12-27-2009
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Sermon for 12-27-2009
In today’s readings
We begin the stories with
a boy named Samuel-
And then in the Gospel,
We get this glimpse of Jesus as a 12 year old youth
Now, Besides the Christmas story
And this story today,
In the rest of the Gospels, Jesus is a Thirtysomething.
But today’s theme is youth,
and especially about how youth, boys and girls,
have defining moments
experiencing times of seperation from family-
from running away, to times getting lost
and times of stepping out on ones’ own as an individual…
Times of separation,
when the adults-the parents and family of the youth
eventually go from wondering
What could have happened to that boy, something must have happened to him?
To…
Boy oh boy, what could that child have done now?
So, on this theme, today is the day I get to share one of my boyhood stories
Of a time when I was separated from my family.
This is the Story of me getting lost in Disneyland,
as my mom retold it to me on the phone last night.
Now, I do remember parts of it,
but bear with me, because I was only four years old
One part I hadn’t remembered was that this story takes place during Holy Week
On Good Friday- in fact. But just as Jesus had been found three days later by his mother, and three days later by Resurrection, so the story connects, but I was away for more like an hour…
My Father and family friend and lawyer- Bob Snyder were doing something or other.
And anyway my mother and Judy Snyder, thought well, nobody will be at Disneyland on Good Friday, so they took my brothers Dave and Steve, my sister Joyce and I, and the Snyder boys, Mike and Mark.
Well, Mom and Judy’s prediction was wrong about Disneyland,
It was the opposite of empty, Mom said it seemed
The whole world was there
Wall to wall people
Lines were horrible/ horrendous
45 minutes for rides (which actually sounds kind of normal)
Anyway, the Bigger kids wanted to go on
Some Gold Rush mountain ride
At far end of the park,
We Had just come from Pirates of the Carribean
And went Past a steamboat with a big Paddle wheel
And my brother Dave begged to stop and run back and take a picture of the Steamboat.
Apparently, I suddenly went to go follow Dave
But by the time he got back, he said he hadn’t seen me
Well, then that’s when Mom started looking for me
while Judy watched the rest of the bunch
Mom wasn’t sure so she went to train ride
Now this is the part that I do remember, from being four years old,
Separated from my family,
everyone around me I didn’t know and they were all so tall
At some point I just remember stopping
As everyone else
Was Moving fast and circling by, but no family, no Mom,
And I remember starting to tear up and cry,
And that is when I remember two women, one much older,
Suddenly appearing and getting down to my level
They asked If I was OK, and if I was lost
And I think I did one of these
With the curled bottom lip and nodding Yes,
And they told me they would help me, they would bring me to a lost and found.
Frantically my mother had been searching for me, when finally,
She asked Park employees who had said they had found two little boys
taken to lost and found and Had given them popsicles,
And I remember this part clearly,
Because they had me sit outside at the top of the stairs overlooking where the electric light parade route was about to start, and I had a popsicle in my mouth, I actually was feeling great…
So then finally mom got to the lost and found
She says, Climbing over the people waiting for the parade
Mom first walked right past me inside, before finally coming back out to find me and my popsicle.
She said when she finally looked into my eyes,
I was acting all Nonchalant
Hey, after all, I had a pretty good seat, and a popsicle to boot.
Last night my Mom said that one of the main things that was fightening going through her head was that with all the crowds, How easy It could been to walk out with kid and kidnapping.
Now, I’m humbled that she thought anyone else would have wanted me, but I guess I was a cute four year old.
Anyways, the story ends, as my mother said, that for the next year I didn’t let go of mom’s hand in any public setting, even church, until I finally started Kindergarten.
And then mom joked, that I had got lost, not because I was about my father’s business, as Jesus was in the synagogue, but because I was trying to follow my brothers business with the picture taking…
The point that I want to make about this story, is actually about those two compassionately nice ladies,
Mom said the ladies were actually park employees,
but to me they were angels, who helped
There I was, a somewhat innocent Four Years Old
Separated from family, Not knowing who was who, or where was where.
I had to trust the people in authority- relying upon them to do the right thing.
I’m sure my mother can sympathize with Mary his mother, looking for him for days.
Those ladies, who found me, acted with compassionate authority towards me a lost child, and as Disneyland Employees they must have known well how to respond to that story.
But for Jesus, he is the one, even as a 12 year old, who speaks
with authority- retelling the Old Testament family stories.
It says that “all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers”
The separation for Jesus from him family was important, it was a time where his experience went from him holding his mothers’ hand at the festival time, to being held in the grasp of God the Father’s wisdom and compassion.
And then it says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years”
Ultimately, when we have been the ones wondering off, even into adulthood, it is our heavenly parent who comes seeking us, with angel helpers at times when we need them. Jesus used his authority, even at a young age to help people who were lost in their understandings, to help people reconnect with the Old Testament Family Stories of hope.
Our heavenly parent, shows how authority over vulnerable ones is to be used for good, for life, and for the joy of reuniting with loved ones, now and for always.
