Sunday, May 11, 2008: The High Calling of Parenthood

The High Calling of Parenthood
Luke 2: 41 – 52.

I. Introduction

Many people do not realize it, but the Bible has contributed several important phrases and expressions to our modern English language. People who have no idea that they are quoting the Bible use common expressions like…I have seen the handwriting on the wall…The team had no chance of winning. They were led as a lamb to the slaughter…He has washed his hands of all guilt…It was a David and Goliath match up…

Of course, you realize that these expressions originally came from the Bible. But did you know that some of your mother’s favorite expressions also came from the Bible? They were originally spoken by biblical mothers to their biblical sons:

Samson! Get your hand out of that lion. You don’t know where it has been!

David! I told you not to play with that sling in the house! Go practice your harp. We pay good money for your harp lessons.

Abraham! Stop wandering all over the countryside and get home for supper!

Cain! Get off your brother! You’re going to kill him someday!

Noah! How many times have I told you not to bring home stray animals?

James and John! No more burping at the supper table. People are going to start calling you the Sons of Thunder.

Judas! Have you been in my purse again?

Jesus! Close the door. Do you think you were born in a barn?

Every church I have ever been a member of recognized Mother’s Day as a special day of the year. Many churches actually celebrate Mother’s Day as if it were a Christian holiday—right up there with Christmas and Easter. But Mother’s Day actually has NOTHING to do with the church…It is not a Christian holiday AND it was not begun by a church.

Mother’s Day actually began in 1907, when Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, PA gave out carnations—her mother’s favorite flower—to every person who attended her mother’s funeral service. She continued to give out carnations each year to honor her mother on the second Sunday in May. She eventually began a letter writing campaign that resulted in the U.S. Congress passing legislation to designate Mother’s Day as the second Sunday in May and an official U.S. holiday. (And the people at Hallmark cards have been eternally grateful!)

Of course, I am not trying to say that churches should not recognize mothers or that Christians should not observe Mother’s Day. NO! Godly Mothers have made a tremendous impact on Christian men and women for centuries.

In fact, where would our churches be today without Mothers?

On the Sunday of Mother’s Day, I am always faced with several questions. How can I preach a sermon that honors our mothers AND honors the Risen Lord Christ? How can I preach a sermon that relates just to the women of our church—and even then, just to the women who are mothers?

Today, I want to broaden our focus somewhat and preach about godly families and the High Calling of Parenthood.

(Read Luke 2: 41 – 52.)

Jesus was one of those children who was in the church every time the doors were open. His parents were very serious about following the requirements of the Jewish Law—we know this because they had him circumcised on the eighth day. Jesus’ parents were serious about supporting the local synagogue in Nazareth—we know this because they made the customary sacrifice for a first-born son by offering two doves. And they were serious about attending the annual Passover Festival in the Temple at Jerusalem—we know this because Luke tells us a story about what was probably Jesus’ first Passover in Jerusalem.

In order for Mary and Joseph to attend Passover in Jerusalem, they had to make several sacrifices. They had to use up their entire two-week vacation from work to travel on a journey that lasted several days all the way from Nazareth down to Jerusalem for a week-long celebration…And then travel back home again.

More than likely Mary, Joseph, Jesus, James and the other children did not travel alone. The Bible does not tell us specifically, but we have discovered from ancient culture that in the interest of safety people usually traveled in groups. And it would not have been difficult for Mary and Joseph to find a group of religious pilgrims—just like them—who were willing to make the 70-mile trek from Nazareth to Jerusalem. After all, the Jewish Law actually REQUIRED all Jewish men over the age of 12 to attend the Passover celebration in Jerusalem.

Now 70 miles doesn’t sound very far by modern standards. On Monday of last week, I drove to Dallas and back in one day to attend a committee meeting at the BGCT building. According to my odometer, this was a 358 mile round trip…In one day.

However, there were no interstate highways and gasoline powered cars in the ancient world. The only way they had to travel was by foot. And the standard rule of thumb was that a person could only travel about 25 miles in one day. That puts Jerusalem about three days away from Nazareth.

The Passover festival was a special time for the Jewish people. You and I normally think of Passover as a time when the Jews remembered what God did for them to rescue them out of Egyptian slavery. God sent nine terrible plagues on Egypt, but Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go. Then God sent the tenth and final plague. The firstborn child of every family died suddenly, in the middle of the night. That is every family except the Hebrew families who had the Blood of the Lamb splattered on their doorposts. Death PASSED OVER these homes, and God commanded Moses to institute a feast to mark this as the beginning of the year for God’s people.

