Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 28 December 2024.
• First Reading: 1 Samuel 2: 18-20, 26 ()
• Epistle: Colossians 3: 12-17 ()
• Gospel: Luke 2: 41-52 ()
I have been through 2 reorganizations of local government: one in 1975 and another in 1996.
Both had several things in common, apart from having been designed and implemented by central government.
One aspect was that while the overall shape was known and roughly understood, the details were far from clear. This gave rise to a lot of uncertainty, rumours, and then the criticism, the back-biting, the dribble of news and information on what was happening: and when and how.
Little by little, morale drained away. Until it was practically gone. Some senior officials retired on generous settlements while others had to pick up the pieces. These were not very good times.
Now think of the normal course of family life. Here too we rely on consistency and rationality. Relationships and responsibilities need to be clear and understood. And here too, when they fail then there is a lot of distress, anger and a disintegration of the morale and unity of the family as such.
Here too, a flourishing family needs clear relationships and responsibilities.
Our lessons from Samuel and Luke are both of servants of the Lord who were placed in the care of people who were not in effect their most intimate companions.
In Samuel’s story, his birth had come out of a promise by his mother to dedicate him to the service of God, and that she did. He grew up in the temple, cared for by the priest Eli who himself had a pretty wayward and self-indulgent family.
No doubt he was diligent enough – but possibly a little distant and Samuel grew up and made his friends as best he could. Life was to be a lonely business, with annual visits by his mother.
And yet we are told that he overcame any social and emotional difficulties, growing up socially in relations with other people and with God as he grew up spiritually.
And yes, there would be a long ministry ahead of him as he received the people’s demand for a king, and then anointed first Saul (and then pronounced the Lord’s dismissal of him) and then David, whose reign prospered. Albeit with hiccoughs.
But then there was Jesus’ homelife which we remember this Sunday as the Holy Family.
We knew that He was born to Mary and Joseph who raised Him, training Him as a carpenter and living in the north of the Holy Land, in Nazareth, closer to the trading routes of the Esdraelon Valley linking modern Haifa with the Jordan valley.
Definitely meeting a wide variety of people and yet living within the comfort and security of a family, with brothers and sisters.
Luke is clear in saying that Jesus was Mary’s firstborn child, while Matthew also says that Mary and Joseph abstained from personal intimacies until after Jesus’ birth.
But evidently there was the rough and tumble of family life, and that is before you start looking at the extended family.
For all that Jesus knew that He also had a different heritage and identity and it came through at His Bar-mitzvah and He entered adulthood.
For Mary and Joseph, this did not mean kicking over the traces and living alone. Not quite how it works. Old enough to be responsible. Never old enough to ignore and abandon His mother. And they were together right to the end – for she was also there at Calvary.
Writing to the church in Colossae, Paul also writes of attitudes and relationships within the church.
Here too there is that sense of being and belonging.
He writes of the qualities of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience: the fruits of the spirit that he would spell out to the church in Galatia.
Again there is that exhortation to forgive, to let the peace of Christ dwell in them personally and intimately in their hearts.
To let their worship be genuine, full of a godly thankfulness and to let the message of Christ dwell among them and with them.
All this is about the life of the church as a family: if there were no misunderstandings, no confusions and occasional tensions then there would be nothing to forgive.
But life is about growing up – and it applies to all stages of life, and that means managing relationships and expectations. It means giving each other space and respect.
It means knowing when to say thank you: that’s the easy one – and when to say I’m sorry: less easy, but still necessary.
Maybe making allowances for one who is not on best form that day, maybe helping another in an awkward task. Maybe also anticipating that more help might be wanted.
All of this is simple and undramatic. Not the dramatic stuff of soap operas. But it is all part of the way we grow up and grow together: growing in stature, and wisdom; growing and strengthening in our relationships with one another and with God.
This is where we may want a little help from our friends and from God.
