Focus on a godly family

Sermon for Epiphany 1

Romans 12:1-5  +  Luke 2:41-52

In these times, when we’re surrounded by so many lies, so much propaganda, when so many things happening to us and around us are totally out of our control, what do you do? What do you do, as Christians? Well, first, you trust God, because nothing is out of His control. And then, you turn your attention toward the little things God has called you to do according to your vocations. First and foremost, you turn toward the vocation of attending to your family, whatever your family situation may be, whether you’re parents or children or brothers or sisters, or even as part of a church family, since, as Paul said in today’s Epistle, we who are many are one body in Christ, and we are, each one, members of one another. So even if there’s nothing else you can do to heal this world in its death spiral, there is something useful you can do. You can focus on a godly family.

We learn some things about that today from the holy family: Mary, Joseph, and the boy Jesus at age 12.

Luke tells us that Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem every year at the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the festival. We learn something very important here about godly parenting from Mary and Joseph, from their own faithful attendance at the Jewish festivals, at very least the Passover, which required a journey that no one listening to this sermon today has ever undertaken to get to a church service, I guarantee it. They traveled, on foot, for four days—four roughly ten-hour days of walking—one way, just to get from Nazareth to Jerusalem. And although the text only mentions this journey when Jesus was 12, I think the context suggests that He went along with them before that. Either way, they faithfully attended and participated and made sure Jesus also participated. And that also certainly included their weekly attendance at the synagogue, every Sabbath Day, since we’re told that, when Jesus was older, it was “His custom” to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath. And, when He eventually preached His one sermon at the synagogue in Nazareth, everyone there in the synagogue knew Him and His mother and father and brothers and sisters, by name. We’ll say more about that in a moment.

The holy family spent the customary number of days in Jerusalem, observing the feast, as the Law required them to do, and then the caravan of people—relatives, friends, neighbors—that had traveled down from Nazareth together left Jerusalem and started the days-long journey back to Nazareth. Joseph and Mary assumed that Jesus was in their company, hanging out with relatives or friends, but, in fact, He had stayed behind in Jerusalem, and it took them until the end of the first day’s walk to realize that He wasn’t there.

Now, did they make a parenting mistake in accidentally leaving Jesus behind in Jerusalem, in not making sure He was with them when they left? Maybe. But consider this: Jesus was the perfect Son, sinless in every way, completely trustworthy, and probably extremely predictable. (And this is one reason I think Jesus had gone with them to the Passover for several years before He was twelve, since, if it were His first trip there, they would reasonably be more cautious about His whereabouts.) But in any case, it’s clear that Mary and Joseph were not like modern “helicopter parents,” hovering around and doting on their children every moment, obsessing about their children’s whereabouts at all times. And that’s a good thing. They showed their Son an appropriate amount of trust for His age, and then stood back and allowed Him a degree of freedom. Even more importantly, they commended Him to the care of God the Father and didn’t spent every moment worrying about Him.

When they did go to check on Him, though, they didn’t find Him, and you parents can imagine the panic they must have felt, made even worse, because they probably had to wait till the next morning to turn back to Jerusalem, not daring to travel at night, and then it still took them till the third day to find Him, since they looked all over Jerusalem first, before finally retracing their steps back to the Temple.

There Jesus was at the Temple, no family or friends or relatives around, just Him and the rabbis. They found Him there, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and obviously also answering their questions, since we’re told that all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

Now, I’ve known twelve-year-old boys. In fact, I’m about to have another twelve-year-old boy in my house, in just a few weeks. It’s hard to picture any of them doing this, and rightly so, because this is really the first epiphany of today’s Gospel, a revelation of the hidden divinity of that particular twelve-year-old boy, who had such astonishing understanding of God and His Word because the worlds were made through Him, because He was the Word who was with God in the beginning and who was God, because He had come from the bosom of God the Father to reveal God to mankind more brightly and more intimately than any prophet had ever done or could ever do. Even as a twelve-year-old boy, it was clear to all that He was no ordinary child.

