Christmas 2 Yr C 2015: Growing Up is Hard to Do St John’s Wilson, St, Andrew’s, Burt January 3 2016

+To paraphrase that old Neil Sedaka song of the 1960’s: Growing Up is Hard to Do.
The scene in this morning’s Gospel rings true for anyone who has seen a child move through the pains of the teen years. Can’t you just hear Joseph and Mary?
“What’s gotten into him?” “What happened to our sweet boy?” “It’s like he’s a different person!”
Mary and Joseph are, like many parents of adolescents, exasperated when they finally locate Jesus in the temple—They’re frustrated, scared and bewildered!
Frustrated that he didn’t stay with his traveling group, not thinking how his actions affected others,
 scared that they couldn’t find him and had been searching for three days and
bewildered by his strange response to them, when they finally locate him: “"Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" No doubt, Mary and Joseph were beside themselves—with fear and annoyance!
More so than any other time of the year, the humanity of Jesus takes center stage during the 12 days of Christmas. We marvel at the site of the precious baby lying in a manger and then today, as we wind down this brief Christmas season, we’re offered a glimpse of the early adolescent Jesus. A Jesus on the cusp of all that adolescence brings—the good, the bad and the ugly….
I don’t know about you, but I’m fascinated by the human side of Jesus---especially the growing up Jesus--- what did he think? How did he feel?
In Anne Rice’s fictional book Out of Egypt she provides her interpretation of Jesus’ childhood. She describes Jesus as “childlike but also divine, wise beyond years, yet wondering who he is and why he’s different from other boys.”
I bet this is accurate—wondering why one is different from others is a common refrain for many teens---they just don’t feel like they fit in. And that’s tough at any age. We all try to fit in and when we don’t we employ any number of coping techniques to deal with it. Some of us just try to blend in-- taking on the clothing, tastes and opinions of the majority---others of us become so outlandishly different, so intentionally separate that we ostracize others and become even more alone than before.
A burgeoning adolescent can go to both extremes. Often in the same week! It’s easy for us on the outside to think that this behavior is intentional ---that it’s designed to drive us—the adults ----insane. And, to an extent this may be true-- getting a rise out of our elders is a pastime we’ve all engaged in--but most child development experts agree that these behaviors are often as mysterious to the adolescent as they are infuriating to the adults around them. I think it fair to assume that the boy Jesus, in his fully incarnate nature, experienced a lot of these same feelings of confusion, distraction, rebellion and mystery. He was trying to figure out who the heck he was! He knew he was different and this just wasn’t a case of appearance, skill at boyhood games or economic/class standing of his family. He knew something was REALLY different about him, but so far no one had told him much.
Remember, throughout our Advent and Christmas readings we’re told that with each passing oddity—the angelic visits, the shepherds following some wild star and the strange visitors from the east, Mary pondered these things in her heart. She didn’t talk about it, as far as we know, she didn’t cry out, “what in the world is going on?!?!” Nope, Mary pondered and waited for more to be revealed. So until she was told that it was time for Jesus to know the truth of who he was, Mary was keeping quiet. But while she and Joseph ponder just who this son of their’s is, Jesus begins to explore his own heart’s desire, his own identity search.
And on this day, his heart led him to the Temple ….to His Father’s house.
 Now this wasn’t some adolescent dig against Joseph, the father who raised him, this was Jesus responding to his developing sense of self which is leading him away from his earthly family and toward his spiritual one. Because, while Mary and Joseph were raising Jesus, he was and is, ultimately, God’s Son.
Jesus had to follow the draw of his identity—that of being the Son of God, because if he hadn’t claimed his rightful spot as God’s Son then we could never claim our spot as heirs to Him and as inheritors of the Kingdom of God. So yes, Jesus had to be at his Father’s house and yes that scared the dickens out of Mary and Joseph. Like any parent the safety of their child was uppermost in their hearts and minds and they would not rest until they found him safe and sound… likewise, Jesus would not…could not… rest until he found his own place of safety and security---his home, God’s house, the Temple.
On this day, this day when Jesus is drawn to the Temple, Mary and Joseph have a truth tangibly presented to them—a lesson every parent learns—that the day comes when they must let their child go. And this day had come—they needed to let Jesus go so he could grow into his full identity.
What today’s Gospel is teaching us, what the full breadth and depth of our Christmas stories tell us is this: growing into the full stature of who we’ve been created to be, whether we’re regular folk like you and me; special people set aside to do God’s amazing work, like Mary and Joseph; or the Savior of the World, like Jesus Christ, growing up, growing into who God created us to be, isn’t always easy, smooth or simple.
But, by letting him grow, by letting their Son develop his own identity, Joseph and Mary give us a wonderful Christmas gift--- a Savior who, because he lived into the fullness of his being, will now lead us into the fullness of our being, as dedicated, courageous and loving servants of God, wherever that takes us.
Amen.