
When his parents saw him they were shocked. His mother said, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Listen! Your father and I have been worried. We’ve been looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house?”
Luke 2:41-52 CEB
This story in the Gospel of Luke is not one that Mary and Joseph should be proud of. They were departing from Jerusalem after the celebration of the Passover, heading back home to Nazareth, when they suddenly realized “where is our son, Jesus? He is not with us.” They immediately returned back to Jerusalem, desperately looking for their son.
They found him in the temple. And what was the young Jesus doing in the temple? He was seeking, searching. He was asking questions of the chief priests and listening to what they had to say. Jesus knew that the ultimate goal of Passover was to draw one closer into a relationship with God. So that was why Jesus stayed back in the temple. Going about the Father’s business, instead of going on with business-as-usual.
The start of the New Year, with its opportunities for a dawn of a new lease on life – a transformation from the old same-old-same-old, a time to put the past behind and move in a more healthy, upright direction, is an appropriate time to consider, to challenge ourselves to break away from the business-as-usual routine of our lives. A time to look deep inside ourselves and take an honest look of who we really are. And what we believe and stand for.
Seeking God, searching for answers, deepening a relationship with Christ, letting God provide meaning in our lives, learning of God’s promises, experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, impacting others with the love of God through our acts of compassion and mercy. These are the things of going about the Father’s business. Directing our passions to God is what kept Jesus back at the temple, instead of hitting the road back to Nazareth as soon as the Passover was over.
I pray that all of us individually and together as a church will find in our hearts the desire to be transformed by going about the Father’s business. To be committed to the one that is committed to us. For the one who is so committed to us that he holds back nothing – not even his son to show us how He cares for us. Through deepening our relationship with God, we can allow ourselves to be transformed, to be enriched, to be rid and cleansed of our sins. And in so doing we can help the love of Christ in transforming the world.
We have something valuable in Christ, something that needs to be stirred up in us, to renew or to discover for the first time, a passion for knowing and possessing. A fresh New Year lies unblemished before us. How will you resolve to cultivate that passion for this year?
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