Theological Truth: Mary and Joseph model an incarnational faith that requires seeking, searching, and ultimately, following.
Come Holy Spirit, and kindle in us the fire of your Love. Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.
Rev. Cara reminded us last Sunday that Christmas isn’t over, and technically it still isn’t—Happy 12th Day of Christmas! But since Jesus shows up in today’s gospel as a twelve-year-old, I can understand how one might think it’s time to take down the tree and put away the creche. But there’s another way to think about it. The Feast of the Nativity may have ended, but our observance and celebration of the Incarnation requires more time. Because the mystery of the Word made flesh has implications for our relationship with God and one another, it’s important to spend these twelve days reflecting on the beginning of the Jesus story so that we can more fully recognize the grace and truth throughout all that is to come in the liturgical year ahead. There are themes to notice and patterns to pay attention to.
For example, throughout Jesus’ life, from the beginning in a stable to the end on a cross, he engages with conflict while maintaining a holy humility. Today’s gospel provides another example of how both struggle and humility are essential aspects of the incarnational faith of Jesus. For starters, the conversations Jesus is having in the Temple are not passive lessons. He’s actively engaged with Jewish teachers and scholars. Together they are wrestling with issues, struggling with big questions, disputing with one another, thereby fulfilling the great commandment: to love God with all their heart, and soul, and mind and strength. The incarnational faith of Jesus isn’t afraid to ask hard, even uncomfortable questions … and to stand up for what he believes in.
Jesus also apparently isn’t afraid to make difficult choices. He chooses to stay behind in his Father’s house and tend to his Father’s business. He knows the festival has ended. He realizes it’s time to go home, but he also senses a deeper calling. Sometimes the most difficult choices are between two competing goods, rather than between good and evil. In this instance, he chooses God over family, despite the great anxiety it causes his parents.
Mary and Joseph also embrace conflict in a productive way. They’re understandably panicked when they realize that Jesus isn’t just hanging out with the other kids in the caravan. They’ve walked a full day (about 15 miles) and then can’t leave until the next morning, which takes another full day to get back to Jerusalem. And then they still don’t find their twelve-year-old son (entrusted to their care by God!) until the third day. That’s more than parental panic….that’s full-blown, “When I find that kid I’m going to kill him” mode. Mary doesn’t say that…but she doesn’t stay quiet either. She states her feelings
and asks for an explanation. (We don’t hear much from Joseph…probably smart on his part! : ) But they both remain engaged in the struggle of real-life relationships. Their life with Jesus isn’t one long ecstatic union with the Divine. It’s more authentic than that, complete with all the conflict and struggle that is definitely part of parenting, but also integral to all meaningful relationships.
Humility is also on display from both Jesus and his parents. For Jesus, we see it in his willingness to sit with the teachers rather than assert himself over them. He doesn’t hide away out of fear or inferiority either. He is able to be who he is and where he is, because his healthy humility is grounded in his connection with God, rather than status conferred by people. His humility allows him to be fully present — “connected to” God rather than accommodating the world.
Mary and Joseph also display this sense of humility. They don’t fully understand his explanation for staying behind in the Temple, but they recognize there’s something important going on there. Their humility is in their connection to the Word made flesh. They don’t fully comprehend, but they follow him nevertheless. Yes, Jesus is obedient to them as he increases in wisdom, age, and favor. But notice the subtle change in who is leading whom. Mary and Joseph go up to the festival (v. 22), but Jesus goes down to Nazareth (v. 51). The subject changes from Mary and Joseph to Jesus. What began with
them leading Jesus to Jerusalem, ends with him leading them back to Nazareth. Their understanding is far from complete, but their faith is alive and evolving. By accepting struggle and maintaining a holy humility, they are living the faith of Jesus.
As people of faith—followers imitating the faith of Jesus—can we, like Mary and Joseph, actively engage with the conflicts and struggles of our lives, while maintaining a holy humility?
It seems to me that Jimmy Carter lived with this kind of faith. His political career was beset with conflict and characterized by humility. There was a stretch where it seemed like this sort of incarnational faith was weak and made him vulnerable. His honesty was used against him and his kindness was mistaken for weakness. He lost his re-election bid, but he never lost his faith. He continued to engage in the struggle for peace and human rights, while all the time maintaining a holy humility that the world eventually came to recognize as valiant, valuable, and powerful. His faithful life stands the test of
time and sets an example not only for authentic political power, but also for what following the faith of Jesus looks like. It may not be popular in the short term, but in the end, it changes the world.
The God of Jesus Christ empowered Mary and Joseph to engage in the struggles of their day with a healthy humility — a holy humility grounded in the sublime, unwavering truth that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only son.” (Jn. 3:16) It has nothing to do with how right, or rich, or certain, or powerful we are, but everything to do with how good God is … was … and ever will be. This amazing Grace and embodied Truth comes alive in the birth of Jesus, but that’s only the beginning! The story continues … even to this day … even for us. Welcome the struggle. Stay humble. God is with us. Always.
As the psalmist says, “Happy are the people whose strength is in [God], whose hearts are set on the pilgrim’s way.” (Ps. 84:4) We are on the pilgrim’s way. Merry Christmas!
Sermon by Rev. William AJ Heine at Trinity Episcopal Church, Staunton, Virginia, on January 5, 2025.
