Two Boys in Church - Well Maybe Three

Two Boys in Church - Well Maybe Three 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26; Luke 2:41-52 The scriptures tell of a couple boys in church, so to speak. You never know what children might do or say in church, and most congregations develop their own policies and practices. Sometimes parents are able to explain to their children why they need to behave or be quiet in a worship service. When Gabe was an infant, he was a rambunctious little tyke. So we brought Cheerios or soft toys to keep him quiet. When he was three years old and I was a single parent, he would sit under the pulpit and play while I conducted the services. Sometimes he would bolt to the other side of the chancel area and I would have to go get him. The congregation took pity on me, and a couple mothers took over the responsibility of caring for him during worship. Gabe was a handful, but not as active as Freddie. Pastor and author Stan Purdum tells the story of a little boy, "Freddie," who single-handedly disrupted the education and worship experiences week after week in a church where Purdum was the pastor. "Jesus loved him," Purdum said, "but after several months of his regular attendance, some of the rest of us weren't so sure that we did. But still, it was our job to help Freddie know Jesus' love and, if we were reading the gospel correctly, to be an extension of God's love to him as well." Although a member of the church, Freddie's single mom hadn't attended in years. His grandma had been bringing overactive Freddie to church with her and had managed some measure of control over him, but then her health failed and she could no longer attend. Freddie's mother started dropping him off for the two hours of Sunday school and worship. There, without an adult of his own to supervise him, this little guy ran wild. During class, he monopolized his teacher's attention. During worship, the ushers became his overseers by default. And more than once, people seated in the sanctuary balcony leapt from their seats to grab Freddie as he careened dangerously near the railing. The church tried all sorts of things. Member families invited him to sit with them, but he'd never stay in their pew for longer than a few minutes. They assigned a teenage helper to his class, and during worship gave him several activity sheets and crayons, but none of these efforts was effective for long either. Finally, the church sent a delegation to appeal to his mother to come to church with him, and she did - for one Sunday, during which Freddie behaved angelically. She assumed her single visit had settled the matter and dropped him off on his own again the following week. She ignored the church's subsequent pleas. The only suggestion the church refused to implement was that they expel Freddie from church. Instead, they struggled along, hoping Freddie would finally abandon his acting-out behavior as he matured. They muddled through. Kids like Freddie may be part of the reason some churches have a no-kids-in-worship policy, sending them instead to a "junior church" program or something similar. First Samuel tells of a child in "church" or rather an Old Testament equivalent, the tabernacle at Shiloh, without his parents, where he "was ministering before the Lord." His mother, who'd been childless, had promised God that if she were able to have a baby boy, she'd dedicate him to the service of the Lord. So, after Samuel was born, potty-trained and eating solid food, Hannah dropped off her son at "church" and into the care of the priest, Eli. We don't know Samuel's age at this point, but whatever his age, Samuel was not a problem child. The quality of his service to the Lord caused him to "grow ... in favor with the Lord and with the people." I wanted to share this story alongside the story of Jesus in the Temple when he was 12, where His questions impressed the learned teachers. He was another child in "church" without His parents. One point we can take from this pairing of texts is that God's sending humankind, help, via a person born through a special conception, did not begin with Jesus. God had used that pattern before with Samuel's birth. Both boys were dedicated by a righteous mother to the service of God. The account of Jesus at 12 in the temple concludes, as did the reading about young Samuel, with a statement about Him growing in divine and human favor. Both Samuel and Jesus went on as grown men to serve out their mission from God. Whatever the similarities or differences, being in God's sanctuary without his parents, Samuel learned to distinguish the voice of God from the other voices around him. In the temple without His parents, Jesus learned that there were greater claims on His life than those of His family. In both cases, the boys were actively engaged in what was happening at those places of worship, and perhaps that's the key. We should note that being in church without His parents did not make Jesus less respectful of them. Following the temple incident, Jesus went back to Nazareth with His parents and "was obedient to them." Both boys increased in wisdom and in favor with the Lord. On this last Sunday of the year, it's an appropriate time to review how we have or have not done that; that is, increased in wisdom and in favor with the Lord. How have we grown this past year? In what areas of spiritual and moral development do we hope to grow next year? To see what Christian growth can look like, consider the spiritual odyssey of the 12 disciples. Before they met Jesus, they were simply part of the Jewish population for whom faith meant going to the synagogue and keeping the commandments. But when they encountered Jesus, He called them to follow Him, and they did. In doing so, they came apart from the crowd and, in a beginning act of faith, went with Him. Note that at the beginning, Jesus did not cross-examine the Twelve about their beliefs. He simply said, "Follow Me." But unlike Jesus and Samuel, who seemed comfortable in a religious setting, the disciples were more like Freddie in the story above. They were bouncing all over the place. They misunderstood Jesus' mission. At times, they would contend about who would have a more powerful position in the coming Messianic administration. Sometimes they were clueless. They just didn't get it. Jesus would tell a story, and later, the disciples would speak to Him privately and say, "What were you talking about?" When Jesus began to suggest that He was going to die, they totally did not understand because, in their thinking, a Messiah doesn't die. And yet, even so, as goofy, clueless and contentious as they were, Jesus was able to use them. He sent them out on healing and preaching missions, and they came back supercharged and glowing with what had happened in their travels. But that period was also littered with their failures, most notably Peter's denial, Judas' betrayal and the desertion of most of the disciples following Jesus' arrest. The Twelve, in responding to Jesus' call, had begun traveling the spiritual road, but they had not gotten very far down it. It was a time of spiritual immaturity for them. Fortunately, God was not through with them. After Jesus' ascension into heaven, the remaining 11 disciples, following Jesus' instructions, gathered in a room in Jerusalem. There, on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God came upon them in a mighty way. And after that, there was, as far as we know, no repeat of their old failures. They grew spiritually in a kind of giant step. For us, spiritual growth is likely to happen more gradually, but we can look at the disciples' pattern and ask ourselves whether we are progressing on our journey of faith. Are we like the disciples before meeting Jesus? Do we think that being a Christian means only trying to keep some moral rules and going to church? Are we like the disciples after responding to Jesus' call, but before Pentecost? We may be able to recall a specific time when we actually committed ourselves to Christ, or we may have pretty well accepted Christianity as it was presented to us as we grew up. That's great, but has our faith stalled at that stage? Do our prayers still sound like a wish list? I sometimes wonder that our spiritual growth is only as mature as when we went to, then stopped going to, Sunday School. Once we stopped going to Sunday School at 12 or so, once we were confirmed as a member of the church, that's where our spiritual formation was cast. We only made it through elementary school. I'm happy that each church has good adult Sunday School classes that are well attended. I hope the New Year brings the opportunity to gather and grow once again. Our faith is real but for some, immature. God is still able to use us. Are we missing out on the power and peace of a more mature faith? Or are we, like the disciples after Pentecost, full of confidence in God, despite the ups and downs of our lives, where we have room in our faith to let our questions survive, without destroying our spiritual peace? The witness of Scripture is that we can grow in faith, we can grow beyond the beginning stages of belief to an adult faith that is more than adequate for the bumps and potholes on the road of life. These two boys in God's house were on their way through that journey. May we continue the journey in our house of worship as well. One of my favorite benedictions is taken from 2 Peter 3:18: "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen." May we grow in grace, may we grow in knowledge, and may we give God the glory through Jesus Christ today, tomorrow and evermore. 4