Would We Move Right Along or Would We Look for Jesus?
Good Morning Friends,
Misplacing things as we get older is a problem. Keys, glasses, identity items are lost every day by people. It can happen in our spiritual journey too if we suppose we must find God is some far off experience. Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear sing a song in The Muppet Movie as they set out together in Fozzie’s Studebaker to make their mark in California. The song is “Movin’ Right Along” and the lyrics go like this: “Movin’ right along in search of good times and good news. With good friends you can’t lose. This could become a habit. Opportunity knocks once let’s reach out and grab it (yeah!) Together we’ll nab it. We’ll hitchhike, bus or yellow cab it. Cab it? Movin’ right along. Footloose and fancy-free. Getting there is half the fun; come share it with me. Moving right along. We’ll learn to share the load. We don’t need a map to keep this show on the road. Movin’ right along, we’ve found a life on the highway. And your way is my way. So trust my navigation. California here we come, the pie-in-the-sky land. Palm trees, and warm sand. Though sadly we just left Rhode Island. We did what?! Just forget it. Movin’ right along. Hey LA, where’ve you gone? Send someone to fetch us, were in Sasketchewan! Movin’ right along. You take it, you know best. Hey, I’ve never seen the sun come up in the West? Movin’ right along. We’re truly birds of a feather. We’re in this together. And we know where we’re going. Movie stars with flashy cars and life with the top down. We’re storming the big town. Yeah, storm is right, should it be snowing? Uh, no I don’t think so. Movin’ right along. Footloose and fancy-free. You’re ready for the big time. Is it ready for me? Movin’ right along. Movin’ right along. Movin’ right along. Movin’ right along.”
Now I have said all of that because this time of year and in light of today’s scripture it all seems relevant in a whimsical kind of way. And maybe it is easier for me because I grew up on Kermit the Frog and Paul Williams music. But the cultural force of our times pushes us forward learning the lessons of life from movies and perhaps unfortunately in the process maybe we misplace the most important relationship of all. So today we look in the mirror and ask, Would We Move Right Along or Would We Look for Jesus?
Scripture: For nothing will be impossible with God.
Luke 1:37 (NRSV)
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’ He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.
Luke 2:41-51 (NRSV)
Message: For anyone who has grown up in a family, today’s scripture has got to bring a smile to your face. Mary turning to Joseph and Joseph turning to Mary, each thinking that Jesus was with the other. Remember the movie Home Alone. The story is of a family, a dysfunctional family that goes on a Christmas vacation and leaves one of their children at home. In the face of a worst case scenario where one might anticipate harm we get something surprising… the boy hiding in an outdoor Nativity scene. What strikes me about the Muppet Movie and Home Alone is that you never feel anxious about the outcome. In the movie Home Alone one never gets the anxiety that the kid left behind is actually alone. It is as if the boy is surrounded by wise men and shepherds throughout the movie always showing resourcefulness in the face of a challenging situation. In the Muppet Movie it is just one miracle after another. I get that same feeling in the reading of Luke’s story about the young Jesus in the Temple. In the end we laugh at fear as it becomes clear, that we really are never alone. Friends, in life we always want and even expect Jesus to be where we are. And indeed Jesus can be found in the midst of everyday relationships in familiar places, here and now in the common stuff made anything but common when the goodness of God is revealed in the marvelous possibilities lying latent in our possibilities. The harsh reality of moving right along though is that we can misplace the Master even though He never misplaces us. In the busyness of life, in the hurry with the holiday crowd it is possible for us to take Him for granted. And if we do realize we have misplaced Jesus in our life then it is time to retrace our footsteps and return to the place we left Him. Friends, do not lose Christ in the holiday Season.
Pray we expect a miracle. Pray we have both divine and human favor.
Pray
we find Jesus. Pray we find the Savior as a child in a manger and growing up in the Scriptures, the Teacher in the Temple, and Christ in Creation. Pray despite the challenge that we experience Jesus growing up in us. Pray we realize that nothing can substitute for our relationship with God….that the relationship is the most important thing. Pray we believe in the eternal presence of the Lord. Pray we realize that His way is as close as our next step in spiritual obedience. Pray we make God the focal point and realize that without Jesus nothing else matters. Pray we move right along with Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 