The Twelve Days of Christmas contain Christmas Day, the first and second Sundays of Christmas, and Epiphany. The Lectionary in these twelve days gives us stories about young Jesus. While the stories are important and worth thinking about separately, taken together they tell us interesting things about Jesus. Things that will help us understand the rest of his life and ministry as told in the gospels. They are stories of a Messiah, who even as a baby was in “wrong” places’ and with “wrong people”.
The first story1 is about 12 year old Jesus in the Temple. When we read this story often we think, “Of course, Jesus the Christ was in the Temple. Where else would the Messiah be?” But it’s only obvious looking back in time. The text tells us the twelve year old Jesus decided to stay in Jerusalem. It evidently didn’t occur to him that his parents would be worried, or that something unfortunate could happen to him. It’s a very typical pre teen human event. Some of us may have a similar story, of us doing something, or going somewhere completely sure everything will be fine, while forgetting our parents might be worried about us.
When his parents find him, Mary responds, in I think, a restrained manner, ” Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” Where would you look for a 12 year old in Jerusalem? It took them three days to find Jesus. The story implies they looked in other places first, which is our clue that the Temple wasn’t where they expected to find Jesus. The Temple was the “wrong place” for a 12 year old boy to be. There he was talking with the teachers, the scholars and people were “amazed”. Not what they were expecting a 12 year old to be doing, especially for three days. Wrong place, wrong people. Not a bad place or bad people, just not where we would expect him to be.
The second story is for Epiphany, the end of the 12 days of Christmas. This is the story of the Magi2 Admittedly Jesus is a little child in this story and so he doesn’t go anywhere. But the “wrong people” are looking for him and they are looking in the “wrong place”. The Magi were gentiles, and not only gentiles- they were astrologers and magicians and therefore somewhat sketchy. They went to worship the king of the Jews. They were the wrong people to be doing this. They had their own king and own gods to worship.
The Magi went to Jerusalem, where one would expect to find the King of the Jews. They found the king who was appointed by Rome. The Magi’s questions caused that king, Herod, to be concerned that there was a threat to his throne and to the empire out there somewhere. Jesus was a threat, but not the threat Herod expected. Jesus’ threat was not one of violence or force. His threat is more dangerous, it was and is changed hearts and minds. The true king of the Jews wasn’t in Jerusalem the seat of power. He wasn’t in the palace with the royalty and elites. Jesus was in the village of Bethlehem with his unassuming family among working poor people. This king was in the wrong place with the wrong people.
The third story, for the second Sunday of Christmas, is from John’s gospel.3 This is not a nativity story. It is a text that reminds us that God has done an extremely un godlike thing. God has come into the world, “became flesh and lived among us”. God has made themself known to us in a particular and peculiar way. God came into a world that was not perfect and was not holy. God came into a world filled with all sorts of not perfect, not particularly holy people. God came into a world where a lot of people didn’t notice or didn’t care. Wrong place, wrong people.
What do we make of this, of these three stories? The nativity stories function as prologue and overture to the rest of the gospel. They set out themes. They tell us about important ideas we should look for in the rest of the gospel. One important idea they tell us is that Jesus is often found in the wrong place and among the wrong people.
If we want to find Jesus, we should probably look in the “wrong place” and among the “wrong people”. By wrong places and wrong people, I don’t necessarily mean “bad” or “dangerous” places and people. Jesus is in bad places and among dangerous people because there is no place Jesus will not or cannot go. However by saying that Jesus is found in wrong places and with wrong people, I mean we should not dismiss particular places or people because of what we think. We should not restrict or limit our ideas about where Jesus will be.
This doesn’t mean that we will never find Jesus in a church or among believers. Rather, we will also find Jesus in unexpected places among unexpected people. These stories are cautionary tales, to never write off anyone or any place. We could find Jesus in the cathedral, or the megachurch, or the bus stop. We simply can’t predict. We could find Jesus among lifelong believers, or toddlers, or folks who may be “disreputable”.
These stories are also a call for us to consider spending some of our time in the “wrong place” and among the “wrong people”. I’m not saying that you or I necessarily need to go someplace far away or dangerous. I am suggesting that we think intentionally about who and what and where the “wrong” and unlikely places and people are in our day to day lives. Perhaps we should look there to find Jesus. It may not be big and dramatic. The wrong people or the wrong place may be across the street or across the table or in the next office.
How will you and I do this? We need to listen carefully to God. Where is God calling you and me to spend our time? What wrong place is God calling you and me to? What wrong people is God calling you and me to get to know, to learn to love?
And by the way, if someone has told you that you are the “wrong” person or in the “wrong” place and Jesus can’t possibly be near you and love you, they are wrong.
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