Didn't you know where I'd be?

First Reading:

¹Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!

²Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!

³Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!

⁴Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

⁵Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.

⁶He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

⁷Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,

⁸fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!

⁹Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!

¹⁰Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!

¹¹Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!

¹²Young men and women alike,
old and young together!

¹³Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.

¹⁴He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful,
for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 148

Second Reading:

⁴¹Now every year his 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.

Luke 2:41-52

We don't get to linger with Christmas very long. I know the saying goes kids grow up too fast. But come on… Here it is January 10th: 2 weeks and two days after the celebration of the birth of Christ… only 16 days and already our text has Jesus at 12 years old. And this is the only story we get of his youth in the whole bible. In both Matthew's gospel and Luke's gospel, we get little glimpses of what his parents were like and what they went through when Jesus was a kid. But today's gospel story is the only one that gives insight into the young Jesus himself. And isn't it interesting the story we do get because it's all about where to look for Jesus and find him.

The story takes place on the family's annual journey to Jerusalem for the Passover. We don't get any retelling of the festival preparations or celebration, so I presume they went on just as they normally did. But we pick up the story when it was time to go home. It was common for people to travel in caravan and apparently many relatives and friends from their home town were travelling with Mary and Joseph. And when the group set off they thought Jesus was part of the group. He may have been young but apparently they trusted that he would be where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there… but this time, at least according to Mary and Joseph, he wasn't.

Of course they didn't realize it till much later. The passage says they went a day's journey. And I imagine what it was like for them when they stopped for the night. Everyone was setting up their shelters and starting to prepare whatever was for dinner… and when the mob of kiddos who were the same age as Jesus went running by like they often do here in the narthex after church… maybe Mary noticed that Jesus wasn't there. No big deal the first time… I've heard someone say that they always envisioned Jesus off doing twelve year old boy things… maybe he found a snake or a bug to play with or something… but when the kids kept circling and Jesus kept not being there, maybe Mary stopped one of them and asked… Where's Jesus. And he said, I don't know I haven't seen him all day. And that's when the alarm bells would have started going off.

Verses 44 and 45 give just the bare-boned report of what happened and there's part of me that wants to keep painting the picture of what it may have been like for Mary and Joseph as they ran from one family to the next searching for their son. What was it like for them when they came to the conclusion that he wasn't there… he'd missed the caravan, that he wasn't where he was supposed to be… did they start walking back to Jerusalem right away or did they stay with the group that night trying to get some rest for tomorrow's long walk back to the city. We can imagine the fear that Mary and Joseph felt and in verse 48, after they did find him, we even get a glimpse of the range of emotion they went through when Mary said to him, we've been searching for you with great anxiety…

Many of us can relate at least a little bit… I mean who doesn't have some sort of memory of someone they love disappearing from sight or from reach… Reading and praying with this scripture and imagining how Joseph and Mary felt reminded me of a time when I disappeared… I ran away from home, more specifically, I ran away from my baby sitter. I didn't necessarily want to disappear from my parents, but the babysitter put me in my room for something that in my mind wasn't fair, and I knew that she'd be in trouble if I was gone. Being the age I was I didn't think of what this little stunt would do to my parents… and of course my plot had the flaw that I didn't actually get to see the babysitter's reaction. But these are things you don't think about when your 8 or 9 years old. So I climbed out my window hopped on my bike and left. Looking back on it, I don't remember how much trouble I was in when my parents found me, but I'm sure I was… And not that it makes it any better, but I do think it was pretty easy for them to figure out where I'd gone. I only had two friends… one lived right across the street and I never rode my bike there… the other lived a couple of blocks away and I always rode my bike there. In fact it was as far as I was allowed to ride my bike alone. So when they realized that I was gone and also that my bike was gone, I may not have been where I was supposed to be, but all the signs pointed the same direction and I'm sure they knew where to look.

Now, Luke wanted to give us, the hearers and readers of the gospel, a little insight into the experience of Mary and Joseph, so he told the story from their perspective but his point in telling the story wasn't the experience of the parents. His reason for telling the story came into focus when they found Jesus. It took them three days… one walking away from the city… one walking back to the city and then presumably, one searching all of the houses and places Jesus knew. And when they found him, everyone was surprised. Mary and Joseph were surprised that he was sitting with the teachers in the temple. They were surprised that everyone who heard him talk was amazed at his understanding. But then when Mary spoke to him, it was Jesus' turn to be surprised… Mary said Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety. And then Jesus replied, and I want to point out that these are the first words of Jesus that are recorded in the gospel. Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?

