WEBVTT 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:02.879 Good morning, everybody. 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:07.120 My name is Sean Steele, and I am the new associate rector here at St. 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:07.759 Thomas. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.720 I'm super excited to be here and worship with you this morning. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:15.199 Father Mike is on a well-deserved vacation, I believe, in Puerto Rico. 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:17.839 And so might be watching online, knowing Mike. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:18.480 So hi Mike. 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:20.000 Let's all maybe wave the Mike. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:21.280 Hi, Mike. 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:25.199 You'll notice a few different things this morning. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:27.199 We had a baptism this morning. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:28.160 We did one bulletin. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:29.600 We'll talk about that a little bit. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:36.479 But so there's a baptismal service here, but we're not going to do the whole baptismal service unless anybody wants to get baptized. 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:38.079 Would anybody like to get baptized? 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:38.640 No? 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:39.280 Yes. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:39.600 Okay. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:42.320 Well, we can do it if you decide when we get there. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:46.880 But uh when it gets to prayers of the people, I'll go ahead and direct those out of the prayer book. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:51.200 And then also for the Eucharistic prayer, that'll be in the prayer book as well. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:54.479 And so you'll also notice that there's no music this morning. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:56.479 We do not have an organist this morning. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:59.679 And so Mike said, Hey, do you want to sing a cappella? 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:01.200 And I said, No. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:04.400 I in fact do not want to lead a cappella. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:08.480 Mike would, he because pull out his guitar, but you'll find I'm not Mike. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:12.239 Sad to say, you can't uh clone him, although we want to. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:17.280 Um so we're just gonna have a nice uh service with no music this morning, and it's gonna be beautiful. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:23.519 And so I invite you to join me, either in the prayer book or the bulletin, um, as we begin or continue. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:27.519 Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:33.120 There is one body and one spirit. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:38.959 One Lord, one faith, one baptism. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:49.680 Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires know, and from you no secrets are hid. 00:01:49.920 --> 00:02:01.760 Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, and we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord. 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:02.640 Amen. 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:04.239 The Lord be with you. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:06.319 Let us pray. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:13.840 Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation. 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:25.280 Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of Him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God in glory everlasting. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:26.080 Amen. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:27.919 Please be seated for the lessons. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:46.879 The lesson is a reading from 1 Kings. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:56.800 Now Solomon, son of Bathsheba, said, The Majesty of the Heavens said that God would dwell in thick darkness. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:02.479 I have built an exalted house for you, a place for you to dwell for all time. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:07.280 Yet truly will God indeed dwell upon the earth? 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:14.719 The heavens and heavens beyond the heavens cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:19.599 Incline toward the prayer of your slave, this supplication. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:41.199 Holy one of old, my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your slave prays on you today, that your eyes may be opened toward this house, night and day, toward the place of which you said, My name shall be there, that you may heed the prayer that your slave prays toward this place. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:55.039 Hear the supplication of your slave and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place, hear in your dwelling place the heavens, hear and forgive. 00:03:55.599 --> 00:04:09.759 And also as for a foreigner who is not of your people, Israel, and comes from a distant land because of your name, for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:35.759 When a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, hear then in the heavens your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and revere you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked upon this house that I have built. 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:38.079 The word of the Lord. 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:08.319 Why do you look with envy, many peaked mountains, as the mountain that God desired for her abode? 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:19.439 God's chariot core is ten thousand doubled and doubled again. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:29.600 Blessed be she who bears us up day by day. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:35.439 Our God is the God of salvation. 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:44.240 They see your processions, God. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:54.639 Before go singers, after musicians follow. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:01.199 And great congregations bless God. 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:15.600 There is Rachel born Benjamin, the little one, ruling, then the sons of the royal women of Judah in their crowd. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:23.759 Let tribute be brought out of Egypt. 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:31.120 Sing to God, dominions of the earth. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:39.360 To the one who rides in the heavens beyond the heavens from before time. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:47.680 Ascribe power to God. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:45.120 Now the angel carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down from the heavens and from God. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:56.720 I saw no temple in the city, for the sovereign God, but the Almighty with the Lamb is its temple, and the city has no use of sun or moon to shine in it. 