But beyond Jesus’ great, supernatural understanding of God and His Word, which can’t be imitated, we see something else, something that can be imitated by twelve-year-old boys but rarely is—it’s barely imitated by any of us. We see a zeal for knowing God and discussing the things of God, a deep, heartfelt love in Jesus for His Father’s house and for His Father’s teaching. The boy Jesus was the perfect embodiment of what the Psalmist once wrote, Oh, how I love Your law. It is my meditation all day long. Or again, LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells. Or again, How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God…For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. Or again, I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.”

It was in that setting that Mary and Joseph finally found Jesus. When they saw him, they were amazed, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? See, your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” And he said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I had to be doing my Father’s business?” And they did not understand what he said to them.

Was it sinful for Jesus to remain in Jerusalem without His parents’ knowledge or permission? Of course not. Scripture says He committed no sin. Why was there no sin involved here? First, we don’t know exactly how things went down, but they obviously didn’t tell Him to leave, so there was no rebellion or disobedience involved. Second, because young, 12-yr-old Jesus, as God, had a lesson to teach His earthly parents: Yes, He was their Son, but they needed to be reminded of His other identity and of His mission. And this is really the second epiphany in this account, as Jesus reminded His parents that He was the only-begotten Son of God, that, unlike other children, He had come to earth for a specific, God-given purpose: to do His Father’s business. They needed to accept that in humility, even from their twelve-year-old Son, although they didn’t understand what He meant at the time.

Then they all left together, and we’re told that He was subject to them. Even though He was God, even though He was sinless and they weren’t, Jesus submitted to them, because His Father had placed Him in their care and under their authority. We’re also told that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Not by pandering to people or flattering people. Not by putting on a good show. But by being a genuinely pleasant young man, eager to help, respectful, kind, merciful, and devoted to God’s Word, with a genuine love for God that showed in how He spoke and in how He acted.

This is part of what we call Jesus’ “active obedience” as our Substitute. He did perfectly what God has commanded us all to do, except that we haven’t. This is what saves us, together with Jesus’ passive obedience—the things He suffered in our place. This is what earned our salvation, that Christ was righteous for us, even as a child, and now the Father counts His righteousness and obedience to all who believe in Him, as if it were our obedience, as if we had been perfect parents or perfect children.

But that doesn’t mean that we are now free to disobey. On the contrary, we have a holy calling, as those whom God has counted as righteous, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, as Paul wrote in today’s Epistle.

So parents, be the fathers and mothers God has called you to be. As Paul writes, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Spend time with them. Teach them whatever you can, including the chief parts of the Small Catechism. Admit your sins and mistakes and ask for forgiveness. Keep urging them, by word and by example, to grow into godly men and women who don’t just attend church regularly, but who show a genuine interest in God’s Word, a firm commitment to sound doctrine, and zeal for knowing God and discussing the things of God. And finally, commend your children to God and know that He loves them even more than you do.

Children, as Paul writes, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” Learn obedience. Learn to honor your parents, not just outwardly, but with your attitude and in your heart.

Children, young people, even adults, ask yourself is it your goal to imitate Jesus, to grow in wisdom as well as stature? To grow in favor with God and man? Not the favor of the cool crowd or of your friends, but of all people? In favor with your parents, your brothers and sisters, your fellow church members, your teachers, your classmates, your neighbors? You do that by being good, honest, dependable, humble, caring, and kind, by humbly admitting your sins and mistakes and asking for forgiveness, by devoting yourself to living as children of God in a godless world, who are eager to hear their Father’s Word and do their Father’s business.

You see, we all have plenty to work on, don’t we?, no matter what else we can’t work on or fix in this world. Don’t be conformed to this world, as Paul says, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. May God help you to focus on a godly family during these trying times, even as He has brought you into His family through faith in Christ Jesus and loves and cares for you as a perfect Father. Amen.