Who do you remember as an important teacher in your
life?
Someone from elementary
school
who
excited you about learning…
Someone in high school
who
guided you in understanding…
Someone in college
who
inspired you to begin the path of your vocation.
What about those who taught you about God?
From Sunday school teachers of youth
to those who lead adult
discussions
and bring new
interpretations to light.
Throughout our lives you and I have been
blessed
by the teachers who have
touched our lives.
On a personal note, the teachers I had growing up in
this church,
formed
my curiosity about Jesus,
guided
me through the Bible, and
were an
essential basis in my path to ministry.
And to go a little off the subject of the sermon:
I am thankful for my years growing up in this church,
where I
was baptized as an infant and welcomed
to my church family as Reverend
Waters walked me
up and down these aisles.
I imagine many of you share these feelings and
memories
about this church,
singing
in the children’s choir;
learning
and studying catechism and
celebrating
a first communion;
having
wonderful friends in youth group;
celebrating
a marriage;
attending
a service of witness to the resurrection
for
a loved one.
Thank you, this church family,
for the
opportunity of reading liturgy on a Christmas Eve
and feeling the peace of the Holy Spirit
as I looked upon this
cross;
and for being the place where
by God’s grace
I have been able to use
my voice
in
preaching God’s word.
Thank you to those
who taught and inspired
me and others
through
music, Betty Carter,
through
their teaching,
Willie
Ruth Matthews, Louise Wallace,
and
Patricia Hannah,
and
for all the saints of the church,
and to all of you have
blessed me with your prayers.
I have always felt honored to be in this pulpit and
know without
the
loving care I found here throughout my life,
I would
not have the curiosity,
the
longing to continue to learn,
and
be on this joyful and challenging path
to
answer God’s call.
Today’s scripture is the rare look at a young Jesus;
you and
I know the birth story,
his presentation as an
infant,
yet, then the gospels
concentrate
on
his adult life and his ministry.
In these verses from Luke, we get a story of the
pre-teen Jesus.
What might a typical Jewish boy be like in Jesus’
time?
There would have been the rituals of Judaism...
circumcision
at 8 days
dedication/presentation
to God at 6weeks
preparation
for becoming a son-of-law,
bar-mitzvah.
We can imagine a young Jesus playing with friends,
learning
carpentry skills from Joseph, and
acting
as the big brother to his siblings.
A typical boy,
yet not a typical boy.
God made flesh with
the purpose of God the divine,
better understanding what
it is like to be human.
Jesus, fully divine, fully human.
So, a 12-year-old Jewish boy has traveled with his
family,
relatives, and friends on
a pilgrimage to Jerusalem
for the Passover
celebration.
The festival ends, and the group begins its journey
home;
there
were dozens,
perhaps many dozens
traveling together,
relatives
and friends as a community.
We can imagine the crowd,
aunts & uncles,
cousins, neighbors, friends…
all looking out for each
other and each other’s children.
Why would Mary & Joseph worry where Jesus was?
This had been an annual pilgrimage, Jesus knew the
routine;
he was
probably with relatives and friends,
being a
typical boy.
Mary and Joseph discover he is not with the group.
They return to Jerusalem and search everywhere for 3
days.
Everywhere except…
“Why were you searching for me?
Did you not
know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
Not
an
answer expected from a typical boy.
In First Samuel, we encounter another boy,
Hannah’s
son Samuel.
Hannah had prayed for a child,
praying
to God,
promising
to dedicate him to God,
and God
blessed her with Samuel.
Samuel, is also not a typical boy;
young Samuel is being raised
and taught by Eli.
In the verses we heard earlier, we are told of
Hannah’s ways she shows loving attention to her son;
she brings him a gift of
an ephod, a linen robe,
similar to the liturgical
garment worn by Israelite priests.
Hannah is displaying not only her devotion to Samuel
with this gift but also
a re-affirmation of her
earlier vow to
dedicate him to Yahweh.
There are some similarities between these 2 scriptures
and these
non-typical
boys.
