St. John’s Episcopal Church
Tallahassee, FL

Luke 2:41-52

Many years ago
the big Christmas gift
for my kid Dean
was his first bicycle.

Before too long
I found myself out in the street
doing that thing that dads do.

Over and over and over
I ran alongside my kid,
gripping the back of his bicycle seat,
keeping him steady,
cheering him on,
pushing him on his way,
and saying over and over and over,
“You gotta keep peddling!
You gotta keep going!
You gotta stay in motion!”

Then, one day,
after all the tumbles,
after all the falls,
you know what happened.

He kept peddling.
He kept going.
He stayed in motion.

And in that moment—
which I’m sure, for him,
was filled with pure exhilaration—
I stood there, left behind in the dust,
and I thought, “Oh my God.
What have I done?”

I had just spent weeks
telling this kid 
to “go, go, go!”
but when he finally did it,
I thought, “Oh no, no, no.
Please be safe.
Please be okay.
Please come back.”

The truth is
that growing up is hard,
not just for kids,
but for grownups, too.

We push them 
and push them 
to grow up,
and then—to our dismay—
they do.

That means that
we, as parents,
have to grow up, too.

* * *

In many ways 
that is the story
at the heart of our Gospel today.

At this point,
Jesus has grown up a bit.

He and Mary and Joseph—
along with all the people
in all the towns
all around Jerusalem—
had made the days-long trek 
to attend the Passover feast.

But as the caravan 
makes its way back home,
Mary and Joseph realize
that Jesus ain’t with ‘em.

In the immortal words
of that great movie 
O Brother, Where Art Thou,
Jesus had “up and R-U-N-N-O-F-T.”

But you know the story.

You know that they go back,
and there Joseph and Mary find him
sitting among the temple elders
listening, learning, conversing.

“Son,” Mary says,
“what were you thinking?!
Don’t you know
you nearly gave us
a heart attack?!”

Mary, like any good parent,
had put herself
at the center
of her son’s universe.

“No mom,” he seems to say.
“I’m following a different star now.
There’s a different star
at the center of my universe.
Did you not know
that I must be
about my Father’s business?”

That had to be a heartache for Mary.

It’s one thing
to see your kid
peddle off
on their new bike.

It’s another thing entirely
to realize that your kid knows 
that you know
that he knows
that you know
that he knows
that he’s the Son of God.

* * *

See, the thing is,
as we wind down
the Christmas season
and move our hearts and minds
toward all that must be dealt with
in the year to come,
none of this is about
Jesus growing up.

It’s about Mary growing up.
It’s about Joseph growing up.
It’s about all of us who love Jesus
growing up a little more, too.

Whether we like it or not, 
children force their parents to grow up,
to see the world differently.

Children force their parents
to reexamine their worldview,
their values,
their assumptions,
their hopes and fears,
their certainties and beliefs.

That’s what Jesus does to Mary today.
It’s what he does to all of us.

Today, 
Jesus grows us up,
and truth is,
we need it.

* * *

I’m not much
for New Year’s resolutions,
but I am all about
growing and changing.

So how is Jesus
pushing you,
forcing you
to “grow up” this year?

Maybe it’s 
an old idea, 
an old habit, 
an old way of understanding, 
an old way of living. 

Maybe it’s a story you’ve been telling yourself
about who you’re supposed to be, 
or who you aren’t. 

Maybe it’s finally time to speak up.
Maybe it’s finally time to pipe down.

Maybe it’s something 
that was right and good for a time, 
but now needs to be relinquished—
repented of—
so something new 
can come in.

What is it? 
What is the thing 
at the center of your universe 
that no longer belongs there . . .

and how will you let it go?

* * *

Today Jesus shows us 
that no matter who you are—
no matter how old or young, 
whether parent or child—
growing up is hard to do.

Yet, he does it, 
and so must we.

So, perhaps the truth of this day 
really does lie somewhere 
in the lessons learned 
between kids and dads
and bicycle wheels.

The truth Jesus shows us today 
is that in this life
you gotta keep peddling,
you gotta keep going,
you gotta stay in motion.

And sometimes, 
usually before you think you’re really ready, 
you have to let go.

But the grace of it all
is that the One who was once a child
is still about his Father’s business
and still has his eye on you.

So hold on tight,
and enjoy the ride.

Amen.