"I Wouldn't Miss That"

     Dear Friends in Christ,  

Little kids are so much fun to watch, especially at Christmas, but also throughout the year. Parents, grandparents, and so many others anxiously await to witness those “firsts” in a child’s life. With eager expectation, we watch and listen. We want to be there for that first crawl, that first tooth, those first steps, first birthdays…first words. These are not extraordinary activities… you and I do them everyday, have been doing for oh so long, but it is the first that we look for. The firsts are important, give us an insight into what this child will grow to be, how they will act, who they will act like. It gives us an insight into their personality…what kind of person they are going to be. I’m guessing that this was probably more so for Joseph and Mary. As any proud parent, they were surely anticipating those firsts. Can you imagine the celebrating in that small home in Nazareth when Jesus took his first crawl? Can you hear the shrieks of excitement and joy when Jesus took his first steps? Imagine the look on Joseph’s face, the look that only a father can have when a toddler Jesus toddles out to the workshop with Joseph and with toy hammer in hand builds imaginary things as he works on a new carpentry project. Scripture doesn’t tell us, but I’m confident that Joseph and Mary wondered what their little boy was going to do next---remember, they knew this was no ordinary child---this was the Son of God….the Almighty Creator of the Universe Incarnate, in the flesh. As He grew in wisdom and became stronger, what was He going to do?

Scripture doesn’t tell us what Jesus’ first words were, but probably something like your children..Mommy or Daddy or something like that. However, in our Gospel lesson this morning we have the first words of Jesus found in the Bible. And what interesting words they are. The situation is this. The family had made the annual holiday journey to Jerusalem, as they had done every year since Jesus was born. As a family they would celebrate the Passover and get the opportunity to worship in the Temple. In due time however, Passover was over and it seems Joseph and Mary had to head home immediately…right then. We don’t know why…maybe it was because Joseph was swamped with orders in his carpentry business. Maybe Mary just needed to get that house cleaned before the week started again…because we know how messy teenagers can be. Maybe the bills needed to be paid this minute. Whatever the reason…it was time to leave. And leave right then they did. And just as we find clogged highways today after the holidays, so it was then. It was a mass exit out of Jerusalem, everyone on foot or camel or donkey. So it is not that unusual that Joseph and Mary would not be concerned that their son wasn’t right by their side on the way home. As any young boy, Jesus had his buddies and they were probably somewhere in the caravan playing catch or something. But after a day they realized something was amiss, his parents began to ask around. No one had seen him and now they became very worried. Their son was missing and they frantically began to search for him. They left the safety of the caravan, putting their ownselves at risk, to find him. After three more days of frantically hunting all over the countryside and throughout the entire city, they found him…in the Temple…sitting there as if nothing at all was wrong or out of sorts. Again Luke’s account doesn’t give too many details, but you can picture the reunion, tears running down Mary’s face, a sense of relief on Joseph’s face, and a very puzzled look on Jesus’ face. He couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Mary gets right to the point…why have you treated us like this? Do you realize that we’ve been frantically looking for you all over for almost a week? And here…here is the first words of the incarnate Son of God found in all of Holy Scripture… “Why? Didn’t you know, don’t you understand? I must be in my Father’s house. I need to be about my Father’s business. I want to be here. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

