2024 12 29 Christmas 1C
1 Samuel 2.18-20,26 Psalm 148 Colossians 3.12-17 Luke 2.41-52
Do you
remember the story of Hannah and Elkanah?
They are the parents of Samuel.
Hannah was barren and prayed for a son and vowed that she would give him
to God. When Samuel was weaned, Hannah
presented him to the Priest, Eli, announcing that she had vowed she would give
him to the Lord, all the days of his life.
This was not something that happened every day…. I can only imagine how
hard that would have been.
Eli was quite
elderly, and he had grown up sons who were ministering, but they were somewhat
corrupt. Now as an elderly man, Eli was
given this young boy, Samuel, to raise and teach in the ways of God. Each year when Samuel’s mother would visit
she’d bring him a little robe that she had made for him - a linen ephod…. The garment of the priests.
At this time
in Israel, the only priests were those who were born in the family of the Levite
tribe – which is the tribe of Moses and his brother Aaron. Elkanah, Samuel’s father, was an Ephraimite….
A descendant of Joseph – not Levi. This
was most unusual, that a boy would be raised as a priest, who was of a
different tribe.
It is most
usual to bring up our children in our own business. I remember teaching a young boy, who talked
non-stop about his chooks. Another
teacher asked him, “Why do you have to talk about chooks all the time?” He
responded, “It’s my Dad’s business! When
I grow up, it will be my business.”
The Bible Proverb
22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he
will not depart from it.” It amazes me
that this mother, Hannah, was strong enough to follow through on her vow and she
fully trained her son to be totally committed to God. No surprise really – after all, she showed
this in her own life. Her son, Samuel,
learnt from her first, that we make sacrifices and keep our word, and give God
first place in our life. He then learnt
about the word of God from Eli the priest, and not too much later on, he would
experience hearing the word of God for himself and be instrumental in the
leadership of the nation of Israel.
Samuel, as a
small boy, was dressed as a priest. He
was dressed for, and placed in a role from this young age, and he didn’t depart
from it. He grew into it. He was destined for this role, but he was
also trained and empowered for that role by those around him who affirmed his
place. There is a lesson for us in
this. It is made clear in our second
reading.
“Therefore,
as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another,
forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must
forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves
with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
Samuel was
clothed in priestly garments, and he grew up to be an amazing man of God. We are encouraged to clothe ourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, and then over this
clothe ourselves with love. Why it is
described as clothing ourselves, is because we might not naturally feel
compassion, or kindness, or humility or meekness or patience or love. However, we need to exhibit these qualities
and the hope, is that as we wear these robes, we will grow into those qualities
and they will become “second nature”.
Our Gospel
reading tells of another boy in the company of priests. It is the story of Jesus in the temple at
the ripe old age of 12. 12 is a
symbolic number. It is said to symbolize
perfect governance, totality, wholeness, and the completion of God's purpose. Actually 12 is a ripe age, as it is the age
of the Jewish Bar Mitsvah, and is when the boys are considered adult in the
faith. Understanding this, we can see
why Jesus might have decided to stay on at the temple.
Jesus knew
his destiny, but his parents didn’t seem to fully understand. And we know that they weren’t meant to. God chose them for a reason and although they
were told who Jesus was, they brought Jesus up as they would their own child –
probably in the trade of Joseph, as a carpenter. BUT Jesus knew who he was and who his father
is, and what his father’s work was about.
The festival
that Jesus and his family were celebrating was the festival of Passover.
Looking up the Jewish understanding of the number 12, I found that the 12th
letter has the numeric value of 30. It
is believed that Jesus began his public ministry at this age and than three
years later He was crucified. He was
crucified during a particular, very important festival. Do you recall which one? Yep – the festival of Passover.
Jesus and
his parents were part of a large group who came to the festival in Jerusalem.
They travelled back as part of a large group also. They didn’t realize that he was missing until
they had travelled a day’s journey. So
it was another day back, but then they didn’t find him until the third
day. So… it was the festival of the Passover…
they found him again on the third day.
Does this sound familiar?
Jesus said
to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be
in my Father's house?" We might be searching
for Jesus also. We might have situations
that we find difficult and don’t know how to find resolution. We might have come to the conclusion that
there IS no resolution. This is because
we are looking in the wrong place. We
will find Jesus in his father’s house.
What I mean by this, is we find Jesus through scripture and in prayer.
Jesus is not
in the crowd of popular opinion. To find
Jesus requires sacrifice like that of Hannah who gave up her only son – and God
has made that sacrifice for us. God gave
up his only son, Jesus, so that we could readily find him. God desires to speak with us, teach us and
give us his answers. He speaks to us
through his Holy Spirit that Jesus sends us.
There is
another robe that we clothe ourselves in.
it is the robe of Christ himself.
We are never alone. He is with us
– yet it is in our activities that we either grow into this awareness - or we grow less aware. As we begin to look at New Year’s resolutions,
let us make this ours; to wear the clothes of compassion and love and listen
for the voice of God by being clothed in Christ.
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