Both scriptures are stories of growth and development
and preparation for their
future.
The OT verses from Samuel and
the NT verses from Luke end
with similar words:
“the boy
Samuel continued to grow both in stature
and in favor with the Lord and with the people”
“Jesus increased in wisdom and in
years, and in
divine and human favor.”
This is the
first time we encounter Jesus teaching,
even though he is young,
he is acting in ministry.
Jesus, the
young rabbi.
“And all who heard him were amazed at his
understanding and his answers.”
In this intellectual exchange, the listeners are
amazed
by the wisdom of this
youth.
In Isaiah 9 we are told of the many names for the Messiah,
among
them is ‘Wonderful Counselor’.
How does the young Jesus fulfill this title?
In his teaching,
he shows wisdom, -wise
beyond explanation,
he teaches with authority,
-knowing and growing in his special
relationship
with God,
he is extraordinary and
wonderful,
-becoming
who he will be in his identity and vocation.
This moment of action,
the young Jesus teaching,
claims
his relation to God for himself…
“Did you not know that I must be in
my Father’s house?”
This is a fulfillment of his infant dedication.
Jesus is discovering his own uniqueness and his
obligations,
growing
into his ministry;
a
moment of growth toward others and toward God.
Of course, his move toward God is not without its tensions
in the family…
Mary and Joseph worry and
may not fully understand;
In verse 51, we are told…
“Then he went down with them and
came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them.”
Once again being a typical Jewish boy,
obeying the commandments…
“Honor your father and your mother…”
The young rabbi, who was not a typical boy…
“Jesus increased in wisdom and in
years,
and in divine and human favor.”
Walter Brueggemann in his book Names for the Messiah,
refers
to these verses in Luke saying…
“the teaching of Jesus attests to the
possibility of God
that
the world has long since taken to be impossible.”
In the time of Jesus, Rome was the power, the
authority.
Jesus’ teachings and actions,
the miracles and
healings,
was a threat to Rome
because
Jesus awakened new
possibilities, power to the powerless.
A wonderful counselor, a messiah, is wise in
governance;
he
brings benefits for his entire realm.
There is always new hope when leadership changes.
Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, embodies that hope;
Jesus is good news for the world.
The child Jesus will be the adult that will bring
hope,
mercy,
salvation, to all the world.
In this Christmas season,
we cannot remember the
birth
without
including the resurrection;
the
child and the savior.
The pre-teen Jesus traveling to Jerusalem with his
parents
to celebrate Passover
reminds us of another
Passover many years later
where there is the Last Supper.
At the Last Supper, Jesus gathers with the twelve one
more time.
Jesus in the breaking of the bread and the drinking of
the cup,
gives
instruction to them, to do as he has done,
to
continue his ministry and mission, to teach others.
Whether teaching in the temple or being placed upon a
cross,
Jesus
from young rabbi to Messiah,
fulfills
Isaiah’s vision of…
Wonderful
Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
The young rabbi who taught in the temple,
the
adult Jesus who taught his disciples,
the one
who has taught us about God’s love for us…
fully
human, fully divine,
invites us to participate
in acts of transformation,
to do
God’s work in the world,
through the power of the Holy Spirit
You and I
are his disciples,
we act
in today’s world, spreading the good news,
teaching
others,
finding
what God calls each of us to do.
We are grateful for this Wonderful Counselor,
this
teacher who has changed the world.
As we will proclaim in our confession of faith in a
moment,
God has
blessed us with Jesus, the most perfect teacher.
You and I
as individuals and as the church can take action,
we can
bear witness,
we can proclaim,
we can answer God’s call
on our lives…
Here I am Lord.
Let us pray,
O God,
you shine your light upon us,
you
sent pure light into the world through your son.
We are
thankful for this wonderful counselor.
Let us
be your instrument in this world, guided
by the Holy Spirit to
continue the teachings of Jesus,
to serve others,
to grow your kingdom, and
embrace hope for a world
of peace, joy, and love. Amen.