But why…why would a nearly teenage boy desire to be here…to leave his friends, to leave his family, to suspend everything else in his world at the moment…to stay. To be sure, some might say that there is a practical reason…he was getting near the age where he would need to have full knowledge of the Law and the prophets, especially if it was his intention to someday be a rabbi himself. This was time for him to learn and to learn from the “experts.” Here at his fingertips were some of the most renowned scholars of the time, there to open his eyes to the Scriptures. And what a sight it must have been…old sages and rabbis sitting together (most everyone else, other than the locals had already departed Jerusalem, in a hurry to get home), scrolls open, reading, meditating, studying and discussing the writings of the prophets and the books of Moses—the Old Testament as we know it. And in the midst of this is Jesus, a 12-year-old boy, listening, asking questions, offering insights that these seasoned theologians had never thought of. This is where He wanted to be, he knew this is where he needed to be, he wouldn’t miss this for the world. He wanted to be in his Father’s house, to be about the work of His Father…to do the task which He was here to do…to be the light…a light of revelation as we heard Simeon prophesy last week. We’re not alone in thinking that it seems odd that a teenage boy would want to be here…those gathered there thought it odd too. They didn’t understand. They didn’t realize that here in their midst, as they studied the Word, stood the Word, in the flesh, here to fulfill the very words before their eyes. Joseph and Mary didn’t understand…think of what they missed to get home for those “priorities”, to see their son, the Son of God, do His Father’s business, they didn’t understand…the temple was the very last place she looked…they seemed to forget the angel of long ago who told them that this child was the Son of God. The children of Israel didn’t understand…they seemed to forget the story of how 12 years earlier angels appeared in the sky announcing the birth of this child, their savior…or at least they thought other things at home were more important that spending time with him in their Father’s house. But Jesus understood. He must be there….He must do the Father’s work. And later, throughout his active ministry, even his closet disciples would not understand when he would say “I must be about my Father’s business, I must preach, I must heal, I must suffer, I must die. And so it is…that only a few years later, the boy Jesus grown into a man, would enter His Father’s house once again, standing before some of the same rabbis and priests to be sentenced to death. But this is where He wanted to be…He wouldn’t miss this for the world. Why we might ask….why would he want to be there? To be about His father’s business. And that He did…as He was led from the temple, from before the governor, through the streets and nailed to a cross. There His father’s business was being done—the business of taking upon himself your punishment so that you might have forgiveness. And three days later, as his followers came to the tomb, sad and distraught, Jesus, alive and in the flesh appears to them with that same puzzled look on his face as years before. Why are you crying? Didn’t you know that this is where I needed to be? I’m about my Father’s business…I’m doing for you what you couldn’t do for yourself…I’m defeating the power of death itself, I’m defeating darkness of the grave so that you might enter into the light of eternal life. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.

So…here, this morning, we are gathered in our Father’s house. But why? How often we sit here wondering why we need to be here. We don’t understand. There are so many other places to be. So many other things that are much more important than setting aside an hour one day a week to come to our Father’s house..so many other priorities..saying to ourselves…I can miss that. That house needs to be cleaned before the week starts. I just need this time to relax—the work week is so hard, this is the only time for me. This is the only chance I have to get away to the lake—away from everything. That game is on…that race is on. And plus…Can’t we find God everywhere else? Can’t I find God in my home, can’t I find God on a hike outside? I don’t need to be in my Father’s house to find Him. Well, I will grant you that God’s handiwork is everywhere and in everything. He most assuredly walks with you everywhere and at everytime. But think about what you are missing out on. Here in this house…your Father’s house, dwells your Savior. The same word that was present in the temple as Mary and Joseph trekked home, the same word that was in the temple ready to die for you, the same word that rose from the grave for you so that you would not remain there, is here. That word from long ago, is here at Salem Lutheran Church this morning and every Sunday morning. That word comes here for you. That word says to you this day, “Here in my Father’s house, you are in my life-giving presence.” Here the Father meets you…He meets you, just as he met those in the temple with a twelve-year old boy…with His Word in the flesh. This word, this light of revelation comes to you this day in the flesh, right before your very eyes. Here in this house this morning, you take in your very own mouths the very body and blood of your Savior…you receive in your bodies the redemption offered through his sacrifice, here in this house, you are offered forgiveness and life eternal. And when you leave this house as one forgiven and one who has been redeemed and restored, you go about your Father’s business. You go about your Father’s business at home, at work, at school---sharing the message of His love, grace, and forgiveness—the message of His Son, Jesus. You share with others that it is here in your Father’s house, it is here where we want to be—we wouldn’t miss it. Here in your Father’s house, you join together with other members of the body of Christ, to love, support, and care for one another. You join together to thank your Father for what He has done for you through Jesus Christ. And here as children fed with the words of life, you can, with eager expectation look forward to the first words that the Father will speak to you as you enter into that heavenly house which he, hammer in hand, is preparing for you, “Welcome home! I’m so glad you’re here, I wouldn’t miss this. This is yours for all eternity.”

All this in the name of Christ, our Light, the Word made Flesh, Amen!

Now may the peace which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.

      Amen.