Among the things that I love about Christmas are the stories about the Holy Family, about Joseph, Mary and Jesus. We have lots and lots of images of Jesus as a baby, of course – lying in a manger, the holy infant with Mary, the baby Jesus with the shepherds and the wise men. On Christmas Eve at the 5:00pm service, we even had little Caleb Padula playing the infant Jesus in the pageant, and he was so very cute. It seems like it was only last week that we were talking about Mary and Joseph traveling to Nazareth to pay their taxes, and how Mary was not much more than a child herself when Jesus was born. But today we hear a different story. Today, we hear about Jesus as a 12 year old boy – not quite a teenager, but certainly not a child. He's what we might call today a "tween".
Our society doesn't really know what to do with adolescence. For most of us, it is a pretty awkward time; not still a child and not yet an adult. Our brains are changing and our bodies are changing even faster. We're starting to think for ourselves, and we're exploring what it means to be an adult. We're beginning to wonder what life is all about, and whether it has to be that way. We know that we need the security of our parents, and yet we can't stand to be seen with them. (Yes, we've all gone through it.)
But it's no picnic for parents, either. For you who are parents of young ones, I know it's hard to imagine now, but you'll get there. We wonder where the child we've raised has gone all of the sudden? They'll make good grades, and we'll feel so proud. They'll have a growth spurt, and look so grown up. Then they'll say something dumb and we'll feel like we just want to lock them up in their rooms until they're 21. (I have developed a real respect for middle school teachers... saints, every one of them!)
Mary and Joseph took the family to Jerusalem for Passover when Jesus was a tween. And as they were coming back, they realized that they hadn't seen him for a while. And so they did what any parents would do; they began to search for him. Meanwhile, Jesus was back at the temple, asking questions and listening to the rabbis. And when they find him, Mary does what any mother of a twelve year old boy would do. She starts to scold him. "Why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been looking all over for you; we were worried sick about you!" But Jesus responds to her with two simple questions.
Why have you been searching for me? Didn't you know that I must be in my Father's house?
Now there are two things I want you to think about as you ponder this story. The first is what Jesus was doing at the temple – he was listening and asking questions. We live in a time when people seem to have less and less time for church. We live in a time when more and more people claim that they are "spiritual", but not "religious". This used to bother me a lot, because I couldn't see the difference. I felt that one implied the other; if you were spiritual, you were religious, and vice versa. But when we peel back on that sentiment just a little, we find that more and more people really don't see them as the same at all. To them, "religion" is all about the institution of the Church, which they feel has become corrupted by clergy who take advantage of their parishioners or evangelists who use the bible as a way to condemn people who live a different lifestyle. For them, religion is about following rigid rules and living cookie-cutter lives. Spirituality, on the other hand, is about exploring life with God. It is about finding the spark of the divine within ourselves. It is about asking questions, and listening to others who are on the similar journeys.
Jesus was raised in a religious household, which followed all of the customs of Jewish Law. And yet he didn't blindly follow the rules. He wanted to understand the deeper meaning inside the scriptures. He wanted to explore the divine within himself. And throughout his life, Jesus continued to challenge the religious hierarchy. So, the first thing to understand about this reading is that Jesus was spiritual, but not religious.
The second thing I want you to remember about this story is that faith overcomes fear. Mary and Joseph searched "in great anxiety" – panic would not be too strong a word. And yet Jesus responds to her fear by reminding her about her faith. "Didn't you know I would be in my father's house?" This is not a question that a smarty pants twelve year old asks to challenge his mother. This is a question about what's important in her life. Jesus reminds us that God, our heavenly Father, watches over us and provides for all essentials of life: food, clothing, and shelter. But more than that, he reminds us that when we are with God, we are most at home. We come from God, and we return to God, in a journey that lasts our lifetimes. Because of God's great goodness, we do not have to be anxious about what life has in store – we are loved, and we are forgiven. God is all we ever need or desire in our spiritual home. And when we tend to God's business, instead of being worried about things we have no control over, we overcome our fears.
And what makes us members of God's household? What does it mean to tend to God's business here on earth? We become members of God's house through our baptisms in Christ. For as we become part of the body of Christ, we also become part God's saving plan for the world. We become part of his business – to reconcile all people and all things to God, through Christ. Jesus reminds Mary and all of us that it is by membership in God's household that we become that we become part of God's saving plan for the world, part of God's action in the world.
Jesus entered his Father's house when he was twelve years old. By asking questions and listening, he learned who he was, and whose he was. This is when Jesus began his own journey of discipleship, attending to the worldly affairs of his heavenly Father. Through our baptisms, we become part of that journey. Through Christ, we increase in wisdom and in years, and we grow in divine and human favor as we our study the scriptures, ask the questions, and tend to our Father's business of loving our neighbors here on earth.
Thanks be to God.
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