One preacher began his sermon on the story of Jesus in the temple at age 12 with this opening.

This has to be the censored version! What parents would leave a crowded city—one that was not their home—and journey a whole day without noting that their child was missing? Today they would be charged with child neglect. What 12-year-old from a loving home would calmly detach from his parents, enter the portals of probably the most daunting building in the city, and be found three days later in solemn debate with theologians of note? And then, what Jewish momma, finding her missing child after three days, would simply be “astonished”? Can you imagine her saying in polite Aramaic, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” Give me a break!

Whether you think this is a story about child neglect, or a story of the first intimations of Jesus’ true identity, it is the only story from Jesus’ childhood. What we have here is a kind of freeze frame in the life of Jesus at the age of 12. The other Gospels fast-forward from the birth to the age of 30. Luke has the Nativity story, and then this small story.

But that’s all we have. We don’t have much. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He was raised in Nazareth. We know nothing about his boyhood life prior to the age of 12. A few weeks ago we sang a hymn by J. Edgar Park entitled “We Would See Jesus.” One of the lines in the hymn goes like this:

            We would see Jesus, Mary’s son most holy,

            Light of the village life from day to day…[i]

Maybe that’s the way Jesus was. Maybe not. Maybe he was all boy.

A schoolteacher gained a reputation for short reports to parents. On one occasion she wrote on little Johnny’s math paper, “Trying.” The parents were delighted until the next report came home. It read, “Very trying.” Maybe Jesus was every little boy growing up.

He worked with his father in a carpenter shop. They made yokes for oxen. By today’s standard, Jesus grew up in a working middle class home. That’s all we have. That’s all we know.

But we do have this one story. Other so-called apocryphal stories exist. They sprang up over time. But the early church never deemed them worthy of Scripture. This one alone was preserved and deemed worthy. It comes from Luke, the historian, the man with the facts.

Always remember that Luke is preaching. Luke is offering proclamation here. He is wrestling with who Jesus is. He is trying to make sense out of the divine/human paradox. I invite you to listen to this story in the light of what Luke is really trying to do.

Why did Jesus go to Jerusalem for Passover at the age of twelve?

A Sunday School teacher asked her class why Joseph and Mary took Jesus with them to Jerusalem. One little girl answered, “Because they couldn’t find a babysitter.”

I think it goes deeper than that. Jesus’ parents probably thought it was time. At twelve he was old enough to see the Passover in the Holy City. He was old enough to learn. Perhaps this story is telling us that Jesus’ childhood was over. It was common for childhood to end about age 12 in those days. Many of you know that some churches confirm children at the age of 12 (in the sixth grade) because of this story. My own confirmation took place in the spring of my sixth grade year. I was told it was because of the story of Jesus in the temple at the age of 12.

Whatever the reason, something happened to Jesus on that trip. Luke implies that he had the first stirrings of a holy call. He had some intimations of divinity. Perhaps his heart jumped a bit when he first walked into the temple. Perhaps that’s what precipitated a precocious performance in front of the rabbis. Something happened that day that set his life on God’s clear path.

Now, I want you to notice something about the way Luke tells the story. Luke obviously has a sense of irony and a sense of humor. In verse 48 Luke has Mary saying, “Your father and I have been searching for you with great anxiety.” In verse 49 Jesus responds, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Luke deliberately plays on words.

I read a story about a family that was on its way home from church after worship. The little boy in the back seat was very quiet. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally the boy replied, “That preacher said he wanted us to be brought up in a Christian home. I want to stay with you guys.”

Luke is being a bit humorous as he tells us an important story.

However, I want you to notice something else in this story. It is encased with a repeated verse. In verse 40, just as the story begins, Luke says, “The child grew and became strong; he was full of wisdom, and God’s blessings were with him.” Then at the close of the story, Luke adds almost the same verse, “And Jesus grew both in body and in wisdom, gaining favor with God and all people.”

Why is that sentence stated twice? Luke saw these words as being very important to his readers. There was something here to model in the life of all believers. There is something here to model in your life and in mine. Two things stand out that we need to remember.

GROW AS HUMAN BEINGS

First of all, we are called to grow as human beings. We are to grow in all the fully human ways possible. We are to exercise our full humanity in positive, loving ways.

We grow in stature? Yes. In body mass? Yes. But a different kind of growth is intimated here. This is a maturation of the person, a maturation of the soul, and is continuous movement.

Luke says, like Jesus, we never stop growing. Growth is the only evidence of life. You are only fully human when you are growing.

Peter Senge is a high-powered management consultant. He has advocated a whole new design for corporate and management systems. He says that each one must become a learning organization. The major goal for all institutions is to incorporate lifelong learning. He says, “All effective organizations must be education-oriented.”

He implies that this especially must be true with the lightning-quick changes characteristic of the 21^st century. The fast track for change may have hit warp speed in the past 20 years. [ii]

Peter Senge does not talk about the church. But Luke does. Luke is writing to the church and for the church. He says, “Grow in wisdom. Grow in stature. Grow in good relationships. And keep on growing.”

Many of us in the church still rely upon what we learned in Sunday School. We might write our own book, “Everything I Need to Know about Jesus I Learned in Sunday School.” Or we stopped learning when we finished Confirmation. Hundreds of sermons in hundreds of churches each year at Confirmation time are preached on the theme that Confirmation is not the same as graduation.

To be fully human is to be growing at 12, and at 20, and at 50, and at 80.

GROW TOWARD GOD

We are especially urged to grow toward God. That’s the other thing that Luke is telling us here. Jesus grew in his relationship with God. Jesus grew toward God. So must we. The temple or the church becomes the seedbed for faith development.

That’s one of the reasons we encourage CBS groups for all of you this morning. Care, Bible, and Service! CBS groups are an important resource for growing toward God.

This past week I came across a reference to the autobiography of Charles Lindberg, the great aviator who was the first one to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Lindberg writes about living on the core versus living on the periphery of life. He says that the tempo of life has a centrifugal force that carries us outward from the core toward an ever-expanding periphery. We have to make ourselves return to the core frequently. [iii]

We can’t avoid the centrifugal forces working on us. They are pulling us toward external things, toward peripheral things, even toward trivial things. But the core is God. Moving ourselves back to the core is more essential than ever. We do it regularly. We do it intentionally. We do it over and over and over.

That’s why we worship here, and that’s why we encourage regular worship for each of you. That’s why we have 15 or so Covenant Discipleship groups in this congregation. That’s why we offer CBS groups as a tool today.

LIFE IS FULL OF CHOICES

Life is full of choices. One of those choices is choosing the right school. Learn something about that from a little vignette in Luke’s gospel. Choose to grow in human life skills and responses. Choose to grow toward God. You will never be sorry. You will always choose the right courses and the right curriculum. You will always be in the right class at the right time. And you will graduate with honors, by the power of God’s grace.