Luke 2:41-52
41 Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43 When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44 Assuming that he was in the group of travellers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” 49 He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour.
Matthew 12:46-50
46 While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48 But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
A ‘cutting’ of tree wisdom (Genny Tunbridge)
Tree families are just as complicated as human ones – maybe even more so. Each tree is grouped with similar plant species into a genus, and these are grouped into related families, and classified into larger related groups within the plant kingdom.
Some plant families have only trees in them: the Plane family contains 8 species of plane tree and no other plants. More often there is great diversity: small herbaceous plants, shrubs and large trees together in a mixture that can seem surprising. Did you know that flowering quinces, pyracanthas, blackberries, blackthorn, hawthorn, rowan, and most fruit trees (including apple, pear, plum and cherry) are all in the Rose family? Or that lilac and privet are in the OIive family?
There is, however, ongoing dispute about plant relationships. Originally, similarities of appearance were the main clue to family groupings (eg the typical ‘showy’ flowers/blossom of Rose family members) – but resemblances are sometimes purely superficial and misleading. Over time, as fuller study is made of plant structure, cell function and genetics, the family trees of plants are redrawn and argued over, and (confusingly) names are sometimes changed.
But identifying and naming family groups and relationships is of course a human activity; indeed, the very idea of a unique species is a human construct imposing clear-cut boundaries on fluid, hybridising, gradually-evolving nature. Trees don’t care about any of this. Perhaps the only family they are aware of are those very local, neighbouring brothers and sisters whose roots connect with theirs to share resources.
Introduction to the theme (Sally Nash)
This week our theme is family. That is a word which evokes a wide variety of responses. For some of us it is a word we say with joy and perhaps pride as we consider our own families. For others of us it is a word that can be challenging or difficult as we think of some of the dysfunctions of our family. Over the many years I have been involved in pastoral ministry I have rarely met someone who does not have some baggage they bring from their family of origin or the family they are now part of that they would benefit from processing and praying through.
We are looking at two stories this week both of which can be tricky to understand from our current cultural context. The first is in Luke 2 and is the only story we find in the Bible of the life of Jesus between the birth narratives and the start of his public ministry so it is clearly an important one. The story happens in the context of the family travelling to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, remembering how Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt that we read about in Exodus. At 12 years of age, Jesus would be at the end of his childhood, at 13 he would have been regarded as an adult and expected to fulfil the duties of an adult in Judaism.
In Luke 2, Mary and Joseph eventually realise that they do not know where Jesus is. Some of us are old enough to remember being able to disappear in the morning and reappear in time for dinner, going off to the park or on our bikes in a way that doesn’t seem to happen today. Our parents may have had no idea where we were but that never extended to three days! It gives an interesting insight into how family and community were seen, a much greater sense of mutual responsibility for one another and initially Mary and Joseph would not have been concerned about not knowing where Jesus was. They would have trusted family or friends to care for him.
However, Jesus was demonstrating his commitment to his heavenly Father and was sitting among the teachers amazing them with his wisdom. The passage goes on to explain how Mary talked to him and did not fully understand what it was Jesus was saying to her but pondered the words in her heart. The chapter finishes by telling us that Jesus continued to grow up, finding favour with humanity and God. This is the last mention we have of Joseph and it is speculated that he may have not lived long after this event.
If we look at the encounter between Jesus and his parents, we see a role reversal or a disruption – when challenged by Mary, Jesus tells them what he thought they should know – the expectations on him are different perhaps from other children and he has a heavenly father who has a different agenda.
The passage from Matthew helps us understand family in a more extensive and inclusive way. It can sound quite shocking to our ears in a culture which is often more focused on the nuclear family and decisions based on what is good for our small family rather a wider context of the family of God. Thus the passage in Matthew makes it clear that there are two types of family that Jesus is talking about. The family he grew up in but then also the family which is made up of those who do the will of God. Mary would be part of the family of Jesus using both of these ways of looking at family. We remember her response to the angel telling her she would give birth to Jesus (Luke 1.38 Let it be done to me according to your word). Some of us may be part of families where others follow Jesus too, however, some who choose to follow Jesus may be disowned by their family of origin who may not understand the choice. This makes it particularly important that there is a family that they are embraced by, the spiritual family Jesus talks about in this passage.
