Seeking Jesus II

Everything in the Scriptures is written for a reason. In Luke chapter 2(vs.41-51) there is an account of Mary and Joseph, as well as their 12 year old Jesus, leaving Nazareth and going to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. Only the men were required to go, but Mary made the pilgrimage as well (reminiscent of Hannah). The Feast itself lasted seven days, and the trip took approximately 2 long days from Nazareth to Jerusalem. As the entire large company left to return to Nazareth, Mary and Joseph accidentally left Jesus back in Jerusalem assuming He was with a relative. After a day's journey they realized their mistake and returned to Jerusalem to find Jesus. They found Him in the Temple asking and answering questions with the most learned theologians. They then returned to Nazareth together.

Lk.2:45 - And when they found Him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him.

Let's put the whole event in perspective against the general backdrop of today's experience both collectively and personally. Think about it. Joseph and Mary took TWO WEEKS every year and went to Jerusalem. Not as a vacation, not on a cruise to see the Holy Land, and not continuing to earn a salary while they were there. They lost two weeks of wages, and the journey was approximately 60 MILES of walking over hard terrain with no accommodations (bathrooms, showers, restaurants, walk in clinics, hotels). And the entire trip was spiritual, not sentimental. It was an incredible sacrifice unto Jehovah.
Which of us would do such a thing today? Which of us would take two weeks out of our year, sign over our paycheck to missions, and walk two days to and two days back from a secluded camping place to do nothing but seek God? No recreation or traveling, just seeking Jesus. We would all think we were being punished by God.
OK, now they have observed the Passover, and they are leaving Jerusalem without Jesus. Hmm...religious people leaving the church and leaving Jesus behind, does it bring up any present day parallels? Let us not assume that all the people that made that trip to Jerusalem were completely motivated by a desire to seek and please God, no, many had long since settled into a stagnant and cultural observance that Paul describes as "Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof". Look at today. So many "professing" (whatever that means) Christians continue to "go" to church, even give, maybe even serve in some capacity, yet their secret Spiritual life has long since died out and they are sadly just "going through the motions". Many, if not most, evangelical church goers have spent as much quite time in prayer and Scripture devotion this week as has Hugh Hefner (whoever he is). How do we know that? Because we all have experienced that on some level and we know that it is a war to remain intimate with our Lord and we do not sense the spirit of urgency among believers today about their devotional life!?

LK.2:46 - And it came to pass, that after three days they found Him in the Temple...

Now Mary and Joseph return to Jerusalem and they search for THREE DAYS. How many of us can claim we have searched for Jesus for three days? One Day? A half an hour? This three days just adds to their inconvenience, but they are motivated by their love for Jesus. Motivated by their love for Jesus? Whatever does that mean in today's Spiritual world? Excluding the "inconvenience" of getting up early on Sunday, where is the sacrifice? Food, clothing, money, sleep, entertainment? No, we believe today that God wants us to have all those things and that we are to give out of our abundance - never sacrifice. What do you think Mary and Joseph AND Jesus were doing on their way to Jerusalem? Praying, reading the Scriptures, and preparing their hearts for worship. What do we do before church? Most people barely make it to the building on time, much less pray, read the Scriptures, and prepare their heart for worship. So if we are not sacrificially preparing our hearts and seeking God early on Sunday mornings before corporate worship, can we assume that Sunday is an anomaly and Thursdays are better? Tuesdays? Saturdays?
The great preacher, Savanarola, refused to preach unless he was filled with the Holy Spirit. This would sometimes make the congregation wait and pray (good for them) before he would come out and preach. One time in particular he sent a deacon out to inform the people that he would not come out of his prayer closet until God filled him with the Spirit. The deacon dismissed everyone with prayer and asked everyone to pray. He told them that as soon as Savanarola came out he would call the church together. THREE DAYS later, the word was sent throughout the community, the preacher was coming out to preach. The church overflowed with believers and non-believers alike waiting to hear this "eccentric" preacher. As Savanarola preached the Word of God, the anointing of the Holy Spirit was so strong that believers repented, scores were saved, and revival broke out throughout the community for almost a year! (As a side note, Savanarola was martyred - by the Roman Catholic Church!)

Lk.2:48 - And when they saw Him they were amazed...

Mary and Joseph were amazed at the 12 year old Jesus. How amazed are they now, in 2006, while they bow before the risen Christ in worship and adoration? That's right, Mary and Joseph are right now worshipping their Lord and Savior! Do you ever wonder why we are moderately moved by worship in church, and when it's over we all return to our homes (Nazareth?), change our clothes, and return to our former lives unchanged? Because of the Industrial Revolution we have whittled Sunday morning down to a couple of hours of (in order of length of time) 1. Preaching - 2. Singing - 3. Bible study - 4. General talking - 5. Announcements - 6. Offering - 7. Parking - 8. Greeting - 9. Bathroom - 10. Prayer. The description out of the Son of God's own lips "My house shall be a house of prayer" must have been a cultural issue that is irrelevant today. I wonder what would happen if we all refused to leave the church building until we were filled with God's Spirit, and were AMAZED at Jesus? You know what? It might take THREE DAYS! But, sadly... we don't have that much time to donate to Jesus, we have places to go and people to meet and, anyway, I got up and came here, doesn't that count for anything?

No, I'm sorry, it doesn't. Your dog could come to the church building.

I truly believe that we have over the centuries lost what Jesus had planned for the church gatherings. Act chapter two clearly states that the early believers were "continuing daily" not just two hours a week. And in Acts 4:1 "Peter and John went up together into the Temple at the hour of prayer". They observed the Lord's Supper every Sunday, they ate together every Sunday, they learned doctrine every Sunday, they spent much time praising God every Sunday, and they spent a significant time in prayer every Sunday. And they gathered at the Temple many times during the week to pray and praise. So when we arrive at the building that we now mistakenly call "the church", and after two hours we meet up with others at a local restaurant and spend more time eating than we have praying, how can we genuinely expect the Lord to move in power in our midst? And we have even morphed into asking "How was the service" to which the usual answer is "It was good" followed by another question "What did he preach on? and the answer is whatever the topic was. And Monday morning arrives and everyone does the same thing they did last Monday morning and the community is oblivious to the fact that yesterday thousands of believers claimed to have met with the Creator which by any standard SHOULD CHANGE US. One hundred men and women attended the first church service on the Day of Pentecost and while in "prayer and supplication" they were changed by God's Spirit and THEY CHANGED THE WORLD. And today MILLIONS meet in church buildings and come out unchanged and unmoved and the whole process is indistinguishable from a crowd returning from a sporting event, a lot of people traveling back from where they came from looking, talking, and acting the same way they did when they went. Most of us know more Bible than the original one hundred and twenty ever knew but something is missing. Let's keep denying it and nothing will change. But if, by God's grace, we start a journey of repentance that "Brings forth therefore fruits meet for repentance" (John the Baptist) than maybe a Sovereign God would graciously fill us with the power of His Spirit and people would take notice that we "have been with Jesus".

Lord Jesus, it is almost an insult to ask you to help us seek You, but we are honest before You because You know all things. We love You but we are not "diligently seeking" You. You are the only One who "makes all things new" and we need a fresh visitation of Your transforming Spirit. People are changing You, dishonest preachers are using You, movements are leading people away from You, but we not only want to remain faithful doctrinally with Who You are as revealed only in Your Unchangeable Word, we want to SEEK YOU and to intimately "Know You in the power of Your resurrection and the fellowship of Your sufferings". Lord, never let us be satisfied with just having pure creeds, give us an insatiable thirst to FOOLOW HARD AFTER YOU, so that "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God".

Amen.