1st Sunday after Christmas

Luke 2:41-52
This passage concludes the section just before the ministry of Jesus, which begins with the preaching of John the Baptist in the next chapter. Luke has Jesus take part in several important Jewish rituals. In addition to his relation to John the Baptist, who comes in the mode of prophet, he is further attested to by angels at his birth. He is circumcised at the correct time. In the passage for today, Jesus is in the temple, listening, learning, picking up what he can, asking questions. The picture portrays Jesus as eagerly learning Jewish ways. He shows unusual quickness in his understanding, and his wisdom was noticed. He is well-rooted his his traditions and religion.

He is twelve years old, and stays behind as his parents return home after celebrating Passover in Jerusalem. They didn't notice he was not with them, and they return to Jerusalem to find him. They look for three days and finally find him. The drama of the passage focuses on his words in verse 49: "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" His parents don't understand his statement, and neither does the reader, but the statement piques our curiosity. Important symbols to notice are the context, it is Passover, and the statement that Jesus' parents looked for him for three days. These are foreshadowings of later events in the story. Jesus' eventual death and resurrection cannot be understood without knowing his connectedness to his past.

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
This passage is suggestive in connection with the Luke passage above, and has Jesus in much the same position as the young Samuel. Both Jesus and Samuel are dedicated to the Lord. Perhaps this text is chosen for this Sunday as a way of showing Jesus' connectedness to the Jewish scriptures.

Preaching the texts
This being the last day of the yea, it can be a time of looking over the past, evaluating it, and looking toward the future in light of our view of the past. Like last Sunday's sermon, this one can look at the relationship between past and future. Jesus is standing on the shoulders of all those who have gone before him. He didn't just drop out of the sky, or blow in on the wind. He is connected to what has gone before, especially in light of Samuel. The past is serious and informs who we are, our sense of identity. The text shows Jesus valuing his past. Only by understanding where we have come from can we get an idea of where we are going.

One approach to the sermon might be to discuss and describe the forgetfulness in our culture of where we have come from, the ideals and hopes of our forefathers and fore mothers. An example of radical forgetfulness is Alzheimers disease. Those who have such a condition are sometimes completely cut off from their past. And if cut of from the past, there is no sense of future. A person suffering from Alzheimers disease is locked into the present moment and they strangely lose their identity. We are a product of our past and there is little reason to reject it. But neither are we a slave to our past, destined to simply repeat it. The greater the appreciation of where we have come from, the stronger our sense of what is possible in the future. Later in the story, we see Jesus being very clear about what he is committed to. This sense of clarity grows out of his knowledge of the past.

A sermon could relate these ideas to the preacher's particular church life and talk about the future of the church by reflecting on its history. The church the preacher preaches in did not just drop out of the sky or blow in on the wind. It is a manifestation of the commitments and hopes and beliefs of those who went before us. What values are worth keeping? Which commitments are worth honoring? Which beliefs will motivate us to act in the future?

The assigned Colossians text (3:12-17) is a reflection on what the Apostle Paul thinks is worth keeping. A sermon might focus on this list, or amend the list to reflect a particular church setting.

Rick Marshall is co-pastor of Brea Congregational United Church of Christ in Brea, California, a church he has served for more than 24 years. He has contributed many resources to the Process & Faith website, including A Process-Relational Guide to Grief, Death, and Funerals.