New Clothes

This sermon was delivered at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on December 31, 2006.

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Psalm 148
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

For some, it may well be impossible to read today’s gospel reading without thinking about the film “Home Alone.” Home Alone is a 1990 comedy film by John Hughes starring Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to France for a Christmas vacation. The scene of Kevin being left behind in suburban Chicago is seemingly inspired by this tale from Luke’s gospel.

In the movie, as the McCallister family hurries into a shuttle van waiting to take them to the airport, an annoying neighbor child piles into the shuttle with the McCallister’s spouting on about his family’s vacation plans.[1] When it comes time for mom, Kate McCallister, to count heads on the van, she mistakenly counts the neighbor child as her son Kevin. Since the parents are sitting in first class of the plane and the kids in coach, this mistake is not caught until well after the family is in the air.

Whoops, Kevin is home alone and the family is on the way to Paris.

Jesus’ case shares this same separation within the family as the clan leaves Jerusalem to return home. As the clan leaves, while there is no head count, presumably each parent thinks the young Jesus is with the other. While there is no annoying neighbor child being mistaken for Jesus, I can just imagine the scene of the family setting up camp after a full day of travel when Mary and Joseph look at each other and say, “I thought he was with you!”

Whoops, Jesus is alone in Jerusalem and the family is on the way to Nazareth.

If you are going to lift plot lines, you ought to take from the best.

So like Mom getting back home to Chicago to find Kevin, Mary and Joseph are in Jerusalem three days before find Jesus. This is a total of five days after counting two days of travel. They finally find him in the temple. And when Mary and Joseph arrive, they were in shock. He is not alone; he is with the teachers of the law where all who heard him were amazed at his understanding, his questions, and his answers. When his parents find him, is Jesus received with relief? Well, of a sort. “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” (Does this sound familiar to any of you parents?) He is received by relief overwhelmed by a scolding.

If I am not mistaken, Kevin got the same reaction from Mom when she finally found him home alone and safe.

We even leave the gospel scene with Jesus being obedient to his parents, treasured by his mother, and increasing in wisdom. Kevin receives a similar response from his movie parents and family; at least until brother Buzz discovers Kevin has trashed his room…and of course until the sequels.

It is glorious that there are changes Mary’s perception of Jesus. This child of her womb, the tiny baby that was born in a stable, liturgically just one week ago, is growing up. He is about to become a man, a son of the law in the eyes of the synagogue and temple. But he obviously is no ordinary little boy and he is his mother’s treasure, increasing in wisdom and in favor. He is changing before the eyes of his clan, and no one sees this like his mother. No one ever sees this like a mother does.

This theme is explored in the Old Testament by Hannah and her son Samuel, a story of a young boy changing in the eyes of his parents and the whole community while he serves the temple. And again, no one ever sees the changes in a son like his mother.

The experience of looking for new clothes is different for everyone. As for me, I am a “search and destroy” shopper. When I go shopping, generally I know what I am looking for. I go to the store, I find what I want, I try it on, I make a decision, and I buy it or leave it. Yes, if it needs a fitting I will wait for the pins to go into the cuffs. But I’m not the guy who thrives on the experience of shopping. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that whole shopping experience, but it really isn’t my cup of tea.

Some people love to look over every rack. Some look for a specific piece of clothing or something in a particular color or style. Some look through everything looking for a good price. For others, it is the thrill of the hunt—finding new and different things. This style of hunter is more of a pursuer than a “search and destroyer.” The joy of the pursuit is that you never know what you are going to find. The search and destroy method saves time, but on the other hand the spontaneity just isn’t there.

Our reading from Samuel is a reading about new clothes. Of course, there is very little shopping in the days of the temple at Shiloh. So every year, at the time of the Passover, when the nation came to the temple to celebrate, Samuel’s mother Hannah brought his a new linen robe. In the day, it would take about a year to create such a garment, so on top of the Passover; this was a special time and a special celebration for their family. It was also a time to visit the son, the one dedicated to the Lord.

Eli, the old priest of the temple, would come and bless Elkanah and Hannah. He would give them a report on Samuel’s progress in the temple. And he would affirm his evaluation by saying “May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord.”
As Jesus grew in wisdom and in divine and human favor, so too did Samuel centuries earlier.

Tonight, in Orlando, there is a New Year’s Eve party sponsored by the Arkansas Alumni Association in conjunction with all of the activities for the Capital One Bowl tomorrow. Believe me, I remember from seven years ago the party held in Dallas before the Cotton Bowl 2000. Everyone will celebrate the New Year and all things Razorback. Then tomorrow, these same folks will pile into busses and cars from the hotel and head to the Florida Citrus Bowl as your Hogs face the Badgers of the University of Wisconsin. Just ask any football crazy alum of the university, it’s a special time, a time to celebrate.

And I say if you can celebrate in Florida, so much the better. In my opinion it sure beats spending the night in Boise on the blue “Smurf Turf” at the Humanitarian, er…the MPC Computers Bowl.

For us, both as people and as Christians, this is a special time of year, a time of celebration. We have taken the long journey through Advent. We have celebrated Christmas with word and song. And now, on this the first Sunday after Christmas, we prepare to celebrate the New Year. New Year’s Eve is not a Christian holiday of course; it has no spot in the liturgical calendar, but it is important in our society.

New Years Eve is a time when we take stock of the year gone by, with an eye to what’s next to come. It is a time when people resolve to make changes for the new year. People set goals; some even make plans to achieve these goals.

It is a time when we as Christians need to take stock of what we have, who we are, and who is responsible for these glorious gifts. As Samuel, we received the gift of a new robe in the waters of our baptism. In the waters of our baptism, we are clothed in Christ. In our baptism, we oblige ourselves to God the father in the same way Jesus obligated himself to both his heavenly father and his earthly parents.

In the waters of our baptism, we are covered in a newness of life. The world of our old life is washed away. When washed, we are fully reconciled to Christ. We are free to fully trust that we belong to God. Dressed in the robe of Christ, we are to free our minds, hearts and souls to be truly free in this world to be ministers of His reconciliation. But it is only in this sacramental relationship that we can accomplish this, otherwise we fall back into our self doubt and self rejection.[2]

This is where we must begin when we make our New Year’s Resolutions. We must begin with our relationship with the Almighty. We begin with our baptism into the body of Christ. We are to be clothed as Samuel was in this robe of white, this robe which represents our membership with the baptized.

We are to wear this robe as Jesus wore his. Jesus wears his faith in the water of his baptism. We are nourished in his faith by the bread and cup of the Lord’s Supper. And as Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, so too can we increase in his wisdom. Nourished in the sacraments, we will increase in divine and human favor.

No, I am not telling you that we will become Jesus, but our call, our vocation, is to become more Christ-like. And this is a noble and worthy goal. It is truly the only one that matters. It is how we participate as ministers in Christ’s work of reconciliation.

Some shop through may stores looking for the one robe that fits best, others find it first off of the rack. We do not need to shop. We are given new clothes in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Let us put on Christ and follow him into the world.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Alone, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099785/ accessed December 31, 2006.
[2] Nouwen, Henri, Bread for the Journey, A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith, December 26, 2006 entry.