Colossians 3:12-17 and Luke 2 41-52.

It is all over…. Congratulations, you have all made it to the other side of Christmas Day!

We have celebrated the birth of Jesus, sung carols and gathered together with family and friends.  There may well have been challenges, perhaps serving a meal that everyone will eat and that does not contain anything anyone is allergic to.  Separating the relatives that don’t get on, abiding by or amalgamating the traditions that cannot be broken and diffusing the arguments over who got the answer to the quiz or board game right.  And that is before we’ve even got as far as presents….. Thank goodness we live in such a beautiful and peaceful part of the world and can escape outdoors!

Paul’s words to the Colossians seem so very appropriate as one year draws to a close and with the beginning of a New Year just a few short days away.  This is a time for a fresh start and making New Year’s resolutions.  Paul encourages the Colossians leave everything that is not of God behind and begin a new life in Christ.  You may well still have friends, family and relatives staying, tempers may have flared, you may regret words that you have spoken, selfish actions or compromises that you struggled to make. 

What better time to begin embodying the qualities that Paul suggests – compassion, humility, patience and forgiveness.  We are after all called to be Christ’s body here on earth.  We will come to the altar today to take communion, communion that connects us to Christ.   As Christ’s body we are called to connect with others and reflect those Christ like qualities in our encounters.  When we put on the body of Christ we look different, act differently and interact differently with others.  We not just clothed with the body of Christ on the outside but we are filled with the body of Christ from the inside.   The love of Christ can transform us and the lives of those around us. 

If you were able to replay the last year, are there actions that you regret or words you would like to take back.  What would these moments look like if you were to have embraced kindness, love, humility and forgiveness.  I wonder if you have seen or read the wonderful book ‘The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse’ by Charlie Macksey…  It reminded me of the words of the boy to the Horse.

“When have you been at your strongest, asked the boy.  When I have dared to show my weakness”

How different would next year look if you were to address your weakness and seek to make them your new strengths.

Luke’s gospel reading this morning, fast forwards us swiftly away from the stable.  This is the time in which we see the potential of the new Messiah.  In one sentence Jesus is no longer the baby who we last glimpsed in the manger, he has now reached the age of 12.   In fact, Luke’s is the only gospel writer who tells us anything of Jesus’s life before he became an adult.  We hear of Jesus attending the temple at the time of the festival of Passover.  Luke tells that this was something that the family had observed every year since Jesus was born, much like our own traditions at this time of year. 

And I am sure what happens next will resonate with every parent, grandparent, godparent, aunt or uncle – his parents lose sight of him and not just for a minute or two for three whole days.  They first thought he might have travelled on ahead with another group but when they finally catch them up Jesus is not there.  In desperation, they turn around and frantically head back the way that they had come, no doubt stopping and questioning everyone on the road to ask if they had seen their son.  We can imagine how that might feel, the anxiety of where Jesus might be, what he might be doing and who he might be with.  The profound weight of responsibility on Mary and Joseph’s shoulders, they had been tasked with bringing up the child that would become the Saviour of the world and he has gone missing…  What would become of Jesus and how might they as his parents and guardians be judged by God for not keeping him safe and for failing to fulfil their obligations.

But Jesus is oblivious to the whole thing, perhaps like many teenagers he is entirely caught up in the moment.  Mary and Joseph find him at last, sitting serenely in the temple studying the scriptures.  Jesus’s response;

‘Did you not know I would be in my Father’s house,’ 

would undoubtedly not have soothed their panic.  I am very sure the temptation to yell ‘where on earth have you been, we’ve been looking for you for 3 whole days, do you not understand the sleepless nights we have had, we have been worried sick’ crossed their mind! 

The very thought that his parents might have been searching for him had not entered Jesus’s head, his imagination has been captured and he is completely absorbed listening and questioning the teachers.  And it is not just his parents were astonished at finding him there, he amazed all those who heard him speak with his understanding of scripture.  We first begin to appreciate how extraordinary the ministry of Jesus will be.  Jesus has been growing not only years but in wisdom, his deep connection and desire to be with his Heavenly Father is revealed here. 

Jesus is far from lost he has come home, his need for earthly parents is diminishing, he has come to his Father’s house and he has come to be with his Father.   Jesus knew that he needed to grow, in faith, wisdom and understanding.  Mary and Joseph were frightened with the speed of Jesus’s growth, independence and wisdom and negotiating change is never easy.  With the New Year approaching what do we as individuals need to do to grow closer to our own Father….?  Is this the year that we will make a resolution to address one of out weakness, a weakness that stands between us and God.  How different would next year look if we were able to make this a new strength.