My Father’s Business

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable to thee, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer and Lord, give us here today, eyes to see and ears to hear so we can learn your word together as a family. We offer you all the praise, honor, and Glory for it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good morning, my fellow encouragers!

As I read our lessons earlier this week and contemplated what to speak about this morning, I was struck by a similarity between our Gospel from St. Luke and a 1990 movie. The movie has since become a Christmas classic. Has anyone seen the movie “Home Alone?” I wonder if the movie’s writers gained inspiration from St. Luke, who gave us the original “Home Alone” story here.

In the movie, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) gets left behind like Jesus in our Gospel. Both are assumed to be with and among several extended family members. In the movie, Kevin is still home while everyone in the family gets on a plane for Christmas vacation. In our Gospel, Jesus is still in His Father’s house while everyone travels back to Bethlehem.

Like Jesus, Kevin is relatively calm about the whole thing… On the other hand, his parents very reasonably freak out when they realize on the plane above the Atlantic Ocean that Kevin isn’t with them. It’s probably safe to state that Mary and Joseph were also freaking out because St. Luke tells us Mary said to Jesus, “…thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.”

The movie then diverges into a series of slapstick comical scenes as Kevin defends his home from would-be robbers. In a sense, Jesus is defending His Father’s house by having a theological debate with the temple teachers. At the end of both stories, Jesus and Kevin are safely reunited with their families. Jesus is found in the temple, and Kevin is found “Home Alone.”

I find the correlation between the movie and the Gospel story of Jesus’ family trip to Jerusalem intriguing. But just as much as they are similar, they are very different.

In our Gospel story, we are told that Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking questions. I picture Mary and Joseph coming around the corner, and there is Jesus, the twelve-year-old boy, interacting with the teachers at the temple. We are told in verse 47 that “…all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.”

In verse 40, right before our Gospel lesson, St. Luke says about Jesus, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.” By the time He was twelve, He could “school” the teachers at the temple.

After they found Him, Mary rebuked Jesus by saying, “Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?” But the boy Jesus doesn’t respond by saying, “I’m sorry.” Instead, he explains to his parents something they didn’t expect to hear. In verse 49, He says, “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”

Mary and Joseph didn’t understand what Jesus was saying to them. What does it mean that Jesus “had to be about His Father’s business?” Even at the young age of twelve, Jesus knew that He was not just the son of Mary. He was the Son of God.

From a young age, Jesus understood that His purpose was greater than just playing and growing up; He was destined to be the Savior of mankind. At twelve, He was already aware of His divine mission and would grow to be the greatest teacher among the Jews. Ultimately, being about His Father’s business, He would sacrifice Himself on the cross for the whole world.

Yes, He was still a good son to his parents – St. Luke tells us that Jesus returned home after that day and obeyed His mother and father. But He had a greater mission, a more important, divine mission – to be about His Father’s business as humanity’s savior.

We all have a divine mission in life. We are not just here to work, pay bills, raise kids, socialize, work more, pay more bills, etc. That really is not why God has placed us on this planet. We have a greater and deeper purpose – and like Jesus, we are to “be about our Father’s business.”

That’s why we are here. God’s business can be summed up in five words. We are here, first and foremost, to hear the Word of God. God wants that to be a big part of our lives. And as we hear the Word of God, God’s business includes that we confess our sins. God’s business also means we receive the forgiveness of sins from Christ.

At our Baptism, we also receive the Holy Spirit, who begins the transformation process. As we change, like Jesus, who “grew, and waxed strong in spirit, with the grace of God,” we grow into people who glorify God in how we live our lives.

To hear His Word, to confess our sins, to receive Christ’s forgiveness, to be transformed for the better by His grace, and to glorify God; that’s why God has placed us on this earth – to be about our Father’s business.

In our Epistle today, St. Paul expresses “being about our Father’s business” this way. He encourages us to “be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,” signifying a change in perspective and lifestyle to devote oneself fully to God.

