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ISSN 2195-3171

First Sunday after Christmas, 12/30/2012

Sermon on Luke 2:41-52, by Richard O. Johnson

⁴¹ Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. ⁴³ And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, ⁴⁴ 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, ⁴⁵ and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ 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." ⁴⁹ And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" ⁵⁰ And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. ⁵¹ 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.⁵² And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

Don't keep Christ in Christmas. That idea came to me as I was reflecting on our Christmas celebration. I was astonished once again at the number of visitors we had on Christmas Eve-people with no apparent connection to the congregation, no family or friends here, who nevertheless showed up here on Christmas Eve to worship and celebrate the birth of Christ. And of course most of them will not be seen again, until perhaps next Christmas. I often think about a conversation I had some years ago with a local physician who, upon learning that I was a pastor, informed me that he was a member of a particular congregation here in our communithy. "I only go on Christmas," he said. "I went to a church-related school as a child, and had to go to chapel every day for six years, so I figure I've paid my dues." Yet he goes to church on Christmas Eve, regular as clockwork. Someone like that, you see, is in a very real sense "keeping Christ in Christmas"-that is to say, he's not letting Christ into the rest of his year. And so my word for you this morning is, "Don't keep Christ in Christmas"-let Christ into the rest of your days, too.

Keeping Jesus in his place

But that's not simply advice for the Christmas Eve crowd. We need it, you and I. In plenty of ways, you and I try to keep Jesus Christ in his place-maybe it's in the manger, in Christmas, or maybe we set other kinds of limits in our hearts and minds. But we do it.

I think we might read the gospel lesson this morning in that way. Mary and Joseph are upset because Jesus isn't where they thought he should be. Here he is, a twelve-year-old boy from a small town called Nazareth, in the big city with his parents. And he gets lost. Mary and Joseph are frantic. They don't know where he is, and they begin to search for him. Now we can identify with the worried parents in the story, but maybe there's something more here. Could this be a tale about us, who try to keep Jesus in a nice safe place where we can find him? The focus in the story seems to be on the fact that Mary and Joseph "did not understand" about Jesus. He says to them, "I must be in my Father's house," but they don't get it. Their idea, you see, is that Jesus is a little boy who belongs with his parents, at home, with his family. They don't consider that he might belong anywhere else. And so they are upset and confused because he's not where he's supposed to be.

That is a challenge to us. Like them, we have our ideas about where Jesus ought to be. He ought to be at church, that's one place. He ought to be available when we need him. He ought to be on call nearly all the time.

Come to our homes

But you see, Jesus doesn't think much of our restrictions. He doesn't act much like a swaddled child, arms and legs wrapped, imprisoned in a manger. Rather he has in mind going about his Father's business, and that means leaving the manger behind, leaving the parental home behind, even leaving the church building behind, and walking into life, everyday life.

He wants to come into our homes. "Come Lord Jesus, be our guest," we pray-but like earthly guests, we don't want him to stay too long. We're not sure we like him there, where our parenting happens, and our marriage takes place, and our relationships with people close to us unfold. The promise of Christmas, the promise of Emmanuel, is that he is there, whether we really intend it or want it or not. What would it mean for us really to understand that Christ is in our home, asking us questions, wanting to open our eyes and our hearts to each other, seeking to make our family a place where he is known and served? Don't keep Christ in Christmas-open the door of your home to him, and let him be a part of your family every day.

Come to our jobs

He wants to come into your job, too. We Lutherans like to talk about vocation-the sense that what we do, especially what we do for a living, is a calling from God. We do it because it is what God has called us to do. Yet so often Jesus is the last person we want hanging around our office or other place of work. After all, the office is where reality hits. There are people to deal with, and some of them aren't especially nice. Maybe they are customers or clients, or maybe they are co-workers. And we'd like to forget about Jesus when dealing with them. We're afraid, if Jesus were standing there with us, that the way we deal with people might not be pleasing to him. What would it mean for us really to understand that Christ is there in our work, wanting us to offer what we do and what we are to him? Don't keep Christ in Christmas-take him with you to work, every day of the week.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, we read in John's gospel. That means that Christ is where we are-whether we want him to be or not, whether we recognize him or not. He is there. He cannot be held in the manger. He cannot be held within his family. He cannot be held within the church. He comes to us everywhere; he is with us everywhere. His desire is that we might see him, recognize him, serve him where we are

Christ in Woolworth's

Once many years ago, when I was a college student, I went to a Saturday morning meeting. Part of the "getting to know you" exercise for the day was to share with one another a place that we were happy not to be that morning. I said I was glad I wasn't at the Laundromat, my usual Saturday morning place. Everyone laughed. There are places that none of us want to be! But there are no places that Jesus doesn't want to be. He wants to be with us, wherever we are, whether someplace exalted and beautiful and holy, or someplace humble and humdrum and ordinary. "No palace too great, no cottage to small."

Teresa Hooley wrote a striking little verse called "Christ in Woolworth's." (Woolworth's was what we used to call a five and dime, a place where you could find a variety of items, usually of minimal quality, at cheap prices.) The verse went like this:

I did not think to find You there-
Crucifixes, large and small,
Sixpence and threepence, on a tray,
Among the artificial pearls,
Paste rings, tin watches, beads of glass.
It seemed so strange to find You there
Fingered by people coarse and crass,
Who had no reverence at all.
Yet-what is that You would say:
"For these I hang upon my cross,
For these the agony and loss,
Though heedlessly they pass me by."
Dear Lord, forgive such fools as I,
Who thought it strange to find You there,
When you are with us everywhere.

Don't keep Christ in Christmas. Let him be with you everywhere, every day, in every moment of this coming year; even in Woolworth's; even at home and at work. Let him be for you Emmanuel-God with us. Everywhere.