Looking in the Right Places

I’m working through Jesus’ childhood stories in the gospels. It’s an interesting week to reflect on Him at twelve in the temple at Passover, learning from the teachers there. We had a blizzard on Monday and many schools in various regions of Ontario and Quebec were closed for snow days. The pandemic has forced many into online learning since Christmas and parents (and educators) have been stressed about whether it’s safe to return children to school. Education is a hot topic right now.

Jesus would have been taught by Mary until he was five and then sent to synagogue to learn the Torah with the other village boys. Joseph would have then had the primary role of teaching him when at home and would have probably apprenticed him as a carpenter. God’s Word would have been ingrained and memorized until, at the end of His twelfth year, Jesus would have had His bar mitzvah and become a “son of the commandment” and able to participate fully in worship at His synagogue.

We read in Luke 2:41-52 that Jesus’ family made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover every year. They would have traveled with family and friends fulfilling the command to celebrate the festival. The year that Jesus was twelve, they inadvertently leave Him behind, discovering a day later that He’s missing. Panic ensues as Mary and Joseph go back, searching anxiously, only to find Him in the temple sitting with the teachers and asking questions and listening. Those there are amazed at His insights.

Mary calls Him on the stress He’s caused, and His adolescent response is that they should have known to look for Him in His Father’s house. The end of the story says that He was obedient to them after that.

This event marks a turning point - Jesus’ last year before becoming adult in the eyes of the synagogue. He doesn’t stay behind to party or tour Jerusalem. He stays because He has connected that His heavenly Father has important things for Him to do in time, and He wants to be as close to God as possible, learning as much as He can.

Jesus’ ministry wouldn’t officially start for another eighteen years, but He was taking steps toward living out His calling as the Messiah. He knew He needed to make His focus embedding Himself in Jewish faith and culture and spending time in God’s presence. Ironically, His parents look everywhere else but the temple as they search for Him.

In the current discontent of what may be happening in our lives, I wonder if we are recognizing that God has important things for us too. Are we resourcing ourselves well or are we looking in the wrong places for what we need? Are we turning to scripture and people of faith and worship to nourish and steady us, or are we turning to binge-watching tv, social media or over-eating carbs and sugar? Are we finding what satisfies our souls or filling up on junk?

I have been cleaning out e-mails and office papers, having an urge to purge and reset in this new year. At the same time I’m challenged to purge thoughts that aren’t helpful, particularly on grey days, and to replace that negative energy with the power of reading scripture deeply, not just for sermon prep but for me. While many of us can’t worship in our church buildings right now, we can worship virtually and we can reach out to people in our faith community by phone and check in and pray with and for each other.

If people wonder what we’ve been up to could we give a variation of the same response Jesus did? I was spending time with God and learning and recognizing the safety of being in the presence of the Creator. I was deepening my faith. I was hanging out with my Saviour and finding peace.

Imagine if we could truthfully say that weekly, if not daily, and the energy and power and promise that would give us. What a gift to give those around us who are hungering for direction and something to rely on in troubled times.