I Lost Jesus

Intro

When I was just a little guy, before I was old enough to attend school. My parents had arranged with friends who also had kids my age somewhat of a trading of child care services. I loved it because I got to spend many mornings with my best friend Jake. Jake loved to go out in the woods and build forts. He got me into all sorts of trouble, but at the time I would follow him to the ends of those unknown world of our backyard wooded area. Jake wanted to show me his latest fort and clubhouse he had built. His Mom was nursing their infant and had told us to stay in the sandbox. She was keeping and eye on us through the window but you can forgive her for being pre-occupied when Jake and I deviated from our instructions and wandered into the woods with only 4 year old Jake’s memory serving as our gps.

Longstory short…Jake got us lost. In reality we were likely only a few hundred yards from home, but soon the water works started. Now I have shared this story a few times in other places before, but always from my own perspective of the story.

There is more to this story. You see my mother who was working received a phone call from Jake’s mom. Here’s the gist of this phone call.

“Valeri I’ve lost our sons.” Any parents here had to make that phone call to another parent??

Because Jake’s mom was alone nursing, she couldn’t wander into the woods after us. My mom had to come and wade through some thorns and brush and holler at us until we finally heard her and came running as frightened.

I want to be clear the fault was with Jake and I for sneaking off, against Jake’s mother’s orders. But I certainly do not think Jake’s mom was relishing calling my mom to say we had been lost. Luckily no bridges were burned and they remain friends to this day.

Luke chapter 2 records an incident where young parents Mary and Joseph entrusted with raising Jesus, the Son of God. After journeying to Jerusalem for Passover, it was a day into the journey home that these parents had a frightening revelation where it dawned on them. “I just lost Jesus!”

It took just a day day of neglect and these parents lost the Son of God.

I almost wonder if they prayed a confession to God, “Dear El shadai, we’ve lost your son! Please help us find Him!”

Of Jesus the 12 year old was doing something far different from searching for a fort in the woods. His mission was far more important.

Before we go any further, lets take a moment to pray.

Can you think of any friendships you have had that have been lost, not because of any large falling out but simply because you lose contact? Maybe once you lived near a friend but because you or they moved across the country, now the close relationship just isn’t there. I have found this to be true in a number of relationships. However that moment when a reunion happens…sometimes we pick up right where we left off. Sometimes our friends we remember are not the same. Or maybe it us, and we have changed.

I imagine there are those of us here whose relationship with God had or has grown stale.

Is it a lack of spending time with Jesus one on one? Is it your picture of Jesus keeps changing? Are you wrestling with your purpose or identity in Christ? As Christians are we supposed to be pointing the world to Heaven? or is our role to help make Earth a better place to live?

Whoa! Slow down...

I am here aren’t I? I am sitting in the pews…or I am sitting on my couch watching the livestream. I’m doing better than most.

First off my friends, I am happy you are here. I am happy you are watching. It’s not your church attendance I’m measuring your closeness to Jesus.

The people of Judaea, when Jesus was a boy, had excellent church attendance. They were in the synagogue as soon as the doors were open. I also can’t imagine Jesus ever being late to Sabbath school. Passover was no different. The people would walk and travel hundreds of miles for passover. Following the customs and traditions of the day were not a problem.

Let’s go to Luke 2, starting in verse 41 change slide

Luke 2:41–42 ESV

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.

Mary and Joseph were doing their best, they had been instructed to care for the Son of God as His parents. What better way to raise him in the faith but to attend all the sacred festivals, revivals, and camp meetings. This was not bad a bad thing. By all accounts Mary and Joseph were growing Jesus in wisdom and stature. They were performing the sacred task that had been placed on them. undoubtedly Mary reminded herself of the angel gabriel’s words to her. change slide

Luke 1:30–33 ESV

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Joseph to must have kept these words close to him as well through Jesus’ upbringing. change slide

Matthew 1:20–21 ESV

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Can you imagine the magnitude of having this secret mission as parents? Would you make sure your kids were in Pathfinders, church school, sabbath school, camp meeting, revivals, and prophecy meetings. You’d want them in everything to right?

Here was the problem. The promise of the Messiah and His mission had evolved over hundreds of years. The prophecies of Isaiah about the coming Messiah and his purpose had been so greatly altered. The priests weren’t sharing the right message. The people were looking for the wrong king. change slide

Isaiah 53:2–3 ESV

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Somehow this message became about freedom from Rome. It wasn’t about a humble servant. It became about a mighty conquering king. It surely wasn’t about sacrifice. The people had a role to play but they believed in an Earthly prominence, and out of this neglect for the Messiah’s true purpose. The Messiah still came and still bore the sins of the world. change slide

Isaiah 53:4–5 ESV

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Like Sheep, the people were conditioned to follow blind. They did not see the corruption of the religious system. They, did like many of us, they followed the far right and the far left. They listened to the pharisees and the sadducees. They fulfilled tradition to the letter of the law, while missing its spirit and purpose. change slide

Isaiah 53:6 ESV

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

This is the context of the life Jesus entered. This is the context of the conversations in Jerusalem and in the temple. This is the context of life when John the Baptist began preaching, calling the religious leaders a brood of vipers.