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:20.560 For the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the lamb, and the nations will walk by its light, and the queens and the kings of the earth that will bring the glory into it, and its gates will not be shut by day, and there will be no night there, but women, children, and men that will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:33.679 Now there shall not enter in it anything unclean or anyone who does what is detestable or untrue, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life by the Word of the Lord. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:25.600 Now the parents of Jesus went yearly to Jerusalem for the festival of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up as customary for the festival. 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:34.399 And when the day of the festivals were completed, they returned while the boy Jesus stayed in Jerusalem, and his parents did not know it. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:38.720 Thinking he was in the group of travelers, they went a day's journey. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:42.639 And then they started to look for him among their kin and those who knew him. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:47.440 And when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:10:00.080 Then after three days passed, 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. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:06.879 Then when his parents saw him, they were shocked, and his mother said to him, Child, why have you treated us thus? 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:11.200 Look, your father and I have been tormented in searching for you. 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:14.799 Then Jesus said to them, Why were you searching for me? 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:18.320 Did you not know that I must be in the house of my Abba? 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:22.879 And they did not understand the thing he said to them. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:27.840 And then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.960 And his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:34.559 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:56.559 Amen. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:10:57.919 Please be seated. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:03.600 Man, what a cool day, huh? 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:11.679 Real special day for me, being that now this is my first official Sunday being here preaching as the new associate rector. 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:15.679 I'm looking forward to getting to be a part of this community and getting to know everybody. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:18.159 When I came before, you know, I wasn't sure. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:21.519 We were just coming and visiting, so it's really different and it's really special. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:22.960 So I want to thank you all for showing up. 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:30.720 I know it's a Sunday after Christmas, and you probably had a moment this morning where you thought, we just went on Wednesday or Tuesday night. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:32.960 Do we really have to go again? 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:34.799 And so thanks for showing up. 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:35.919 I appreciate that. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:37.840 It's actually a really cool day. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:43.039 And it's a really cool day because this morning I got to do a baptism. 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:48.639 We baptized Elizabeth, this sweet, sweet baby who just smiled the entire time, which is rare. 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:49.679 I mean, the entire time. 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:52.159 The water, the prism, the buzzer, everything, just smiling. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:53.200 It was beautiful. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:54.799 Really, it was wonderful. 00:11:54.960 --> 00:12:02.240 And the reason it is because having a baptism right now, in this season, is a pretty rare thing. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:03.440 It's pretty incredible. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:11.039 And why it's special is because, well, I had a spiritual director once, this guy named Pittman McGeehee. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:12.799 Some of you may have heard of him or known him. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:19.679 He was the dean of the cathedral for a long time, so some of you Episcopalians who've been here for a while may have heard that name. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:22.480 So Pittman had this real deep voice. 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:24.080 He talked very slowly. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:30.639 He said, you know, Sean, all of Christianity can be summed up in two stories and two symbols. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:34.080 Because that's all we can really carry with us on the journey. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:39.360 So you just gotta, you just gotta carry two stories and two symbols. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:44.799 And so he would go on to say that pretty much about any worldview or narrative or something. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:47.360 You need two stories and two symbols. 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:49.759 And so what are the great stories of Christianity? 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:51.120 What are the two core stories? 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:52.799 We're in the midst of one. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:54.080 What is it? 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:56.559 Christmas! Yeah, Christmas. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:00.399 It's a story of believing in the God who is with us. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:06.399 You know, we said in that opening prayer, we are we gave the name of Jesus for salvation. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:09.120 The name of Jesus. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.200 I said, what's Jesus' name? 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:15.039 And you will call him Emmanuel. 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:17.360 Which means God with us. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:24.080 So we talk a lot about what God did for us, and some of you may have come from traditions that are really interested in what God did for us. 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:28.159 But the name that was given to us for salvation is God with us. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:35.840 So on Christmas, we celebrate the reality of the incarnation, the God who is not far off, but the God who is near. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:48.320 The God who shows up in unexpected places and times and the messiness of life, and the blood, and the sweat of the manger, and the uncomfortable reality of that story and that treble. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:54.879 God is birthed constantly in relationship with us in new and unexpected ways. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:14:05.600 That when we pray to God, we don't make sacrifices to a God who is far off hoping to hear, but a God who is in the midst of us, right next to us, experiencing the full reality of our life. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:08.559 That's a core story that we have to celebrate. 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:09.360 Right? 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:11.200 And what's the next story? 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:12.480 Easter. 