Find it - Luke 2.41-45
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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?”
Intro:
I believe that something has been forgotten....
Something incredibly important and vital to our very existence!
I am convinced that what we have forgotten transcends where we now stand in time....
I believe that....
It is so important it speaks in our past and resounds its words again in our future...
(pause)
And....
......some of us have lost it partially while others have lost it in totality.
(pause)
And.....
.......all I hear God speaking this morning is,
“Find It!” (repeat once or twice)
Later in Luke’s Gospel 15.8-10.....
Jesus communicates the Parable of the Lost Coin.....
…which details a woman who has ten silver coins and loses one.
And Jesus says that this woman,
lights a lamp and SWEEPS the house
to search carefully until she finds it.
And Freedom,
....as an entire nation of people
something has been lost, that desperately needs to be found!
And what I am figuring out is that.....
Aint nobody even looking yet!
But I came here this morning to......
......motivate a Search Party!
(pause)
By the time I finish.......
I need some folk to be walking around shouting,
“Find It!”
Because some things are TOO IMPORTANT to LOSE!
Dr. King spoke a Word once that said,
“We’ve left a lot of precious values behind; and if we are to go forward and make this a better world in which to live, we’ve got to go back and rediscover these precious values that we’ve left behind.”
And I believe that......
........we need to go back and get something!
(pause and expound)
Watch the text...
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.
According to the text we find Joseph completing one of 3 mandatory trips to Feasts in Jerusalem....
Pentecost
Passover
Tabernacles
For men in this Culture it was expected of them to attend these festivals.
....and also at this time
It was Voluntary for women to accompany their husbands on these trips.
And......
The reason this is significant Church family is because it shows the heart of Mary as she places value on the things of God.
(pause and expound)
In our lives there must be a priority to place value on the things of God
Mary wanted to be there!
And I don’t know about you but.......
.....if something matters to God I just believe it should matter to me!
If God cares about it.....
then I should care about it......
That’s just how I’m wired.........
......I try to look like my Creator!
My children get stuff from First Lady and I through DNA that they have no control over.....
And it doesn’t matter what they want to get from us.......
......it’s just set up that way!
(pause)
And that’s how I see our relationship with God.....
.......there are some things that are just set up that way!
(pause and expound)
Look at it now...
And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival.
According to the text
As a 12 year old boy Jesus is now of age to be held to the Jewish standard for all men in this culture to attend the passover.
Training would begin around the age of 9 or 10 to began preparing these young men for this tranisition at the age of 12 so that they could handle the shift of being expected to do these things that are required of them.
And as I reflected on this it reveals to us that....
…we must model this Parental Training value.
Because....
........whatever we model is what becomes manifested
(pause)
And I am afraid that we are expecting a reality that we have forgotten to prepare for!
(pause and expound)
On Tuesday there is an expectation that......
Every adult 18 years or older will either Vote or has already Voted early
But.....
How can we expect them to show up with a voice of righteousness to the polls as an adult if they were not TRAINED as Children!
(pause)
And some of us have forgotten the importance of training!!
And watch this.....
.......when a product is examined the accountability is placed on the manufacturer.
Because the understanding is this....
.........whoever made it is responsible for the outcomes
(pause)
And if the reality of the generation after you and I is unacceptable.........
.........the first question we got to ask ourselves is,
Did we TRAIN what we expected for our REALITY?
(pause)
Watch the text.....
When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.
The text says....
Jesus has a desire to remain in Jerusalem listening to the teaching of the Word even after the 7 days Joseph and Mary had stayed....
Please understand that 7 days was not required....
Proving again the level of Joseph and Mary’s commitment in their religious practice.....
And according to the text.....
Joseph and Mary had no idea that Jesus has stayed behind in Jerusalem after the feast of Passover is over....
.....the degree to which they were unaware was multileveled
His intention was unknown to them.
His actual remaining back in Jerusalem was unknown.
He did not ask for their permission.
They had no suspicion that it had even happened.
The significance here is that......
......we can lose so much in a moment that is incredibly valuable to us!
(pause and expound)
And in my spiritual imagination....
Joseph and Mary are in this large group caravaning back home....
And....
Joseph is in one part of the group
while Mary is in another part of the group
And....
Joseph is assuming that Jesus is with Mary
And....
Mary is assuming that Jesus is with Joseph
(pause)
But at this point in their travels......
Neither of them senses the urgency to Check and See!
(pause)
Now we got to keep moving.....
......but can i just I help somebody
If we had multiple CHECKPOINTS set up in our lives, some of the stuff we consider valuable we would NEVER lose!
(pause and expound)
Look at it now...
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.
The text says....
.....when they came together
.....that’s when they discovered that Jesus was missing.
(pause)
And Freedom,
this is where I hear the Gospel writer helping us to see that....
We wont truly know something is missing until we come together in community!
(pause)
And Church family....
I could be wrong.....
.....but I don’t believe this has fully taken place just yet.
I think we are still at the point Joseph and Mary were......