When St. Paul tells us to renew our minds, he implies that this is not just a one-time change but an ongoing process of growth and renewal. It’s an invitation to engage in practices that foster a deeper understanding of our relationship with God and each other. We do this through prayer, reading and meditating on scripture, and communal worship and fellowship, all of which cultivate a mindset focused on God … “to be about His business.”

Similarly, St. Luke vividly portrays Jesus as a model for this kind of growth. The last verse of today’s Gospel states that Jesus “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” This highlights that even Jesus, in his earthly journey, experienced a process of development—mentally, physically, and spiritually.

St. Paul and St. Luke underscore that a committed relationship with God requires intentional effort and a willingness to change. This transformation is not solely for personal benefit; it also enhances one’s ability to serve others and reflect God’s love and truth in the world.

By renewing our minds and emulating Christ’s growth, we can actively participate in a life that glorifies God and positively impacts those around us. Ultimately, this transformation leads to a deeper, more meaningful faith that influences every aspect of life.

Isn’t it interesting that in our final blessing of the Communion service, we ask God to help us in this endeavor? Through God’s peace, we pray to keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of His son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. It’s a petition for continual transformation, renewal, and help … “to be about our Father’s business.”

St. Paul also encourages us to be actively engaged with our Faith. He says, “…present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” He calls for surrendering oneself as a “living sacrifice” to God and that it’s our “reasonable service,” which means “our spiritual act of worship.”

The Communion Service incorporates much of St. Paul’s teaching. After the Invocation, we say, “And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice unto thee…”

In other words, we are to take our everyday, ordinary lives—our sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life—all that we are—and place them before God as an offering. It’s an act of spiritual participation in the sacrificial worship of the Father. We don’t just sit on our buns during the Communion service and watch. We actively participate in it. It’s not a football game where we sit on the sidelines but are players on the field.

Why do we participate in this way? By offering ourselves as a sacrifice to God the Father and acknowledging the sacrifice of His only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, on the Cross and by receiving His body and blood, through Grace, we may be made one sacrificial body with Him so that He may be in us and we in Him.

That’s transformation. That’s “being about our Father’s business” in a sacrificial way.

I want to make an important point here. Christ has only one Body, but that Body exists under three modes, and in the Communion Service, we recognize them all. I’ve just spoken of the first two, His Natural Body and His Sacrificial Body. To clarify:

Jesus has a Natural Body, birthed by His Mother, Mary, and was seen on earth, hung on the cross, rose in glory on the first Easter Day, and was taken into heaven in the Ascension.

Jesus’s Sacrificial Body becomes present on our altars at every Eucharist when, by the operation of the Holy Ghost and the priestly act of Christ Himself, bread and wine are transformed into and made one with the glorified Body in heaven.

Lastly, Jesus has a Mystical Body. That Body first appeared on earth on the first Whitsunday and is now known as the Holy Catholic Church.

In the prayer of Thanksgiving, we give thanks to the Father that in receiving “…the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of [His] Son our Savior Jesus Christ…,” we are incorporated “…in the mystical body of [His] Son, which is the blessed company of all faithful people…”

The mystical Body refers to the body of all who profess Christ, both in heaven and on earth. The mystical Body of Christ is the Church and the saints who belong to it, but it also includes the cloud of witnesses in Heaven…those who have gone before us.

At our baptism, the Holy Ghost unites us with Christ and puts us in holy communion with all other faithful believers in Christ. To be found in Christ is to be part of this blessed body. As St. Paul says, “So we, being many, are one body in Christ…”

Christ is one body. True unity goes beyond just being part of that body; it also includes the results of that connection. A branch isn’t considered alive if it doesn’t bear fruit, and producing fruit shows it is connected to the root.

So, lastly, “to be about our Father’s business” is, as the Prayer of Thanksgiving prays, “And we humbly beech thee, O heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in…”

Christ transforms us through knowing and believing His Physical Body hanging on a cross for our redemption, participating in the Eucharist while His Sacrificial Body is on the altar, and being part of His Mystical Body; the church, in doing good works and spreading the Gospel.

So, I’ll close with this simple question. Are we truly about our Father’s business?