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:15.519 Easter's the other big story, right? 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:19.840 And this is the one that we celebrate every Sunday, and every Sunday is a little Easter here. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.720 That this is the pastoral mystery of death and resurrection. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:25.919 The idea that the requirement for resurrection is death. 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:31.679 And that as Christians, we embrace the full reality of death because it's not a sign of failure. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:36.720 That the deaths of our lives are the moment that God breaks in and makes something new. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:39.120 Now, sometimes it takes a while. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:40.960 It takes a while for that new thing. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.279 And it can be scary and lonely. 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:46.000 But that's why we have community to remind us. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:47.919 And that's why we celebrate it every Sunday. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:55.279 If you're in the midst of that unknowing of Saturday, if you've gone through the death of some experience of life, the new thing is coming. 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:56.639 God is not abandoning. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:14:59.120 Remember, God of Emmanuel, God who is with us. 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:10.559 So we have these two great stories that we tell over and over again, and then we sort of organize our life, the time before we celebrate those stories, the time after those stories, the time in between those stories. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:14.559 So we have these two great stories that are the center of our faith. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:16.399 So what are the two symbols? 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:18.879 So I sort of gave one of them away. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:20.159 Baptism. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:21.200 Baptism. 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:25.360 So the first great symbol that we carry with us is the water of baptism. 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:26.159 Right? 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:54.159 Because baptism represents grace, the gift of God's love, unearned, unmerited, the permission to never wonder whether we're worthy of love and belonging again, that you don't have to earn your value that God loves you hard stop, that you're gonna have experiences every day and in your life where you feel like you're a failure, that you're not good enough, that nobody loves you, that you're not a good parent, that you're not a good friend, right, that you're not good at your job, that you're a disappointment to your parents. 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:59.759 You're gonna have experiences of your own brokenness, but at the end of the day, God loves you. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:10.240 And so we do this ritual, this washing ritual, to remind us that we want to have these experiences where despite all of our imperfections, we know that at our core we're made in the image of God. 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:14.320 That grace, right, means you cannot do anything to lose God's love. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:17.279 That's why we baptize babies, friends, and I love it. 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:25.360 You might have people that sort of come and say, well, you've got to be of a certain age and fully understand what you're getting yourself into to be baptized. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:28.799 Who understands what they're getting into when they're baptized? 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:30.000 Nobody. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:32.480 Now, don't get me wrong. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:38.399 I mean, like, I think every adult, every person should like take their position in the church as an adult. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:40.720 That's called confirmation. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:44.080 We have a ritual for that. 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:57.279 But grace, I mean, what is more graceful than looking at a helpless two-month-old infant that can do nothing but receive and just say, hey, but God loves you. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:59.840 There's nothing that you can do for the rest of your life. 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:04.559 I want to remind you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit that you are loved. 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:05.599 Hard stop. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:07.440 Baptism. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:09.200 And what's the second symbol? 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:10.240 We have the water. 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:11.839 What's the second symbol? 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:14.720 Cross, cross is close, that's one of them. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:16.160 Maybe cross is a symbolic thing. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.559 That came a little bit later on, but no, it is one. 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:20.160 I mean, we wear the crosses. 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:23.039 That is true, which I think is kind of strange, right? 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:27.440 We wear symbols of capital punishment around our neck, which I think is also kind of interesting. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:30.480 Like, we're not afraid of the oppression of empire. 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:35.599 We're like, hey, look, you know, we're not scared of what you can do to us, right? 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:38.960 But a little bit more ancient than that, we do it every Sunday. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:41.759 Eucharist, the chalice, the Eucharist. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:43.680 The eating together. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:44.720 Right? 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:48.319 So the second great symbol is the Eucharist, and we do this every Sunday, right? 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:53.039 We come here and we gather around God's table, and we're reminded that we're all family. 00:17:53.920 --> 00:18:05.680 That despite our differences and our different perspectives and our different ideologies and the way that we look at the world and our different traumas, whatever it is, we gather around God's table as a family, and God feeds us. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:08.319 Because families eat together. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:12.720 Now, some of you just got done eating with your families at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and you're like, you know what? 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:13.920 I can wait another year. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:19.440 We can go ahead and wait 11 more months before we but they still eat together, right? 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:25.039 Because the table reminds us that God's love and the reality of this transcends everything. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:25.519 Right? 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:27.359 That's why we eat every Sunday. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:31.039 God feeds us with God's own very self, which is kind of cool, right? 