"Resolving to do God's Business"

Sermon 12.27.09
Resolving to do God’s business

It’s the Sunday after Christmas, a rather forlorn time of the year as the holiday season winds down, but we still have the festivities of New Year’s Day and those darn resolutions that we still have yet to make. It’s that time of year when we review our lives and decide where we need to make adjustments, changes, decisions that may impact our well-being. You can’t make a resolution without thinking and mulling over what you have done.

In a Peanuts comic strip, there is a conversation between Lucy and Charlie Brown. Lucy said that life is like a deck chair. Some place it so they can see where they are going; some place it so they can see where they have been, and some place it so they can see where they are at present. Charlie Brown’s reply: “I can’t even get mine unfolded.”

So what does this have to do with the gospel lesson today? Jesus is keeping a resolution that has been made. He’s not lost in this text, he’s not the original poster boy for the Home Alone movies, and he’s not been misplaced by his parents. He is not disobedient. He is just being about his Father’s business, a resolution that begins in the manger as God’s gift to us, the Word made flesh.

We have very little information about the childhood of Jesus. There are a few gospels that were written about these years but never included in our Bibles for a lot of reasons: some depict him as a spoiled brat, others show him wielding his power over playmates. None are from reputable sources and rightfully have no place in the Holy Scriptures. So we are left wondering what happened from the time of Christ’s birth until he formally begins his ministry at the approximate age of 30.

Today’s text is a rare view, then: an appearance by the teenage Jesus, headed to Jerusalem with his family for the feast of the Passover. The fact that he is going at all shows him to be a religious, obedient youth. This passage is only recorded by Luke; none of the other gospel writers include it, which makes it stand out all the more.

After the festival, Mary and Joseph are anxious to return to Nazareth. There is carpentry waiting to be done and household duties. Anyone who has taken a vacation understands that you work twice as hard before you leave and three times as hard when you return.

In those days, folks – entire families – traveled together in caravans. It would not be unusual for Jesus to have been walking with his cousins or friends, and like the Home Alone movie, he is not noticed to be missing until a few days had passed. Mary and Joseph probably turned to each other and said, “But I thought you were watching him.”
Parental panic sets in and where do they find him? Not like a usual teenager, who would probably be hanging out at the mall. He is, instead, at the equivalent of the library. No lost teenager ends up at the synagogue. It’s like running away from home to go to school.

The worry and concern of Mary and Joseph is totally justified. Jerusalem was a big city with all sorts of inherent problems, and no parents wants his or her child to be in a dangerous situation. Plus, the feast of the Passover was over and it was time to end the festivities and go back to a normal routine.
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But the young Jesus refuses to let his relationship with God be regulated according to some prearranged, culturally imposed schedule. Instead of going along on the return-to-business-as-usual attitude, Jesus answered the most important call of all – to be in his Father’s house, to be about his Father’s business.

What would it mean if we were to act in a similar fashion? What would it mean to live, not according to human expectations or cultural patterns, but according to what God required of us? What does it mean to be about God’s business, rather than other people’s business, or even other people’s definition of God’s business?

Jesus discovered that at this early age that answering God’s expectations can get you in trouble – even with your own family. In fact, focusing on God’s business may put an unexpected crimp in the family business. Business-as-usual may not be the way God does business. And the world and the church find that unsettling.

The ultimate New Year’s resolution does not challenge us to cut fat grams or quit smoking or start working out in an aerobics class twice a week. The ultimate resolution a Christian can make is to live in the light of divine intentions, not human norms and expectations. The New Year’s resolution to end all resolutions is to live under the umbrella of God’s kingdom here on earth and to make it our business to be partners in God’s business.

What is God’s business? It’s transformation. We’ve been given the Light of the world so that we can shine brightly, like a city upon a hill. We are to take the light and shine it down to others. We are to make ourselves over, but not on things like counting calories or pushups. We are to be a beacon of hope to others, a bright star that reaches out to neighbors and friends.

Jesus may have been doing God’s business at the synagogue that day, but he returned with his parents and went out into the world to do his ministry. Our resolutions for the new year should not all be self-centered, but might focus for a change on the bigger picture. Perhaps this is the time for a resolution to be part of a prayer chain ministry, or to take a volunteer position at a homeless shelter, or to tutor children who need help in math.

Instead of vowing to walk a mile each day, how about walking a mile each day and picking up trash along the way that is spoiling God’s beautiful creation? Instead of just cutting down on calories, how about donating the money that you didn’t spend on Twinkies to the local food pantry? Instead of just vowing to spend more time with your children, how about additionally including other children by volunteering with a boy or girl scout troop that needs new role models. Make all the New Year’s resolutions that you want, but make them bigger than yourself. Make them big enough to include others, your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Like Charlie Brown, it’s time to figure out how to unfold the deck chair as a starting point for reviewing your life and making changes. But then it’s time to take it down to the community center, the supermarket, the church and the office, where you can envision yourself doing more than just fulfilling personal resolutions.. Your life, your commitment to the ultimate resolution, can help the love of God through Christ to transform the world. The year is full of spiritual opportunities. May we each find a way to fulfill our commitment to resolving to do God’s business in the year 2010. Amen.