These young people are indeed growing in wisdom, years, stature and favor with God as they make their way in the world.

Transcription

1 Great Anxiety A Student Day at Christmas Meditation offered on Dec. 30, 2012 Rev. W. Dale Osborne Lectionary texts included: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 and Luke 2:41-52 Going away to college or university is a great privilege and honor. Many young people never get the chance due to financial constraints, citizenship status or poor educational preparations. Going away to college opens up a vast array of possibilities, pitfalls, challenges and opportunities for a young person. Most high school graduates enter the university setting between the ages of seventeen and nineteen. Some believe they know exactly what their academic calling entails. Some have no earthly idea what studies they should pursue. Most fall somewhere in between. On some occasions, the first year college student may have their academic and professional plan prescribed for them by a relative. You will be a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer because that is what your father and your grandmother and your great-uncle did. Sometimes this parental nudging can be helpful as it gives the child something to lean into or bounce off of on their way to academic and career choices. In today s bible passages, we are confronted by two settings of young people seeking an education and a direction for their lives. Both of these young people have strong connections to their parents who love them dearly. In the Old Testament passage the young boy Samuel was pledged to service in the temple by his mother Hannah as she prayed to God for a child. Samuel entered the temple under the guidance of the priest Eli as his mother made good on her promise to God. Samuel appears to have had no choice in this

2 matter but we do not always receive every detail in the biblical accounting. We do know that Samuel went away to his priestly ministerial school at a very young age. While studying there, Samuel often wore a linen ephod. The linen ephod was an ancient and significant part of the priestly attire worn as far back as to the time of Aaron and Moses. We also read in the passage that Samuel s mother Hannah would make a pilgrimage to the temple each year to visit her son and deliver to him a hand-made robe for his comfort and warmth. This yearly visit reminds me of parents weekend at a university. During parents weekend relatives of the student often visit and purchase a university hoodie for their child. Hannah probably visited Samuel because she loved her child and she missed him dearly when he was away from her. Her faith may have been strong but a parent s potential for anxiety through separation is always possible.in the university setting, the child is a bit older than Samuel but the love and potential for anxiety are still applicable to the parents. I could talk more about Samuel s ancient story, but we have a hearty handful of beautiful university students with us today. I think we can learn a lot about our own stories by listening to their stories. A few of them will step forward now and a few others in a short while. I pray that we can learn from their stories as we listen and take stock of our own. (2 or 3 students will come and answer the following questions/responses:) While away from home at college I have been becoming??????? The part of my life that has grown the most while away at school is??????? My parents do not need to be anxious while I am away at school because???????

3 These young people are indeed growing in wisdom, years, stature and favor with God as they make their way in the world. In the Gospel lesson from Luke we meet the 12 year old Jesus and his loving parents as they make their pilgrimage to and from Jerusalem for the Passover festival. This is one of the few narratives of Jesus prior to his time of baptism, prayerful preparation and ministry in Galilee. The lessons in this story speak of what it means to answer a calling, prepare for a lifetime of service and disengage from parental supervision. Those are some of the perspectives from Jesus point of view. The lessons also speak to the rigors of parenting a young adolescent, the challenges of making a pilgrimage for one s faith and the anxiety parents endure when they think that their child is in danger. I want us to hear from a few more college students to get an understanding of their perspectives as students who are trying to determine and answer their calling while they separate from their homes and parents. (Invite remaining students to step forward one at a time and give their responses to the following:) While away from home at college I have been becoming??????? The part of my life that has grown the most while away at school is??????? My parents do not need to be anxious while I am away at school because??????? These young people are indeed growing in wisdom, years, stature and favor with God as they make their way in the world.

4 The great anxiety that parents experience from time to time concerning their children is not secluded to this age or ancient times. It is a universal challenge for parents and anyone who loves a child deeply. How shall they grow, how shall they make their way in this world? These are some of the questions that cause us great anxiety. But like Hannah and Mary and Joseph we too are charged to let go and let God guide our beautiful children. The anxiety must be answered with prayer and with faith. We, like Mary must treasure all these things in our hearts, and like Hannah we can knit a robe now and then to stay mercifully connected to the children we love so deeply. May God strengthen all who are caught in the grip of great anxiety. May we reach out to one another and let go of one another as God leads us. Thanks be to God for opportunities for learning that abound in our midst.

5 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy wearing a linen ephod. His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, "May the LORD repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the LORD"; and then they would return to their home. Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and with the people. Luke 2:41-52 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.