When I hear Mary's question I hear the anger that's just on the other side of the worry when a parent gets separated from their child… Thank God I've found you… Never do that again! But Jesus' reaction didn't seem to have much sympathy for his mom. He was surprised that she didn't know where he was… Of course he would be in the temple.

Even if this was our first time ever reading through the gospel of Luke, so far, what we would know of Jesus would be this: an angel told Mary he would be coming, he was sent from God, he was the cousin of a prophet, his conception was miraculous, his birth was announced by angels, and it is good news for all people… based on that alone doesn't it make sense that she would look for Jesus in the presence of God? Doesn't it make sense that he would be in the temple, where God lives. Doesn't it make sense that he would be learning and even teaching… all the signs pointed the same direction… and Jesus was surprised that of all people his mother didn't get it. Didn't you know where I'd be?

Mary and Joseph may have thought he wasn't where he was supposed to be, but Jesus had a different idea. He was exactly where he should be. The temple played a large role in people being able to see Jesus for who he was. The first story after his birth is Jesus being dedicated in the temple where two prophets recognize him as the child who would redeem Israel. The second story is this one where the teachers and all who heard him were amazed, and Jesus himself declares that he must be in his father's house… And then again toward the end of his ministry, he taught daily in the temple, people woke up early to listen to him… and of course it was the last week of his life the chief priests and officers of the temple understood the challenge Jesus was to their power so they had him killed… and when they did, the curtain of the temple was torn in two. And then after he was raised from the dead and appeared to the disciples, it was again to the temple that people went. The gospel of Luke ends this way: [The disciples] worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

So the whole time Mary and Joseph thought Jesus was missing, he was right where he was supposed to be. Mary may have been surprised, but when Jesus asked her Didn't you know where I'd be? He showed her that the signs all pointed the same direction. What we know of Jesus will show us where to find him. And it brought up a question for me… Where is it that we look for Jesus? Where is it that we go to find God, to see Christ, to experience the spirit's power?

For some people it very well may be here at church. That's definitely the most frequent parallel drawn with the temple. Frankly, I hope you do look for Jesus at church and find him here. And I also hope that church isn't the only place. When Jesus asked Mary and Joseph, Didn't you know where I'd be? At that point in the gospel, it made perfect sense that he'd be in the temple… but we have so much more of the story.

We can look at the miracles, the healings, the life and th ministry of Christ and we can see the full spectrum of where Jesus lived. The temple was important but it was also only part of his ministry. His everyday life was lived in the midst of his friends, disciples, parents, siblings… his ministry was also among people who were hurting, people who were struggling because their lives didn't look the way they thought it would. Sinners, outcasts, people who were rejected and who had been forsaken by the community, especially the religious establishment. That's who Jesus reached out to, that's who Jesus befriended and those are the people Jesus served.

So in the midst of our lives, when we find ourselves looking for Jesus, looking to connect with God, don't we already know where that takes place? Jesus was the one who showed us God's character and all the signs point in the same direction.

For those of us who are seeking out of a place of security and comfort: I say… If you want to find God, go where Jesus went: wherever there's hurt, and pain, and disconnection and fear, and hopelessness. Minister there… serve there… bring your gifts. Listen where no-one listens, hear the stories of people who need to be heard, be a non-anxious presence in the midst of someone's anxiety, meet the needs of those whose needs you can meet, and as you get to know the people and their stories, look for the spirit of Christ in their midst because it's there, right where it should be.

For those of us who are seeking out of a place of despair or hurt or anxiety in our own lives… you know sooner or later we all find ourselves there… part of the good news of Christ's coming is that in his life and ministry we see that he's not only there for us, but he's also there with us, in the midst of the hurt and the struggling because life doesn't look the way we thought it would. If we trust that Jesus is the revelation of God's character, we can trust that he's there with us because that's how he lived. From the day he was born in a stable, to the day he died on the cross, and beyond, his life was dedicated to bring about healing and restoration. So take heart… with you is the right place and now is the right time. Thanks be to God. Amen

The foregoing sermon was given by Rev. Dan Holland at the United Parish of Bowie on January 10, 2010.

© 2010 Daniel Holland