Sermon Notes for 1st Sunday after Epiphany, 12 January 2025 Anno Domini, the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
NOW his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. Gospel of St. Luke 2:41
The Collect
O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle
Romans xii. 1.
I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
The Gospel
St. Luke ii. 41.
NOW his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
“ . . . after the custom of the feast.’ Jesus, as a child, went up to the feast as was the custom, or the duty of those who kept the faith. Across the Gospel, Epistle and Collect today we see, as a common point, the aspect of duty as a salient meaning across the three. In our reformed faith, the age of Christ (twelve years), is the age of accountability. Therefore, the Christian child is normally confirmed in the faith at that age. If we consider seriously the single reason for our undivided service to God, it could be summed up by duty based on faith.
One of my childhood role models (and still), was general Robert E. Lee. He described duty in this way: “Duty then is the sublimest word in the English language. You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more. You should never do less.” This also applies to our duty and service to God. We can never do more than is expected of a Christian believer, and we should strive to never to less even if we fail and falter from time to time.
In the Gospel of St Luke, we see the very picture of Godly duty at home. Due to the greater distance from Jerusalem, it was not mandatory that Joseph attend the Passover feast, and Mary, as a woman, was never required; however, they attended anyway which was above the normal expectation. One point, we can never perform above and beyond the call of duty. The mother of Jesus, and Joseph (his step-father), had seen to the proper raising of our Lord to this point in His age. A good home, loving family, Godly living – these all point to dutiful parents which Joseph and Mary were to Jesus. And His mother, and Joseph, were very proud to have Him introduced to the beauty of faith in Zion at the age of twelve.
But His mother, Mary, and Joseph (as was presumed to be His father), were not as aware as the boy Jesus was of his role and duty to it. When the couple departed Jerusalem for Nazareth, they presumed the boy Jesus to be in the company; but, after a day’s travel, He was nowhere to be found. They frantically searched everywhere but He was not along. After returning to Jerusalem and making diligent search, they finally discovered Jesus in the Temple conversing with the religious doctors of the time. Can you imagine the fear and dismay of losing such a fine son? Sometimes we feel that we have lost our wallet or purse and search every corner of the house. Finally, we discover them just where we placed them in a secure place. They were never lost, and neither was Jesus. He was precisely at the right place – the Temple – His Father’s House, for no other place could be more proper for the Son of God.
Jesus was not being discourteous, but frankly true to faith, when He responded to Mary’s question of complaint in His not following them when He correctly stated, “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? This answer represents the first occasion in which Jesus reveals Himself as the Son of God. The answer was confusing to Mary and Joseph. Joseph had treated Jesus as his own son, though he was not the real father. It is never the wrong path of service when we are about our Father’s business.
Nevertheless, we see Jesus, conscious of His duty also to His earthly parents, returning with them to Nazareth and was subject to them as a faithful son. But these things seemed a bit troubling to Mary, and she kept them in her heart. But in His dutiful regard for His parents, Jesus grew in stature, knowledge and grace.
Now, in the Epistle to the Romans, Paul describes our duties to God in terms of full conformance with the Gospel text. What were these duties of our “reasonable service to God?” Frankly, it is with all our being. That ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” There is no middle ground in that service – it is all to God or nothing else. We surrender our self-wills, that were in bondage to sin, by receiving the Mind of Christ. That is a soul-sacrifice. And we surrender our bodies as a living, holy, sacrifice to God which is only reasonable for one devoted to our Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing less, and nothing more is possible It is our DUTY as believers!
Paul uses the term ‘transformed by the renewing of our minds.’ That requires the abandonment of our old sinful minds to be renewed by the transforming will of God. Paul concludes that we are all one body in Christ, and if one to God, we must be one to each other.
My young friends, I encourage you to confirm your faith in Christ at your earliest opportunity just as our Lord confirmed Himself as the Son of God before the Jewish religious workers in the Temple. If you know Him as your Lord, then you must admit, as well, that you, too, are a son or daughter of God the Father.
Now, the Prayer of Collect simply calls upon the blessings and grace of God to make known to us the terms of our duties to God and man, and for the grace and power to fulfill those duties through the workings of Christ in our members, bearing in mind that we can never go too far in that undertaking:
“ So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” Gospel of St. Luke 17:10
Let us govern ourselves accordingly.
W
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
