A provocative and comforting Gospel passage, I did my best (with God’s help) to preach on the text (Luke 2:41-52). Below is sermon audio and a beautiful rendition of a hymn I mentioned in the sermon and, if you scroll down, also the text for the sermon (not quite what was preached in the pulpit!!!

Sermon Audio – below…

 

I cannot tell – sung by Hope Montana

Verse 1
I cannot tell why He whom angels worship
Should set His love upon the souls of men,
Or why as Shepherd He should seek the wanderers,
To bring them back, they know not how nor when.
But this I know, that He was born of Mary
When Bethlehem’s manger was His only home,
And that He lived at Nazareth and laboured;
And so the Saviour, Saviour of the world, has come.
Verse 2
I cannot tell how silently He suffered
As with His peace He graced this place of tears,
Nor how His heart upon the cross was broken,
The crown of pain to three and thirty years.
But this I know He heals the broken hearted
And stays our sin and calms our lurking fear,
And lifts the burden from the heavy laden;
For still the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is here.

Verse 3
I cannot tell how He will win the nations,
How He will claim His earthly heritage,
How satisfy the needs and aspirations
Of east and west, of sinner and of sage.
But this I know, all flesh shall see His glory,
And He shall reap the harvest He has sown,
And some glad day His sun will shine in splendour
When He the Saviour, Saviour, of the world, is known.

Verse 4
I cannot tell how all lands shall worship,
When at His bidding every storm is stilled,
Or who can say how great the jubilation
When all our hearts with love for Him are filled.
But this I know the skies shall sound His praises,
Ten thousand thousand human voices sing,
And earth to heaven, and heaven to earth will answer,
At last the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is King!

Sermon Text

Sermon preached at Trinity Church, Newport RI
Sunday January 3 2016
The Reverend Alan Neale
“Step-Family in Chaos”

“Why were you searching for me?” – Luke 2:49.

My beloved Matthew Henry (Presbyterian Minister and Bible Expositor of the late 17th century) writes, “We have here the only passage of story recorded concerning our blessed Saviour, from his infancy to the day of his showing to Israel at twenty-nine years old, and therefore we are concerned to make much of this, for it is in vain to wish we had more.”

And yet, to our dismay, this one star in an otherwise dark firmament of nearly thirty years is taken up with parental carelessness, childish precocity, astonishment and confusion.

One year shy of rightly feared teenage years, the child Jesus both renders religious ministers to be speechless and engenders articulation in his parents; “Jesus, Mary and Joseph” indeed.

“Why were you searching for me?” – Luke 2:49.

Why? Three reasons.

#1 Mary and Joseph were searching for Jesus because of “careless assumptions”. It is part of a child’s genetic composition that she/he will wander, roam, investigate. Lacking a sense of appropriate decency (almost a creedal belief amongst us Anglicans), the child will appear in the most surprising of situations dauntless and without inhibition. Seems that Jesus was no exception. But it is the parents’ role to assume nothing except the need for vigilance and attention.
They assumed their son was somewhere in the hordes that were returning home from “big-city” festivities; and this assumption they happily bore for one day and then… the frantic search begins. Unlike the wise men told by an angel to return by a different way, these parents must retrace their steps as exactly as possible. Oh, how often they must have been asked that irritating question, “Where were you when you lost him?” Doubtless they, like me, wanted to shout “If I knew that I would not be looking, would I?” But stoic Joseph and holy Mary doubtless resisted such ferocious retorts.

There are so many times, throughout history, when churches and other institutions have carelessly assumed that God is with them as they have compounded abuse, ignored injustice. When confronted by confirmed truths of psychology and medicine, they have persisted in disowning those in need, withholding parity for the outcast and refusing entry to those who seek to know God’s love within God’s community.

But we are not unlike Mary and Joseph. On our merry, or not so merry way, we assume God is with us (stashed in backpack, relegated to briefcase, bag or New Year Resolution). The God of whom we heard as children has remained stunted in perception as we ourselves have matured; doubtless in favor with man but not so in favor with God.

Sometimes we too must carefully retrace our steps to the time when divine truth was captivating and divine presence was assumed.
#2 Mary and Joseph were searching for Jesus because of “hesitant reluctance”. It is appropriate and understandable that we should wonder about the self-awareness of Jesus. Was Jesus aware of his divinity… in utero, in manger, at play, in teenage years or when, when? So far, it is my belief that Jesus’ self-awareness was a process… a gradual consciousness of nature and vocation interspersed with eruptions of complete faith but also with deflations of self-doubt. And then have pity on His parents – astonished and confused almost simultaneously. Luke 2:48, 51.

If their perception were but keener, understanding but sharper, minds but more open – they surely would have known that Jesus “was in the Father’s house about the Father’s business”. But who can justly fault or suggest blame given their “hesitant reluctance” to accept the child before them and in their care.

Friends, we too are often marked by “hesitant reluctance”. We vacillate between astonishment and confusion, between wonder and indifference, between excitement and ennui. This is integral to the spiritual life, the psychic journey.

Yesterday at my desk, thinking on these words I remembered a hymn from long ago; a hymn song to the Londonderry Air (“O Danny Boy”). The words were written by William Young Fullerton (1857-1932) in 1929.
I cannot tell how he whom angels worship
should stoop to love the peoples of the earth,
or why as shepherd he should seek the wanderer
with his mysterious promise of new birth.
But this I know, that he was born of Mary,
when Bethlehem’s manger was his only home,
and that he lived at Nazareth and labored,
and so the Savior, Savior of the world, is come.

I cannot tell how silently he suffered,
as with his peace he graced this place of tears,
or how his heart upon the cross was broken,
the crown of pain to three and thirty years.
But this I know, he heals the broken-hearted,
and stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear,
and lifts the burden from the heavy laden,
for yet the Savior, Savior of the world, is here.

A most perfect expression of hesitant reluctance in the face of God’s indomitable love for those He has made.

And, #3, Mary and Joseph were searching for Jesus because of “parental love”. Yes, sometimes it is just that simple… even in the arena of divinity and humanity, children and parents, and all those in loving (though sometimes conflicted) relationships. We search, we seek, we pursue the experience of finding the one whom we can love freely and the one who offers us love liberally.

This was no easy search for the Holy Step-Family. Though the Luke writes of Jesus’ parents, though Mary refers to Joseph as one of Jesus’ parents, it is Mary (not Joseph) who dares to upbraid the child. Maybe Mary’s tone is a little fierce but remember she comes to the Temple with some shame at parental carelessness and as we all know (at least I hope we do) shame often generates irrational anger directed at whatever target is in sight!

When the man in this pulpit was about 12 I was taken to Trafalgar Square by my uncle. He lost me. A London bobby found me and took me to Scotland Yard; even now I remember the parade of police officers who would look into to visit – they asked “Sonny, why are you here?”. I answered, “I’m lost”. And their constant response, “ No, you’re not… YOU’RE FOUND!”.

Whether we are the ones who feel lost, or the ones engaged in search… we are all found, safe in “the Father’s house.”
Thanks be to God, AMEN