need to ask questions to get answers, whether in school, at a job, or in faith. How can we grow, or get better, or learn anything if we don’t ask questions? Mary and Joseph were searching for Jesus, but Jesus was searching for his home, and his core purpose. What you search for reveals much about who we are. 

Much like the narrative in the text, our temple is no longer crowded, the feasts are over. The visitors may have gone, or may be searching for rest or purpose over the next week. Let’s talk to one another and see how we can help those find what they need in the coming year. A community together can see more than what one person can on their own, so let’s travel together so no one gets lost. 

Amen.