HOMILY
OCTOBER 2, 2016
Have you ever gotten lost, and had someone come and rescue you? I know a little girl who went to the zoo with her mother and aunt. They were walking around admiring the elephants and the giraffes, and especially the lion who roared and scared the little girl.
All of a sudden the little girl looked around and couldn’t see her mother and her aunt. She looked everywhere. Finally a lady came up to her and asked if she was looking for somebody. She said tearfully that yes, she was. The lady took her to a nearby first aid station. After a while the little girl’s mother and aunt found her there. What a happy reunion that was!
Doesn’t that sound a little like what Jesus and his parents went though? What did Luke want his readers, which includes us, to learn? In what direction is he pointing us? Jesus, sitting with the teachers in the Temple, is a powerful image of him seeking from the very beginning of his adulthood to learn more about his heavenly Father. I think Luke wanted his readers to yearn for the same thing, to learn more about God and God’s transforming love for all creation. Let’s look a little deeper into the story.
Why did Luke tell the whole story of Jesus’ life growing up? None of the other gospel writers did. Let’s remember that the purpose of Luke’s gospel was to show that Jesus was the One sent by God as the fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures. Luke began his narrative by telling the story that demonstrated what an extraordinary person Jesus was from even before he was born. Then we are treated with the beautiful narrative of his birth and infancy with angels and prophets and magi praising God because the long-waited child had been born.
Then all is quiet until Jesus, when he was twelve years old, went with his very faithful, observant parents, Mary and Joseph, along with other family members and friends, to Jerusalem for their annual pilgrimage. Remember that men and women did not travel together in those days. Men stayed in their group and women in theirs. Thus the spouses probably had no contact with each other until the end of the day. That was when Jesus’ parents discovered that their son was not with them.
Age twelve was about the time when a Jewish young man began to function as an adult in the community. Jesus could have been with the women and children, or with the men. Each parent thought their son must have been with the other group. Luke uses this to demonstrate that in the new communities as well as in their former ones, the group was more important than individual men and women.
At the same time Jesus understood the significance of the moment for him. He wasn’t thinking about going home. He was eager to join a group who were sitting in the Temple with a rabbi, studying in the manner of Jewish instruction, asking and answering questions. So that’s what he did. How we wish we could have been there and heard that conversation!
Luke made the point that Jesus showed unusual abilities, exhibiting insights into the verses of scripture that were beyond his years. In fact the Greek word Luke uses to express this was often associated with the end time. The word was used to describe people’s reaction to a demonstration of divine power.
Jesus’ anxious, terrified parents went back to Jerusalem and found him in the Temple three days later. They questioned him as to why he didn’t go back home with them. Luke has Jesus show surprise or disappointment that they didn’t understand that he really was grown up and had to start being about what he was called by his father, God, to do. Looking carefully we see that Jesus’ mother alone “held these things dearly, deep within herself.” His father is not mentioned again in the rest of Luke’s gospel.
The story is reminiscent of those in the Greco-Roman tradition about the exploits of a hero while still a child. The point was to show that the powerful deeds of heroes as adults were a continuation of their behavior in childhood. They were living out life with divine powers they were given from birth.
Another aspect of this event is one of Luke’s main themes, namely that people close to Jesus often didn’t understand him. He realized that he had responsibilities in the much larger family of God. He must begin to attend to them. Yet he would have a long spiritual journey to prepare for that life. Thus he did go back home and obey his earthly father and mother and live a quiet, ordinary life for the next several years before he began his public ministry.
Like Jesus and the people in his life, each of us is on our own spiritual journey. We are given clues as to where the path goes next. Our role is to be ready to take that next step. It appears that Luke wanted his readers, like Jesus, to yearn to learn more about God and God’s love for all God has created. What a help it is if we are members of a supportive community of faith that is on the same journey! The more we live by the values Jesus demonstrated in both ordinary and extraordinary events the more deeply we will be able to experience the road with Jesus the Christ to the realm of our Creator God.
