Christmas represents new birth--but even

                    Jesus is growing up fast! -- Luke 2:41-52

Kids grow up awfully fast these days.  It seems like one minute you are trying to encourage your child to go faster on his bicycle, to get up enough speed to stay balanced, and the next you are pleading with the same boy, now at the wheel of a car, pleading with him to slow down and live.  One minute you're urging a shy daughter to say hello to strangers, and the very next, you're trying to discourage her from responding to strangers on the Internet.

Jesus is growing up fast too.  Here we are, less than a week on the other side of Christmas, from the baby lying in a manger.  Now in the second chapter of Luke, Jesus is already an adolescent wandering off on his own.  Last week Jesus was "prophecy  miraculously fulfilled." This week he is questioning the teachers of that very tradition.

The classical confessions of the church hold that Jesus is "fully human, fully God," and in today's familiar story from Luke, we can see both sides.  Jesus, fully human, is growing up as all  mortals must.  In the process, Jesus has scared his parents half to death as all teenagers do.  Jesus is asking questions, as should we all, and he is listening to learn, as all we must.  And in this story, verses 41-52, we see the twelve-year old Jesus fully divine with everyone amazed at his understanding and his answers.  We hear Jesus declaring his unique relationship with God the Father as only the Son can do when he said to his mother as his parents found him in the temple, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" 

 Growth in your life and your children's lives probably coincide with the time spent in God's presence, at Church and with others who are seeking answers and listening to God's Living Word. 

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. In the

                              Gospel of John, Chapter 1:7ff, the words are: (John the Baptist) "

                            ... Came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe

                              through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to

                              the light. This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent

                              Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He

                             confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah."

                              Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those

                              who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the

                              voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,'" as the prophet Isaiah said.

There are some who call John the Baptist "the Stranger at the Manger." I think it is very appropriate for the church to remember John and even lift John up because not only did John tell us about "The Gift of Comfort" which Jesus would bring. But he also brings us "The Gift of Preparation." No matter what else John said, the most important thing he does is remind us to get ready. "Prepare the way of the Lord."

You and I prepare ourselves for all kinds of things. Surgery, a wedding, child birth, a job interview, a birthday party, dinner at a restaurant. We don't like to go unprepared. We like spontaneity, but we like to be prepared for it. God, through John the Baptist, helps prepare us for the birth of Christ and the celebration of Christmas.

Now the truth is, most of us are a little bit like the Scribes and Pharisees, we don't like to listen to the voice in the wilderness from weird uncle John. We don't want to listen to this unwanted relative at our holiday celebrations shouting about repentance, baptism and

salvation. All we want to do is sing carols, shop and exchange gifts. So, most of us never make it out to hear the message because we're stuck at the mall buying into the

commercialism of Christmas.

But weird Uncle John, who doesn't seem to fit into the Christmas story, is actually a gift from God. John reminds us of the important message. John is the annoying Salvation Army bell ringing constantly in our ears, reminding us to care for the least of these: the poor, the downtrodden, the homeless, the broken hearted, John is the burnt out bulb that causes the whole strand to go out and makes us hunt for the one bulb that will make the whole strand shine.

John is God's gift of preparation. That alarm clock voice telling us that the birth of Christ is just around the corner and if we don't quiet our spirits, focus our hearts, leave the mall and journey out to the wilderness where the manger is located, we'll miss it.  So, you see, we need John to wake us up, to get our attention and to get us ready. We need John because it's hard to see the Light of the World in the midst of all the

Christmas lights and decorations. We need John because it's hard to hear the still small voice of God in the midst of the noise of our carol singing, partying, and the constant

ka-ching of the cash registers as we go shopping in the malls.

We need John to get our attention: "as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him." He very pointedly says, "I'm not the light. I'm just telling you to get ready, to open your hearts and your eyes, so when the Light appears, you won't mistake it for something else."

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John gets our attention above the din of Christmas revelry. And reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas. The birth of this child we celebrate isn't about presents and trees and stockings and candy canes. The birth of this child is about finding our way back home.

The Good News of Christmas, the Good News John is shouting out there in the

wilderness is that God hasn't given up the search for us. Into the world of darkness, where we never intended to run away. Into this world of darkness where we find

ourselves too frightened to call home. Into this world of darkness, the Light of all Life Himself came to lead us back home.

There's an old story about a particular man named Uncle Ab. The entire community was trying to convert old Uncle Ab. One day a longtime friend tackled the problem. "Ab," he questioned. "Don't it soften your heart to know the Lord loves you?"

"Do you aim to tell me," Uncle Ab scoffed, "that the Lord loves me when he ain't ever knowed me?" The old friend thought for a minute, then said sadly, "Ab, it's a heap easier for the Lord to love you without knowin' you than if He ever knowed you like I do."

That's is the amazing thing. God knows us and yet God sees so much potential in us that God sent us the greatest gift possible. We don't need to stay away. And don't need to stay the way we are, no matter how we got into the wilderness. The Good News is that God came looking for us Himself.

God put on the flesh and blood of our existence. God wrapped Himself in the rags of our humanity, stepped out of heaven and walked where we walk. God came looking for us, Himself, to show us the way back home. And that's all John wants us to hear.