Luke 2:41-52

One day the wife of a farmer was working around the house. Suddenly she noticed that her son was no where in sight. Frantically she looked and looked and called and called. When she finally found him she was amused at what she saw. Her son had taken some rope and tied it to the dog's collar in a sort of harness or yoke. At the end of the rope was tied a large stick. The boy was standing behind the dog. One end of the stick was in the ground, and the other end was in the boy�s hands. In short the boy was trying to plow the ground with the stick and his dog was the horse pulling the plow. The mother asked, "Johnny, what are you doing?" Johnny replied, "I am doing daddy's work."

Children imitate their parents. It's part of growing up. It's how they learn. Psychologists call it modeling. They observe what we do and then they play at doing it. But that "play" is important for their development. So children see their father chopping wood and they get a stick and start chopping too. At first their activity may seem ineffective. The wood isn't really cut by the child hitting it with a stick. But that seemingly ineffective activity helps the child develop skills that will later bear fruit.

A child's imitation is nothing to laugh at, but it does amuse us. We can't help but smile when we see our children, or any child, imitating their parents. One day I was at the church with Kaitlyn. She was wandering around the church playing by herself. I heard her voice in the sanctuary. When I went to look she was standing in the pulpit preaching to an imaginary congregation. When either Mary or Kaitlyn does something like that it makes me laugh with joy. I know that she is learning and developing. She has observed me proclaiming God's Word. And she wishes to do the same. We are amused when a child imitates a parent. Not because the child's actions merely mimic the parent. But because we are happy to see a child learning and growing.

I imagine God was amused those three days that Jesus was in the temple. His Son was in His house and was learning His ways. Too often we think Jesus was born knowing everything. We picture him in the manger lecturing Mary on the intricacies of the prophet Daniel, or the doctrine of the trinity. But Jesus was a boy just like any other boy only sinless. God's Son became fully human, and as a human he was born knowing nothing. He had to learn like all the others.

The Bible tells us that for three days Jesus sat in the temple conversing with the teachers. Their method of teaching was to ask questions. The students would answer the questions and those answers would lead to more questions and answers. The teacher would use the questions to help the student discover the truth. The brighter the student, the better the questions the teacher asked and the answers the student gave. Jesus amazed the teachers with how quickly he caught on and how well he understood.

God was amused because His Son was learning and growing. Jesus was observing his Father's ways as he studied the Law and the Prophets. Jesus was in his Father's house searching his Fathers words and learning to speak them: words of hope, words of love, words of redemption. And God couldn't help but smile, and maybe even laugh, at his Son's growth.

Meanwhile Jesus' earthly custodians were searching for him. After three days Mary and Joseph finally caught up with Jesus. And Mary, like any mother, blurted out, "Jesus, where have you been? Your Father and I have been worried sick about you." Jesus, probably afraid he would get a whipping, replied, "I thought you knew I would be in my Father's House."

This is the first indication we have of Jesus knowing he was the Son of God. He certainly wasn't born knowing who he was. Like any child he had to learn who he was. He had to learn his name, his family, his traditions, and community. He had to discover his place in God's universe and his role in God's plan. This is the earliest indication we have that Jesus was beginning to grasp that he was the Son of God.

Mary and Joseph took Jesus home to Nazareth. And Jesus continued to learn and grow and to imitate his Father. And God smiled on Jesus as he saw him grow.

Jesus in the temple is an example for us. As the King James Bible translates it, Jesus was "about" his "father's business." He was observing his Heavenly Father's actions. And he was imitating them. He was learning and growing. And I am sure he was bringing joy to his Heavenly Father's heart and a smile to His face.

We should learn from that example. Modeling our Heavenly Father is as much a part of discipleship as modeling is a part of childhood. It's how we learn and grow. Like Jesus, we should be observing our Heavenly Father through study of the Bible. Then we should imitate what we see.

When we do, it brings joy to God's heart. To see the children of God running and playing and growing makes God happy. When we attempt to imitate God's mercy and kindness the Almighty is overjoyed. When we try to feed the hungry children God is pleased. When we try to plow the field of souls or proclaim the word, God laughs for joy. Our Heavenly Father is amused at our imitation of our Daddy in Heaven. True we are never as effective as God is at being merciful or showing kindness. We are not capable of producing manna to feed the hungry children. Our words are never as effective as God's word no matter how closely we try to imitate it. But with our Father's help we can follow God's lead. As we try we grow, and time after time we become more and more effective. And God is amused and smiles upon us.

Have you amused God this week? Have you been in your Father's house this week? Have you been asking questions and searching for answers. Have you been replying to the questions that the teacher has been posing. Every day of our lives, God is asking us questions through the events of our lives. We can respond to those questions and allow God to help us discover the truth, or we can ignore them. We can search the Bible and advice from Christian friends, or we can stagnate and be spiritually stunted.

Have you been about your Father�s business this week? Has God had a good laugh on your behalf because you tried to be loving and gracious like you Heavenly Father. You may not have been very effective, but did you try? Did you learn by modeling God? Did you develop skills that your Father may want you to use later?

This week, did you seek out your place in God's plan? Did you try to discover who you were as a child of God? A child learns their place in a family or society by interacting with others. In your day to day activities did you practice being a member of the family of God? Sometimes discovering what your place is in the world is hard, but did you try?

For three days Jesus was in his Father�s house and was about his Father's business. He asked and answered questions and imitated his father and sought out his identity. The Bible says, "Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and humankind." And God was overjoyed. When we do the same, we will grow, and God the Father can't help but smile on us.