I only preached once in 2024, and it was on the last Sunday of the year. I had lots of warning and time to prepare, and as I was doing so, I asked Glory if she would come to hear me.
"Probably," she said, "what are you preaching on?"
"Second chapter of Luke," I replied, "where 12-year-old Jesus wanders off for the better part of a weak and they find him talking with the scholars in a temple."
She narrowed her eyes and said, "That sounds kind of familiar; did you preach on that once before?"
So I checked, and sure enough, I had... 5 years earlier.
"Hmm," I said to my daughter. "I guess I need a new angle."
It took me a while to come up with that alternate angle, and I was mostly happy with it, but not really sure how my sermon would land with people. (Clicking the title should take you to that part of our recorded service.)
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REFLECTION: AN AGE FOR ALL TIMES
And so we prepare to draw the curtain on 2024. A new year is right around the corner, and while it is full of uncertainty, remember - it wasn’t all that different last year. Or the year before!There is no questioning that the world could be in better shape, right? War still rages in Ukraine and Gaza, there’s a trade war brewing with our closest neighbour, inequity and anger seem to grow daily, I am certain there is another smoky dry summer coming our way…
I’m gonna level with you - I am indulging myself in a lot of what some folks would consider age-inappropriate behaviours of late: reading superhero comics, playing Dungeons & Dragons, enjoying videogames… Midnight Suns lets me combine all three, in a way, so it is a wonder I even made it to church today, to be honest. Escapism has become my primary preoccupation the past few months.
“But Stephen!” I hear you say, “haven’t you always done that kind of stuff?” And you’re right; I totally have!
But when I did it before, it felt like a pastime - now it feels…therapeutic.
Years ago, I worked with a fellow who told me something so sublime when we were talking about a similar topic, it has stuck with me nearly four decades later. Gaston was his name, and we worked at the airport together as pre-board screening officers. This was at a time when the gates at Edmonton International Airport would close periodically between flights (if you can imagine!), and you would have some time to while away playing cards or just chatting in the office.
We were discussing something about childish things, and Gaston shook his head and said, “Most people have maturity all wrong; maturity doesn’t mean acting like an adult, it’s knowing when it is appropriate to act like a child."
This profound principle of ‘contextual maturity’ really, really stuck with me, a fact which I am confident comes as no surprise whatsoever to many of you in attendance, or watching at home. And yes, Howard, I am thinking of you specifically! And hi, Joan.
Finding time for those other aspects of yourself is a tremendous benefit for your mental health.
And so, yeah, my interest in comic books featuring tights 'n' fights waxes and wanes like the moon, but I have always gone back, and now that I do it from a subscription on my iPad it is unlikely to ever stop. If you like hunting and fishing, good on ya, but getting together with my friends or family in a pretend dungeon with make-believe monsters to roll a few dice and have a few laughs - just like we did in junior high - is my idea of a great time. Heck, I got to do it in-person four different times this December!
But maybe that’s not your thing, and that’s okay. Maybe it’s collecting dolls or action figures, or scouring used bookstores for that out-of-print classic you got at book club and can’t find any more. Or maybe it is something even simpler…
Every time you laugh, an earnest, joyful laugh, that is probably your inner child expressing itself. Even when it is the driest, most erudite or even political humor, there is a snort coming from your inner schoolkid.
And you should keep in touch with that inner kid, because they understand a lot of stuff that us adults tend to forget. I’m willing to bet the last time you actively looked for a four-leaf clover, the grass wasn’t nearly as far away as it seems now!
My point is, we can relate to the holy in a multitude of ways. Very commonly, when we approach God the creator we do so as children, as supplicants. But there have been times in prayer where I have spoken to Jesus in my heart as a brother, someone else who’s been a kid.
And like I told the younger folk earlier, I firmly believe everyone has some of that holy spirit in them; in some folks it’s a candle, and others it’s a bonfire, but for some people it is a single spark that struggles - not to stay alive, in my mind but a struggle to be seen. The spark is God’s, but we can create a space and oxygen and fuel for it - nurturing it, as it were.
In our Gospel story, I continue to be amazed at how chill everyone is when Mary and Joseph find their child in a temple who has been missing for three whole days. I mean, okay, Jesus, sure, he gets a weird kind of pass because he is part of the Infinite Divine that we can’t possibly understand AND also is a kid, but the teachers? Maybe there wasn’t enough space to write, “And one of those present said unto Jesus, ‘truly, this is not cool - thou art twelve’...”, but most likely Luke was trying to keep the emphasis on the startling response of Jesus to his parents.
When Jesus replies to Mary, expressing surprise at her concern, does he sound more like a child, or a parent? How much of what he is saying, this calm reassurance, is God the parent speaking through him?
I hear Jesus the child in his incredulity, his bewilderment that his mother and father didn’t automatically think to look for him in the temple. Again, this contextual maturity, this dynamic relationship that feels so relatable to me.