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:32.559 So we have this great story. 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:37.359 We have two stories, we have two symbols that are sort of the core, and at baptism this morning, we got them all. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:39.920 Normally, you get one, two, or three. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:52.000 But when you do a baptism in the Christmas season, in the Emmanuel season, we got the Christmas story, we got the Paschal story every Sunday, that's for the Eucharist, it's a little Easter every Sunday at the table, right? 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:56.400 We got baptism with water, we got the chalice, the symbol of family. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:57.200 It was really cool. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:58.480 What a great way for me to start. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:00.000 I thought, yeah, this is great. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:02.240 This is everything, all together in one. 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:04.079 Why I want to be a priest? 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.000 This is a great story. 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:10.240 But then I thought, well, I should probably say something about the scripture readings. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:11.039 I don't know. 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:12.880 Maybe some of you want that, maybe you don't. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:22.880 But I've got to, because I'm looking at this family and I'm looking at the congregation who made the vow earlier this morning to sort of support the baptized child, because that's pretty cool that we do that, right? 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:26.400 That we all make a vow at the baptismal service to support the kid. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:27.839 I think that's cool. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:31.200 So I'm looking at the scripture readings and I'm thinking, so what? 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.880 So we've got this great story. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:34.640 We're coming here to be reminded of it. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:38.400 We have this unique opportunity with the stories and the symbols, it's all there. 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:39.200 So what? 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:44.480 And so I started looking at the at the story, thinking, there's some really good stuff here, but it's weird. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:45.920 It's a weird story. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:50.480 So we don't get a lot of stories of Jesus and his adolescence. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:51.039 Right? 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.519 There's probably some good reason for that. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:55.440 Adolescence is kind of a tough time. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:56.480 Anybody remember that? 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:57.279 Oh, yeah. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:58.880 Jesus in middle school. 00:19:58.960 --> 00:19:59.839 That was fun. 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:03.519 So then we get this one. 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:03.839 This is it. 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:04.720 This is it. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:05.279 This is the story. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:07.839 This is the one story we get of Jesus in his adolescence. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.359 There's not another story of scripture. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:19.119 Now, there are some in what are called non-canonical texts, like stories of scriptures that were written a couple hundred years later about Jesus like resuscitating frogs and stuff. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:19.519 It's true. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:20.559 Look it up, it's interesting. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:22.079 But they didn't make it in the story. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:29.119 There's only one story about Jesus' adolescence that we hold in scripture, in sacred scripture in the Bible. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:30.240 And it's this. 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:31.200 And it's a weird story. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:34.079 So Jesus comes from a very devout Jewish family. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:36.000 They go every year to Jerusalem. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:37.759 It's a four-day travel, right? 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:39.680 All the way down from Nazareth. 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:49.279 Then they do the sacrifices and the paschal sacrifices, they make their offerings, they experience their sort of uh their paschal service, a Passover. 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:51.599 And then they travel back. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:53.200 And they did this in caravans. 00:20:53.359 --> 00:21:04.640 And that made sense because it was a big trip, and you wanted to have family with you, and everybody had to do it, so why not go together and safety and things like that, and just being in community. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:11.519 And so, you know, your first thought might be how did Mary and Joseph lose Jesus for a day? 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:14.799 What parent in their right mind could lose their kid for a day? 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:19.119 I'm the only one who wondered that when they read this, like, how did you lose your kid for a day? 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:20.160 Like, really? 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:22.000 Well, because you're walking. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:23.200 It's a long time. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:29.440 But at that time they separated women and children from men, and they traveled and things like that. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:35.200 You took different roles, and Jesus was at the adolescent period where he could spend time in both camps, right? 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:41.039 So he could be with the women, he could be with the men, uh, something, you know, you would go with your aunts and uncles, this big family thing. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:47.200 So it wasn't uncommon for you know parents to assume, oh, well, little Jesus is with somebody else. 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:50.880 But at dinner time, that's when families come together. 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:53.599 So it got to be dinner time, and they're like, You got Jesus? 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:55.359 No, you got Jesus, no, where's Jesus? 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:57.599 Uh uh, we've lost Jesus, where's Jesus? 00:21:57.680 --> 00:21:59.759 And so it was at dinner time when you would. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.160 Come back, they realized Jesus was gone. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:04.000 And so it's like, uh-oh, what do you do? 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:06.559 So his parents had to hike all the way back, right? 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:13.599 Another day, and then it said spent three more days or two more days, are we going to look at it, looking for Jesus throughout all of Jerusalem. