Preached by the Right Reverend Grant Lynn Ford at the Sunshine Cathedral first on Sunday, January 14, 2001, again on Sunday, January 12, 2003, and after revision and retitling, on Sunday, January 8, 2006.
The grace of our Master Teacher — the love of God in the unity of Spirit — be with you all.
O Wisdom of the Ages: Your Spirit brooded on creation, shaping our world into a happy and healthy home. Your first words brought order to Chaos. Your wisdom continues to fill our lives with wonder, whether spoken by prophets and wise men and women of old or coming from the lips of Jesus, our Master Teacher, who summed up Truth as the manifestation of your Love in our lives.
Yet we sometimes cling to our ignorance and our prejudices. Lord, have mercy.
We resist the urge to “come of age”. Christ, have mercy.
We’d rather continue as little dependent children. Lord, have mercy.
Let your Spirit of Wisdom move upon us anew and make us a new creation, filled with your Truth, as we follow Jesus, our Master, who embodied all that is True, in whose name and example we pray. Amen.
Gitanjali (Song Offering) – Rabindranath Tagore
The child who is decked with prince’s robes and who has jeweled chains round his neck loses all pleasure in his play; his dress hampers him at every step. In fear that it may be frayed, or stained with dust, he keeps himself from the world and is afraid ever to move. Mother, it is no gain, thy bondage of finery, if it keep one shut off from the healthful dust of the earth, if it rob one of the right of entrance to the great fair of common human life.
Infancy Gospel of Thomas 19 (Miller)
When he was twelve years old his parents went to Jerusalem, as was their custom, for the Passover festival, along with their traveling companions. After Passover they returned home. As they returned, the child Jesus went back to Jerusalem, but his parents thought he was in the caravan. When they had gone a day’s journey, they sought him among their relatives. When they didn’t find him, they were upset and returned to the city to look for him.
Three days later they found him in the temple, seated among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. Everyone paid attention to him and all were amazed how, though a child, he was able to silence the elders and teachers of the people, interpreting the main points of the Law and the enigmatic sayings of the prophets.
His mother Mary approached. “Why did you do this to us, child,” she said to him. “Look how we have been searching for you in our grief.”
“Why are you looking for me?” Jesus answered. “Don’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
The scholars and Pharisees asked, “Are you the mother of this child?”
“I am,” Mary responded.
They said to her, “You of all women are to be congratulated, because God has blessed the fruit of your womb. We have never seen nor heard of such glory or such virtue and wisdom.”
Jesus got up, followed his mother, and was obedient to his parents. His mother remembered all these events. Jesus grew in wisdom and age and grace.
Kids do say the darndest things. A newspaper ran a contest, asking children to imitate ‘Deep Thoughts’ by Jack Handey of Saturday Night Live. One teenager said: “I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I don’t have any clean laundry because, come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last of their life?”
Speaking of kids with their Deep Thoughts, here’s what a 13-year-old said: “Give me the strength to change the things I can, the grace to accept the things I cannot, and a great big bag of money.”
A real thoughtful 13-year-old said: “I bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween.”
Do you think the preadolescent Jesus went around saying crazy things to confuse the adults. Like the 6-year-old who said: “For centuries, people thought the moon was made of green cheese. Then the astronauts found that the moon is really a big hard rock. That’s what happens to cheese when you leave it out.”
Yes, I believe that Jesus was a real live kid! He was also a kid who had a sense of purpose. Do you think that’s possible? My mother tells me that as a child I would line up wood in the shed and preach away to that stack of wood. Of course, my congregation is much different today!
I can easily believe that Jesus had dreams of doing something important, of making a difference, of doing God’s will. In fact, when he drove them crazy by disappearing in Jerusalem for a whole day, all he could say was: “Why are you looking for me? Don’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” I bet Mary just wanted to smack him…in a saintly sort of way, of course!
When I was 16 I was playing piano for a youth service at the Hammond Gospel Mission. We were Pentecostals, so we always ended our services by gathering at the front of the church and kneeling for prayer. Sometimes the prayer went on for hours (or so it seemed to a teenager!). However this particular evening I ended up praying behind the old barely-tuned upright piano which angled from the wall. It was there I felt a strong ‘call’ to preach the Good News.