However, Passover was more than just remembering what God had done for the people long ago. It was a seven-day event that did two things…Remembering that God saved his people long ago…Celebrating that God has saved me…

After a week of celebration, worship, and feasting on wonderful foods Mary, Joseph and the other vacationers were tired and ready to get home. They gathered everything they had; they divided into two groups and they began to head home.

It was normal for large groups of pilgrims to travel in two groups. The first group was made up of all the women and children. The second group was all the men. The women and children traveled ahead of the men for one main reason. Since Nazareth was too far away to make it home in just one day, the women had to go ahead to find a comfortable place to set up camp for the night and to begin preparing the evening meal. The children traveled with their mothers and could normally be found playing and laughing and dancing alongside as they traveled.

I imagine that as Mary and the other women traveled along, Mary had a lot on her mind. She had to set up the tent for the family and prepare supper before Joseph and the men arrived. She had all that laundry to do once she got home. She had a full week ahead of her when she, Jesus and James finally got home. Where are Jesus and James? I haven’t seen them for several miles. Well, there’s James…I guess Jesus is traveling with the men now that he has finally turned 12.

I think this is probably how Jesus got left behind. A Jewish boy was considered a man when he became a bar mitzvah or the Son of the Covenant. Since this happened at age 12—and Luke tells us Jesus was 12—Mary thought Jesus was with the men, and Joseph never gave it a second thought.

When Mary and Joseph finally realized that Jesus was not with them, they did what any parent would do…They PANICKED! They rushed back to Jerusalem as quickly as they could and began searching in all the places where they thought Jesus might be. They looked on the Streets…In the Market Place…In the Toy Stores…On the Playground…At the Ball Field…Then, in a desperate move they looked in the Temple—Surely he won’t be in the Temple…

And that is where they found him…In the Temple…Sitting…Listening… Asking questions of the religious leaders…And the religious leaders were amazed that such a young man of only 12 would be so knowledgeable and interested in spiritual matters…

We can’t really blame Mary for being angry. She was just being a good mother who was worried about her child. Mary snapped at Jesus, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you!”

I just love Jesus’ answer… “My father? No, ma’am. I am in my Father’s house. I never left my Father’s side.”

Most of us are accustomed to hearing Jesus’ reply as something like, “I must be in my Father’s House.” But actually, Jesus never used the word “House.” He literally said, “I must be in my Father’s…”

This expression could mean “in my Father’s House”… “in my Father’s Business”… “in my Father’s Presence”… And Jesus spent his entire life doing just that…He spent time in the Temple…He did the Father’s Business…And He lived daily in God’s presence…

Jesus’ answer is not a smart alec reply. No, Jesus is surprised that Mary couldn’t find him. Jesus was surprised because Mary and Joseph had taught him about God’s Love…They had trained him to follow after godly ways…And they had demonstrated the importance of spending time with the Heavenly Father. He was only doing what he had seen them model for him.

This is the highest calling any parent could ever fulfill…To rear children in such a way that they develop into men and women of God…Men and women who earnestly desire to please God and spend time with him every day…

Jesus ENJOYED spending time with God, because that is how his parents trained him…

How can we fulfill this same calling with our children today? I say that we should follow the example set by Mary and Joseph…

II. They Lived Out a Godly Example for Their Children.

This is the only story the Bible tells about Jesus’ childhood…But it implies a lot about his parents’ spiritual life…

They lived and obeyed the Law and demonstrated what it meant to be faithful…

How can we truly expect our children to love God and live godly lives, if we are not modeling that for them at home? A hard truth for any of us to accept is the fact that most of us turn into the same kind of adults we watched our parents model for us.


III. They Took Their Children to Church.

Don’t you think it is interesting that the only story we have about Jesus’ childhood happened in church?

The Father’s House…God’s People…Both played an important part of Jesus’ life and development as a child…

How can we expect our children to go to church and grow with God’s people if we don’t take them to church as children? Ask yourselves a question: Do you go to church as often as your parents took you to church as a child? For many of you the answer is that you go to church LESS frequently than your parents. And, our children will more than likely go to church LESS frequently than we do.


IV. They Helped Their Children Develop Into Whole Persons.

Read Luke 2: 52…Jesus grew and developed in four important ways…

Physically…Food, Shelter and Clothing…

Mentally…Education and Training…

Spiritually…Discipleship…

Socially…Children must learn how to get along with others…


V. Conclusion

The High Calling of Parenthood requires more than simply providing physically and educationally for our children…We are called to develop children into the Image of Christ.

If we do not model Christ like behavior and Christ like desires for our own children, then where do we expect them to receive that? Will our children learn to live Christ like lives at school? Probably not! Will our children learn to live Christ like lives at church? The answer is “Yes, But…” Yes, children will learn to love and follow Jesus at the church. BUT, parents have to bring your children to church.