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:15.920 They didn't have cell phones, they didn't have pagers, right? 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:18.240 I mean, they are frantically looking for Jesus. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:22.079 And it wasn't that they had no good reason to be worried. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:24.000 I mean, you could get kidnapped. 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:24.880 Something could have happened. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:26.240 It was an un, you know what I mean? 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:29.440 Like there was lots of dangers and threats in different places. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:30.799 And this was their child. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:32.240 I mean, this is this is Jesus. 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:33.680 This is their kid. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:44.319 And so they get back and they finally find him, and he is in the, he's in the temple, and he's sitting with the rabbis, and he's listening, and he's talking, and he's asking questions, and he's giving answers. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:49.039 And so they did this kind of Socratic thing where you would ask these really profound questions. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:50.559 Like, that's what rabbis would do. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:57.200 So Jesus was not only listening, but he was offering really good questions, and says that people were amazed and astounded. 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:02.559 And then his mom came up frantically and was like, Jesus, didn't you know that like what you've done to us? 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:03.440 Where have you been? 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:06.480 And he responded like a teenager would, right? 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:07.440 Duh. 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:09.839 Did you be here? 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:10.559 Duh. 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:13.279 I mean, come on, didn't you know I'd be here? 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:14.079 That's how I read it. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:18.960 Somebody else might read it differently, but like, duh, dad, duh mom, I'm you know, doing what I do. 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:20.240 Haven't you been watching me? 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:24.319 And so then, of course, she's like, but you really worried us. 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:26.559 You tormented my soul. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:31.200 And then so then it says Jesus went home with them and he was obedient. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:36.880 He was a good kid, because, you know, you know, we gotta maintain that he was perfect, and so he was a good kid. 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:43.759 Um, and then it says Mary, in our translation, treasured this in her heart. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:45.279 We'll talk about that later. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:46.960 Treasured this in her heart. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:48.400 And so this is the story. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:49.119 So what's here? 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:50.319 Who cares? 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:54.480 Interesting story, only story of Jesus' adolescence. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:58.880 And I started thinking, why would we care on this special day of baptism as we leave this place? 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:10.720 And started thinking that as people of a community who take seriously this covenant to our children, shouldn't we be role modeling the faith in our life? 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:16.480 I mean, shouldn't our lives be more than just, did I follow my moral path today? 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:18.960 Are you happy with me, Santa Claus God? 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:21.039 Did I make the ledger good and bad? 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:28.240 Shouldn't our life be about role modeling for the people around us what does it mean to live a faith-filled life following this God in the world? 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:34.640 Imperfectly, but especially for our kids, because I think faith is caught as much as it is taught. 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:43.279 So, how do we role model for this new baby Elizabeth and for our kids what it means to be people following this risen Lord of the world according to this story? 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:46.400 Well, the first thing that came up was this idea of seeking. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:50.079 That you see that seeking as a theme in here. 00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:52.400 Mary and Joseph were seeking God. 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:54.720 It's kind of interesting metaphorically. 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:56.480 They were seeking Jesus. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:01.519 They went on a journey that was harrowing and filled with questions and movement. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:07.440 And Jesus was seeking God, seeking God in the temple, seeking God in worship. 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:16.319 So it seems to me that the first thing that we want to role model is that the God that we we worship and believe in is one that desires to be sought. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:26.160 And as much as I love just receiving, I when we come up to communion, I don't we don't snatch the communion. 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:28.559 We don't snatch it, we receive it. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:32.880 We put our hands on it and we receive it because we receive God's love. 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:34.480 It's unmerited, right? 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:42.000 So we receive, but there's this other piece of can we sometimes I think we can just fall into people that are just receiving all the time. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:50.240 And forget our ability to seek, our ability to orient our lives, to try to be in relationship with God. 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:54.799 So the first thing is, is as Christians, how are we seeking that relationship? 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:56.160 How are we looking? 00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:58.160 What are we doing in our life? 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:02.799 And then the second piece I think is interesting that you see in this is a listening. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:08.799 It says that Jesus listened in the temple, and they listened to him. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:23.119 And clearly Mary and Joseph were listening to the people around him, figuring out where he might have been, seeking other people, where looking for my son, listening to the clues, listening to the reality of where he could be. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:27.680 So if we're going to seek, we should take time to listen. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:32.559 And how are we role modeling and listening in our life? 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:34.079 What does that mean for me? 