Worship - 29 December 2024

Summary of this week's theme

Six years ago on Christmas Eve, I was told I resembled a character from Home Alone. It was the beard, some children said, drawing a parallel to the bearded burglars, the film’s villains. Home Alone is an interesting story. From one perspective, it’s about a resourceful child left to his own devices. Seen through the eyes of a parent, it’s a different tale altogether, about a mother’s desperate journey to reunite with her son.

The film evokes comparisons with the biblical story of young Jesus, left behind in the temple. Yet this isn’t the first time scripture tells of a child left in a sacred place. Samuel, one of the greatest Old Testament prophets, was deliberately left in the temple as part of his mother Hannah’s vow to God. Each year, she made him a new coat - a poignant symbol of love and care expressed through clothing.

Clothing appears often in the Bible as a metaphor for divine love. Jesus, in his adulthood, left his followers with spiritual clothing: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and love. Sadly, many of us neglect to wear these garments, keeping them tucked away like forgotten treasures.

For Mary and Joseph, raising the Son of God was no easy task. When twelve-year-old Jesus stayed behind in the temple, they were consumed with worry. His response: ‘Did you not know I must be in my Father’s house?’ must have been both challenging and confusing for them. It’s a reminder that children, even as we teach and nurture them, can teach us profound lessons about love and faith.

The challenge of loving someone deeply lies in learning how they wish to be loved. This theme resonates universally, as shown in a line from the film Didi, about a boy growing up in an American culture quite alien to his mother, who says: ‘I want to love him in the way he wants to be loved, but I don’t know how.’ Perhaps Mary and Joseph felt similarly as they navigated the complexities of parenting their extraordinary child.

So how do we love God as God desires? By wearing the spiritual clothing provided for us: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and, above all, love. These garments, woven by divine hands, are perfect. If they feel ill-fitting, it is not the clothes but we who need adjustment. Try them on. See how they transform not just how we love but also how we live.