{"id":20651,"date":"2025-01-01T18:00:32","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T17:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=20651"},"modified":"2025-01-02T18:30:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T17:30:19","slug":"luke-240-52","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/luke-240-52\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke 2:40-52"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2nd<\/sup> Sunday of Christmas | 05-01-2025 | A Sermon on Luke 2:40-52 | text by the Rev. Dr. Judson F Merrell, STS |<\/h3>\n

40<\/sup><\/strong> And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a041<\/sup> Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a042<\/sup> And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a043<\/sup> And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a044<\/sup> but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a045<\/sup> and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a046<\/sup> After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a047<\/sup> And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a048<\/sup> And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, „Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.“<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a049<\/sup> And he said to them, „Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?“<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a050<\/sup> And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a051<\/sup> And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a052<\/sup> And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:40-52 ESV) English Standard Version <\/strong>Copyright \u00a9\u00a02001 by Crossway Bibles<\/p>\n

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.<\/p>\n

I would like to take a moment and have you think about something\u2026where do you look for wisdom?\u00a0 Now please don\u2019t think about it for too long, as I would like for you to hear my sermon also.\u00a0 So, where do you look for wisdom?\u00a0Do you look to friends, co-workers, your boss, your spouse, family?\u00a0 Where?\u00a0 Maybe you eat lots of Chinese food and rely on the fortune cookies.\u00a0 Maybe you pick up a newspaper and check out your horoscope?\u00a0 I used to read my horoscope daily, I even had a place on my homepage on my computer that showed my horoscope.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t something I believed, but it was fun seeing whether or not it actually predicted what was going to happen that day.\u00a0 On top of what I have already listed, we rely on things such as the internet, television, movies, advertising, email, and the list goes on and on.\u00a0 But before we had all of that, people relied on books, philosophers, poets, physics, superstitions, and things of nature.\u00a0 I can remember as a little boy my mom writing down the weather of the first twelve days of January, because it supposedly predicted the weather for each of the following months.\u00a0 Jan. 1 represented January, the 2nd<\/sup> Feb. the 3rd<\/sup> March, etc.\u00a0 That was something she had learned from her parents.\u00a0 It was a part of their wisdom that they shared with her, and that she shared with me.\u00a0 All of this is good, but when we really need Wisdom, where should we turn?\u00a0\u00a0 Should we turn to media, or our parents, or our friends?\u00a0 We live in the information age in which knowledge is power.\u00a0 The problem is that we are inundated with so much information it is hard to know what to do with it all.\u00a0 Wisdom is more than information or even knowledge; it is the ability to use information and knowledge to make the right decisions and live more fully in God\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0 We have two examples of Wisdom presented to us in the readings that we have just heard.<\/p>\n

In our first lesson, we find God offering King Solomon anything he wishes, and Solomon asks for wisdom.\u00a0 To be able to discern what is right from what is wrong.\u00a0 This request pleases God and we know that King Solomon used that gift to make the nation of Israel wealthy and powerful in the region.\u00a0 He built up the nation of God\u2019s people, he built for God a grand temple, and God\u2019s name was glorified throughout the region.<\/p>\n

Then in our Gospel reading we hear about Jesus being in the temple, asking questions and understanding what he was learning.\u00a0 Luke tells us that Jesus is young, 12 years old, and was expressing wisdom that amazed the teachers and all those that heard him.\u00a0 God was the source of this wisdom in his Son Jesus.\u00a0 Just as they have God\u2019s wisdom with them, we too have God\u2019s wisdom.\u00a0 God freely gives of this wisdom as well, but often the world turns away from God rather than to God.\u00a0 Just imagine what this world would be like if everyone turned to God in search for answers to everyday questions.\u00a0 What if instead of \u201cgoogleing\u201d a question, we simply ask God for wisdom.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t happen though, because the wisdom that God gives us is not something that we can find through a google search, nor in a newspaper, nor the television.\u00a0 God gives us a wisdom called truth.\u00a0 That truth is that we are a part of God\u2019s chosen people.\u00a0 That truth is that we have a Savior who was born for us, lived for us, and died for us.\u00a0 That truth is that we are to follow in his footsteps, recognizing that God became human for us.\u00a0 That truth is that we turn to God as the source of all wisdom and follow his teachings all the time.\u00a0 But sometimes that is often easier said than done.\u00a0 Sometimes it is hard to be a Christian; it is hard to be a part of God\u2019s chosen people.\u00a0 However, God has given us help in this task.<\/p>\n

In his infinite wisdom, God has not abandoned us but given us his Spirit.\u00a0 In the waters of baptism, we are sealed by the Spirit and are marked as a child of God forever.\u00a0 As a loving people of God, we follow in Christ\u2019s footsteps by doing everything to the Glory of God.\u00a0 As Christians who are still celebrating the Christmas birth, we can spread this wisdom and truth to those who have not heard it.\u00a0 We can spread love, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience as well.\u00a0 And when it is hard for us to do that, and there will be times when it is, we can again turn to God for wisdom, asking Him for help and guidance.\u00a0 For only God provides the true wisdom through his Son Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There is a common phrase that I have heard for about the last month and a half, which is \u201cJesus is the reason for season.\u201d\u00a0 I agree with that statement, because Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season, but he is also the reason for all the other seasons as well.\u00a0 As we continue through and out of this Christmas season, let us remember that everything we do, we do to the glory of God, giving thanks for the wisdom and grace that God has first given us. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\u00a9The Rev. Dr. Judson F Merrell, STS<\/p>\n

Judsonmerrell@bellsouth.net<\/p>\n

St. Peter\u2019s Lutheran Church<\/p>\n

Lexington, SC, USA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2nd Sunday of Christmas | 05-01-2025 | A Sermon on Luke 2:40-52 | text by the Rev. Dr. Judson F Merrell, STS | 40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. \u00a041 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,548,157,853,108,110,235,636,349,3,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-20651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lukas","category-2-so-n-christfest","category-beitragende","category-bibel","category-current","category-engl","category-judson-f-merrell","category-kapitel-02-chapter-02-lukas","category-kasus","category-nt","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20651"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20652,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20651\/revisions\/20652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20651"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=20651"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=20651"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=20651"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=20651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}