Luke 2:41-49
As we come together this morning we realize that we are here for a purpose. I think we would all agree that each of us has a divine call to follow God and to serve God. Our hearts desire God, I trust that is why you are here this morning. Some of you may be here because this is where you think good Christians go on Sunday mornings, so you’re here out of obligation. Some of you may be here because it would shame your family’s name if you weren’t in church every time the doors are open.
Whatever your reason for coming this morning, I am personally glad that you chose to come today. Not because I think you should be here every time the doors are open, nor because I think you should be here at all. In fact, you all know me well enough to know that I do not hold the four walls of the church any more sacred than the dinner you will have with your family and friends later tonight or more sacred than the job you will do tomorrow.
I’m glad you’re here this morning because we’re going to dive into something that I think we miss all to often, and honestly this topic is a topic of life changing proportion. Not because I’m preaching it, but because this is the basics of faith and calling, and if we don’t get this we might as well pack it up and call it a day.
When Jesus was just 12 years old he did what most 12 year old boys do, he separated himself from what was expected and went off exploring. Three days into his adventure his parents found him in the temple, listening, participating, and teaching the chief teachers.
I can only imagine the distress and even anger that Mary and Joseph had toward Jesus when they found him. Jesus should be glad that he didn’t have my parents because, I got lost for a half hour in Kmart one time and I got the spanking of a lifetime, I can only imagine what they would have done after 3 days.
The words that came from the mouth of Jesus as a 12 year old boy are profound and prophetic, yet overlooked by scholars, theologians, pastors, and teachers. And because they are overlooked by those whom we trust to teach us, they are often overlooked, by businessmen, accountants, lawyers, doctors, construction workers, and wood refinishers.
When Mary and Joseph found young Jesus in the temple the conversation probably sounded a little like this; young man where have you been, don’t you know that your mother and I were very worried, and now we’re very angry, you shouldn’t run off like that. “But mom, dad, don’t you know why I was sent here? Remember those angels? I was sent here to do my Father’s business. It must be done, and you are a big part of that business. I’m sorry I didn’t get your permission, but I have to do my Father’s business.”
The next line in scripture is pretty intense, they did not understand what he was saying, but Mary kept the things in her heart and treasured them. Why would Mary treasure what had worried her? I think it is because she was suddenly reminded of that night when she was told that she was going to be the mother of the Savior of the world. She realized that her part in the Father’s business was big, and to her no other treasure could come close.
This morning, I want us to talk about this thing Jesus was devoted to, doing the Father’s Business. Did you know that the same word used here for business is the same word used interchangeably for business and ministry. There is no difference between the two. Whenever Scripture speaks of business or church ministry it uses the same word, the really cool thing is that this is consistent in the Greek of the NT and the Hebrew of the old. I think there is a significant message for us to grasp.
This past week I had a customer tell me that I didn’t need a platform or a pulpit, she said that my Nhance team had shown more Christ in one day than all the preachers she had ever listened to. That statement, quite honestly, has caused a great amount of grief in my spirit. Why? Because I personally like having a platform or standing behind the pulpit. But her words pierced deep, deep enough to cause me to realize that what I am doing right here and now is of no greater importance than what I do when I scrub floors.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit to you today, once again, that if what we do in here doesn’t spill into the streets out there, then we have no business doing it. If what you do in here doesn’t effect every aspect of your life, your business, out there then stay at home and get the extra 2 hours of sleep, because that is more useful to you than listening to me.
Too often we hold the pulpit to an elevated position. People react one way when I say that I am a pastor, and another when I say that I refinish wood. My customer this week opened my eyes to see that the those of us who lift up the pulpit forget those who have been hurt by the church, we abandon those who are too ashamed to come near a steeple, we judge those who live a different lifestyle. Instead of lifting up the pulpit I suggest that we live as Jesus lived, we together, live our lives working on the Father’s Business.
What is the Father’s Business you ask?
I think we see that answer in Jesus. To be an example for imitation. Jesus never made a command that he had not already lived out in front of his disciples. To be about the Father’s Business is to be an imitator of Jesus Christ and then to be an example for imitation among the world.
Why is it that Jesus said follow me, rather than come to my church on Sunday? It is because he knew the value of apprenticeship and encouraged those who wanted to be about the Father’s business to literally take up their cross and become like Him.
That is what the very word Christian means, Like Christ, or little Christ. I doubt that in my own life I deserve that title most of the time and yet that is what we proudly proclaim that we are.
If we are truly about the Father’s business then we have no need to bestow titles upon ourselves, like pastor, or bishop, or elder, much less Christian. The world would recognize who we are imitating and be compelled to either scoff or become imitators themselves.
The modern era that we have lived in since the 15th century is ending, and with the ending of modernity society inevitably will change with it. What is the Father’s business in this new age of communication or postmodernity? I suggest that it is the same as it was when Jesus first said it, the Father’s business is to be the ultimate example of the Father’s kingdom.
So how do we go about the Father’s business? How do we become imitators of Christ?
I think that we must first recognize the very Spirit of Christ. What was the impelling power that made Christ say, I must be about my Father’s business?
In the first place it was the spirit of obedience. An obedience to do that which he was made to do. For Jesus it was to be the ultimate example of abundant life, to teach us how to live, to teach us how to forgive. For Jesus, his obedience took him to the cross, to the pits of hell, and to the resurrection of life. Jesus was obedient not only in death but in life. His salvation was accomplished not in his death, but in his coming. The forgiveness of the Father happened long before the cross, forgiveness is why he sent Jesus? Jesus came because of the one who sent him. He came out of obedience. Our salvation, quite honestly is secondary to the obedience of the Son to the Father.
We are about the Father’s business when we are obedient to his call. His call to follow his Son, his call to live in abundance, to reject shame, and to live a life of fulfillment. In the book, Pursuit of Holiness, the author suggest that we are about the business of the Father when we reject our self. When we reject sin because it hurts the Father, not because it hurts us. When our actions are based on the call that the Father has given, rather than what we would have for ourselves or for others. Obedience is the fruit of submission to the Father’s call.
What is the Father’s call on your life? Are you walking in it? Or are you pursuing the things that you want, or your family wants?
Going deeper, realize that wherever you are, the Father’s business is primary. If you are at your desk, you are to be an example of the living Christ, if you are not, you are not about you Father’s business. When you go to the market, you are to be an imitator of the Son, if you are not, you are not about the Father’s business. Regardless of your occupation, your ultimate calling is the same, to imitate the Son, to be his disciple, and through your example lead others to the Father.
Christ was compelled to the Father’s business through His obedience and through His call. So should we, through our submission to Christ, be compelled to do the Business of the Father. There should be no better marketer than the submitted servant. There should be no better sales person than the man who cares more for the soul than for the sale. There should be no better student than the one submitted to the greatest teacher.
We are to be about the Father’s business. What I do today is of no more importance than what you do today. There is no higher calling to ministry, all business, all ministry are equal callings. In fact you will reach more people through your personal network in one day than I can reach from a pulpit in a year.
You are all key stock holders in the greatest business ever started. The beautiful thing is that you are not to be silent partners. GO and BE about the Father’s Business.
