It is said that it takes a village to raise a child. Certainly, having individuals around that parents can depend upon to provide support and help is valuable. We appreciate how wonderful it can be to have someone who can take care of a child when a parent needs to work, has an appointment, or just needs a break. How useful it can be to have an extra set of hands to help with housework when children have caused chaos. How calming it can be to have someone to talk to when the challenges of child-rearing arise.
No doubt, Mary and Joseph appreciated the village in which they were raising Jesus. They had friends and relatives all around them from whom they could get support. Naturally, they chose to travel with this group as they made the journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem for the Passover. Having a large group to travel with would have added a level of security for everyone in a time when this trip was made largely on foot and the possibility of robbers and other nefarious people was ever present. Indeed, the presence of such a large support system allowed Mary and Joseph to feel so relaxed that they lost sight of their own child.
Can we imagine being so comfortable with the group, so confident that Jesus would have joined the group heading back to Nazareth that Mary and Joseph didn’t even realise he wasn’t there until a day into the return trip? The panic that ensued must have been tremendous. So, much for the security of the village. The couple were left to rush back towards Jerusalem, hoping and praying their child was alright!
It is easy to get complacent when we feel secure and comfortable. When we exist in contexts where we trust that everything will work itself out, that we don’t need to sweat the small stuff and that it is all small stuff, it makes it easier for us to simply assume that others will take care of what is needed and will fill in the blanks as these arise. Faith means we what we offload onto those others who take care of this stuff can be offloaded onto God, the all-powerful one who loves the world and so obviously answers our prayers whether these are for ourselves or for the benefit of those in need!
Thoughts and prayers become a standard mantra when traumatic things happen or simply when we want to convey a sense that we care about an issue. Those thoughts and prayers don’t actually suggest that we are going to do anything more than give it to God. We trust God will take care of it for us. God will feed the hungry, and bring peace where there is conflict. God will comfort those who mourn and heal the sick. God will fill in the blanks where it is needed, all we have to do is pray and assume God will do the work, right? Just like Mary and Joseph assumed Jesus would be travelling back with the group, until they realised, he wasn’t. They didn’t keep their eyes on Jesus, just as we sometimes fail to keep our eyes on God.
Yet, God’s eyes remain ever on us. God wants to have a reciprocal relationship with us. Thus, when Mary and Joseph find Jesus, the story has him sitting in his Father’s house, sitting in the temple, asking questions, building relationships, and inviting those who are willing to engage in conversation and explore the meaning of their faith. This is a reminder that God wants a relationship with us that is participatory. It doesn’t have to be doubt and question free. We only need to be willing to engage all of who we are and allow that to inspire the choices we make about how we embody our faith.
God is a part of our village. This doesn’t mean that we should be complacent and assume that we don’t have to watch our own children, that we don’t have to contribute to making a difference, that we don’t have a role to play in transforming unjust structures. Just as parenting comes with expectations and actions, there are expectations and actions that are part of our response to our relationship with God. Relationships involve give and take, they include mutuality and sharing of each other. This leads to the greatest commandment which is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and body, and love our neighbour as ourselves – our response to our love for God and God’s love for us is revealed in our actions towards others – the ways we seek to grow and sustain the village we share with God.
The Spirit of Christmas connects us so well to that experience of God’s loving presence and the possible ways we can respond. Thus, as we continue our celebration of the Christmas season, we are encouraged to keep our eyes on Jesus, seeking him wherever he may still be found among us. Inspired by the presence of God with us, Emmanuel, may we find meaningful ways to actively participate in our relationship with God, sharing the gifts we have been given in acts of love with the world and being open to making a difference alongside God in our shared village. This we pray as we sing: (MV) 209 Go, Make a Diff’rence