Jesus Grew up fast!

Amazing that in only 6 days Jesus went from being born to turning 12! In only 2 weeks he will be thirty and getting baptized! My how he grows up fast. Celebrating the milestones in Jesus early life go quickly, both in the bible and in our liturgical calender, yet we can absorb much from them. The gospel reading for today was Luke 2:41-52, when Jesus was left in Jerusalem when he was 12, then his parents returned to find him at the temple impressing the people with his knowledge and answers. The questions and answers he gave at only 12 years old! Already it appears he had become a prodigy of scripture and reasoning. Lighten up on that prodigy in youth group! It is good for older children to have such knowledge at the time hormones start kicking in. 

What I like most about this passage is that it is the only one that describes Jesus during adolescence. I must admit, I have always felt a bit ripped off, especially as a youth minister, that this is all we know of Jesus between birth and 30 years old.

^"40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him."

Left in Jerusalem story, then:

^"51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."NIV, Luke 2

 This is it! Some things about his life we can gather from cultural history, that he would have had schooling including religious studies up until around this point of his life when he would have entered into something like a trade school to be a carpenter/craftsman like his father. What a great inspiration and goal for any youth: to be obedient to their parents! Not only that, but to grow in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man! That will be the source of inspiration for my relations with youth for years to come.

 I love the opportunity to teach them Christianity from a wide variety of perspectives as they choose how to pursue faith in Christ in a way that fits their unique personalities. I feel so blessed to have been gifted with the experience of being taught how to pursue faith in Jesus despite cultural and sectarian differences. What a life mission for us, to share our faith with others as we grow in wisdom and stature, in the sight of God and men. 

One of the ways I have recently investigated religion is to read some of the works of Martin Luther, the great reformer. Basically, before him every Christian was Catholic. They were the Christian religion. Along his journey, Martin Luther got a hold of an entire bible, and was deeply enlightened when he was able to read the whole thing, not just the selected portions read during mass. He found some inconsistencies, 95 of them actually, between what the bible said and what the church was doing. He was also greatly appalled a the lack of knowledge among believers and even some pastors. He eventually became responsible for us being able to have copies of the bibles ourselves, instead of them only residing in the church.

One of the ways he desired to change things was to assemble a set of simple biblical doctrines that every believer should be taught. These were put together in the small catechism. It contains The Ten Commandments, The Apostles' Creed, The Lord's Prayer, sections on baptism, confession Eucharist (communion), sample morning and evening prayers, and a blessing for meals. It has explanations and commentary on each of these things. It is quite an in depth yet simple manual on how live in faith. It has endured since the 1500's and is still taught today in many churches, as basically, "Christianity 101", and is often a prerequisite for official church membership.

With all the discussions and situations in society today, an in-depth study of the essential elements of faith such as Luther's is time well spent. Every person who has faith in Jesus Christ would due well to study up on the small catechism, and consider the implications of the moral doctrines contained  in it.

 Small Catechism

From the small amount I have spent studying them thus far, I am amazed at how it has drawn me closer to God by pondering what I believe and why. I have also found Luther's directions for the head of households to teach these principals their family to be a great motivation for making that a priority in our home. They will continue to challenge me for some time, and they are a subject I wish to write about frequently in this blog. I have found thus far that following his instructions precisely can make for a simple joyous experience of faith. 

Perhaps my fascination with these religious things is do to not growing up in church, by I also know it is comforting to realize I am joining with the church of the past, present and future in these things. Humility is good in this life of faith, and today I can join with millions of others as we study the basics of faith.

While I recognize that a traditional commentary on the liturgical calender would start in the beginning of December with Advent, it's my blog and I'll start it anytime i want! I actually love that it was started on Christ's birthday, with the start of a life that forever changed the world, which I am sure no one was truly ready for and I would doubt any of us are ready for today, if we are honest. 

So this whole religion thing has gotten some press recently, and it seems far more would be beneficial.  After hearing and being taught how 'bad' religion is, upon further investigation I have found it to be more of what I need. Who doesn't need more discipline in their life of faith? How many of us actually do devotions every morning? How many of us actually live out the things we so passionately sing about and get taught every Sunday? When we say "I'll pray for you", then do we actually do it? Our follow through on relationships, especially with our Savior, often suffers in our fast-paced technology laced society. 

It is my precise purpose in this blog to reconcile all of us back to our God, and also back to his church; past, present and future. It's seems for us to move forward in maturity as "Christians" we must embrace all that is Christ's. I know it frequently seems easier to deny being allied with traditional religion, it's inherent baggage,  and try to then demonstrate these ways that our type of faith is superior or somehow easier than the rest. In attempting these tactics  we also water down the true message of the gospel. 

We commit the greatest sin by refusing to acknowledged our alliance with Christ's entire church! This not only causing a tremendous amount of confusion to outsiders but a tremendous amount as well to those proclaiming faith. Perhaps the greatest ironic truth is found in this battle we wage against each other as God's people, in direct rebellion to the unifying effect the Holy Spirit brings! The message of Christmas, "peace on earth and goodwill to men" most certainly applies to us. I'll be love to any and all others whom I share faith with, don't share faith with and all others too.