Did Mary and Joseph yet understand the full purpose of raising Jesus. Did they comprehend their surrogate son’s significance?

Wondering if Mark Lowry’s “Mary Did You Know?” song just rolled through your head?

Back to Luke 2 though,

Joseph and Mary, had lost Jesus!!! Whether they understood his true purpose or not, didn’t really matter....They lost Jesus!!! I envision this experience must have been similar to the experience of the parents on the movie Home Alone, when they all arrive in the tropics with their large family and realize they left behind little Kevin, played by McCauley Culkin.

Listen I’ve attended a church conference camp meeting every year of my life up until COVID messed things up for us the last couple years. I spent plenty of time as a kid up at Lake Junaluska with my friends, and as a teenager, attempting to flirt with Adventist girls…some of your teens here or parents of teens know exactly what I am talking about at camp meeting. There were plenty of days I’d basically see my parents at meal times.

However when it was time to get in the car and go home, they never forgot me or assumed I was in a different car.

If I had been left behind, I wish I could say I was doing something noble like engaging the minds of keynote speakers like Doug Bachelr, Mark Finley, Dwight Nelson, or Ty Gibson. No I likely would have been off with my friends somewhere, or even more probably wondering how my parents had managed to leave without me.

Luke 2:45–46 ESV

and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

There is lesson just in those 2 verses I hope you are not missing.

It didn’t take much neglect, to lose sight and focus on their mission.

The great commentary on Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, Desire of Ages, pg. 83 puts it this way. CHANGE SLIDE

Desire of Ages Chapter 8—The Passover Visit

If Joseph and Mary had stayed their minds upon God by meditation and prayer, they would have realized the sacredness of their trust, and would not have lost sight of Jesus. By one day’s neglect they lost the Saviour; but it cost them three days of anxious search to find Him. So with us; by idle talk, evilspeaking, or neglect of prayer, we may in one day lose the Saviour’s presence, and it may take many days of sorrowful search to find Him, and regain the peace that we have lost.

Is anyone getting caught up in the latest headline?

Delta Variant, masks and vaccination effectiveness, Simone Biles and the Olympics. CNN agenda, Fox News agenda.

Some of you will be quick to say about these headlines, “well this is about justice.” Well this is about mental health” “Well this about safety.” “Well this is about personal freedoms.”

My friends, these are all causes, ideals, and details that HAVE significant importance. And you can care about the policies that are enacted and you can care about how situations are handled. But church family I warn you, do not let headlines cause your distract from God’s mission. Do not let the headlines distort or corrupt God’s personal mission in your life. Do not let the headlines, cause you to come to the eventual conclusion. “I lost Jesus.” change slide

Desire of Ages Chapter 8—The Passover Visit

In our association with one another, we should take heed lest we forget Jesus, and pass along unmindful that He is not with us. When we become absorbed in worldly things so that we have no thought for Him in whom our hope of eternal life is centered, we separate ourselves from Jesus

Let me just say a word to the facebook online community, who is present.

When we become so absorbed in the posts and the comments of others that don’t align with ours and find ourselves engaged in mean-spirited debates. Even if you are 100% correct in your assertions about whatever the headline is or whatever the debate is on. Have you lost Jesus? Time after time I see people of the left and people of the right eventually resort to mockery , or judgmental rebukes, and say things from the safety of behind a screen that you most likely wouldn’t say in person. Have you lost Jesus?

Bear in mind, we are all guilty at one time or another allowing our discontent rise and bubble to surface. I’m not trying to pretend I am not guilty of the very thing I am preaching against. I will tell you one thing though, my conversations with those I disagree with go far better when I have started my day with Jesus, in His word, in prayer, in personal devotion. These things help keep my life on mission rather than boiling over into frustration.

By separating ourselves from the presence of God in our daily in communion with Jesus, we minimize or even cancel the impact religious service has for us on Sabbath. By separating ourselves from Jesus, we shut away the light of His presence.

Keep in mind Jesus is not withholding his presence or His relationship from you? He will accept you back the moment you return back to him. It’s like this if you feed yourself only junk, it takes a little time for nourishing food to have its positive affect on you.

