Daily Scripture: Luke 2:48 When his parents saw him, they were shocked; and his mother said to him, “Son! Why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been terribly worried looking for you!” 49 He said to them, “Why did you have to look for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be concerning myself with my Father’s affairs?” 50 But they didn’t understand what he meant.
51 So he went with them to Natzeret and was obedient to them. But his mother stored up all these things in her heart.
52 And Yeshua grew both in wisdom and in stature, gaining favor both with other people and with God.
Reflection Questions:In this short conversation with his parents, Jesus was clearly aware of his uniqueness. He confidently called the Temple “my Father’s house.” Yet Luke also wrote that he remained obedient to Joseph (as his earthly father) and Mary for 18 more years. We can only wonder how many other such conversations and moments there may have been, how much Mary had to cherish and ponder in her heart.
- Luke’s story showed Jesus as a dutiful, but far from ordinary, son. He knew that the Temple, more than Mary and Joseph’s home, was his Father’s house. At age 12 he already showed the hunger he described as an adult preacher: “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). How much of an “appetite” do you have for God? What are some ways you can nurture that God-given inner hunger and thirst?
- Verse 52 said, in summary form, that Jesus grew mentally, physically, spiritually and socially during his years in Nazareth. In which of these realms did you experience the most growth during 2015? Ask God to guide you as you look toward your “growing edge” in these four areas, to give you wisdom and focus as you plan to continue growing in 2016.
Lord Jesus, thank you for your presence in my life, for the fruit you are bearing in me. Please continue to set me free from the past, so I can choose a life worth living in you. Amen.
---------------------Insights from Ginger Rothhaas
Ginger Rothhaas is a seminary student at Saint Paul School of Theology and is serving in Congregational Care at The Church of the Resurrection.Do you ever struggle to know your purpose? Do you wonder what God made you to be or to do? Do you worry you are missing the path that you were intended for?
I do. Often.
I look back at the time I was 12 years old, and think…did that little Ginger know her calling?….did she know what she was made to do?….if she did, how did she lose sight of it?
The more I study, the more I think that we are born knowing our purpose (like a Divine seed planted in our soul at creation) but we might lose sight of it the longer we live in the world and are influenced by earthly factors.
The Gospel author, Luke, tells us a story of Jesus, when he was 12, lost for three days, then found by his parents in the temple in Jerusalem. His parents question him (paraphrased) “We have been worried sick and looking for you! What were you thinking?!?!”
Jesus answers with questions. “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
Great teachers are good at asking questions instead of giving answers. I feel like Jesus was using this as a teaching opportunity and his audience is threefold: his parents, others in the Temple witnessing this moment, and us today.
Luke suggests that Mary and Joseph didn’t understand what Jesus was saying. But if they are anything like me as a parent, it is after my panic and anger subsides before I am calm enough to look back on the moment and then see what was really going on.
I’m guessing they got the point, they knew this was a child who had a purpose, a Divine calling, an assignment from God. They knew exactly what he meant by “in my Father’s house”…and it scared them.
This was a defining moment for Mary and Joseph in realizing that their son was old enough to begin independently living into his calling. He was so immersed in the Temple teaching that he lost track of time and lost track of his family leaving town. Staying alongside his earthly parents was now trumped by his calling to bring light into the world.
This was a moment where I imagine Mary and Joseph looked at each other, stealing a glance above Jesus’ head, like parents do, with a look of mixed emotions of worry, knowing, and surrender.
I think Jesus was also teaching those in the Temple who were witnessing this exchange as he pointed to his ultimate father in God. He was teaching those in the Temple that God is above every earthly relationship. There is no bond greater that the bond between God and us. Maybe those in the Temple needed to be reminded that God reigns above governments, clergy, and biological relationships. Jesus was modeling our ultimate duty…a duty to God above all else.
For us today, this is a teaching moment too. There are a lot of theological messages we can learn from this story…God is father, love, protector, always present, calling us, and many more things. But what this story says to me today as a parent is about our responsibility to help our children live into their calling.
Our children have a Divine assignment to right the world. They were sent to bring light to the darkness. We want to protect them and keep them safe. But at some point, they leave our sight, they go out into the world, they follow their hearts, they utilize their talents and gifts, they go do amazing things…and we have to let them shine.
As I watch Mary and Joseph begin to let go and allow Jesus to follow his calling, I feel their pain. I so want to play it safe and have my children play it safe…but that is not what we are called to do.
As God’s light-workers, we are called to take risks, challenge authority, right the world, bring the light to darkness, and know that we are safe, and our children are safe, because everywhere we go, we are in our Father’s house.
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
I do. Often.
I look back at the time I was 12 years old, and think…did that little Ginger know her calling?….did she know what she was made to do?….if she did, how did she lose sight of it?
The more I study, the more I think that we are born knowing our purpose (like a Divine seed planted in our soul at creation) but we might lose sight of it the longer we live in the world and are influenced by earthly factors.
The Gospel author, Luke, tells us a story of Jesus, when he was 12, lost for three days, then found by his parents in the temple in Jerusalem. His parents question him (paraphrased) “We have been worried sick and looking for you! What were you thinking?!?!”
Jesus answers with questions. “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
Great teachers are good at asking questions instead of giving answers. I feel like Jesus was using this as a teaching opportunity and his audience is threefold: his parents, others in the Temple witnessing this moment, and us today.
Luke suggests that Mary and Joseph didn’t understand what Jesus was saying. But if they are anything like me as a parent, it is after my panic and anger subsides before I am calm enough to look back on the moment and then see what was really going on.
I’m guessing they got the point, they knew this was a child who had a purpose, a Divine calling, an assignment from God. They knew exactly what he meant by “in my Father’s house”…and it scared them.
This was a defining moment for Mary and Joseph in realizing that their son was old enough to begin independently living into his calling. He was so immersed in the Temple teaching that he lost track of time and lost track of his family leaving town. Staying alongside his earthly parents was now trumped by his calling to bring light into the world.
This was a moment where I imagine Mary and Joseph looked at each other, stealing a glance above Jesus’ head, like parents do, with a look of mixed emotions of worry, knowing, and surrender.
I think Jesus was also teaching those in the Temple who were witnessing this exchange as he pointed to his ultimate father in God. He was teaching those in the Temple that God is above every earthly relationship. There is no bond greater that the bond between God and us. Maybe those in the Temple needed to be reminded that God reigns above governments, clergy, and biological relationships. Jesus was modeling our ultimate duty…a duty to God above all else.
For us today, this is a teaching moment too. There are a lot of theological messages we can learn from this story…God is father, love, protector, always present, calling us, and many more things. But what this story says to me today as a parent is about our responsibility to help our children live into their calling.
Our children have a Divine assignment to right the world. They were sent to bring light to the darkness. We want to protect them and keep them safe. But at some point, they leave our sight, they go out into the world, they follow their hearts, they utilize their talents and gifts, they go do amazing things…and we have to let them shine.
As I watch Mary and Joseph begin to let go and allow Jesus to follow his calling, I feel their pain. I so want to play it safe and have my children play it safe…but that is not what we are called to do.
As God’s light-workers, we are called to take risks, challenge authority, right the world, bring the light to darkness, and know that we are safe, and our children are safe, because everywhere we go, we are in our Father’s house.
---------------------
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
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