Do You Take Yourself too Seriously?
Second Sunday after Christmas
January 4, 2009
Luke 2:40-52
Jesus was an obedient child. Mary and Joseph were comfortable in
leaving Him to come home with relatives in the group without checking
in with them. They trusted Him. But when they needed to talk to Him
they were struck with the realization that "boys will be boys"
evidently applied to their son also. They still didn't have an
understanding of the whole Jesus thing. They were still somewhat stuck
on themselves.
Why were they astonished at what they witnessed in the temple? Why did
they insist that He should have been with them rather than in the
House of God? Why did they not understand what their precocious boy
was insisting on?
It's because they took themselves too seriously. This is a
characteristic of us Christians. I guess we should lump the
non-Christians in here also. We're always getting in the way of Jesus
doing His thing. Notice how very unseriously He takes Himself. He
obediently goes with His parents to Jerusalem for the Passover. When
He goes, He seems to be the only one in the group—including His
parents—who seems to know why they really were going there. He stays
behind. Not to get into trouble as boys can be prone to do. To be in
His Father's House. To be about the business of what the Passover is
all about.
And as we know from the New Testament, what the Passover is all about
is Jesus. Jesus knew this, even at twelve years old. Jesus was in His
Father's House because it's communion with Him that is the ultimate
goal. The Passover of the Old Testament was the shedding of a lamb's
blood to be painted on the doorpost so that the Angel of Death would
pass over that house and the occupants would be spared. By being in
God's House even at such a young age, Jesus was being prepared by His
Heavenly Father for Himself being the very Lamb of God whose blood
would be shed so that we may be spared eternal death and receive
salvation, communing with God eternally in heaven.
Oftentimes precocious little boys can take themselves far more
seriously than what they ought to. Not Jesus. He knows who He is, but
when He is with the teachers in the temple He is listening and asking
questions. Jesus is always Jesus. He is always God and always working
His work to bring salvation. But He never is full of Himself. He
always is coming in humility. And that is why even when everyone is
amazed at His understanding and His answers, it's not through standing
up among men and teaching them a thing or two, but through listening
and asking questions.
And even though He corrected His mom, He never once upbraided His
parents. Rather, He went home with them and was submissive to them.
That's what we learn in the fourth commandment, and in Jesus it is
fulfilled in perfection. That is because Jesus is the ultimate
servant, delighting in God's will. He never took Himself too seriously
but always took seriously the passion and will of His Heavenly Father
to save the people He created.
That's why we need to get out of the way. So that we can stop dwelling
on ourselves and get caught up in the salvation work of our Lord. It's
a shame we so often take ourselves too seriously. We're very concerned
about our rights. Kids want to make sure everything's fair. But don't
we want our due? Aren't we envious of those who seem to have more or
better when there's no reason we don't deserve it as much as they do?
When we have difficult decisions to make, aren't they often difficult
because we want to get out of doing the right thing to ensure we can
get what we want?
Perhaps you made new year's resolutions. Look them over. What ways
have you determined you're going to improve yourself? Are they all
concentrated on what you need to do to be better? Do they focus on how
you can enjoy life more? None of this is bad. But are you taking
yourself too seriously? Do you easily dismiss the true and eternal
focus and basis of your life? Mary and Joseph did. He was right there
with them. After twelve years of raising the Son of God they still
took themselves too seriously. They still weren't ready to see in Him
the very salvation of the world. They still needed to think of
themselves as the ones who were calling the shots.
They weren't quite ready for kings bowing down before their baby. They
weren't thrilled with their twelve year old son who wandered off on
His own to be about some business they didn't quite understand. They
weren't ready for a son who went out and got Himself arrested and
brutally beaten and killed on a cross.
We take all these things for granted because we've heard them so many
times. But do we take ourselves any less seriously than Jesus'
parents? We might not have much problem with a baby who has come to
save us. Or even a twelve year old. Or an adult. But how much stock do
we put in our Baptism when things get rough in our lives? How much do
we long for Holy Communion when we're troubled by our sins? How much
do we really take comfort in hearing the Gospel proclaimed to us for
the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith?
Mary treasured up all those amazing events in her heart. We ought to
do the same. Because it was only through her Son that she had true
life. It is only through her Son that we see we don't need to take
ourselves so seriously because He has taken seriously our condition
and need for salvation. He has taken it so seriously that, even at age
twelve, He was about His Father's business. So seriously that He was
ready and willing to suffer for our sin, for our guilt, and in our
place. So seriously that it was not beneath Him to become a man as we
are. To be a servant and delight in His Heavenly Father calling on Him
to love and serve and save.
Do you take yourself too seriously? Try something refreshing for a
change. Look to Jesus. Whatever He's doing, He's doing it for you.
Whatever He is about, He's about it for your salvation. When He
Baptizes you, you're Baptized—and that means He'll never let you go.
When He gives you His Body and Blood in His Holy Supper, that means He
is giving you Himself—so that you know you don't need to rely on
yourself for the strength you need in life and for eternity. When He
comes to you in the preaching of His Word, you know that no matter how
seriously you take yourself, He'll strip you down so that all you'll
be able to see are your sins and His eternal sacrifice on the cross
that wipes them out. When He comes again in glory you will laugh, or
maybe cry, at how seriously you had taken yourself. But because He
loved you even when you were His enemy, you will rejoice that He is
very serious about saving you and always working out salvation for you
for all eternity. Amen.
SDG
--
Pastor Paul L. Willweber
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS]
San Diego, California
princeofpeacesd.net
three-taverns.blogspot.com
It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything
except where the marks of the Church are concerned.
[Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian]
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