.....when they were supposing him to have been in the company.
(pause)
They were walking together in the company.........
.......but they had not discussed or communicated to verify his presence in their company.
(pause)
Freedom family.....
I was talking to my mother yesterday and she mentioned grown folk that grew up in our community who had grown children......
......who had never excercised their right to vote
(pause)
And we were surprised that these individuals would be voting for the first time in 2020.
And I think that’s what’s been happening......
I think we have been eating dinner with one another
Going to football games, and playing bingo with one another
Going to Church with one another
Expecting a Reality that has not been Trained...........
Walking in a Crowd like Joseph and Mary......
.....supposing that Jesus is in the crowd
But aint nobody took the time to CHECK and SEE!!!
(pause and expound)
And the bible says.......
It wasn’t until they went a day’s journey that they sought him......
(slight pause)
It was a day’s journey......
.....before they realized Jesus is missing.
....when they determined they had to go back to Jerusalem.
A lot can happen in a day....
A lot of trivial things
A lot of magnificent moments
A lot of demonstrative details
And in the middle of all of that it is almost inevitable that something should come up missing.......
But.....
...regardless of this realistic possibility......
We still do not expect to lose something of value in the passing of a day!
(slight pause)
We expect to get through our days......
...day after day after day after day
without losing anything of value....
(slight pause)
But the text says.....
That after Joseph and Mary have shown an impressive resume of faithfulness and commitment to the things of God.....
A day later proves.......
.......that even when you are committed you still need to be careful!
(longer pause and optional expound)
Freedom.....
I can not imagine not knowing where any of my children were over a 24 hour period!
And the reason is because they are too VALUABLE to me to be gone that long......
And then my heart began to get convicted.....
Because I heard God saying.......
“You can’t just care about what’s VALUABLE in your house!”
(pause)
And maybe that’s what Dr. King meant when he penned that letter from the Birmingham Jail......
“Injustice ANYWHERE.......
....is a threat to justice EVERYWHERE!”
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutality,
Tied in a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one directly,
affects all indirectly.”
(pause)
“FIND IT!” (emphasize)
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination........
I see Joseph and Mary hearing two words
......burst the EARDRUM of their hearts
Loud and clear.........
......two words
“Find HIM!”
Because.....
.......what they lost is too valuable to remain hidden!
And the bible says,
They searched through the houses
...........of all of their kinfolk and friends looking for Jesus.....
From house to house......
.......but they found NOTHING!!!
(pause)
And the next morning the bible says in verse 45 that they “Turned back” to Jerusalem looking for him....
When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.
Here’s my question.....
How do you sleep through this type of a night?
How do you rest through the night when something this valuable is missing?
(pause)
And I believe that....
.....this is why we are not resting as a Nation.......
It’s the NIGHT before turning back!
But Freedom......
NOW is the time to “TURN BACK!”
(pause)
NOW is the time to “FIND what we LOST!”
(pause and expound)
Look at it now.....
After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
I think I see what Luke’s Gospel is showing us......
The bible says,
Jesus is found,
“In His Father’s house!”
(pause.......I feel like preaching D.J./Rod)
For three days........
Joseph and Mary
Searched every street in Jerusalem
Every place they thought Jesus could have been
(pause)
And on the third day of looking........
.......the bible says
“They found him
in the temple!”
(pause)
The bible says in the next few verses that Joseph and Mary are astonished......
........because Jesus is admitted to sit with doctors at 12 years old
In other words.....
They can’t believe that Jesus has this much influence!!
(pause)
And God told me to tell yall that........
.......Jesus has INFLUENCE on LEADERS too!!
(SHOUT if the HOLY SPIRIT allow!!!!)
Watch THIS....
Mary says......
“Why hast thou dealt with us?”
Now.....
When I first read this I thought Mary was scolding Jesus as his mother.....
But the more I studied it I realized that the Greek was not explaining her anger.....
.....but it was explaining her love.
And so basically she was telling Jesus......
How much trouble they had gone through to make sure nothing had happened to him.....
....because they knew His destiny!!
(pause)
Now watch what Jesus says.....
In verse 49, Jesus says......
“How is it that you sought me?”
In other words....
Why did you get so stressed out?
Why did you go all over Jerusalem for three days looking for me instead of coming here first?
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination I hear Jesus saying....
The search could be shortened tremendously if we knew where Jesus was!!
Some of the trouble we going through could end quickly......
(pause)
I hear Jesus saying to Mary......
You put yourself through TOO MUCH STRESS
You should have known.....
“I would be in my Father’s house!”
Here’s the revelation for the Church.......
What I hear Jesus saying is......
You have already been TRAINED and Raised up!
We’ve been OVER THIS lesson already!!
Now all you go to do is.....
“GET TO THE HOUSE!”
FIND Jesus
FIND Justice
FIND Joy
FIND Peace
Because I hear Jesus saying.....
That’s where I’m going to be!
“If you’re going to find me......
You’re going to find me......
“BEING about my FATHER’S business!”