the other scripture for the day were:
the holy gospel according to luke,
the 2nd chapter. glory to you, o lord.
41Now every year Jesus’
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 and in years, and in divine and human favor.
-----
this week i went to see the movie rise of the guardians with some
friends. rise of the guardians is about the guardians of childhood: santa
claus, the easter bunny, the tooth fairy, the sandman, and jack frost,
protecting children and childhood from the boogie man.
at the end of the movie, a child
behind me said to his adult caregiver, “but jack frost has to be real, or where does all the frost come from?” again on the way out of the theater,
the child clarified that, “there’s only one
big foot.” to which the man
responded, “i don’t know…there were a lot in the movie.” making eye-contact with the child, i
replied to his statement with, “true story,” affirming what the child had
said. as we walked away i heard
the child exclaim to the man, “see!
somebody over there said, ‘true story!’”
not having any of my own, for me
children are, in general, full of surprises. one of my favorite things when i talk with children is to
learn how their thought process works.
even when it’s not what i would come up with, it’s usually very clearly
logical—jack frost must exist, or where does frost come from? these conversations always seem to give
me something to treasure in my own heart.
the child that is so convinced
about jack frost and big foot surprised
me with his logic and brought me back to the fun and wonder of being a child.
in our gospel reading today, jesus
also
surprises the grown-ups with his questions and observations. those gathered in the temple are
surprised and mary and joseph are very clearly
surprised—after all, it took three days of searching before they thought to
look in the temple!
where were they searching in those
three days? what made them finally
decide to check the temple? did it
take all three days to get through their list of family and friends in
jerusalem? were they simply
heading to the temple to pray, having exhausted all options and hope?
although it was just a few days ago
that we experienced the angels with the shepherds and jesus’ birth, i have to
wonder if mary and joseph have forgotten who jesus really is. has so much time passed since the
angels came to them and the shepherds that
they’ve returned to the “normalcy” of raising a child and all that that
entails and
forgotten that this child is also god incarnate—god-in-the-flesh?
were the expectations raised so
high at the beginning with the angels and the shepherds that the normalcy of
raising a child—the dirty diapers, constant hunger, and lack of sleep—overtook
the wonder and joy of god incarnate?
here, we encounter the holy family when jesus is still a child, being
good and faithful, following through on the rites and rituals of their faith,
yet perhaps forgetting the mystery of their child.
after 12 years without an angelic
appearance, it’s understandable that they’ve lowered their expectations for
what it means to be jesus’ caretakers.
being parents has become normal, perhaps delightfully so, perhaps
not. so, when jesus turns 12, they
make their usual pilgrimage to jerusalem for the passover festival and are jerked
back to the reality of having a child who is nothing like any other, who surprises them with his logic and brings
them back to the bafflement of raising the child of god.
when they finally do find him and
lay the parental guilt down, saying, “child, why have you treated us like
this? look, your father and i have
been searching for you in great anxiety.”
jesus clearly points out that he has a higher authority to answer to
than mary and joseph. he makes
clear to them that there was only ever one thing he could be doing.
theologian john petty points out
that in the greek, jesus’ explanation is far more interesting. using language of divine imperative,
jesus says that he must be about his
father’s business. the word “house” is not in the text in greek, but instead it
is understood that the english fill-in could be house, or it could more likely
be business, things, or interests.
so, jesus explains to his parents, “of course i was here; i had to be
here, being about my father’s business.”
and what is his father’s
business? for 12-year-old jesus
it’s listening and questioning and
in that it is surprising. jesus
surprises his parents and the local scholars by listening and engaging them in
conversation, but even more profoundly, he surprises them by being in the
temple and being about his father’s business.
jesus does what no other
12-year-old would—he leaves his parents not to run away, but to recognize the
higher authority on which he is to act.
he has a mission and in the first words jesus says in the gospel of
luke, he sets the tone for his whole ministry in the gospel: he is to be about
his father’s business first and foremost.
this business is surprising in that it entails engaging
people—listening, questioning, answering, and surprising.
but this is not the first
surprise. years and years earlier
god surprised hannah by bringing her a son, whom she named samuel. and years and years after that, yet
still so many years ago god
surprised mary and joseph and the world by coming in the form of a baby to be
god-with-us, immanuel.
jesus surprises the teachers with
his understanding and answers, while he listens and questions in the temple.
jesus surprises his parents by
being in the temple, not with them on the way back from jerusalem.
jesus surprises us by following a
higher authority—god’s authority—rather than our own human authorities.
jesus surprises all those around
him throughout his life and ministry.
and ultimately, jesus surprises us all
by taking all the hatred and violence of the world into himself and responding
with life! resurrection!
and since then, he has continued to
surprise people throughout the ages.
i asked some of my friends how jesus surprises them and i got responses
ranging from “everything about jesus surprises me” to “nothing really surprises
me about jesus anymore.” it got me
thinking, though, about the ways that jesus can surprise us all today.
jesus surprises us in the welcome
feast at the table each sunday where each broken person comes to be fed by the
body that is broken for all, where jesus breaks into our worship with forgiveness, life, and
nourishment.
jesus surprises us with the
children in our lives who ask tough questions, who are confident in their
logic, who are more insightful and observant than we might give them credit for
being, and who put things into new perspectives.
jesus surprises us by coming to
engage with us—to come as god incarnate—god-in-the-flesh—to be flesh with
us. and each week when god comes
to us in jesus we get to join with mary and “treasure all these things in our
hearts,” “letting the peace of christ rule in our hearts—and letting the word
of christ dwell in us (richly)” through word and sacrament.
jesus surprises some by providing a
free roof over their head even as they are immersed in a culture of
independence that says it can’t be so.
jesus surprises some in a prayer
shawl received for the day they come out to loved ones.
jesus surprises me with moments of
grace and joy that quickly follow tearful moments of complete frustration and
loss.
jesus surprises some with hugs that
both huggers desperately need, even
if they can’t always ask for them.
jesus surprises some in the faces
of patients and friends waiting for care, for comfort, for god
jesus surprises us in the lives of those with whom we
are angry or frustrated
mr. rogers once said, “when i was a boy and i
would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘look for the
helpers. you will always find people who are helping.’” maybe jesus surprises us when we
follow mr. rogers’ mom’s advice and we see the helpers in a given situation:
the teachers, the firefighters, the police officers, the parents, the friends,
the children, the strangers. maybe
that is how jesus surprises us.
jesus surprises some when he glows
in our darkness, in victoria soto, a teacher who saved lives with hers, in
first responders who run into the situation when others run out.
jesus surprises me by making me
uncomfortable, by pushing me.
jesus surprises some by showing up
over and over again, sometimes by coming out of hiding, sometimes when
reflecting back on a situation, and sometimes in that very moment.
how does jesus surprise you? does he challenge you? does he push you beyond your comfort
zone? does he comfort you? does he surprise you by loving you?
how does jesus, this god incarnate,
immanuel, surprise you?
and how will he surprise you this week?
No comments:
Post a Comment