Organizational Growth
Bible Passage:
Luke 2:41-52
Pastor:
Pastor Mike
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Sermon Date:
2011-05-07
Mother’s Day is an inspiring day for churches. The pews are a little tighter. The faces aren’t all so familiar. Traditionally, our church sees an extra 50-100 people every Mother’s Day. It’s inspiring. But Mother’s Day is also a depressing day for churches. Because we know why 95 of those 100 people came. Not because they love church or the Bible or God, but because they love mom. And mom said, “If you want to get me something special for Mother’s Day, come to church.”
Mother’s Day confronts churches with a question they’re sometimes scared to answer, “Does organized religion do any good?” Today, we’re answering the question of those people who believe in God, but just don’t believe in the necessity of this. Maybe you’re one of those people and you’re just here with your mom today. Maybe you’re secretly one of those people. You come to church, but deep down you wonder how much good it really does for you. Maybe you’ve seen an ugly side of church-going people and didn’t want to be anywhere near what you experienced. For whatever reason, maybe you’re one of the millions of people who wondered, “Does organized religion do any good?”
Not surprisingly, Jesus has an interesting perspective on this question. Between the time of his infancy and the beginning of his ministry at age 30, the Bible only records one event in those three decades of Jesus’ life. And that glimpse gives us some interesting answers to our issues with organized religion. Let’s study that story together.
Luke 2:41-42—“41Every year [Jesus’] parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. 42When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.” The Passover. The biggest religious celebration the Jews had. Jerusalem was packed like a church parking lot on Easter morning. The priests presided over the ceremonies. The people prayed and praised God. The Passover was organized religion at its best…or at its worst. Jesus later tells us about the organized religion of his time. Hypocrisy. Greed. Injustice. For every loving, faithful church-goer, there were two unloving, faithless ones, waiting to take your money and send you on your way. And yet “every year his parents went…according to the custom.” Despite all its flaws, Jesus and his family didn’t run away from religion. And when Jesus grew up, nothing changed. He didn’t check out of church until the kids were born. He went religiously to an imperfect religion.
If we shared stories of the flaws we’ve seen in organized religion, we’d be here until Father’s Day. Members of the church gossip about you on church grounds. Church leaders lead the way in insensitivity. A pastor plays favorites. The church didn’t try to understand when he left you. The church was cold and cliquish. And whether I was part of the imperfect church you experienced or not, I’m sorry. That isn’t what God wants his people to do and I’m sorry God’s people did that to you.
But before the church’s flaws push you away from religion, can I ask you to think about one thing? Consider what kind of people we want at church. If our greatest goal was to make sure you never got hurt, we could be a little more selective. We could screen church-goers and bounce people with anger problems, lying problems, alcohol problems, gossip problems, greed problems, fidelity problems, cursing problems, favoritism problems, and pride problems. We could minimize the imperfections of Eastside…at least outwardly. But we don’t do that. And we never will. Because we believe this organization is exactly what “those kind of people” need. We believe it’s what we all need. We believe Jesus is what liars and drunks and perverts and the proud need more than anything else. And so we want them to come. Not once they’ve cleaned up. But right now just as they are. Since that’s the case, we have this unfortunate reality—our church is filled with works-in-progress, real sinners. That means that you can and will be sinned against by the members of Eastside Lutheran. That doesn’t excuse the sin. But it does remind us every religion organized around God’s unconditional love will have this major flaw—it will contain people. And people aren’t perfect.
So we know organized religion does at least some evil. But the question still stands: Does it do any good? “43After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” 49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
Don’t be too hard on Mary and Joseph. They aren’t terrible parents. This wasn’t like Mary and Joseph were in their minivan on the way back to Nazareth. “Joseph?” “Yeah, Mary.” “I know we’ve been driving all day, but I just reached in the back for a granola bar and guess what?” “What?” “Jesus is gone!” Not quite. People traveled in huge groups of families, friends, and neighbors to Jerusalem. They thought he was a half-mile behind with all the other pre-teen boys. But he wasn’t. So the agonizing search for their son among 50,000 tourists begins.
Finally, they find him. Their frustration and relief is only matched by their astonishment. Their 12 year-old son is in church. Sitting among bearded men. Talking theology. Listening to their answers. Asking them questions. “Why did you do this?” a frazzled Mary asks. “Why were you searching?” Jesus asks back. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” With the question still bouncing around, unanswered, in her heart, Mary takes Jesus home. “And Jesus grew in wisdom.”
To understand Jesus’ take on imperfect organized religion, you have to understand what this little story tells us about Jesus. Jesus said, “I had to be in my Father’s house.” He was saying, “God is my Father. I am the Son of God. I am divine.” Yet at the same time, the text says, “Jesus grew in wisdom.” He was a growing boy, both physically and intellectually. That’s because Jesus was a human being. That’s why we call Jesus the “God-man”. He is fully God and fully man in the same person.