Some might argue that Jesus was being disrespectful talking like this but if we think of those who foster and adopt – all are treated equally as belonging to one family, he was extending the family, not diminishing one part of it. The good news for each one of us is that Jesus is the founder of a new family, a family of those who follow Jesus. And we are part of this family.
Reflection (Lyn Lynch)
I think one of the most positive things we have rediscovered during these long difficult months of living in the grip of a world pandemic known as COVID19 is our deep need to belong to a family.
Thinking of belonging to a family will bring so many different images to mind depending on our own experiences, but what is a family? The reference in the dictionary explains it as being members of a household, parents and children with others whether living together or not, as descendants of a common ancestor, house or lineage.
A few weeks ago through our Scriptures we heard about the ancestors and lineage of Jesus, but today Luke gives us a glimpse of ordinary family life, which we can relate to, when we find Mary and Joseph and the young Jesus visiting the Temple for the Passover.
Jesus was around twelve years old and in the Jewish tradition was considered as coming into manhood. He was expected to take upon himself all the obligations required by the law. The family were fulfilling an obligation expected of every Jew in all the world, to attend the Passover feast in the holy city of Jerusalem at least once in their lifetime.
We can well imagine how the holy city and the Temple and all the learning and sacred ritual must have fascinated the young Jesus. I can still remember being taken to my first Christmas midnight mass, and as a young teenager I was fascinated by the music of the sung liturgy, the procession of candles and the waft of incense rising heavenwards, and wanting to know more about it.
So Jesus lingers behind when the family begin their journey home in the company of their friends from Galilee they travelled with. Perhaps this tells us a lot about the kind of world they lived in, where extended family and friends lived in close mutual trust, sharing in all the events of everyday life.
I grew up in the late 1940s and early 50s and life wasn’t always easy, but extended family and neighbours lived close by with their doors always open to one another. Living in close knit communities everyone supported each other when times got tough and celebrated good times, and were always ready to look after the young ones of the community.
So it might have been that Mary thought Jesus was with Joseph, as the women often began the journey home before the men folk because they might travel more slowly, and Joseph might have thought that Jesus was with his mother. It only dawned on them that he was missing when they met up to make camp in the evening. After searching for him among those who travelled with them and not finding him, they must have been distraught with worry. They began the journey back to Jerusalem to find him. They must have been so anxious, as every parent knows, when your beloved child is hurt or missing the feeling of guilt and deep distress is overwhelming. Returning to Jerusalem by themselves without the support of their travelling companions must have been difficult for them as the city was a potentially dangerous place, full of narrow alleys, crowds of people, soldiers and traders. Like any big city it was not a place any parent would leave their beloved child alone and unprotected.
The agony of Mary and Joseph must have been almost unbearable, yet when they find him, they find Jesus quite at home and calm as Mary pours out her relief that he is safe, saying “Your father and I have been looking for you.” Jesus simply answers his anxious mother almost asking why was she worrying. “Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house?”
See how very gently but clearly he seems to move the name ‘father’ from Joseph to God. This seems to be that special moment when the young Jesus understands who he is, and his special relationship with God, and he shares it with his parents. I wonder how much Mary and Joseph really understood of what Jesus was saying to them, especially as he returns home with them and continued to live as an obedient son, until it was time for him to begin what he had been born to do.
Mary pondered all these things in her heart, from carrying him safe in her womb, to cradling him in the warmth of her arms, and with Joseph she had protected him, tending many a grazed knee, and sharing the joys of his growing into manhood. She must also have pondered quietly on what the future held in store for her beloved child. Jesus brings us all in touch with the mother and fatherhood of God which stretches far beyond our own beloved families, beyond the families we are born into.
As we move to the reading from Matthew we find a telling little scene between Jesus and some of his family, and in Mark 3 there is a similar passage which seems to suggest that the family were a bit anxious about Jesus and the events that were unfolding day by day, and again they are searching for him. Jesus seems to regard their presence as a bit of an interruption, but he is not being negative towards his own family, but positive about the disciples gathered around him, listening to him and wanting to know more and be part of his mission.
