Sunday 29th July 2018
Unfortunately the technical issues with the recording equipment continues this week and Elaine's sermon is only available as audio.
TALK 2 – GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
Beginning – Pictures (Elderly, baby, child learning, Alton Towers)
What do you think these pictures have in common? They all show growth/development/maturity
Our reading this morning from Luke’s gospel gives us the most detailed account of Jesus growth and development, in describing Jesus birth, childhood and development he really helps us to focus on the humanity of Jesus. We hear of the infant who could do nothing on his own, at 8 days old he was dedicated to God in the temple, it was hear that the 2 prophets confirmed him to be the Messiah. We then glimpse Jesus, aged 12, discussing theology with the Jewish teachers of the law, if we read on we would hear of Jesus going to the wilderness 18 years later to prepare for being baptised before beginning his public ministry. At age 12 Jesus was considered almost an adult, so he probably didn’t spend lots of time with his parents when they were at the festival. Those who attended the festivals often travelled in caravans for protection of robbers along the Palestine road. The women and children would travel at the front with the men bringing up the rear. A 12 year old boy could have been in either group, so both Mary and Joseph probably assumed Jesus was with the other one, but when the caravan left Jerusalem, Jesus stayed behind totally absorbed in discussions with the religious leaders. We can relate to Mary & Joseph’s anxiety, the panic they must have felt when they discover that the their 12 year old boy is not with the travellers, but when they find him 3 days later in the temple, in the version Jacqui read for us this morning it reads “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” I can imagine what she is thinking in her anxiety is “Where have you been young man? Your father and I didn’t survive angel visits, birth in a manger and living like refugees only to have you get lost in Jerusalem!” Luke tells us that Jesus spent 3 days in the temple, questioning and learning, like all adolescents Jesus had to work out his own identity. Jesus knew he belonged to God the Father, Mary and Joseph loved Him, they nurtured Him, he was taught to worship God, read the scriptures and pray, His relationships with God, his earthly parents and others were growing and developing all the time. We read that Jesus returned to Nazareth in Galilee with His parents, he grew up healthy and strong, knowing he was loved and valued. These verses just make me think of that human element of his childhood, he was growing, developing, learning, being loved and nurtured by his parents and presumably by others in his life. I sometimes think we underestimate the importance of the roles and responsibilities of parents & carers:
Story of foster child
(Personal Story)
As parents, relatives, teachers, guardians and friends of children, we are, and should be, concerned for their wellbeing. We are to protect and teach them, nurture and nourish their lives, ensure their health and safety. We all need someone to guide and guard our growing up. Growing up is hard work! Growing up means establishing our identity and figuring out our place in the world, it involves creating relationships, setting priorities and making decisions. We must choose beliefs and values that structure our lives and along the way we will make mistakes, get lost, sometimes we will need to backtrack or even start over, this is both true for our human development and our spiritual development. I often think of those people in my life who nurtured me, not only my family who nurtured me through a happy childhood and continue to love and encourage me even now as an adult, but also those people in my life who help me on my journey with God. I feel very blessed to have those I would call my spiritual mothers and fathers, those who have taught me, encouraged me, exposed me to new experiences, guided me and also my spiritual brothers and sisters, those that I get to walk this amazing journey with, to get scared together, try new things together, love each other and encourage each other along the way, I am so thankful everyday for each and everyone of them, and there are some of you here today. As many of you know, I have 2 children of my own, whom I love dearly and I have a background of working with children, 23 years in a nursery and 5 ½ years childminding. I trained at college in child development, but all my years experience with my own children and the children I’ve had the privilege of looking after have taught me that having knowledge of the ages and stages of childhood development may be very helpful, however, there is nothing quite like really getting to know the individual child and building a relationship of love and trust and really getting to know them. One size definitely doesn’t fit all when it comes to milestones or to discipline, learning styles and everything in between. Children all learn and development in different ways and at different paces, children don’t all have the same nature or the same skills, they are all unique. Like children, we are all unique too, God made us that way! One size definitely doesn’t fit for us either. I firmly believe, God teaches us all in different ways too. He shows us things in ways he knows will work at a particular time or in a particular situation or over a particular period of time. For me, one of the ways I have come to recognise time and time again is that God will speak to me through trusted people in my life, at another time it may be through a song, a prayer, a piece of scripture, something I read, or it may be a physical feeling or emotion, it may be in a familiar situation or an unusual situation, God knows us all individually and knows how we learn in every situation and his timing is perfect.
