Christmastide

December 26, 2021

Scripture Reading: 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.

I have a grandnephew who has never met a stranger. I walked down the nursing home hall where my mother lived with him once when he was eight. An elderly lady dressed in a nightgown using a cane walked toward us. She saw him and cried out, “It’s my grandson,” and headed straight for him. He hugged her around the waist and said, “How are you?” She was delighted. He indicated he had to leave and see someone else, and we continued to my mom’s room. I asked him who the lady was; he said he had never seen her before but thought she needed a hug from her grandson. Since he was not there, my grandnephew hugged her. I was not surprised at his behavior; I had a dad who had never met a stranger. His brother married a woman while stationed on the east coast during World War II. When he was called up to go overseas, he arranged for his wife to live with his mother. My mother picked her up at the train station and took her to my grandmother’s house, where the three women had a cordial, polite conversation for several hours but did not learn much about her each other. Later, when my dad joined them, my mother reported that Dad knew his new sister-in-law’s life story within the hour. Gregarious is probably the best word to describe this behavior, and I believe Jesus was gregarious from birth.

All are not born with that talent, and some people are not open to sharing so informally with others. The stories of Jesus indicate that from an early age, he read people well, was gregarious with those who welcomed it, and was more reserved with those who did not. In either case, he was a good listener and radared in his behavior that he cared about the people whose lives he touched. That included his parents when he realized at the age of 12 that he had caused them much distress, so he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them

We are called to develop good communications habits based on who we are and find the best ways to reach out to others using our God-given skills, sharing the love of God with them through our love.

Prayer: Lord, Help us develop the skills you have provided us and use them in your service. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.