Grace and peace to you, from the father, Jesus Christ the Lord, and the Holy Spirit. 

I pray that you are all having a beautiful Christmas. 

Seeing family and friends has been a wonderful blessing. 

Hopefully you were able to see or talk to them all. 

Being part of a family is just one of the many gifts that we receive from God. As we all know families come in many different shapes and sizes. Graciously, in God’s family one person fits all, Jesus. 

Praise the Lord for the diversity of families, and God who has given us the gift of love. 

Love is like the perfect robe, one size fits all. 

Now that Misty and I are the farthest away from our family, I have a better understanding of travelling to see relatives. 

Preparing for Christmas includes a longer list when you have to travel. 

The checklist grows a little longer when you are not the host and forgetting things only adds to the pressure to doing everything well. 

Everything this year was glorious, except the windshield wiper that kept leaving a streak on the drive down. 

Having our own place to stay was also a blessing. 

My son has been doing an excellent job taking care of our home there. Even our Isabella Christmas tree was still fresh, giving added joy to the season.

I am beginning to feel the importance that showing up, being present is one of the greatest presents of all. 

Imagine the joy of God and the Joy to the World that Jesus brings on Christmas. Celebrating the birth of Jesus, not just one day, but everyday. Luke has us jump 12 years ahead to another family gathering. The celebration of Passover that Mary, Joseph and Jesus went to Jerusalem for? 

You may wonder that it seems like Jesus was just born, Luke lets our own experiences fill in the gaps. 

Have you ever heard the phrase, “I remember when you were just a baby?” The neat thing about the story is that the whole family travels together. I wonder how you pack for a trip like that? 

Jesus is now 12 and coming into adulthood, this was an important trip in many ways, and part of their yearly tradition for the whole family. 

What does that say about Jesus' family? 

Does your family celebrate in this same way? 

I think it shows how important faith and togetherness was for them. 

Making a journey, to worship God, similar to the journey you have made this morning, or even the yearly trip some make for Christmas. 

They show up, together sharing the tradition and joy of being together; especially remembering their past, with the Passover and why they are there. 

When it was time to leave they all started to return home, only they forgot something.

Have you ever forgotten something important? 

A phone, a favorite toy, a whole person? 

I think this has happened to all of us to a varying degree. 

The really interesting thing is that Jesus wasn’t lost or forgotten. Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. 

Why would a twelve year old boy stay behind? 

I can think of many distractions for a 12 year old. 

At this point it is helpful to know that these groups of people went as a large extended family to Jerusalem, on foot. 

The paths they walked would have been crowded with other families, probably extensions of their own family and going at their own pace. 

It would have been easy to get lost in the crowd or assume, like Mary and Joseph did, that Jesus was just with another group. 

Luke relates this story with a calm and cool that I don’t know that I would have in a similar situation. 

After three days of searching they locate Jesus. 

My correlation to this is what we have always taught our children with our many trips to the Minnesota State Fair if they should get lost. 

Locate someone with a badge or identification and tell them you are lost or without that look for a mother with children to ask for help. 

Jesus wasn’t lost and knew exactly where he should be.

In the temple, in his Father’s house, a place that welcomes the lost to find God. When we suspect “up to no good” Jesus is purely Up to good ! This is no ordinary 12 year old. 

It appears that Jesus is right at home, and he is; learning and teaching, building relationships with understanding. 

Jesus turns the tables on our understanding, when he answers Mary, like any mother with a lost child, who we are told had great anxiety and was deeply affected. 

“Why were you searching for me?’ 

Doesn’t that sound just like a 12 year old, almost like, “I wasn’t lost, you were.” Jesus turns our world upside down, and we often don’t understand Jesus. Ironically it is Jesus who understands us, and does not want us to worry. 

The humanity of the boy Jesus, a 12 year old, teaches us that God comes to us in many ways. 

Ways that can be difficult to understand. 

Jesus realizes the fear he caused his parents and others, in a way that predicts the fear of losing him, only to be found three days later. 

Jesus’ whole life is about God for us, in birth, life, death, and resurrection. What God has we have been given. 

The most beautiful Christmas sweater of love, one that always fits perfectly. 

This Christmas and first Sunday of Christmas I invite you to discover again what that gift means for you.

What is Jesus doing in your life that you can let go of some anxiety? Where can you let God do what God has promised? 

Perhaps you are looking for what you already have, or maybe in the wrong place? 

Kind of like when I lose my glasses and they’re right on top of my head. Take a moment to breathe, to expect the unexpected, and live together with love. 

Luke’s reading ends so well, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.” 

The Good News is that Jesus is the perfect fit for us, putting on love like a warm sweater to go out and share God’s love together. 

Jesus finds us with love. Amen