Likewise the teachers, spellbound by a child’s understanding and wisdom; is the connection between them strictly cerebral, or is this bridge between them a product of the holy spirit? Like the bridge to the Hebrew scriptures that verse 52 gives us: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years[l] and in divine and human favor.” If you go back to the first book of Samuel, another special youth, verse 26 of chapter 2 tells us that “Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people.”
These relationships, these bona fides, the callbacks and prophecy - what we might call ‘foreshadowing’ in fiction - they help us to shift our perspective and find different ways to approach this spiritual knowledge that we don’t just know, we feel.
Our adult selves give us the maturity and insight we need to understand in our heads, but our inner children let us experience God with our hearts. This notion of contextual maturity is not just good for our mental health, but for our relationship with the divine.
And when you experience that fully, it becomes easier to be grateful, and to offer praise in gratitude, in spite of the current challenges and contexts!
Once again, we can take our cues from the young dolls in our lives here, because when it comes to praise, it is difficult to equal the honesty, enthusiasm and energy of children.
The first four lines of today’s psalm end in exclamation points - how’s that for enthusiasm? And there is no room for spectators; everyone is encouraged to participate:
Praise God from the earth, great sea creatures and ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and frost, gales that obey God’s decree,
all mountains and hills, all fruit trees and cedars,
wild animals and cattle, creatures winged and earth-bound
sovereigns who rule earth and its people,
all who govern and judge the world,
young men and women alike, old people and children together!
As we close the door on 2024, the new year either looms or beacons, depending on your perspective. There are probably some adversarial ties ahead for our neighbours to the south, but don’t feel too smug about it, because an election is headed our way too, maybe sooner than some people want!
I still have a few more days at home before I return to work, and I am giving my inner child as much room to play as I can. My family is around and there are games to play, meals to share, and company to enjoy. Soon enough it will be time to shoulder the responsibility of adulthood again, and that’s okay too. In addition to nurturing my own holy spirit, maybe I will have the privilege of helping someone else re-discover their own?
God exists within each one of us and we can relate to the Holy from an endless variety of perspectives, including child, peer and adult. Being infinite, this is easier for God than it is for us sometimes, but it is worth the effort.
Talk to parent God about your most complex thoughts. Share your innermost feelings with your sibling, Jesus. And never forget that spark of the divine that is all God and yet uniquely yours, the Holy Spirit.
Leave room in your life for contextual immaturity, especially in your relationship with the holy. Let that Spirit remind you to experience joy, to savour simple pleasures and to express gratitude and praise earnestly and enthusiastically!
Let the whole creation cry,
“Glory be to God on high”
Amen
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After the service, an unfamiliar gentleman introduced himself to me and asked what I did for a living. When I told him I work In pensions administration, he smiled and shook his head. "I would have bet money that you had some sort of theological background," he said.
"Gosh, no," I confessed, "I like to read and I like to ask questions, and we had a tremendous lay worship leadership training program here a few ministers ago we've tried to keep going. Rev. James and Rev. Mervin outlined a ton of resources like The Text This Week and I try to get a few other perspectives or insights before traipsing off on my own, but no formal training. I'm flattered you thought so, though!"
"Listen," he said, "I preached 28 years in the same church and I have heard and read a lot sermons in my time, and that is one of the most interesting takes on Luke 2:41 I've ever heard."
Well!
Let me tell you, I am grateful when anyone at all tells me they found something useful in one of my reflections, but a genuine compliment from a professional preacher that I don't even know was not something I was prepared for.
I thanked him profusely and told him I hoped to see him back at some point; it never occurred to me to ask if he was visiting or to get his name or anything. When I told Audrey what he had said to me as we drove home and how gratifying it was, she positively beamed at me, which felt pretty good as well.
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And his parents went every year to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the feast. And after the days were completed, while they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. And his parents did not know it, but believing him to be in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. And they began searching for him among their relatives and their acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.
And it happened that after three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting in the midst of the teachers and listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his insight and his answers. And when they saw him, they were astounded and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have been searching for you anxiously!” And he said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that it was necessary for me to be in the house of my Father?” And they did not understand the statement that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was submitting to them. And his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
And Jesus was advancing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with people.
Psalm 148 (Responsive)
Refrain
Let the whole creation cry,
“Glory be to God on high”
Praise God from the heavens; give praise in the heights!
Give Praise, all you angels; praise God, all you hosts!
Praise God, sun and moon; give praise, stars and lights!
Praise God, farthest heavens, and all waters beyond heaven! R
Let all things praise the Holy One at whose command they were created, who established them for all time, setting bounds, which cannot be passed.
Praise God from the earth, great sea creatures and ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and frost, gales that obey God’s decree,
all mountains and hills, all fruit trees and cedars,
wild animals and cattle, creatures winged and earth-bound
sovereigns who rule earth and its people,
all who govern and judge the world,
young men and women alike, old people and children together! R
Let all things praise the name of God,
the name above every other, whose splendour covers heaven and earth.
You give strength to your people,
songs of praise to your faithful,
to Israel, the people dear to your heart. R
