Increasing Daily
Ask and Answer
Accept
Advance
Admire
Growing
Stronger
And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and
the grace of God was upon him..– Luke
2:40
Jesus grew.
He was not born strong, wise, and full of
grace.
He was born who He was: the Son of God, but
the Son of God, God the Son had emptied Himself and taken on Himself the form
of a servant.
Therefore, it was required that He submit to
the process of maturation physically, emotionally, relationally,
intellectually, and spiritually.
We, when we were children, often wanted the
privileges of adults. When we became adults, we longed for the care free life
we enjoyed as children.
Seldom have we relished the gut-wrenching,
humiliating, submissive, and painful experiences that are sometimes associated
with growing up. In the quest to avoid some of these, there are among us those
who have never grown up or have failed to do so in some selected areas of life.
Jesus grew. He became strong, wiser, and
more gracious. He did it in stages and through steady progression. He did
through challenges and changes, and choices.
He embraced the opportunities to grow and
cherished the wisdom that was available through the synagogue and temple and
the teaching of His parents.
Jesus grew.
Are you growing? You cannot stay where you
are. You will either be spiraling up or spiraling down in the strength, wisdom,
and grace.
You can become weaker by not growing
stronger. You can indeed become less wise by refusing to grow wiser.
You can become colder and more indifferent
by not becoming a channel for God’s grace to flow through you.
The choice, as always, is yours. What will
it be – growth or decline?
After the Custom
Now
his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.
And when he was twelve years old, they
went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. – Luke 2:41-42
We do some very important things because
they are customs we have always observed which have meaning to us and our
families.
Joseph and Mary, by their actions, identify
themselves as serious participants in the traditions of Israel. They were
faithful to observe those customs that reminded the Jews of their heritage,
covenant, and special relationship with God.
We do what we do every year because we
believe what we believe every day. There is no reason to believe this was
merely rote for them. It was more than an annual date on the calendar. It was
the Passover and this one feast would figure prominently in the life and
mission of Jesus. Even His death would be a kind of Passover.
At the age of 12, His parents were preparing
him, without knowing it, for His passion.
Jesus had to learn the ways of His people.
He had to learn the history and covenants as well as the customs to which they
pointed. As He learned them, He began to see His place in their fulfillment.
Our children must learn the ways of the
Lord. It is by observing regular worship and spiritual disciplines that we
communicate with each new generation the meaning of our faith. In so doing, we
transfer our faith to them. Without these observances, we make it more
difficult for them to discover the meaning behind the rituals.
We may not like ritual. We may think if it
as formal, stuffy, and devoid of meaning. If that is true, it is not the fault
of the ritual itself, but our fault in not keeping the meaning alive and
visible.
If we neglect those things which God as
given us as teaching tools, we will find ourselves digging ditches with spoons.
Learn from Mary and Joseph and keep alive
that which has meaning and use customs to tell the old, old story of God’s
goodness and redemption to a new generation of eager learners. ”
Seeking in the Wrong Places
And
when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried
behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they,
supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they
sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. – Luke 2:43-44
Mary and Joseph were desperate. You know the feeling. You assume your child
is with you and then discover that he is missing.
They were not negligent. They lived in an
“it takes a village” time and community. Everyone looked out for each others’
children and there were few dangers posed by child snatchers and their ilk.
There was a lot of noise and confusion and
everyone was traveling in a large band. The adults walked and talked together
and the children played with cousins and neighbors as they traversed the
journey.
It was a grand time. But then, Jesus was
missing.
And the parents looked in all the logical
places. The problem was, He wasn’t in any of the logical places.
They were looking for Jesus in all the wrong
places. Have you ever done that?
Have you sought Him in words that you
thought might justify your own assumptions, prejudices, and wishes?
Have you sought Him in forms that suit your
tastes or people to whom you are attracted only to discover that He is to be
found among the distasteful people and styles that you deem repugnant?
He is in “the least of these.” He is in the
unlikely art forms and literature, buried deeply in the subtleties.
He is in lesser places and the unattractive
settings that everyone has abandoned.
And He is present among those who earnestly
and deeply seek truth. In this case, it was with the rabbis. At other times, it
was among tax collectors and sinners.