I was ready to begin right then, but it was years before I really understood what that call really meant. In my life I have been a newspaper publisher, a radio disc jockey, a political candidate in Chicago—where we vote early and often—and an entrepreneur. Every one of these ‘careers’ helped me to become who I am today, and every one of them was a part of the Divine Design for me.
I have also come to understand that each of us has a ‘call’ in our lives. We are all called to do something wonderful, to be someone wonderful. Each call is different, matching our gifts and skills, our personalities and our peculiarities. All we need to do is determine what that call — that special purpose — is, and we will taste the eternal satisfaction that Jesus demonstrated in his life even as a young teen.
By the way, what is true for each of us is true for all of us as a church. Knowing God’s will for our future, and acting on that will, is important if we are to continue to be the Cathedral God has called us to be. When I first preached this sermon, we were faced with the challenge of finding a new, larger home. The next time I preached it, we were planning to expand our ministries. Now we’re called to a higher level of excellence and a greater measure of participation by being involved in team ministries and taking classes in Light University to improve our knowledge and life skills.
Opportunities abound. There’s the Women’s Guild and In Terra Pax. There’s the Worship and Chancel Ministries and the Music and Arts Ministries. There are all kinds of team within the Congregational Life Ministries and Outreach Teams will take you to jails and adult living facilities to minister, or you can help gather food for the homeless and hungry. Or you can work right here in the Cathedral office. We need help answering phones and sending out mailings.
This year we are again working to mobilize our membership: “Every Member a Minister, Every Ministry a Team.” It sounds easier than it really is, so Canon Houts and her team of Associates will be devoting great time and energy to helping you find your ministry. Bernie McGlinchey, our Volunteer Ministry Associate, pointed out at the end of yesterday’s New Member Orientation that 95% of our conversation was not about what we believe but about what we do, about volunteering, ministering, being involved.
It reminds me of those who say, “I don’t believe in religion, but I believe in spirituality.” The truth is, biblical religion is very important. St. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote: “Real religion—from God’s point of view—is this: taking care of the unloved and uncared-for, while taking care not to let this society corrupt your thinking and behavior.” James 1:27
The writer of the book of Hebrews says: “Hang in there! When you have found your place in the Divine Design, God’s Promise will be yours!” Hebrews 10:36
If you’re not now a member, we have another goal, and that’s to encourage you to become a member this year. You’ll find our next New Orientation listed in the SunBurst; it’s only a few weeks away, in February.
The ‘bottom line’ is spiritual maturity, coming of age in Christ, even as Jesus came of age. Today we read from the Gospel of Thomas where it said, “Jesus grew in wisdom and age and grace.” Notice: mind, body and spirit.
We are invited to rise to that same level of maturity. St. Paul prays that “we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13
That maturity is ours when we find our place in the Divine Design, and fulfill God’s will for our lives. We are encouraged by Paul to “keep working out your own salvation with a driving awe, knowing that God is giving you both the ‘want to’ and the ‘how to’—the motive and the drive—to fulfill God’s plan for you in the Divine Design.” Philippians 2:12b-13
God gives us both the call and the courage. We can, as Paul says, “do all things through Christ—the anointing—which strengthens us.” Philippians 4:13
Are we ready to do it, as a church? Are you ready to do it as a child of God? You can mature in spirit while living life with the excitement of the kid. And you can do it while really making a difference.
You know what? That’s the Truth!
I am the offspring of God.
I am God’s favorite kid!
Divine Mind believes in me….
and wants me to be healthy…
and wants me to be prosperous…
and wants all good for me.I’m God’s kid, so I accept…
and I share it all with joy.And so it is! Amen.
The wife of President Robert A. Taft once said: “I always find that statistics are hard to swallow and impossible to digest. The only one I can remember is that if all the people who go to sleep in church were laid end to end they would be a lot more comfortable.”
Not in this church! Wake up! We must be about our Father’s business! But first rise up and let’s sing.