Jesus is leading us to a wider vision of belonging to a family far beyond that which we are born into when he asks, “Who is my mother and who are my sisters and brothers?” Everyone who listens to Jesus are brought into the presence of God and into a new family of sisters and brothers, human and non-human, through Jesus in Gods Kin-dom. We all are descended from our creator God who gives life and breath to all beings, and Jesus is the founder of the family of all believers and urges us to share the joy of being part of the family that stretches around the world and beyond.
During these difficult times when we have been unable to be together with our loved ones, I have walked through the local woodland day by day and connecting to the wonder of the changing seasons. As I walked alone I have met many lovely people walking their dogs. As the weeks have past, we have shared a smile which became a greeting, which has grown into the beginnings of a shared experience of life. As I remember each one among my evening prayers, Jesus has opened for me a wider fuller vision of new connections within the kin-dom of God.
While our own beloved ones are our first experience of belonging to a family network that spans the generations, through Jesus we are members of a family of believers from around the world, and now I believe it includes those we meet everyday as we pass through this life. We all share the same God-given ancestry and all our beginnings and endings are held in the love of God, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Reflection (Allannah Brennan)
Sometimes I think the Bible readings are not good at telling us what people were feeling at particular times – we are often told the facts but we don’t get to know how people felt about something that happened. It’s possible that this is because they were written down many years after the event so perhaps feelings evaporate somewhat over time.
Today’s readings are about two family events - Mary and Joseph losing Jesus and Jesus seemingly dismissing the importance of Mary and his sisters. Mary does question Jesus about his behaviour when he is 12 but we do not get to know how she and her daughters felt if they heard what Jesus had said when he seemed to slight them.
In August last year, about a week before my grandson, Joe’s 12th birthday, I was at Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens with him, Luca and Frankie. We were doing a flower trail and suddenly I realised Joe was not with us. We were near to the entrance into another part of the garden so I just assumed he had gone through into there – when I went through I could see a large part of the garden but no Joe. Then I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I saw him and I asked the others, who said they didn’t know either. Despite knowing we were in a fairly save environment, that Joe is nearly 12, can swim well (there is water in the garden), goes to school on buses many miles from home, knows the gardens quite well and feeling pretty sure that if anyone had tried to run off with him, he would have resisted, shouted, kicked and screamed, nevertheless I felt panic rising. I opened my month and shouted JOE – and out he came from the maze. I was cross “why did you go off?” I demanded; “I was looking for the next clue,” said Joe. A few deep breaths later, a couple of muttered apologies – one from me for shouting – and our day continued pleasantly enough.
I have told this story because I bet many parents and grandparents and other adults looking after children, have temporarily misplaced a child for a few minutes or even a few seconds, and it is frightening. Imagine then for Mary and Joseph to have travelled on a whole day before they missed Jesus and then, of course, a whole day’s journey back to Jerusalem to look for him. I admired Mary’s restraint when she spoke to him. This event in the lives of Mary, Joseph and Jesus set them firmly in the sort of family life that we experience.
The second event when Jesus seems to disregard his family could possibly have been much more hurtful if it was meant as it is written by Matthew. Again a story from my own life – my parents joined a house church when I was 8 and my brother was 18. It was very strict which didn’t bother me much – in fact I discovered new cousins – but for my brother –phew it would have been a mega lifestyle change for him. He didn’t embrace the new church and frankly, I learnt later, my parents were advised to turn him off – I think my Dad particularly was given a hard time over it and my brother went to live with his girlfriend’s family. I learnt all this later, of course, but I believe it was bits of scripture like our second reading for today that had been used.
Around this time in Jesus’ life he too was having a difficult time with his own family and neighbours who couldn’t quite believe that their brother, their cousin, their friend, was being hailed by some as the Messiah.
What I think both readings show us is Jesus’ humanity and that his life experiences as he grew up, were not unlike ours. I believe that Jesus is God in human form and that he willingly entered our world so he could experience what we experience.
Early on in my life at St Philip & St James Church, someone gave me a book – I hope I still have it – but I don’t need to look it up because I remember something profound that it taught me. It said that every dilemma experienced by humans was experienced by Jesus at some time in his life. So he was conceived illegitimately, was homeless at birth, he was a refugee fleeing into Egypt, he was betrayed by one of his closest friends and other friends ran away and denied knowing him when he was arrested, he was falsely accused and tortured and as an innocent man was executed.
