Lost and Found  Luke 2:41-52

Panic that causes suffocating anxiety is the loss of a child. Children are seldom “lost” though – parents are rarely so careless as to “misplace” a child. It’s more like malevolent magic – one
second a beloved child is holding your hand and in the split second of blinking one’s eyes they have disappeared –‘poof’. Thus, understanding the obvious terror of Mary and Joseph is not difficult for any adult who has had responsibility for a younger person. There is a deeper loss that the Gospel is preparing us for. Parents’
expectation often clash with the dreams of their children – Jesus
argues with his parents: "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he said to them.

Since the call to follow Jesus overrides every other call, a normal family
tension is often exacerbated in the sphere of discipleship.  Jesus says it very bluntly: "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” No would-be disciple can avoid the pain of this, for it goes to the centre of what God in Christ has come to do for us: to raise us to a level where absolute love holds absolute sway.

Jesus Christ is the centre of our faith;  the child Jesus is the centre of the mystery of Christmas we have just celebrated.

When Jesus grows up, he will teach “let the children come to me for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these,” and “unless you
become like a child you will not inherit the kingdom.”

Alstonville Anglicans take Jesus seriously. We regard children as a sacrament – an outward sign of invisible grace. Why? Because Christ became a child. Why? Because Jesus said the kingdom of God belongs to children.

Here are some important things to remember about sacraments.

1. Sacraments ‘work’; they  communicate God’s love and presence.

Sacraments work because God is good; not because the giver or receiver is good. Children are sacraments, pointers to the kingdom of God, because God is good, not because children are good, pandered to, put forward,
entertained or made into entertainment. It is enough for children to
merely be a part of us.

2. We create spaces around our sacraments- we have an altar for the Eucharist and a font for baptism. Likewise, Alstonville Anglicans
create a worship space that indicates that children are welcome.
We achieve this by:

a. Inviting children to the front of the church where there are comfortable cushions to welcome them.

b. The Godly Play models inside and around the altar
communicate the sacred story of God’s work with God’s people.

c. The Godly Play models are lovingly made by the saints and ministers in our church family. They are not clutter, but holy things for holy people achieving a worshipful atmosphere.

3. Sacraments ‘work’ when they are received. Bread and wine
remain bread and wine until they are given and received as the body and blood of Christ.

Likewise, Alstonville Anglicans explore wise and sensitive ways to ‘receive’ children.

To this end I offer my gratitude to all of you for

working with me as fellow ministers in receiving

children as sacraments.

I am especially grateful to those who have offered
self-emptying love in creating Godly Play models (holy things for holy people) and working with children and families in Messy Church and other projects.

Jeremiah 1:4–10 (NRSV)

4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” 9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

There is a commonly held conviction that “calling” applies to pastors only. I would like to break that definition. The truth of the matter is quite
different. Every human being has a vocation, has a “calling”. By baptism you have already accepted the invitation to carry out your vocation, to
carry out your “calling”. Every Christ follower is a called person. Listen to the words of Jeremiah, they apply to each of you: “before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I called you”. One of the chief tasks of an ordained person is to help people uncover and develop their calling. What is a calling? Calling is a Biblical word to describe how each person has something beautiful to do for God. Each of us has an
assignment to do that has our name written on the tag. Each of us has a song to sing, a message to deliver, a special gift of love to offer that no one else can offer. This is what Jeremiah could mean when he says that “even while I was in my mother’s womb you formed me, you called me.”

You have something beautiful to do for God, I wonder what it could be?