What’s the connection to organized religion? It’s this—when Jesus grew up as a human being, he didn’t make full use of everything he knew as God. He could have! He could have said, “What are you rabbis going to teach me? I’m God. Mary, what are you going to teach me? I’m God. I know what you’re going to say before you say it.” But Jesus didn’t do that. He humbled himself and didn’t rely on his divine knowledge. Instead, he learned. He “grew in wisdom.” He went to church and asked questions. He listened to answers, not just to correct those silly humans, but to learn from them.
What can we learn from that? That those who follow Jesus should follow Jesus into church. But I have a feeling many of us here today, even some of us who show up every week, would admit sometimes church doesn’t seem to be necessary. I could be very wrong about this, but I think there’s one main reason why we sometimes feel that way—pride. Those unspoken beliefs, “I don’t need to hear the same stuff again. I don’t need a pastor to be in authority over me. I don’t need church leaders checking out how I live my life. I’ve been to enough of these to know what they’re going to say. So I can come when I feel like it or when I’m not so busy and everything will be fine. I have God. I have my faith. I don’t need this place to be a strong Christian.”
Maybe you don’t need to be in this location to be a strong Christian, but can I ask an honest question? When you don’t come here, how much are you “growing in godly wisdom”? This place is nothing special, but this Word is. So can we be honest with each other? When you don’t come to church, are you reading the Bible? When you take a few weeks off because life is busy, are you talking with someone who has studied God’s Word so you can grow? Or…are you status quo-ing it with God? Are you assuming all God ever wanted from you was to know the basics? Maybe the great sin isn’t these horrible things we did when we stopped going to church. Maybe the sin was what we didn’t do, what we didn’t even think of doing because we were so immature and lacking wisdom, the thought to do it never crossed our minds.
So we go back with Mary and Joseph and look for Jesus. His presence in an imperfect organized religion condemns our sinful thinking, as if we knew better than Jesus himself. But his presence gives us more than a rebuke. Because there, asking and listening and growing, is the God-man. The Lord who came down to this earth not for his good, but for ours. “Mother,” Jesus explained, “I had to be here. I had to be learning. I had to be growing.” She wouldn’t understand for many years what he meant. “I have to do this for them, mother, and for you. They sinned, so I have to be sinless. They skipped, so I have to be here. I have to be in my Father’s house doing my Father’s work because my Father wanted to save them.”
Friends, do you understand why Jesus was there? For you. For us. So that he would be perfect. He would have the right to save us as a perfectly obedient man whose divine blood was so precious, it could forgive us. I learned, “Mike, you are forgiven” from my mother and the pastors and teachers of my organized religion. You are hearing, “You are cleansed of your pride” in this place of organized religion. If you have faith in God’s unconditional love, I would bet it was formed in an organized place. We love any religion that organizes itself around the God-man, Jesus. He is our cleanser, our hope, our Savior.
When you know that, something starts burning within you—something that just wants to be wherever Jesus is. And he is here, in this place where two or three or 400 gather in his name. And he is here, in this Word that we read and preach in this place. And he is here in this Supper as we eat and drink in remembrance of him. We stop thinking of what we have to do on Sunday morning and start thinking of what we get to do. We get to be with Jesus. We get to grow in wisdom. We get assurance of our forgiveness. We get hope. We get peace. We get joy. We get God in this Word.
And even on those days when you don’t get that and feel like you’re not getting much out of church, you should still come. Although she never told her pastor, Laura’s church wasn’t the most inspirational place in town. The organist was excellent…about 50 years ago when she started playing. The pastor was engaging…at least for the first minute of his marathon messages. One Mother’s Day, Laura told her mother, “I’m not getting much out of church.” Her mother listened intently and then, with the directness only a mother can get away with, asked, “Laura, what if church isn’t so much about getting as it is about giving? What if it’s not about getting advice, but giving praise to God? What if it’s not about getting help, but giving it to people? What if it’s not about getting prayers, but giving them on behalf of others? Maybe you’re frustrated with church because you forgot about them.”
Sometimes mothers know best. As a pastor, I pray you get so much when you come here. I pray the readings enlighten you, the sermons comfort you, the music inspires you, and the people encourage you. But even if you don’t always feel you’re getting that much, maybe it’s just good to come and give. To give a warm welcome to the person who’s never been to a church before. To give an encouraging word to a struggling mother. To generously give of yourself so others will love their organized religion.
So, does organized religion do all good? No, it’s always been as flawed as the people who show up. Does organized religion do any good? Without a doubt. We get forgiveness in the God-man, Jesus Christ. We give to those in need. Please don’t miss out on what God wants to do for you and through you. So get organized. We’ll see you next Sunday. Amen.
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