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:35.759 What does that mean for you? 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:43.920 The next piece, there's four of them, is this idea of being in awe. 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:45.440 Now this is fascinating. 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:46.880 Being stunned. 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:52.880 And what I like about this in the story is you have two different types of being in awe. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:57.200 You have the seeking and the listening, and then you have two different experiences. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:10.000 The first Greek word in there, I'm not going to pronounce it, but there's a Greek word, and it basically means overwhelmed by sort of majesty and kind of dumbfounded, and that was incredible. 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:11.039 Wow. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:15.920 And that's where it's talking about the people listening to Jesus in the temple. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:20.880 They were listening and they were sort of struck and dumbfounded by the answers. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:24.319 They were sort of dumbfounded by the grace and the beauty of the world. 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:25.920 And I think that's critical. 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:33.680 That we go out in the world and we see God and we listen and we have to open ourselves up to be struck by God's beauty and movement. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:39.200 And then the next word is the one talking about Mary. 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:49.519 And it's a similar word where it means shocked or in awe, but it's like overwhelmed by anxiety, which I like. 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:59.680 So Mary is also dumbfounded and sort of in awe and shocked, but it's not the beautiful, peaceful, serene, isn't everything good? 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:18.079 It's being overwhelmed by sort of her inability to control things, her lack of control in a world, right, that seems to be sort of filled with danger and threat and anxiety, overwhelmed by her smallness in the midst of that and her inability to control things. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:22.160 So she was confronted with that all of that reality and shocked. 00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:28.240 And I will tell you, the Christians have been proclaiming this and talking about this for a very long time. 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:40.799 That this is part and parcel of the listening, the seeking, and the listening is you will get knocked over by the beauty and majesty of God, and you will also get knocked over by your own smallness and inability to control things. 00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:45.599 So both of those are in the story. 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:50.480 And then the last bit, which I think is interesting, is the pondering. 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:54.319 Now, you know, the translation that we have here. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:58.240 So Mary, Mary in Advent is a pondering Mary, right? 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:05.200 When angel Gabriel shows up and announces at the Annunciation, it says she's pondered in these things in her heart. 00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:17.519 Well, the Greek word for that, right, actually means like a really reflective pondering and loving, and there's this like wrought with gratitude, right, and peacefulness and serenity again. 00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:24.799 And then the translation for this one is treasured, which I think is a horrible translation. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:34.240 Because the Greek word, I mean, okay, for those of you who are parents or little ones that are loved, is this the experience that you're treasuring in your heart as a place? 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:41.440 I will tell you, I've had experiences like this where I've been wrought and overwhelmed with anxiety and panicked and the threats and the dangers and things like that. 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:43.359 You can't find your kid for three days. 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:47.599 Is this one later on where you're thinking, gosh, that was such a good time? 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:50.079 God, that was wonderful. 00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:51.920 Here, Joseph, come here. 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:52.799 Let's talk about this again. 00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:54.240 Remember how wonderful that was? 00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:55.519 It was so good. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:57.039 Yeah, it was great. 00:29:57.279 --> 00:29:57.599 No. 00:29:58.079 --> 00:29:59.759 We say treasured. 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:06.160 No, the word is actually, it is a pondering word, but it's more like an anxious perseverating in your mind. 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:12.160 So those of you who do that at nights, welcome to your own holiness sometimes. 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:15.680 But there was an anxious perseverating, right? 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:16.720 Wondering. 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:23.279 But it was, the way that the Greek word works is it would have been an intentional relationship with God. 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:33.039 So both times, Mary would have brought both the serenity and the peace and the beauty, but also the anxiety and the frustration and the anger, right? 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:36.720 She brought both of them to her prayer life. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:41.839 So she brought those back full circle in relationship. 00:30:42.799 --> 00:31:00.720 So what we see is the pattern here is this seeking, right, this listening, this opening ourselves up to be dumbfounded by both the beauty and the tragedy of life and God's movement, and then an intentional bringing that back, right, in relationship of prayer to God. 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:03.759 Reflecting, pondering, whatever that is. 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:07.680 That's pretty cool. 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:09.920 That's the pattern that we have here. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:12.880 And I think that's a pattern worth emulating when we leave. 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:14.400 I mean, we've got this great story. 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:20.079 I mean, we've got this story filled with God's love and presence and grace and family. 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:22.079 And then there's also the pain and the tragedy. 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:24.000 I mean, we don't turn away from the cross, right? 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:27.200 We confront the hard parts of life, right? 00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:31.359 But the pattern is that we seek and we listen. 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:33.839 So some of you might be Mary Oliver fan. 00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:37.680 She's this great poet, and she said, you know, rules for life, right? 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:41.519 Show up, be amazed, and talk about it, right? 00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:42.960 She's, I think, living. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:44.559