But so often, we look in the wrong places.
Q&A
And when they found him not, they turned back
again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days
they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing
them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his
understanding and answers. - Luke 2:45-47
It was one of those times that come only
once in a lifetime. A 12 year old boy was among the scholars amazing them with
His insights and knowledge.
It was Jesus. Looking back and knowing what
we know, we are not surprised.
But He had no halo to identify Him. He was a
boy, looked like one, smelled like one, talked like one … well, until you
actually listened to the words.
There are no audio or video tapes of that
encounter, but it must have been quite a moment. Wouldn’t love to see and hear
a replay?
What kinds of questions do you suppose He
asked? Might we, from time to time, have asked similar questions.
What separated Jesus from many of us is that
He was willing to actually listen to the answers and learn. Yes, the Son of Man
was humble enough to be taught and thus, He understood and asked deeper
questions still.
In His own ministry, Jesus would practice
this sort of pedagogy, utilizing the question and answer format.
Seeing Him as a student helps us to
appreciate Him even more as a teacher.
Jesus just couldn’t get enough of the Torah.
He became absorbed in the study, lost in the discussion, captivated by the
conversation of the elders, eager to learn, eager to ask, eager to increase.
Can we take that example unto ourselves?
How is it that we become so closed and
un-teachable? The Master of the Universe Himself sat at the feet of the elders.
Let us sit at His feet and learn.
He still entertains Q&A. Ask.
Will My
Family Understand?
And
when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why
hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee
sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that
I must be about my Father's business? And they understood not the saying which
he spake unto them. . – Luke 2:48-50
You really can’t blame Mary and Joseph for
feeling the way they did. They were thoroughly traumatized and utterly
exhausted.
But don’t go scolding Jesus either because
there is something more going on here than a kid who forgot to check in with
his parents.
We are watching the unfolding of something
big. We are witnessing a pattern that will repeat itself and the Master will
even refer to with a warning more than once.
We might have to choose between the work and
will of God and the blessing of our families.
The people closest too us may just not
understand what we are doing when we pursue the things of God with absolute
abandon. They may not be able to wrap their minds and emotions around that call
to overseas missions. They may not be able to grasp your willingness to stand
out from the crowd. They may be the ones who lovingly, with caring intent, seek
to discourage you from “fanaticism.”
“Fasting! That can’t be good for you. You
need to eat something.”
“You are spending way too much time down at
that church. You need a social life.”
“Come on. Let your hair down. You don’t have
to hold yourself to such a high standard.”
“I’m worried about you, honey.”
“You gave HOW MUCH to missions?!!!”
They love us, but they may not understand.
Are you ready for that? Can you maintain your joy and focus without the
encouragement of those you love the most in this world?
Jesus had to struggle with that too. He kept
His focus. Will you?
Subject to
Them
And he
went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his
mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and
stature, and in favour with God and man. – Luke
2:51-52
Jesus made Himself subject to the very
people that didn’t “get it,” because it was the right thing to do. It was God’s
plan. It was the very best way for Him to become all that He was meant to be.
We struggle with this issue more than we
care to admit. We want leaders and supervisors we can respect and sometimes we
are called to respect the ones we have.
We reason that we cannot learn from those
who are our inferiors in some area – but we are blindsided by our own
arrogance.
Jesus, who had every right to be arrogant
and self-assured, was not. He who might have skipped over the whole process of
being formed, decided to go through it.
He was subject to His parents.
That meant that He very well may have been
corrected when He was already correct – and that He chose to learn from it.
It meant that He took orders when He really
knew a better way to do something. He had depths of insight that enabled Him to
see things clearly. But He chose to take orders because it was part of His own
formation and it was an example to each of us.
The fact that Jesus became subject to His
parents is not coincidence or minor point of history inserted in the text. It
points to His character and integrity.
Not only was He obeying the commandments
that He might have legitimately exempted Himself from, He was finding value in
the obedience.
Perhaps we would serve the Lord and
ourselves better if we quit complaining about our bosses and leaders and simply
submitted to the legitimate authority God has placed over us.
It is no excuse that we have better ideas
and abilities. If Jesus didn’t pull that one out of the hat, why do we think we
could or should?
