About this time of year we hear all kinds of reports about the year in review, and what a year this one has been!  2001 started with an elected president who lost the popular vote and ended with a popular president who's won the first round of a war.  It started with an economy looking bad and ended with one starting to look good.  It started with a lot of questions about international politics and ended with even more questions.  And somewhere around the middle our nation suffered the greatest loss of American life on our own soil since the Civil War.  How many of us just a year ago were wishing that 2001 would be a lot better year than 2000, and found it just the opposite?  It was for me one of the worst and one of the best, losing two dear family members and yet seeing the completion of such a wonderful church building and a rapidly growing congregation.  I wonder what surprises 2002 will bring.

          The year Christ was born had its own surprises.  For Mary and Joseph it started with the angel's announcement and ended with a birth in a stable.  For God's Chosen People it began with the dream of the Messiah and ended with His birth, though only a handful knew it.  Few people could ever have imagined what the events of that birth in the stable would lead to, as the baby grew to manhood to fulfill His destiny.

          And look what he became!  He owned nothing and yet was the Ruler of the Universe.  He never held an academic degree, and yet His teachings have molded entire civilizations.  He never travelled more than a hundred miles from home, but yet He saved the entire human race.  He was abandoned by His followers, and yet today His followers number a billion and a half people.  His followers did more to civilize the world, help the needy, heal the sick, make scientific discoveries and bring salvation to lost souls than anyone could have imagined.  And He still brings surprises to the world each new year.  I can't wait to see what this New Year of 2002 will bring to the people of the world.

          And think of the part the angels played in all this.  An angel told Zechariah and Mary and Joseph they'd be parents, and an angel told the Shepherds the Son of God was born.  An angel warned the Wise Men about Herod, and warned Joseph to flee to safety.  It's probable the angels helped Mary and Joseph raise their entire family.  I know Christian parents who say that without the help of angels, their kids would never have made it to adulthood.  And they're right, because I also know some of their kids.  Angels help Christian parents at every turn, especially when their children are growing, becoming unique, independent men and women and finally moving out of the house.

          The Bible tell us Joseph was a righteous man.  He was committed to doing the right thing according to the Law, so at the appointed time he took the baby to the temple for the required rituals.  Later on when they returned to Nazareth, one of his main tasks was to raise the boy right, to teach him the ropes, so to speak, to help him become a man.  A righteous father takes this task seriously, back then, and also still today.

          Today's lesson from Hebrews speaks of Jesus being "the radiance of God's glory." (Hebrews 1:3)   It's rare you hear the term "radiance" applied to boys.  Girls, yes.  Watching the little ones Christmas Eve, I saw a true radiance in most of the little girls.  On Confirmation Day our young girls are truly radiant, as also they are on High School Graduation Day.  But there is something about an adolescent boy that escapes radiance.  Growing, yes, that certainly applies to boys.  Emerging, yes, that too.  Active, certainly, and stalwart, perhaps.  But not radiance.  That's for the girls.

          When you see a young girl at those certain emerging times of her life, she can truly be so delicate and pretty.  They go from a dirty-faced tomboy in jeans to a delicate young woman in a dress.  Some are so delicate it seems as you'd burn your fingers if you touched them.  And that, of course, is what their fathers are hoping for.  "Look but don't touch, thank you very much!" they are inwardly saying to every young man who comes along.  Radiance needs to be handled carefully and most fathers would be pleased if it weren't handled at all!

          The theme for today's service is "God Became Human."  Originally I'd called it, "God Became Man," but to say "God Became Man" would tell only half the story.  In Christ, God did become a male person.  But in every sense He was more than that - He was a human being.  He lived a life with all the fears, temptations and growing pains we have.  And He did it all without sinning.  The Son of God was sinless in every day.

          And this is important -- that the Son of God was a sinless human being.  It's only incidental that He was a male.  God always works within the society to do His work.  If the society in Christ's day were female dominated, Jesus would have been born a woman.  God became a man to help solve the problem of sin, not to establish a male hierarchy.  God Himself is neither male nor female.  He calls Himself Father as His way of relating to us.  He is God who created and redeemed both male and female, and that's enough for us to know and trust.  His Son was a man, but God is neither man nor woman.  He is the Almighty God who is over all.

          Under the gentle tutelage of Joseph and Mary, the infant Jesus grew to manhood, much like it happens today.  The boy grew and was educated.  He became strong and learned a trade.  He went through rites of passage and was assured of who He was and what His roles were.  "And the child grew and became strong;  he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." (Luke 2:40)

          Boys and girls will always need direction as to their roles in life if they're to grow into productive Christians.  It's a mistake to treat them like neutral beings who must find their roles all by themselves.  They're not blank slates to be shaped only by environment, some kind of vanilla persons who must find their own flavor.  We must give them direction.  If they don't get it from us, the world will certainly shape them in its own sinful way.

          While most education of our children takes place in the home, schools today are playing a larger and larger role in this.  That means we must keep close watch on what's going on there.  Schools teach academics, but parents teach morals and values.  It's a huge mistake to let the state teach morals and values.  And most of what our children learn from us is not taught, but caught.  They see us doing and hear us talking, and so they learn.  Little eyes and ears learn more from us every waking moment than we'll ever realize.  We'd better be good examples!

          In Jesus' day, education of the child was entirely the responsibility of the parents, mostly of the father.  That's why St. Paul said, "Fathers, bring up your children in the training and instruction of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4)   Many fathers today have left religious training to the mother, leaving her to be the one who brings them to church or Sunday School or tells them Bible stories.  Blessed is the home where the father is also the spiritual trainer of his children.

          The verses following today's text in Luke 2 tell us about the teenage Jesus being left behind in the temple and later found teaching the teachers there.  The youthful Jesus had reached the point where Joseph and Mary were done with His spiritual training.  The boy had become a man in knowing the Word.  He now debated and interpreted the Word as well or better than his teachers, something few boys and girls or even adults today could do.

          Becoming a man or woman today is not easy, because there's a shortage of good role models.  Either there's no man in the house or the one there is busy with other things.  Our sons and daughters are attracted to the supermen and women of our age, high-paid athletic "heroes" or entertainers.  Since Sept. 11 our children are also seeing their heroes dressed in uniforms, and that's good.  But they become strong adults by modelling father or mother.  Most parents feel anything but heroic to their child, but then comes the day when son or daughter tells you how important you are, and they show it by what they do.  It's a day parents long for, and a day they will remember!  And if you haven't told your parent yet how important they are to you, do it soon!

          God our Heavenly Father waits for that day from each of us, too.  He loves us with an everlasting love and has given us Himself through giving us His Son.  His Son died and rose again that all who believe in Him might not perish, but have eternal life.  And He has given us the Holy Spirit so we can believe and trust Him and grow in our faith and love.  And though we will never stop being His children, one day by the grace of God it will happen that we adopt our heavenly Father's values and morals, and then we will live and serve Him as He wants us to.

          There are visitors here this morning who called late last night and told me their father had just died.  I'd just met him and them on Christmas Day and had planned to commune him, but God had other plans.  I could see in that family a love and respect for their father that showed he had done his job well.  I pray you will be comforted in your time of loss.  May God bless all the Marys and Josephs who have done their best to bring all us children up in the faith, Amen

Copyright © 2001 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.