By Charlie Fuller
You likely remember the story. Jesus has gone to Jerusalem with Mary and Joseph for Passover (Luke 2:41–51). Mary and Joseph were a day’s journey on the way back to Nazareth before they realized that 12-year-old Jesus had stayed behind in Jerusalem.
While it’s interesting to speculate why it took them an entire day to realize Jesus was missing and three days to find him, it’s much more important to see where 12-year-old Jesus actually was. He was in the temple. Listening to the teachers and asking them questions. And Scripture tells us that “all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” The teachers in the temple encouraged young Jesus and helped him to feel seen, heard and respected.
If you looked first at the bottom of this writing and saw my name, you may be wondering why the oldest minister (by some years) on the Wilshire staff is writing the Preparing for Worship piece on a Youth Sunday. It’s a fair question.
This might be the answer: Even back when I was a young person — over 50 years ago — I was nurtured by a church that listened to my questions and made me feel seen, heard and respected. And as a result, a faith was planted in me that has somehow survived all the ups and downs of the following decades.
Wilshire, as our youth lead us this morning, let’s listen to their questions and honor their leadership. Let’s always make sure our young people are seen, heard and respected. Let’s pray for them as they lead us this morning. Let’s pray for them as they continue the journey of growing as people of faith shaped by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. May the Spirit of Jesus Christ walk with them on their own journeys through their own ups and downs for the many decades they have ahead of them. May it be so. Amen.