Luke's Gospel tells us the only story of Jesus' childhood. Jammed between Jesus’ infancy and baptism, Luke shows his increasing awareness not just of God as Father, but also God's favor. It’s not a story about “St. Jesus.” This reads more like our stories. It’s realistic enough to live up to the truth that heredity is something you believe in, until your offspring becomes a teenager. Adolescence is a time of upheaval because it involves transition, growth and change; from total reliance upon others, to a measure of freedom; from having somebody take responsibility for your life, to beginning to take responsibility for yourself. When kids, used to depending upon us begin to assert their independence, many do so in ways that we find annoying or in Mary’s case distressing. For when they begin to take control of their lives, we begin to lose control--something that drove King Herod to drastic measures.

As the story progresses, Luke shifts from the child's introduction to adult matters, to the adult's introduction to what mattered to their child. The carpenter of Nazareth faithfully took his family to church. It was there that they granted their son a measure of independence, "Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival," Luke reports. It suggests something very fine about Jesus' upbringing. This child of God was also a child of godly parents. Luke points out that Mary and Joseph took seriously the spiritual nature of their child. “Train up a child the way he should go...” and later on in his adult life, it was said of him: “He attended the synagogue on the Sabbath, as was his custom...” But during this particular Passover, Joseph and Mary noticed that Jesus was especially attentive. He took in everything with an interest and inquisitiveness, unusual for a kid his age.

When the time came to go back home, the road was crowded with pilgrims and Jesus, they assumed, was walking with another family or perhaps some of his friends. Mary and Joseph had gone the whole day and not thought much about it. But when Jesus didn't show up later, they were alarmed. They searched among their family and friends. Eventually they returned to Jerusalem and hunted the whole day, then a 3^rd day. (Cryptic number).  Jerusalem was a big city and they decided to go to the temple, and there he was of all places. And whatever relief the parents felt or any instinct to hug him in unbridled joy when they found him safe, the first and only words are those of hurt and anger. The first words spoken to Jesus were words of criticism. There would be more. "Why did you do this to us? We've been looking all over for you!" It wasn't just that Mary and Joseph had lost him for three days. They were losing him, in a different way, forever: Jesus was growing up. "Why all the fuss? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father's house?" When parents understand that their children have moved out of the house into a different house, but they had to do it, in order to grow up, it's painful. Luke is telling us, "Emmanuel, God with us," is preparing to be "God away from us." A reminder of the natural tension between belonging and becoming. Like a rubber band, relationships stretch but don’t break

That's why this is our story too. We belong to families that give a particular shape to our lives. Some positive, some negative. But it falls to all of us to become ourselves by moving out of and away from our family. It is the normal progression of maturing. Sadly, some don’t always negotiate it well, trying to hold onto something that can’t be held. And parental nurture that is wise, will be preparing the child for just this independence. Because I’ve always thought a good parent is not just somebody you can lean on. But somebody who makes leaning unnecessary. So Jesus went home with his parents to Nazareth and their nurture continued awhile longer. But the pulling away from them had begun with all the stress involved in the experience at the temple when he was twelve.

When my daughter was a child, I used to lift her up onto my shoulders when we were in crowds; places that were hard for little people to see. One time a friend spotted us like that and he said, "Look how tall you are now!" And she came out with something profound: "All of this isn't me."  That's anybody in the process of growing, we have to keep saying: "All of this isn't me!" It could be said in gratitude: "I realize that I couldn't be here if it weren't for the shoulders of somebody else. Or with the genes I inherited or help in getting started on the right track in life." "All of this isn't me" could mean “this is not my way of life yet. I may not be sure what my own values are, but this much I know--when I find out it won't be the same as anybody else’s." Isn't that Jesus at the temple?

In Mary's stern rebuke we sense the traditional parental insistence that wants the best for your kid: to take responsibility for your actions, with money, with the car, sexual behavior, be a good student...as the definition of young-adulthood. And that is definitely the outlook of a responsible parent. But a wise parent will also recognize their growing children's need to take responsibility not just for their actions, but also for their beliefs trying them on for fit or size, testing, questioning, processing the faith through that young person's own life and experience.

So moving out of Mary and Joseph's house of values to a wider house of values creates anxiety in the holy family. What do you do when your child begins to take seriously what he learns at God's house? And Mary winces as her Boy becomes a man, "Son why have you done this to us?" And the interesting thing about it is, the new house of values is sometimes little more than the old church, taken with new seriousness. "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" Yeah, he’s still the child of Joseph and Mary. But he’s also becoming aware of a unique relationship as a child of God. "How could you not know ... that I must be about my Father's business?”

Hanging out around his Father's house of values, the growing Christ came to understand what would one day be his life’s mission. And I don't think Mary and Joseph ever reconciled themselves to it. Because the day came when they were “embarrassed by him, and tried to take him home.” I don't think we do either. That's why this is more than a story about child-rearing. More than an account of the faith development of Jesus. This is our story. It’s about the struggle to develop a faith that’s good enough to live with or die with. Because none of us has a choice about either.

I can see why everybody loves the Christmas season. Because it’s a story about a baby Jesus who needs us. We can hold him and worship him and give gifts in his honor. But the very next story in Luke is about what do we do when we lose Jesus. Because before you know it, he begins to grow up. That’s when we need him. His parents who were used to Jesus needing them, now don't know where he is or how to find him. The Jesus that they'd cared for, who was raised in their house of values, is lost. And once it finally hits them that he might be in church, the Jesus whom they find there is different. He's becoming a grown-up Jesus. The one that we need. And the question he asks always hurts a little: "Why are you looking for me? Didn't you know I must be about my Father's business?" And Mary says to Joseph, "Someday that boy's gonna be the death of us." Yeah, and also the life of us!

When we leave Mary and Joseph at the end of Luke 2, here’s where they are: they don’t understand, but neither do they give up. They just hang in there with Jesus. All they know is whatever happens it’s “the Father’s business.” And that’s enough to know. 

Then Luke tells us Jesus was obedient and went back home to Nazareth. He hangs in too. It’s the first of many gracious acts of hanging in with people, something our society seems to be in mighty short supply these days. Just get rid of them. That’s the flavor of our day. We lack the staying quality in our relationships that we find here in Luke’s Gospel. Mary and Joseph hung in with Jesus and Jesus hangs in with them. And all this hanging in, with people who don’t have a clue; who simply do not understand--neither Mary or Joseph, nor Jesus. Only God knows. That’s the way it is with families.

The rest of Luke’s Gospel is full of these kinds of stories, about people who don’t fully understand, yet keep graciously holding on, in spite of the deficiencies that always show up in the complexity of relationships. And that’s the Good News for this Sunday. Let us go forth from here...living out this good news: Jesus Christ is born! He is now living with us...even though we don’t understand it all. So hang in there till we do. It’ll all become clearer come March!

Closing Prayer:
God of all generations, who encourages our elders to become childlike and our children to grow up, you make of us together more than we can ever make of ourselves alone. On every Sunday of 2007 we will gather to bless you for this--in hopes that the world may see the faithfulness of your word and the graciousness of your work, in this very Meeting House and beyond.