3^rd February 2010

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley (Sunday 27th December 2009)

Lessons -- Psalm 1; Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52

Jesus said to his parents, 'Why were you searching for me? Did you
not know that I must be in my Father's house?' (Luke 2:49 NRSV)

In 'An Adult Christ at Christmas', Raymond Brown calls the account of finding the boy Jesus in the temple the 'third Christmas story', the others being the shepherds and the wise men. Another scholar, Frank Moloney, sees it as a 'bridge' between the infancy stories and the adult ministry of Jesus. For both of them it is linked to the central reality of the incarnation.

We don't normally associate the story of Jesus as a youth with Christmas because we think of it as the festival of his birth. When, however, we see why Luke has included this episode in his Christmas story, we will see more clearly the meaning of Christ's incarnation.

We must always remind ourselves that the New Testament was written 'backwards' by people who were blown away by what Jesus did (in his
ministry) and what happened to him (at the cross and in the resurrection).
Because we tend to think 'forwards' -- from birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age to death -- the significance of this brief incident is easily lost on us.

Jesus wasn't a child prodigy or the offspring of famous figures (royalty, politicians, entertainers) whose every move was reported by the media as it happened. It was the other way around. His impact on the public during his brief and tumultuous adult ministry created intensive interest in his earlier life and its connection to God's grand purpose for humanity / world.

As Luke looks back on Jesus' incredible life and his controversial teaching about the law which led to his crucifixion, he shapes a likely incident in Jesus' youth so that it says something about his special vocation. He uses a pattern that was familiar to describe the boyhood of other famous historical figures, such as Buddha, Cyrus, Moses and Samuel.
Jesus is a 12-year-old who is devout and wise beyond his years!

If this story were written today it probably would focus on the superior wisdom of a rebellious or precocious youth to that of conservative parents. Jesus would represent the triumph of youthful individualism over traditional values. He would symbolise the revolt against authoritarian structures and institutions, like the hierarchical church and the nuclear family.

There is more than a hint of rebellion here. Jesus doesn't act according to custom and he is abrupt in response to his parents' understandable concern. But Luke isn't interested in portraying Jesus simply as a rebel against the status quo -- as a person that anybody could appoint as a patron to their cause, as is regularly done by various 'liberation movements'.

Rather he includes details which hint at key features of Jesus' later ministry, including his crucifixion and resurrection. The Risen One, who was crucified because he broke God's law by welcoming sinners into the circle of God's unmerited grace, is shown already to be its most perceptive interpreter! What happened later to the One truly righteous Person who fulfilled the purpose of the law was consistent with what happened earlier.

Jesus is in the Temple at Jerusalem, later to be the scene of much teaching, healing, public controversy and condemnation. As a perceptive young interpreter of the Law, he anticipates a life of commitment to the will of God. And, as a young man who doesn't always obey his parents, he foreshadows the time when loyalty to family, friends, fellow citizens and religious leaders must take second place to loyalty to God his Father.

The sign that his ministry will be received with a sense of wonderment and unease is to be found in Mary's reaction to finding him in the Temple among the teachers. She says to him, 'Son, why have you treated us so?
Can't you see that your father and I have been looking for you anxiously?
(2:48b)' At the same time, we learn that 'his mother considered all these things in her heart' (2:51b).

Here, and not for the first time in Luke's Christmas story, we meet this twofold response to Jesus. Remember that:

* Mary was 'troubled' by news of her pregnancy and that shepherds were made 'afraid' by angelic announcements of his birth.

* Mary twice 'pondered these things in her heart' (1:29; 2:19).
The same combination of wonder, profound thought and disturbance is expressed in Mary's reaction to finding Jesus in the Temple. It foreshadows the public response to his ministry. Anxiety, fear, reflection and astonishment are all to be found in his adult ministry and fate. Thus Mary represents all who are encountered by Jesus -- then, and now:

* Jesus is met by anxiety, reproach and hostility. He doesn't conform to expectations of what is normal, socially acceptable, lawful behaviour.
There is a higher priority than allegiance to family, friends, political party, club, country, ethnic group and so on. He must ultimately do, not what his father (or mother) expect, but the will of his 'heavenly Father'.
What this means becomes much clearer much later as he welcomes sinners into the circle of grace.

* Jesus also causes people to 'ponder' the ultimate purpose of life -- a quaint way of describing the kind of thinking done with heart and mind and soul and strength. We are not to be 'ponderous', but to so 'consider' what God has done for humanity in him that we are open to being challenged and renewed by God's grace throughout life.

Mary's reaction is typical of reactions to Jesus' unsettling adult ministry. Often they are found in the same person. In this sense, Mary is a typical disciple. Who of us can say that a sense of wonder and deep thought is the end of us being unsettled by Jesus? We may praise God for the coming of Christ and think deeply about his incarnation without ever becoming 'comfortable' in our faith. Mary reminds us that followers of Jesus never have God under control! Christ continues to unsettle us even as we think deeply about his remarkable presence in our midst.

Isn't this how it should be? Worship of God and 'thinking God's thoughts after Him' (a saying often attributed to Kepler) isn't meant to shield us from being challenged to the core of our being. And from time to time it doesn't prevent us from being hostile to what he calls us to do and to be.

We are called to serve God in the presence of One who unsettles us by his refusal to make even our closest relationships, such as marriage, family, friends, nation, race, church and so on, of absolute importance.

It's not that people, relationships and communities are unimportant. Far from it -- everything must be done to support families and seek reconciliation where there is disharmony!

Indeed today it is particularly important for the Church to resist powerful forces determined to undermine, reshape and destroy family life built on the glory and mutuality of love between a man and a woman. No doubt, at this moment, some 'politically correct' preachers are twisting this text, to argue for changing our most important social institution.

As always, context is vital in interpreting texts. Elsewhere Jesus speaks clearly about the God-givenness of marriage between a man and a woman (Mark 10:2f). But here in Luke, the situation is different. As he does later in his adult ministry, the 12-year-old Jesus makes it clear that loyalty to family is not our most important loyalty. What is of ultimate importance is doing the will of God: fulfilling the law as demonstrated in Jesus.

This is not necessarily a welcome word at Christmas-time, particularly when Christian traditions are steadily being eroded and our important family celebrations are quickly becoming the sole point of the 'festive season' -- as it is regularly described, even in current UCA publications.

But it should be welcomed! If like Luke we 'look backwards' from the resurrection, crucifixion and ministry of Jesus to this incident in his youth, then we will see how, in Christ's entire ministry and fate, God has displayed the ultimate meaning of our lives. Then we shall see how liberating it is to have our priorities about friendship, family, nation, ethnicity, church and so on unsettled and put in perspective by the One in whom God's love and goodness has been decisively embodied.

To know that, in this remarkable Person, God has embodied his ultimate purpose for us and humanity is to be overcome with astonishment and impelled into a life of deep thought and continual challenge. So may we rejoice as we 'deeply ponder' the 'third Christmas story'.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chairman of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.