Maybe that next step on the road is to give encouragement to a young person who has abilities but is shy and afraid to let their gifts be seen. Maybe it’s setting aside a special time each day to be alone with God and listen to God’s voice. We could spend time talking and listening to a friend that we’ve ignored for a while. We could speak out about an injustice which many pretend doesn’t exist.
Our talents are given to us for the benefit of ourselves and others: family, friends and beyond. We are a part of that large community that came from the love God has for all creation. Jesus gradually learned that he was sent to be an example of that love for his family, his faith tradition and those beyond those borders. Luke wanted his readers also to yearn, as Jesus did, to learn more about God and God’s love and compassion for all. Let’s keep that in mind as we go to the altar table for the Eucharist.
Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP
October 2, 2016
Comments/Reflections on our October 2, 2016 Celebration
Yesterday was the second time that we have taken time out from the regular liturgical year to celebrate “A Children’s Sabbath,” honoring children as sacred gifts. The Children’s Defense Fund founded Children’s Sabbaths in 1992 to encourage congregations to honor, protect, and advocate on behalf of children. As founder Miriam Wright Edelman stated at the time: “Children come into the world with God’s commission to live and learn and sing and dance and grow; then, too, many are decommissioned by adults who prey on them.” We pray today that all children will soon be able to develop into strong, healthy, and loving adults.
It has been a joyful time to be childlike in our worship of God. On Sunday we had a sweet little girl with us who made us smile and laugh. We also sang children’s songs like ‘He/She’s Got the Whole World in His/Her Hands” and “This Little Light of Mine.” Oh, and we finished with a reception with different flavored Oreo cookies and sang “Happy Birthday” to our pastor, Maria, Goodies included a 3-cupcake birthday cake with candles which she blew out. On the whole it was a special community celebration! We congratulate Maria and are grateful for her many, many years of dedicated and inspired service to God's people. Thank you, Maria.
OCTOBER 2, 2016
Have you ever gotten lost, and had someone come and rescue you? I know a little girl who went to the zoo with her mother and aunt. They were walking around admiring the elephants and the giraffes, and especially the lion who roared and scared the little girl.
All of a sudden the little girl looked around and couldn’t see her mother and her aunt. She looked everywhere. Finally a lady came up to her and asked if she was looking for somebody. She said tearfully that yes, she was. The lady took her to a nearby first aid station. After a while the little girl’s mother and aunt found her there. What a happy reunion that was!
Doesn’t that sound a little like what Jesus and his parents went though? What did Luke want his readers, which includes us, to learn? In what direction is he pointing us? Jesus, sitting with the teachers in the Temple, is a powerful image of him seeking from the very beginning of his adulthood to learn more about his heavenly Father. I think Luke wanted his readers to yearn for the same thing, to learn more about God and God’s transforming love for all creation. Let’s look a little deeper into the story.
Why did Luke tell the whole story of Jesus’ life growing up? None of the other gospel writers did. Let’s remember that the purpose of Luke’s gospel was to show that Jesus was the One sent by God as the fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures. Luke began his narrative by telling the story that demonstrated what an extraordinary person Jesus was from even before he was born. Then we are treated with the beautiful narrative of his birth and infancy with angels and prophets and magi praising God because the long-waited child had been born.
Then all is quiet until Jesus, when he was twelve years old, went with his very faithful, observant parents, Mary and Joseph, along with other family members and friends, to Jerusalem for their annual pilgrimage. Remember that men and women did not travel together in those days. Men stayed in their group and women in theirs. Thus the spouses probably had no contact with each other until the end of the day. That was when Jesus’ parents discovered that their son was not with them.
Age twelve was about the time when a Jewish young man began to function as an adult in the community. Jesus could have been with the women and children, or with the men. Each parent thought their son must have been with the other group. Luke uses this to demonstrate that in the new communities as well as in their former ones, the group was more important than individual men and women.
