27 December 2009

Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52

I think it is important to remember that Jesus is ONLY 12 years old in this story.  After the Passover, Jesus is left behind… or more likely stays behind… as his parents and relatives blithely head back north to Nazareth.  There may be a sermon in here on questionable parenting skills, but I doubt Luke gives us this account for that purpose, and besides they are getting the family to Church!    As a youngster I was led to believe that Jesus was actually teaching the elders.  That may have come from some artwork showing him sitting with a halo ringing his head, making a point, as the elders are portrayed as astonished buffoons, bedazzled by this 12-year-old’s brilliance.  Having known 12-year-olds and even taught a few, my guess is Jesus wasn’t all that brilliant on theology, not yet, anyway.  And so, as the text explains, he was asking questions, drinking in wisdom, not imparting it.

This text brings to mind an event of the Rocky Mountain Synod. For the past 10 years, we have been gathering together Junior High/Middle School Youth for a full weekend in a Colorado Springs hotel.    The first gathering—now 10 or 11 years ago—was innocent enough with some 150 youth and adults getting together for servant projects, worship, workshops, Bible Study, and a whole lot of fun.    Well, last year there were over 900 in attendance, at least 500 of whom were hormonally charged, ready-to-rock-and-roll 11, 12, and 13 year-olds.  This year’s gathering will be approaching that number. Think about it: two nights in a hotel with such a gathering.   I hear that the late Pope John Paul II, and Pope Pius XII are moving toward Sainthood.  I would suggest they get in line behind those adults who willingly and joyfully accompany those youth on this 48-hour festival to sleeplessness!


It really is a grand weekend. One workshop that is popular to the young people is called “Stump the Pastor”, in which the young people pen anonymous (mostly) theological questions, attempting to stump some unsuspecting clergy!    Their creativity and curiosity is a hoot! “So, what happened to the fish in the great flood that sent Noah floating!” And then the perennial favorite, “Where did the sons of Adam and Eve get their wives?” and “If God doesn’t like pain and violence, why doesn’t God do something?”

But one truly sticks in my mind, because it was, first, very difficult, but more importantly, because it spoke of a deep struggle, even for a 12 year-old.  It went something like this:  “So Jesus is born on Christmas and does all kinds of things, then dies and comes alive…So What?!”

So what?  The question of relevance is always deep.  My first reaction was to slip that card under the pile and go to one about  Adam and Eve’s in-laws.  But I just couldn’t.  

A few days ago we gathered in places of worship to celebrate the one Holy event that somehow brings almost all of our society to a halt, or at least to a controllable crawl, in our hectic lives.  “Silent Night, Holy Night” is both song and description, at least for a night.  Both non-Christians and very part-time worshippers join in on at least the first line or two of a number of carols, whose strains seem to strike a chord deep in even some hardened hearts. The world is just a bit different for a few hours, because of this event we call Christmas.

But soon thereafter, perhaps even as quickly as the evening the 25th, things quickly get back to normal.  Sirens blare, a terrorist tries to blow up a plane, roadside bombs go off in Afghanistan, and a politician or two takes a pot shot across the political aisle just to hear their own voice. And even in the Church, someone complains about the music of Christmas Eve, or how the church was decorated, or the length of the sermon, or the color of the punch at the post worship reception in the church parlor.

Cute Baby Jesus is born.  So what?    Well, a lot!