Between Generations
Dear Eternity family,
Have you ever lost your keys? How about your wallet?
Mary and Joseph once lost Jesus, if that helps to make you feel any better.
But the reason why they lost Jesus was because of a cultural practice not seen much in 21st Century North America. Luke tells us the following:
After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends (Luke 2:33-34).
Mary and Joseph lost Jesus because they thought he was in their company. That is because back then, everyone in the community caravan looked out for everybody else. All the adults took responsibility for all the children. In this particular case, the adults dropped the ball. But thankfully, Jesus was never really lost. As he explained to his parents (as a twelve year old), he was simply about his Father’s business back at the temple, asking questions and listening to the teachers (Luke 2:45-46).
How can we cultivate an ongoing congregational life that fosters intergenerational responsibility, one where every adult is an aunt or uncle and every child is a niece or nephew in the family of God? I think it helps to move in this direction when we view the table of the Lord as a place where all generations can come together. Tables are often places that bring together young and old around a common purpose. This is more than just multiple generations in the same room. Intergenerationalism is when the generations mix and cross-pollinate in ways that enrich all parties and spur on spiritual growth. In the days leading up to the Upper Room, Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey while an intergenerational crowd shouted, “Hosanna!”
How do we know the triumphal entry crowd was a wide range of ages? Because Matthew tells us that the children kept shouting “Hosanna” all the way into the temple with Jesus (they outlasted the adults in their praises :). Their praises agitated the priests. But Jesus stuck up for the children and quoted the priests’ own Bible back to them: “have you never read, 'From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’”? (Matt 21:16).
This week, I want to challenge us to celebrate the praises of the children and view them as role models of faith, prayer, and worship. Find someone from a different generation than yourself and offer to pray for them and ask them to pray for you. Have a seat at the intergenerational table of the Lord and watch what He does in your life.
Jesse Joyner