josephholubsermons


 

December 27, 2009 - First Sunday of Christmas
Luke 2:41-52

Expectations and Astonishment

Other than the birth narratives, this is the only story that appears in the gospels about Jesus' childhood.  So why did Luke include it?  I think Luke included this story in his gospel because he was making a point.  So, what might his point be?    

If you couldn’t find your 12-year-old, where would you look: a friend’s house; at school; the mall?  How about at church?  Would you think to look there, or would that be the last place you would look? 

Jesus was twelve, and his family had had traveled to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. They were on their way home when Joseph and Mary discovered that Jesus wasn’t with them.  In those days people traveled in groups or caravans for purposes of protection. Children would play under the watchful eye and care of the group. So, it took awhile to discover Jesus missing, and when they did, they returned to Jerusalem and began searching.

Can you imagine how frantic they must have been?   It was a parent’s nightmare?   When they finally did find him, Luke says they were “astonished”  to find him in the temple. 

I think "astonishment" is a key to understanding this story and Luke's purpose in telling it. Their "astonishment" suggests that they found Jesus not where they expected him to be. You see, they were looking for Jesus based upon their expectations.  They did not find him until they looked beyond their expectations.  Mary and Joseph, we could say, had become lost in their expectations.

Earlier this week Marcia and I saw the movie, "Invictus."  It is the powerful story set in South Africa as it moved from apartheid to post-apartheid policies in the mid-1990's.  The movie more specifically focuses in on two men, newly elected president Nelson Mandela and the captain of the nation's rugby team, Francois Pienaar.   When Mandela took office he faced the seemingly insurmountable task of balancing black aspirations with white fears.  Huge problems, including a rising crime rate and rampant unemployment,  loomed before him. But after attending a rugby match, he saw an opportunity for the nation to come together around the national rugby team, known as the Springbok, in the World Cup matches coming up the next year to be hosted by South Africa. 

The thing that struck me, while watching this movie, was that everyone had a set of self-serving expectations for the newly elected president  Mandela.  Blacks had their expectations.  Whites had their expectations, and they were, for the most, opposing and conflicted expectations.    

Instead of caving to either set of expectations, Mandela had his own vision of what he saw South Africa could be, and he was driven by that vision.  Caught between conflicting expectations, it was that vision that carried him through.  It was a VISION OF RECONCILIATION where both sides had to give to one another and come together in ways like they never had before.  For awhile, many on both sides, were disillusioned with Mandela and his vision - even some in his own family.  He asked everyone to give, beginning with his own security force and staff comprised of both blacks and whites. Through their captain, he challenged the rugby team to play a vital role in his vision of reconciliation and a unified South Africa.  Mandela challenged everyone to let go of their own expectations in order to embrace his improbable vision of a reconciled and unified South Africa. 

For me, that's exactly what this story in Luke is all about, and how it functions in Luke's gospel.  As I mentioned in last Sunday's sermon, Luke's community of faith experienced Jesus as the long awaited Messiah of Israel. But, as Luke's gospel unfolds, we see that Luke's Jesus was not the messiah of their expectations.  Jesus superseded and surpassed their expectations.  Luke's gospel was a challenge for his community of faith to let go of rigid messianic expectations that were blinding them, so that they might embrace Jesus and his vision of the Kingdom of God; what God desired for them, for life and the world to be like.       

In those days expectations for the messiah were various and plentiful and we see it Luke's gospel.

Luke tells us that the disciples, since they were a part of his inner circle, expected they would have special privileges and have power over others.  But they were astonished when Jesus taught them to serve one another and to take up their cross and follow.  (Luke 9:46-48; 22:24-27)

Luke tells us that some expected a messiah who would tell them that their neighbors were those who looked and believed like them.  But they were astonished when Jesus told them that a neighbor was anyone in need, anyone suffering as a victim; and when they ministered to them they really were ministering to him!  (Luke 10:25-37)

Luke tells us that the Pharisees expected a messiah who would congratulate them for being so righteous and for dedicating their lives to honoring Mosaic Law.  But they were astonished when Jesus chastised them when they allowed even sacred law to trump love. (Luke 11:37-44)

Luke tells us that the zealots of the Jewish armed underground expected a messiah who would side with their cause to forcibly drive the Roman army from their land.  But they were astonished  when Jesus took the swords out of their hands, and showed them another way using the "weapon" of  love of the enemy. (Luke 6:27-28, 32-36)

Luke tells us that the religious people expected a messiah who would assure them that the ritually unclean and sick had gotten what they deserved, and their suffering was the result of God’s judgment.  But they were astonished by Jesus when he freely embraced the unclean and expressed compassion for the sick, and told them this was God's truest vision.  (Luke 5:17-26)

Luke tells us that many expected that the great temple would be the center of all things in the new age of the arriving messiah.  But they were astonished when Jesus told them the temple would be reduced to rubble and that the primary residence of God was no longer in a building but in the human heart and at the heart of human community.  (Luke 21:5-6; 23:45)

Everyone expected that when they took Jesus down from the cross and buried him, he would never be seen or heard of again. But here we are, 2 millennium later,  testifying to his living presence among us.  Astonishing!

Luke gospel was a challenge to his community, and a challenge to us, to consider our own expectations for God. What are your faith expectations?  Do your expectations match up with the Jesus of the gospels and his vision for the world?  It is a key question of faith.  It is a question that Luke intends for us to ask as we follow Jesus through the pages of his gospel.  It is also a question we must ask as we live out our faith in the world.  Luke's Jesus, from beginning to end, kept turning up in places where few expected him to be; and doing things few expected him to do. 

Mary and Joseph were looking for Jesus based upon their expectations, and they became lost in their expectations. They finally found him in a place beyond their expectations, and they were astonished! 

It is my prayer that we too will experience Jesus, the presence of God, beyond our expectations and be astonished by Jesus at where he turns up in this world, and to where and to whom he leads us, and the tasks of love, compassion and justice he calls forth from us. 

Let's put our expectations aside and allow ourselves to be so astonished by Jesus that we get caught up in his vision, so much so, that the world will be astonished too!   Amen.