Luke 2:41-52
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming 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. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When 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.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.
Florida is flat. The state records Space Mountain as the highest peak! Like I said… it’s flat. So growing up there and riding my bike there, whenever I got to ride down the other side of the Bayou Bridge, it was a huge thrill. But even though coasting down that man-made hill was a huge thrill… there was always more to come.
When Jesus came to Jerusalem with his folks, that too was a huge thrill. Passover in Jerusalem. That’s bigger than Christmas at Grandma’s house! Coming from the country to the big city packed with people from all over the world. Imagine that! The Temple too, made with those impossibly huge blocks of stone. The altars… the priests… But even with the thrill of all that… Jesus, even then, knew there was more to come.
Me and David Weatherill… or as mom constantly corrected… David and I… would ride over the bridge and thoroughly enjoy the thrill of the coast down the other side of the bride, but we were on our way to something more. We were on our way some serious business at Howard’s Discount Store. There we would dig out the allowance from our pockets and buy a new slot car for the slot car track!
For Jesus too, the thrill of Passover in Jerusalem with all of it’s crowds and rituals and holiday drama was not the end of the journey for Jesus. He too was there for something more. When his parents finally tracked him down… (the last place you look for a 12 year old boy is in church after all) Jesus told them, “Didn’t you know I must be in my Father’s House?” That phrase, “In my Father’s house” means both that Jesus was literally in God’s house AND it also meant that Jesus was about God’s business.
That was the “something more” that Jesus was about in Jerusalem. They had done their duty, saw the sites, experienced the excitement but the excitement of the festival was not the final destination for Jesus. The festival was only the bridge on his way something more. God was calling Jesus to more. God was calling Jesus to be about God’s business in the world.
I believe that God is forever calling each of us beyond the bridge into the “something more” that is our Father’s business in this world. The Law sums up our Father’s business by telling us we are “to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and all our souls and all our minds and our neighbors as ourselves.” The prophets described that business as “Doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with our God.” Later in his life, Jesus told the disciples about doing the Father’s business when he told them that when they fed the hungry, gave something to drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger and gave the naked clothing… when others were sick and they cared for them and when they visited those in prison…. When they cared for the “least of these” they were doing the business of God!
Our challenge for this time after Christmas… after the festive celebrations filled with lights and drama… our challenge as we come down from the highest points of the exhilaration of Christmas is for us to recognize that… as wonderful as it was… (and it was truly wonderful)… that was not the destination. For us there is something more ahead. God’s business is ahead and you and I are called into the Holy Family’s line of work… doing justice, loving kindness, caring for the least of these by welcoming the stranger and feeding the hungry… caring for the sick and visiting those who are imprisoned in every way. May we all revel in the thrill of the highs of this season and now, with the momentum of a bike coasting down the Bayou Bridge, ride into another year doing the business of our God in the world. Amen.
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