Many years ago I was part of a house group with Elaine Roff, Sybil Gilbert and some others and at one time I remember we discussed whether or not Jesus could have prevented himself dying on the cross. I wonder if Elaine and Sybil remember this – I think the discussion was about whether he chose to stay on the cross to die or could have come down if he wanted to. To be honest I can’t remember now what I did think then but subsequently I have come to believe that Jesus didn’t have the choice. For it to be any use to God to enter into human life it had to be a total commitment – he had to become fully human for his time as Jesus and being able to swap between man and God would have been a bit like being one of the superheroes we see on our screens. For God to fully understand what it means to be human he would fully have to understand what it means to be powerless and indeed that is demonstrated throughout Jesus’ life – his humble birth, rejection and cruel execution.
But why did he do it? Why did God, creator of our natural world and us, want to put himself through all that Jesus experienced. I believe that he did it so he could fully understand and therefore, stand by people, in all of the difficulties that arise in human society. And God did it because he loves us – loves us all whoever we are and whatever we have done.
Reflection (Joe Blackburn)
Our two readings today are from St Luke and St. Matthew which relate to family relationships and Jesus' relationship with his parents, these stories are very familiar to us all as we have read many times before. There is very little we know concerning the early life of Jesus, as a baby he would be growing, learning to walk and talk being guided by his parents Mary and Joseph, one thing we are told is that his early life began in exile due to the order of Herod to have all new baby boys under the age of two killed. This would be difficult for Mary and Joseph leaving their family and friends having to settle in Egypt without home or work, not a good start for them.
After I was born due family problems my mother and father separated which meant that myself, sister and brother were placed in the Erdington Cottage Homes, which were a group of large houses that were used to help parents with difficulties, and as we three were the youngest of five we were the ones to go. I do not remember this because I wasonly six months old. These Homes no longer exist now children are placed in foster families.
During our time there our father joined the Army and was posted to France and was still there when the war broke out, during this time many children were evacuated to keep them safe and my sister and brother were away from the home, they informed my mother that I was going to be evacuated but she refused to let me go, my only memory was climbing on a large box to get a hat and coat. This brought me to live a shared house in Mona Road Erdington. It was during this time that I was sent with older brother and sister to attend Sunday School at the Salvation Army just round the corner from where we lived. As I grew older and learned about Jesus through the Corps Cadets which was a Biblestudy class I attended and earned certificates from; I gave my life to the service of Jesus Christ. I joined in the with the band when they had open air meetings and took an active part in those meetings. I became a soldier.
In St. Luke's Gospel we read about how Mary, Joseph with Jesus and family and friend would travel each year to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast, and the feast had finished they departed for home after a day or two they notice that Jesus was not with them and so they returned to Jerusalem and found Jesus listening to the leader and asking questions, Mary asked why he stayed over and we know that Mary and Joseph were anxious and worried , his answer would seem to be out of order to his parents, but he was growing and as the gospel says he was 'growing in wisdom and knowledge', Jesus was learning who he was and what his purpose in life was to be. But he knew the time would be later, so he went home with his earthly parents
This reminded me of when I was 4 years old. I attended the Church of England School in Erdington, (school age at that time was 5 years) but I was allowed to go because my mother was working and there was no one to look after me, but I came out of school earlier than my sister, who had the responsibility to look after me and bring me home safe. I would go off with a friend, and she would come looking for me and like Mary and Joseph she was very worried (the trouble was I was never at the same place twice).
In Matthews Gospel we encounter another situation of Jesus and his Mother and Brothers, Jesus was teaching the crowd about the Kingdom and how they should respond to his teachings. In the crowd was a number of Pharisees who saw that what he was teaching was affecting their lives and would not accept what he was teaching and they had already decided they were against him.
But it seems that his own family were too, I quote from Michael Green's commentary on Matthew "It is of the very painful things to note in the life of Jesus that members of his family seemed constantly to have misunderstand him, in John 7:5 His brothers did not believe in him, in Mark 3: 21 they thought he was mad. So when He was told that his Mother and Brothers were outside, he answered pointing to his disciples "these are my family".
