Growing Up Like Jesus – Part 4

Scripture — Luke 2:39-52 (NRSV)

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.

Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of this. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them, and his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in divine and human favor.

Devotion

In yesterday’s reflection, we saw how Jesus became wise and mature through his growing-up years in Nazareth. What might we learn practically from his experiences?

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus Returning to Nazareth by Leonard Gaultier (1576-1580)

Let’s revisit yesterday’s insights one more time:

1. Growing Up Like Jesus requires persistent practice
I must admit that I enjoy dramatic spiritual encounters and mountaintop experiences. But genuine wisdom is gained mainly by persistent (even mundane) faithful practice and repetition. I suspect Jesus learned a lot working alongside Joseph and caring for his younger siblings alongside Mary.

And as he demonstrated in his public ministry, Jesus developed lifelong habits of attending the synagogue every Sabbath, regularly reading the Hebrew Scriptures and pondering their meaning, and engaging in regular times of prayer. There’s also every indication that Jesus and his parents continued their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

So, be encouraged. Continue to cultivate the basic habits of prayer, reading, and reflecting on Scripture. If you don’t know where to begin or struggle with that, ask someone for help. These are simple, but not easy, things to learn. They require patience and persistence, and having someone with you on the journey can be helpful.

And don’t neglect gathering for worship as a community. Remember that Jesus made it a practice to attend synagogue every sabbath. I’m sure there were days when the synagogue teachers in Nazareth weren’t as insightful (or as exciting) as those in Jerusalem. But Jesus went anyway. The old Nike slogan applies to regularly gathering for worship as a community: “Just do it!”

This story also reminds us that physical space matters. As wonderful as YouTube and Zoom are, ultimately, worship is about physical presence. I know that’s not always possible. Like many of you, I travel a lot. So, having a virtual connection with your home community can be a real gift.

But the ability to gather in person is an even greater gift, to be cherished, not neglected. My suggestion is this: Make it a weekly priority to be in your local congregation in person, even when it’s inconvenient. Even (and perhaps especially) when you don’t feel like it. And for those of you with young families, like Mary and Joseph, bring your kids (and especially your teenagers)! Just make sure you remember to take them home with you…

2. Growing Up Like Jesus means discovering your God-given identity and vocation
We live in an era where we are expected to create our own identity and sense of purpose. But Jesus shows us a better way.

Jesus reminds us that discovering our God-given identity and purpose requires a long process of growth and discernment. Much of that Spirit-led process occurs in out-of-the-way and hidden places, much like what Jesus experienced for most of his life. If that’s how Jesus became wise and mature, don’t be surprised if that’s how it will be for you, too.

And if Jesus, at times, sought out those who were wiser than he, like the Jerusalem rabbis, to engage in a conversation of discovery, we should be willing to do that too.

What all that means is that we need to take our spiritual journey seriously. Be present regularly for corporate worship. But also find time and places for dialogue and conversation with those further along the journey.

It all begins with a hunger and thirst to learn more. And if you aren’t hungry and thirsty, ask God to create that hunger and thirst in you. In my experience, God is delighted to answer that kind of prayer.

Which brings me to my third point.

3. Growing Up Like Jesus means learning to be curious
The most essential characteristic of a disciple (however old or young we might be) is a hunger and thirst to learn. And that means being willing to be curious rather than thinking we already know what we need to know.

The most striking aspect of Jesus’ encounter with the teachers of the law is that he asked questions. One of the things I learned from my Jewish friends is that they approach the Scriptures not so much looking for answers as for questions. In that sense, too, Jesus was deeply Jewish. And we would do well to learn to be more like him.

And part of being curious is the willingness to express our doubts. That might surprise you. Because, as Christians, we often associate faith with certainty rather than with doubt. But doubt can be an expression of a growing faith. As the Christian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote:

There lives more faith in honest doubt,

Believe me, than in half the creeds. (In Memoriam A.H.H.)

So, learn to be curious, to ask lots of questions, and to be honest with your doubts.

4. Growing Up Like Jesus means growing up slowly and under ordinary circumstances
The early 20th-century evangelist, Billy Sunday, was asked what the ideal Christian life looked like. He was said to have replied: “You walk down the ‘sawdust trail’ in the revival tent. You accept Jesus at the altar. And then you walk out of the tent, get hit by a truck, and go straight to heaven.”

No backsliding, no spiritual growth necessary, “instant eternity!”

That’s a far cry from the biblical story told about Jesus. To grow up like Jesus means learning to grow up as a human being. To learn to love God and to love your neighbor. To be curious about the world God created and entrusted to us. And to discover our vocation and contribution to that world.

And as today’s text reminds us, that kind of formation takes a long time and requires us to be immersed in the ordinary circumstances of life.

Our goal is to develop into fully human persons and to form a community that is measured against Jesus Himself. As the apostle Paul said to the early church, we are to attain “to the measure of the stature of Christ.” (That sounds a lot like the description of Jesus at the end of today’s story, doesn’t it?)

I began this devotional series with an imagined question from Mary to Jesus’ siblings: “Why can’t you be more like Jesus?” The good news is that, as Jesus’ siblings, we can be.

May we each continue to follow Jesus by growing up like him.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: From Mediocrity to Maturity.