At the same time Jesus understood the significance of the moment for him. He wasn’t thinking about going home. He was eager to join a group who were sitting in the Temple with a rabbi, studying in the manner of Jewish instruction, asking and answering questions. So that’s what he did. How we wish we could have been there and heard that conversation!
Luke made the point that Jesus showed unusual abilities, exhibiting insights into the verses of scripture that were beyond his years. In fact the Greek word Luke uses to express this was often associated with the end time. The word was used to describe people’s reaction to a demonstration of divine power.
Jesus’ anxious, terrified parents went back to Jerusalem and found him in the Temple three days later. They questioned him as to why he didn’t go back home with them. Luke has Jesus show surprise or disappointment that they didn’t understand that he really was grown up and had to start being about what he was called by his father, God, to do. Looking carefully we see that Jesus’ mother alone “held these things dearly, deep within herself.” His father is not mentioned again in the rest of Luke’s gospel.
The story is reminiscent of those in the Greco-Roman tradition about the exploits of a hero while still a child. The point was to show that the powerful deeds of heroes as adults were a continuation of their behavior in childhood. They were living out life with divine powers they were given from birth.
Another aspect of this event is one of Luke’s main themes, namely that people close to Jesus often didn’t understand him. He realized that he had responsibilities in the much larger family of God. He must begin to attend to them. Yet he would have a long spiritual journey to prepare for that life. Thus he did go back home and obey his earthly father and mother and live a quiet, ordinary life for the next several years before he began his public ministry.
Like Jesus and the people in his life, each of us is on our own spiritual journey. We are given clues as to where the path goes next. Our role is to be ready to take that next step. It appears that Luke wanted his readers, like Jesus, to yearn to learn more about God and God’s love for all God has created. What a help it is if we are members of a supportive community of faith that is on the same journey! The more we live by the values Jesus demonstrated in both ordinary and extraordinary events the more deeply we will be able to experience the road with Jesus the Christ to the realm of our Creator God.
Maybe that next step on the road is to give encouragement to a young person who has abilities but is shy and afraid to let their gifts be seen. Maybe it’s setting aside a special time each day to be alone with God and listen to God’s voice. We could spend time talking and listening to a friend that we’ve ignored for a while. We could speak out about an injustice which many pretend doesn’t exist.
Our talents are given to us for the benefit of ourselves and others: family, friends and beyond. We are a part of that large community that came from the love God has for all creation. Jesus gradually learned that he was sent to be an example of that love for his family, his faith tradition and those beyond those borders. Luke wanted his readers also to yearn, as Jesus did, to learn more about God and God’s love and compassion for all. Let’s keep that in mind as we go to the altar table for the Eucharist.
Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP
October 2, 2016
Comments/Reflections on our October 2, 2016 Celebration
Yesterday was the second time that we have taken time out from the regular liturgical year to celebrate “A Children’s Sabbath,” honoring children as sacred gifts. The Children’s Defense Fund founded Children’s Sabbaths in 1992 to encourage congregations to honor, protect, and advocate on behalf of children. As founder Miriam Wright Edelman stated at the time: “Children come into the world with God’s commission to live and learn and sing and dance and grow; then, too, many are decommissioned by adults who prey on them.” We pray today that all children will soon be able to develop into strong, healthy, and loving adults.
It has been a joyful time to be childlike in our worship of God. On Sunday we had a sweet little girl with us who made us smile and laugh. We also sang children’s songs like ‘He/She’s Got the Whole World in His/Her Hands” and “This Little Light of Mine.” Oh, and we finished with a reception with different flavored Oreo cookies and sang “Happy Birthday” to our pastor, Maria, Goodies included a 3-cupcake birthday cake with candles which she blew out. On the whole it was a special community celebration! We congratulate Maria and are grateful for her many, many years of dedicated and inspired service to God's people. Thank you, Maria.
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