Being part of a Church is being part of the family of Christ, it means making a commitment in our service, sharing together to proclaim the kingdom of God. I know at this moment is very difficult for all of us because Covid19, we cannot meet together, and this makes us feel lonely, but we can still support each other by contacting each other, praying for each other and sharing our concerns, I live a fair distance from the Church and I find it difficult because I cannot meet with you all, but I do know that God is with me at all times and we will win through. Through all the changing things in life our Heavenly Father is with us. Amen.
Questions for reflection / discussion
As I read / listened to the readings and reflections for this week…
· what did I notice, or what particularly stood out for me?
· what did they make me wonder, or what questions am I pondering?
· what have they helped me realise?
· what am I discovering about Jesus?
· how might these (noticings, wonderings, realisations & discoveries) change the way I live out my faith?
· is there anything I want to do or change in the light of this week's topic?
A prayer for this week: ‘No one alone’, by Dana Cassell
(This prayer is from the USA, and from a time before COVID19 – but much of it is still very prayable for us, here, and now.)
God, who exists three-in-one, with community built into your very existence, remind us that you created us to be together, in community, bound up in one another’s lives. Grant us the eyes to see the ones we have neglected, the pain we have not noticed.
God, who exists as community,
who calls us to welcome the stranger and befriend the broken,
hear our prayer
as we lift up those who find themselves alone.
O God, we pray:
for the widowed friend, alone in a life built for two;
for the child without parents,
reaching out for an embrace that won’t come;
for the single parent, desperate for another set of hands;
for the new immigrant, climbing steep learning cures;
for the recently diagnosed, reeling from the news;
for the brother in jail, cut off from friends, family and community;
for the sister who has lost her child,
cradling her arms around empty space;
for the elderly neighbour, eating alone;
for the rejected, the isolated, the ones cast aside and forgotten.
God, hear our prayer. No one alone.
O God, we remember -
Your words at creation: ‘It is not good that humans should be alone.’
Your word in the law: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
Your word from the prophets:
‘Religion … is this: to care for orphans and widows.’
We remember Jesus, who called his followers to feed the hungry,
give water to the thirsty, invite in the stranger, visit the imprisoned, care for the sick.
We remember Paul, who could barely speak of your people without naming them as a collective, a community, not one and the other but one another.
And your church, in the beginning, that held all things in common, adopted orphans, surrounded the widows, accompanied the dying, made room for the last, the least, the lost, the lonely.
God, hear our prayer. No one alone.
O God, we pray, make us your church.
Make of us companions, accompanists, people who slow down and show up, friends who make space, scoot over on the pew, bring another chair to the table. Move in us, compelling us to sit with another at court dates and doctors’ appointments, to fill freezers with casseroles, to create carpools and supper clubs and babysitting co-ops, to teach English and job skills and emotional intelligence.
God, hear our prayer.
In your church, O God, no one is alone.
No one is alone.
Not widows, not orphans, not immigrants.
Not single people, not sick people,
not people who’ve been released from jail.
No one is alone.
Not strangers, not victims, not perpetrators.
Speak to us again, God of the Trinity, God of community.
Call us back to our senses, back to one another.
God, hear our prayer. Amen.
(from Britney Winn Lee, ed., Rally: Communal Prayers for Lovers of Jesus and Justice)
Activities / conversation-starters
with young (and not-so-young!) people
· Think about who is in your family, and who is important in your life. Try drawing your family tree. Now try drawing a circle, with yourself in the middle and the names of people who are important to you, with the ones who are most important and closest to you nearest the centre. What do you notice about your family tree and your circle of support? How are they similar, and how are they different?
· Jesus says that whoever does God’s will is his brother and sister. How do you feel about being a sister or brother of Jesus? What sort of relationship with Jesus do you have, or would you like to have?
· When Jesus goes to the temple as a child, he teaches the adults about God, as well as the adults teaching him. What do you wish you could teach adults? Are there things you wish adults would teach you? Make a list. You might like to tell an adult about some of the things on your list…
No comments:
Post a Comment