Luke 2: 41-52
Sunday, December 29, 2024
First Sunday of Christmas
Confession and Forgiveness
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
whose steadfast love is everlasting.
Amen.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Silence is kept for reflection.
God-with-us,
we confess that we have turned away
those seeking shelter, claiming there is no room when we have plenty.
We have made power and wealth our idols, while you show us true glory: a baby in a manger.
We have overlooked the shepherds, expecting good news in prettier packaging.
Too often, we have valued violence instead of your peace.
Turn us from our ways to your ways.
Grant us the grace to begin again.
Free us from all that keeps us bound, and forgive our sin, through Jesus Christ, who gives himself for us.
Amen.
Hear the good news and rejoice!
We are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, ☩ forgiven in Christ, and freed to respond in joy.
Amen.
Gathering Song:
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Prayer of the Day
Shine into our hearts the light of your wisdom, O God, and open our minds to the knowledge of your word, that in all things we may think and act according to your good will and may live continually in the light of your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
First Reading: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
18 Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19 His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord”; and then they would return to their home.
26 Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people.
Word of God. Word of Life.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm: 148
1 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise God in the heights.
2 Praise the Lord, all you angels;
sing praise, all you hosts of heaven.
3 Praise the Lord, sun and moon;
sing praise, all you shining stars.
4 Praise the Lord, heaven of heavens,
and you waters above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
who commanded, and they were created,
6 who made them stand fast forever and ever,
giving them a law that shall not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps;
8 fire and hail, snow and fog,
tempestuous wind, doing God’s will;
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars;
10 wild beasts and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds;
11 sovereigns of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the world;
12 young men and maidens,
old and young together.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
whose name only is exalted, whose splendor is over earth and heaven.
14 The Lord has raised up strength for the people and praise for all faithful servants,
the children of Israel, a people who are near the Lord. Hallelujah!
Second Reading: Colossians 3:12-17
12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Word of God. Word of Life.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, and let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Alleluia. (Col. 3:15, 16)
The Holy Gospel according to Luke
Glory to you O Lord
Gospel: Luke 2:41-52
41 Now every year Jesus’ 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 travelers, 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 favor.
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you O Christ
Luke records nothing Jesus says until he is 12 years old.
- And when Jesus finally does speak in Luke…he seems sort of…well…full of himself.
- So…we ask questions about what Jesus knew about himself.
- And when he knew…or would know…
- What we believe about him all these centuries later.
- That he was both fully human and fully divine.
- And that the risen Christ is alive in the world today through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord be with you.
In the story we read today…Jesus was supposed to be walking with his parents as they left Jerusalem after Passover…
- And headed to their home up in Nazareth.
- But…instead…the clever boy stayed in the temple…
- Baffling Torah teachers with his penetrating wisdom.
- Once Joseph and Mary find him there…after three days…
- Mary…shocking in her irritation…levels at him a charge of abandonment:
- Child…why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.
- But Jesus is having none of it.
- Why were you searching for me? he asks. Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?
- Well…give young Jesus this…he knows who his Father is.
- He understands from whom he comes and from whom he receives authority to speak.
- It is a bold confidence that one day will get him executed by the Roman thugs who ruled the Holy Land.
- Jesus wants Mary and Joseph to know that he knows who his true Father is.
- Did you not know? he asks.
- It is a sharp question…demonstrating a brashness one might expect from a young god.
Did you catch how long Jesus was missing from his parents?
- How long he might have been…as Mary and Joseph perhaps feared…dead?
- Three days…and what happens some 20 years after this story?
- Jesus is in fact dead for three days…
- From the crucifixion to the resurrection.
- That astonishing…unpredictable apocalyptic event that changed the very DNA of the world.
Was that three-day absence just a coincidence?
- We may think so…but that is not how books about prophecy and the fulfillment of prophecy work.
- So…we are given at least a hint about what might happen later in the life of the Messiah.
- We do not know exactly what Jesus was saying or doing to wow the temple Torah teachers.
- But by the end of this event…we know we are dealing with no ordinary 12-year-old.
- The boyhood stories are designed to show that Jesus had these powers from an early age.
- But we are assured that Jesus was obedient to his parents when he went back to Nazareth…
- By not provoking any more revealing incidents like that in the Temple.
But now…let us hear a word from Jesus’ earthly father…Joseph…about losing Jesus for three days.
- Mary…as we have noted…is quoted in today’s story…but Joseph is not.
- But let us turn to a fictional Joseph…
- One who expresses what the real Joseph was feeling.