Verse 46 of Luke 2 says that when His parents finally found him, it was in the temple, asking questions to the priests. Questions a 12 year old wouldn’t normally be asking. He was asking questions, that were getting the priests thinking and considering beyond even what they had been taught or even pondered or considered.

I’m going to be honest with you, I was reminded of this interaction between 12 year old Jesus and the priests while I was out on the golf course with the Colbourn brothers Logan and Tyler, and their father Brad. Logan and I were paired as teammates…and although my first experience with golf was long before Logan was even alive. It was fairly clear to me Logan knew far more about golf than I do. He is far better than I am. He is going to one exceptionally good golfer one day also. Friends there is a lesson here for the older generations. You can learn a lot from the younger generations as well. I will also say this, Logan and Tyler both made shots that made me drop my jaws very similar to those priests at their first encounter with 12 year old Jesus. I am also certain if Brad and Heather ever have lost Logan and Tyler…they should start looking first at their neighborhood driving range, possibly lecturing the local course pro. ;)

Jesus had not wandered off in insubordination or mischief. Jesus was being Spirit led and understanding his purpose on Earth. His purpose was not to attend every feast and festival. It wasn’t to make all the right appearances. It wasn’t to wear a crown of gold. It was to forgive sin, it was cast the vision of God’s purpose. It was to remind people why the laws and traditions were there in the first place. It was to seek out the broken hearted, and to love everyone.

His mother looking on at him seeing the boy as only her son

“Son why have you treated us so? Your father and I have been in great distress searching for you? change slide

Luke 2:49 ESV

And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

They didn’t get it. I’m not sure any of us would have either. Let’s not to be to hard on Mary and Joseph. I think Jesus realized they weren’t ready. Jesus returned with them un-defiantly. The scripture says though, Mary treasured up all these things in her heart.

I wasn’t there, and there is nothing in scripture to back this up, so I can only presume. I bet you Mary and Joseph hardly took their eyes off adolescent Jesus again. They never wanted to utter the words I lost Jesus.

My friends I don’t want to utter those words either. Those world headlines that can cause us to lose focus on our mission can also take place in the church. Whether you are debating doctrine, prophecy, church policy, Christian music, christian education. If we don’t have the love of Jesus in us, we don’t belong in those discussions. It is pretty impossible to introduce someone to Jesus if we have lost him ourselves.

I want to hit on just a few points of danger of losing Jesus within the church.

-When we are consumer Christians only, we can lose Jesus

I want all of you to be consumers of the spiritual food offered at the church. But it is intended to be offered to you to be shared with those around you. Worship is more than just the tradition of music you prefer. Don’t get me wrong, one of the things I love about this church is variety worship music that is offered, and music is really just the example. When worship becomes more about personal preference and the focus on our own consumption rather than seeking to minister to others…we’re in danger of losing Jesus.

-When our church becomes an institution or system rather than movement, We can lose Jesus.

Please don’t get me wrong. Organization and planning is great. But we don’t worship the great planning and great structure and great organization. We worship Jesus. This pandemic has thrown off course so many normals in our life and many of us have determined to instead of relying on the institution of the church but have been learning to rely on Jesus. The people of Judaea in Christ’s day made it to the feasts, festivals, passover, and weekly synagogue, yet somehow missed the arrival of Jesus the first advent. I often wondered if we who call ourselves adventists would miss Jesus to?

When we rely on the church service as our only spiritual food. We lose Jesus.

Let me put it this way. If a child is fed only pizza, chocolate, and candy as their food…anyone would be able to see that those kids are starving for something nutritious.

For me growing up I can’t say I loved every morning or nightly worship my father and mother had us do as a family…But I came to crave that sort of worship as I grew older. Neglecting our time in devotional worship absolutely causes us to lose Jesus. It also causes us to struggle to gain a blessing in a worship service or can cause us to become dis-allusioned with the mission of the church. It becomes something we can live without.

I’ll never forget a story one of my former members told me. He was being challenged about his faith in Jesus. He was told he could live without his faith.

He responded, no breath I breathe is without the grace of Jesus. If I had no faith in Jesus, it would be as if I couldn’t breathe.

My friends, church family, guests, viewers online, or otherwise. I imagine most of us have had an “I lost Jesus” moment or two in our lives. I’d be willing to ventures a number of us here participating feel as if you have lost Jesus right now.

I want you to know, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done or how far gone you feel you are. You can find Jesus today!

If you want prayer, lets pray.

If you want Bible study, lets study the Bible together.

If you want healing or anointing. We can do that to!

If you accept Jesus as your saviour, raise your hand now!

If you want to be baptized raise that other hand with your first one.

My prayer to for each of today is that we remember God’s desire for us. He says, when you seek me you will find me when you search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13.

Prayer