God wants us to continue to grow and develop in our faith life, and in the same way that children growing up have their peers, and older children to look up to and younger ones to help, kind of like the school buddy system, so it is also with us in our faith journey. We will have throughout our lives, more mature Christians and younger Christians, not necessarily chronologically but rather, different stages of spiritual maturity. I think this is a scary thought and a big responsibility, but like the school buddy system, whilst we are nutured by those more mature in their faith(our spiritual mothers & fathers), we are then expected to nurture those younger Christians, in other words, it is our responsibility to be spiritual mothers & fathers to younger Christians.
I don’t know about you but I find that quite daunting! However, it’s important to remember, it’s not us , but rather, it’s God, through us, we just need to make sure our relationship is right with God, be obedient and he will equip us. Thankfully we have our spiritual brothers and sisters to walk alongside us, I am so thankful for the blessing of family, friends and church family in my life. There is absolutely no doubt that our relationship with God and each other is absolutely essential for our spiritual growth and development.
Three Moments To Share
1.Arlo & Olly: Suddenly, I find myself at a different stage in my life, our children are adults now, so when I go to visit a new baby, a young family, I am excited at the family life that may lie ahead for them, but I can see what that might look like because I’ve already lived that chapter, they ask me questions, knowing I’ve been there. When I was in that chapter and friends were in the same chapter, we experienced it together, but none of us could imagine what it would be like.
2.Wedding: Strong vision sitting at the top table, like a movie in my mind of our family life, babies, hospitals, children, holidays, finance, mistakes. Back then, I could never have dreamed of this chapter now. Sitting looking at my son and my new daughter in law with my daughter by their side and this whole new family that we’ve gained through them. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, exciting, scary, what a privilege. Now I could see things through our Parents eyes, I couldn’t do that before as I hadn’t experienced it, I had never been in this chapter before.
We have a family friend called Nancy, when Kieran & Erin were very young one of Nancy’s sons, daughter in law and 2 grandsons emigrated to Australia, I remember vividly a conversation that has stuck with me when Nancy told me “Our job as parents is to bring them up to let them go!” Mary had to let go of her son and let him become a man, God’s son, the Messiah!
Letting go of people we love or projects we’ve nurtured can be very difficult. It is both sweet and painful to see our children growing into adults, our students into teachers, our inspirations into institutions. But when the time comes we must step back and let go in spite of the hurt. Then they can exercise their wings, take flight and soar to the heights God intended for them. We read in verse 49, “why were you looking for me,didn’t you know I was in my Father’s house? This chapter in Luke is the first mention of Jesus’ awareness that He was God’s son, but even though he knew his real father, Jesus didn’t reject his earthly parents. If the son of God obeyed his human parents, how much more should we honour our family members. We need to remember not to use commitment to God’s work to justify neglecting our family.
3.Jeanette – Ayrshire Hospice (Personal Story)
Sometimes, as I’m getting older, what I used to see as a wee glimpse of a picture in life, is now a bigger picture, I don’t know how to describe it, maybe like looking through a camera lens and seeing a frame of a picture, is now more like a landscape view, I see more of the picture, more of where we fit in, I look at baby Arlo coming into the world, our family wedding and this new chapter, and then at my dear dear friend Jeanette at the end stages of her earthly life and it just affirms for me that God’s got this!
God’s love is everlasting, He loved each and every one of us before he knitted us together in the womb, he loves us right through our childhood, adolescence and into adulthood and as we grow and develop into maturity, not even the end of our life here on earth can separate us from Him. It’s mind-blowing and absolutely amazing.
This whole chapter in Luke shows us that although Jesus was unique, he had a normal childhood and adolescence, in terms of development, like us he developed and matured physically and mentally as well as spiritually, he loved people and was loved by God, He shows us a full human life is balanced.
Jesus is without a doubt our perfect model of personal development.
So the challenge for this week :
Mirrors: Everytime you look in the mirror, try to see yourself maturing as God sees you, not seeing the aging and maturing as a negative thing, wrinkles, etc but rather, see the spiritual maturity and be grateful for the everchanging reflection that stares back from the mirror. A precious son or daughter of your heavenly father in whom he is well pleased.
Amen