- Here is what Joseph might have said when the just-discovered 12-year-old Jesus in the temple says:
- Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?:
- The way Jesus said father was almost enough to break me. I knew exactly which father he was talking about and that he was finally acting out over what he heard laid upon him a few months before (when Mary and I finally told him of his divine origin). It seemed impossible that this could be the same happy child I had grown so to love. He seemed instead a new person, a new man, and one who knew who he was by knowing now who I really was.
Just think for a moment about Joseph.
- We can imagine what must have been Joseph’s deep confusion about what was happening to him.
- He knows only that he loves Mary and does not want her hurt.
- So…when she first told him she was pregnant…
- He decides to hide her away…
- But then is convinced in a dream not to do that…
- Is convinced to marry his Mary…
- And to act for all the world as though nothing strange has happened.
I mean…think about it.
- The night of Jesus’ birth…the bizarre events of Joseph’s previously simple life roll on.
- His pleadings to Bethlehem’s innkeepers have been ignored…
- And…no doubt…in shame and resignation…
- He has brought his wife to a miserable stable.
- Filled eventually with visionary strangers.
Poor Joseph…He would have done so much more for Mary.
- He would have found a pleasant room.
- He would have hired the best midwives.
- He would have built with his own strong arms and hands a wooden cradle for this lovely baby whose origins baffled him.
- Joseph would have edited God’s disturbing but beautiful Christmas story into dullness.
And so…now it is for us to decide…anew…how to understand the Christmas story.
- How to understand who Jesus is.
- How to respond to his life and death.
- How to respond to his birth and resurrection.
- How to respond to his call to each of us to honor God by how we live our lives.
Maybe the first thing to do is to adopt for ourselves Jesus’ assumption that his parents should have known he would be in his Father’s house.
- Well…maybe we should be in church every Sunday.
- But we also may have a larger vision of what constitutes the house of God.
- Psalm 24: The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it…the world…and those who live in it.”
So…we are to respond wherever the living Christ is active in our world.
- Well…we cannot be everywhere that the Spirit is moving.
- But we can be somewhere.
- We can be at work loving our neighbors…feeding the hungry…
- Housing those with nowhere to lay their heads…
The entire world is God’s house.
- And like Jesus…we want to be here.
- Working to make sure that God’s house of healing is open to all.
Song of the Day:
What Child is this
Prayers of Intercession
Filled with good news of great joy, let us offer our prayers for the church, the earth, and all people.
A brief silence.
For those who teach and those who learn, we pray. Bless the education ministries of your church. Guide Sunday school teachers, college and seminary professors, and Bible study leaders in our ongoing faith formation and curiosity. God of grace,
receive our prayer.
For the thriving of creation, we pray. Protect the habitats of pangolins and porcupines, penguins and parrots, and all wild animals and creeping things. Increase our knowledge of the natural world and the care of its inhabitants.
God of grace,
receive our prayer.
For the nations of the world, we pray. Raise up rulers who lead with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Let your peace rule in their hearts and in all lands. God of grace,
receive our prayer.
For the well-being of your people, we pray. Keep watch over all who travel this holiday season. Accompany those who are alone or ill especially: John & Lisa Mountain, Terry Vernon, David & Carol Beazley, Margaret Miller, Bill Treichler, Shirley Treichler, Hope Garrett, Julia Busby-Morgan, Lisa (Bob & Doris’s daughter. Chad Rudzik, June Gust, Ellen Cuoco, Vicki Salzgeber, John Satino (June’s son’s dad), David Wilfong (Esther Gustason’s son-in-law), Clinton Nelson, Clementine, Annie Clapper, Stacey Bryant, Pam Hendry, Betty Hurley, Erin Shayota, Michael Bender. Console parents and children whose relationships are strained or severed. God of grace,
receive our prayer.
For the ministry of this place we pray. Let the word of Christ dwell among us. In times of conflict, clothe us in love and move us to forgiveness. God of grace,
receive our prayer.
God of community, your Spirit holds us together. Sustain our care for one another especially: Church of God – Pastor Troy…SDA – Pastor Ralph…Bay Point Christian – Pastor Randall…St. Barts – Father Ethan… DayStar Life Center…Canguros Day School. Inspire us to seek new ways to live together and to embrace the diversity of thought and identity in our communities. God of grace,
receive our prayer.
For your holy, beloved, and chosen ones of every time and place, we give thanks. Draw us all into everlasting praise and joy. God of grace,
receive our prayer.
We commend these prayers to you, O God, trusting your grace made known to all, through the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Pray with me:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Blessing
The God of love,
Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit,
lavish us with grace,
illumine our path,
and increase our joy,
today and always.
Amen.
Sending Song:
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
Dismissal
Go in peace. The Word of God dwells in us richly.
Thanks be to God.