Disciplined but not Abandoned – Christmas 2

Disciplined but not Abandoned

Christmas 2 T Luke 2:40-52

INI

Poor Mary. It seems Jesus’ childhood was filled with trials at every turn. On Christmas Eve, we heard that Mary had to give birth in a place where animals stayed, because there was no room for them in the inn. And then, King Herod sought to kill Jesus, because he was threatened. In order to escape His wrath, the holy family sought refuge in Egypt. And then today, Mary and Joseph LOST the Son of God in Jerusalem. At every turn, they faced trial.

         One thing is clear. Mary loved her Son very much. He was special. She devoted her life to the love and care of this child. For He was the one who would save her people – and ultimately be a light to the Gentile nations too. That’s a lot of responsibility for a mother to handle!

From the text, we can see that Joseph and Mary were great, faithful parents. It’s clear they prioritized Jesus’ catechesis. They brought Him to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover every year! No skipping for them. But that particular year, Jesus was 12. Meaning, he was starting to become more seriously trained in the Old Testament Scriptures. Well, it seemed as if the boy Jesus couldn’t get enough learning, because he never got into the family caravan to return to Nazareth once the feast was over! He stayed in the Temple, learning from the wise teachers.

Once Mary and Joseph learned that Jesus wasn’t with one of His relatives or acquaintances that were traveling back up to Galilee, they turned around and went back to Jerusalem. But even then, it took THREE WHOLE DAYS before they found Jesus. And when they did, Mary expressed what she felt – “your father and I have been searching for you in great distress!”

Through the example of the Holy family, God teaches us this: often times, God withholds our greatest treasures, which causes great sorrow or distress. Mary’s distress? Losing her son. The distress of a parent looking for their kid for three days is difficult enough. But what if your child was the Son of God? Surely the thought passed Mary’s mind, as it does to all of us who lose something or someone we treasure – “Did I screw all this up? Did God take this away from me because I wasn’t found worthy to keep it? Did I do something wrong? Is God punishing me?”

That’s a very human response. Why would God allow Mary—and us—to go through such sorrow and distress? The answer to this question is mysterious and we’ll never fully know or comprehend it. But through the examples of the saints, we can know at least a couple of things.

First, God allows us to endure sorrow and distress to dispel the pride and arrogance that clings so closely to our sinful flesh. Pride takes credit for the successes and treasures of our lives. We convince ourselves that our treasures are OURS. Mankind exalts its own hard work before giving thanks for God’s blessing of daily bread. Arrogance claims our families and possessions as our own, apart from recognizing them as God’s gifts.

So, when our treasures are taken away or withheld, God humbles us. He brings us to a point where we reach out to Him for help, especially when situations have moved beyond our control. He drives us to trust in Him, and Him alone, for comfort and resolution.

When God grants us such a strength of faith that trusts in Him through our trials, our life becomes quite peaceful and joyful. But when God allows our faith to be shaken, it can sometimes feel as if Christ has been taken away from us, and our confidence turns to fear – and then we know true distress, as did Mary.

And what makes this so painful is that despair may come even when we are not aware of any particular sin. In such moments we begin to doubt whether God still cares for us at all – in our eyes, we didn’t do anything horrifically wrong. We wonder whether He still looks upon us with favor. We could imagine that Mary experienced that in the Gospel lesson. Yet, this is the very place where faith must cling not to feeling, but to the promise.

And Mary is not alone in this experience. Luther cites Joshua 7:6-7. Here, God gave Joshua the promise of the Promised Land. He would need to defeat the Canaanite armies from the land, and exterminate them. But when they came across a smaller town, they sent a smaller army to overtake it – only 2 to 3 thousand soldiers. To Joshua’s surprise, God’s people were defeated in battle, which caused Him great sorrow. He said – “Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us?” This trial led Joshua’s faith to weaken, to DOUBT God’s promise, and he became discouraged. But God allowed this to happen, that Joshua wouldn’t trust in his own calculation, but in the Lord who alone gives the victory. This experience isn’t unique to Joshua. For this is how God is with all His children.

God disciplines those He loves. He’s like a father, who momentarily lets go of his child’s hand so that the child can begin to walk on their own. The Father hasn’t abandoned the child, nor has he withdrawn out of anger or wrath. He’s right there the whole time, to bring the child back to their feet. So, in love, God sometimes allows us to feel deprived of Christ. But it’s not to drive us away, or demonstrate His disappointment. But He does it to deepen our faith, love, and devotion for Him. For we are to trust in HIM above ALL things.

Another reason God allows these trials to come, is so that we might follow the examples of the saints before us. If we looked through the Scriptures and saw saints who encountered no suffering or trial, we would imagine that we were alone in our trials, and that God never dealt with HIS people in such a way. But by seeing Mary and Joseph suffering in such an intense way, that they feared they had lost Jesus – we need not despair. For these saints teach us to be patient for God to come and strengthen us. For God never abandons His children in their trials. Rather, He strengthens us through it.

This is the Christian life – one of discipline and trial and suffering. But through it, what do we learn? That we cannot find solutions to our sufferings. If we do, it’s only momentary and not very fulfilling. It never feeds faith, but rather, pulls us away from a firm trust in God. And so, we learn through trial, where true lasting joy, peace, and comfort are found: in Christ and Him alone.

And where can we find Jesus? We just follow Mary and Jospeh. They eventually found Jesus in the Temple, hearing the Word of God and asking questions. The one they feared they lost was never lost at all. He was exactly where He was supposed to be – in His Father’s house. And so it is for us. When Christ seems far off and our faith experiences distress through our trials, we remember Christ’s promises. He is where He’s promised to be – in His Word. In His Sacraments. And through this, He restores us to rest in His grace and mercy once again.

INI

Pastor Joshua Ralston