The Great Ends of the Church: Fellowship
Luke 2:41-52
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’ He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.
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Last week we looked at what it means for us to proclaim the gospel and salvation. We took time to understand salvation as a never-ending story of God's grace. Yet, it is grace that requires a response of gratitude from imperfect people. What better way to respond in thanksgiving as striving disciples than by providing for the "shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of God's people?" We are people created to live in a community; even the introverts among us would say that a minimal level of interaction is essential to fostering a healthy physical and spiritual life. Is it a task that we are up to as a church? For we must realize that spiritual fellowship is almost as costly as salvation if we are to do it well and faithfully.
Funny that we should talk about fellowship being as costly as salvation as we find Jesus' family in Jerusalem celebrating the Passover festival. Amid the chaos, commerce, and comradery, Mary and Joseph begin the process of herding their family back home. Well, everyone except Jesus. Now, I can imagine how much time it takes to parent children; I can't imagine how much you multiply that standard when you factor in that your child is the Messiah. So then, let's cut Mary and Joseph a break when we discover that Jesus remained in Jerusalem because besides Jesus, we know that there were at least four other sons and possibly two or more daughters, see Mark 6:3). You can picture it now, Mary asking Joseph if he's seen Jesus (you know the Messiah), to which Joseph probably replied, "Stop worrying, I'm sure he's fine."
To Joseph's credit (in this imaginary conversation), Jesus was okay. And it's important for us to note where Jesus goes after discovering his family left him behind. Jesus didn't wander the streets aimlessly; he made his way back to the temple, his "church," where he found people he most likely worshiped with during the festival of Passover. Now, this doesn't keep Mary from saying the sorts of things panicked parents would say to their children, but she must have been touched when Jesus essentially tells her, "What do you mean? Don't you know this church is also home, and these people are also my family?" What parent wouldn't appreciate an answer like that? It's impactful enough that we are told that Mary, even after this ordeal, cherished/treasured all these things in her heart.
There's a study that came out last year that talked about the importance of adult support during childhood. The study looked at resilience (the ability to transform potential toxic stress into tolerable stress) in children. It noted that for children who experience(d) adverse childhood experiences (ACE), constant access to a trusted adult mitigated the negative impact of these ACEs. The church is positioned to be a part of a much larger puzzle when it comes to creating an environment where children AND adults feel welcomed and where they trust. Mary, treasuring all these things in her heart, is a call for us to treasure one another. It is a call to treasure this community that has loved and sheltered, it is a call for us to provide nurture as we hold God's people and ourselves in divine love, and it is a call to welcome, sincerely and authentically welcome.
Why do I mention that we must cherish these things and live them authentically? I say it because, as a church, we are called to love what makes us uncomfortable and uncomfortable with what we love. The study I mentioned doesn't include the increased risk that children of color, children of poorer families, and children who identify differently than their peers are children who are, sad to say, do not find the church a place they can trust. And as we long for the "good ol' days" where the church was "full and vibrant," how many churches that have galleries have forgotten that those galleries were not families with laughing youth but for enslaved Black people who were forced to attend as their master's "property." We have some work that we can even do here in our own home when it comes to expanding our sense of treasuring God's people.
"[T]he shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God" is not a simple goal. It is not as simple as planning a party and requires us to build up stamina as if we were hosting a lifetime of concurrent parties. Providing shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship means that we each have a part to play, which in our church is all the more critical. As a part-time pastor, I play a role in cultivating a spirit of welcome and treasuring all who come into our church. Our part-time office administrator Kathy also plays a role in this ongoing mission marathon. Dear friends, this is why I say that it is up to each of us to embody and live out this great end. Especially here, it requires the work of a community, not one or two or five members, but the entire collective. If we want to seriously consider how we will grow into the following year or next decade, it begins with your role in cultivating divine trust and love.
You and I are here for such a time as this. You and I are here right now as people who can challenge the status quo, people who can demonstrate what it means to "love our neighbors as ourselves," and as people who treasure one another. So you and I are called. It is a sacred calling that is a part of our faith and part of our lives together here at the First Presbyterian Church of Mahopac. It does not mean that we will become like those we embrace and treasure, but our collective identity will increasingly reflect the multi-faceted gem that is the heart of God. So let us be a home that truly welcomes the tired, the weak, the weary, the faithful, the strong, the confident, and all the people and children of God. May we take to heart the opening words of our mission statement, "The Church on the Hill is a family of faith." Amen.