[Sermon Archive] - [Weekly Devotional Guide]

This Week's Sermon THE SECOND SUNDAY of CHRISTMAS 04 January 2009 "I Must Be Among the Things of My Father" Luke 2:40-52 LSB Series B Pastor Philip G. Meyer Soli Deo Gloria!

Finding Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem isn't unusual in Luke's Gospel. Luke has Jesus coming to the temple quite a number of times. It's one of Luke's motifs, or themes. In this reading we have the only childhood narrative about Jesus. No other evangelist describes this incident or any other. Perhaps this is the reason that many people find themselves attracted to the pseudepigraphical writings about Jesus. That word, pseudepigraphical, is one of those thousand dollar words that comes from the Greek word pseudepigrapha. It means "false writings," writings that aren't true.

It would be easy for us to get lost in the story today. There are lots of interesting threads to follow, such as Joseph and Mary "losing" Jesus somewhere along the trip. One could develop the theme of what it would be like to be entrusted with caring for and protecting God's Messiah, only to have lost him through a bit of carelessness. We could also fasten on Mary's rebuke of Jesus for having treated them so. We could even follow the line that we are to hunt for him in his Word, search for him in prayer, in the Sacraments, and not give up until we find him. But these would deflect us from the real point expressed in Jesus' own words,

"And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"" (Luke 2:49, ESV)

Jesus was in the temple because it was necessary for him to be among the things of his Father, sometimes translated as "to be about my Father's business." "Business" is probably not the best word in English because it usually means commerce. Our title is a very literal translation of what Jesus says, "the things of my Father."

Just what are those things that pertain to his heavenly Father? The temple was a location, a specific location where God met man. Here sacrifices for sin were offered. Here praise and thanksgiving ascended to the throne of God. Here prayers were prayed and intercessions offered. In short, everything holy and sacred took place in the temple.

Every pious male Jew was to come to the temple three times a year, just as God commanded through Moses:

Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. (Deuteronomy 16:16, ESV)

Why does Luke fasten upon this incident? Why does he make it a prominent part of the early life of Jesus? What is there that is so important?

Perhaps the most important question is, "Who is at the temple?" As Moses explained in the command, every male Jew was to "appear before the Lord your God." God himself is there in the temple. It is the place that God commanded his people to meet with him. Here all the divine work was performed, especially as the sacrifices for sin were offered. All day sacrifices were offered to atone for sin, yet none of them really atoned for sin. Animals died in the place of humans until the One should come who would make an end to all those sacrifices by offering himself on the altar of the cross according to God's plan.

What stands out in this slice from the early life of Jesus is that he is obedient. He is obedient to his earthly parents even they did not understand fully why he needed to be in the temple, but more importantly, Jesus is obedient to his heavenly Father by being in the temple, listening to the teachers and asking them questions. But his obedience started 12 years earlier when Jesus was presented at the temple to fulfill the Law. At the end of eight days Jesus was circumcised according to the Law of Moses, and then the more well-known incident with Simeon and Anna, where Jesus was brought according to the Law.

Jesus was coming to the temple already as an infant and then as a 12 year old boy to fulfill the Law of God for you! He does what we call the "active obedience" of God. He does what God commands, yet this fulfilling is not merely a technical fulfilling by being present, but one of delight in the things of God. Mary and Joseph find Jesus "among the things of his Father," that is, he is in the Word, hearing it, discussing it, digesting it, finding true joy in it.

Jesus is the obedient Son you and I seldom are. Maybe you would like to point to your excellent attendance record at Divine Service. When I was a boy, Sunday Schools used to give out pins for perfect attendance, but that custom seems to have fallen on hard times. Nobody seems concerned about that kind of record, and I would have to say that attendance at the Divine Service is more important than that of Sunday School. I am NOT saying that receiving a Christian education is unimportant or that you can simply write off the Christian education the Church provides; I'm not! In fact, the Church's program of Christian education exists because parents generally have failed to do their God-given duties to educate their children in "the things of my Father," as Jesus would say. The Church steps in because parents are ill-equipped or would fail altogether.

Think of your own obedience when it comes to what Jesus calls "the things of my Father." How often do your own things get in the way? How often do things you consider more important keep you from the Divine Service, this time where God meets with you to forgive you your sins and bless you? How often do you consider that you can do without these gifts of God for a week or two or three or four? How often do you consider it just "information" which you already know? How lacking are you in offering the prayers and praises in which God delights?

The other day the appointed Old Testament reading came from Isaiah, where God complained about his people and their attitude toward the things of God.

""If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."" (Isaiah 58:13-14, ESV)

At the same time, even our obedience is often grudging, tedious, wearying. "I'm here!" you might say, totally oblivious to the words that are spoken and the actions that are taken. There has never been a year in my 37 ½ years in the Ministry where attendance after The Nativity of Our Lord actually increased! There is what we pastors call "the post-Christmas slump." Maybe you are wearied from the extra services of Advent and Christmas, or maybe you are just tired from all your own busyness. The same thing happens after Lent and Easter, too. It seems that we can get only so much of "the things of my Father," and then we have to back off. How many of us, pastors and vicars included, can honestly say all the time with David,

I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord!" (Psalm 122:1, ESV)

You and I fail. It isn't even a matter of perfect attendance. It is more than simply being physically present. We are to find the Divine Service a delight, honoring the day as holy also in our hearts. Clearly you and I have much for which we should confess, these sins against the Third Commandment and God's Word.

So what's next? Do I simply encourage you to do better, try harder, find more joy in your coming to Divine Service, to be more faithful in reading and studying God's Word? I could, but I won't! I'm not letting you off the hook, however! You still have the Third Commandment! "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy."

"I Must Be Among the Things of My Father" give us wonderful Gospel! Here is Jesus as a 12 year old boy actively fulfilling the Law of God for us! Jesus fulfills the Third Commandment to be about the things of God in a way that you and I never can. Jesus delights to do the will of his Father! He does it from a pure heart, the kind of heart you and I will never have on this side of the grave. Jesus' obedience, to borrow a phrase, is "A Level Above!" His is a perfect obedience as he listens to the Word of God, studies it, hears it explained and explains it himself. He does the work that you and I simply cannot do because our hearts are not right with God. His heart is, however, and his heart is the one that matters. His actions for us matter. That's what is happening here! Jesus fulfills the Law of God for us already as a young boy of twelve. He relates to our heavenly Father as our Father wants. He keeps this Commandment for you! And our heavenly Father credits this righteousness of Christ as your own, as your fulfillment.

Mary and Joseph did not understand these words when they were spoken to them. At some future point Mary did, perhaps at Calvary. But you and I do understand them! What sweet, wonderful Gospel these words are to us! "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I Must Be Among the Things of My Father "" (Luke 2:49, ESV) Thank God Jesus was and continues to "Be Among the Things of My Father!" Here again today he is present in this "temple" with his gifts, his grace, his mercy, his forgiveness, his strength. He is "Among the Things of My Father" so that you will always be with him and the Father and the Holy Spirit for all eternity.