I’m a dad. My oldest boy is 11 years old and I’m beginning to ask questions like, “Okay so what is it I’m supposed to be doing with these kids besides getting them to church, school, practice, playing Nintendo, wrestling and taking turns pulling fingers, etc? I mean what is my dad job really?”

I was recently looking at the story of the birth of Christ (it’s December – go figure!). It struck me in  a profound way, that Joseph (Jesus’ earthly father) is not in the picture after Jesus hits age 12. I mean we see that Joseph is getting Jesus to all the places he needs to go (in the one story we have of Jesus’ adolescence, Joseph takes the family to Jerusalem for the traditional pilgrimage), and then we don’t really hear any more after that.

But what we see of Joseph in this story is as profound as any earthly dad story can be. And, I believe, is reflective of what our job as dads really is. You probably remember the story -  (look in Luke). Jesus is 12 years old, the family travels to Jerusalem, a little miscommunication occurs and Jesus’ parents leave Jerusalem thinking he’s in the back seat of someone els’s station wagon safe and sound?

Wrong. Jesus is left in Jerusalem. So three days, one ancient Amber Alert, and lots of prayers later, Joseph and Mary find Jesus back in Jerusalem at the temple hanging out with the teachers and priests. As any very frightened parents would, they ask, “Why did you do this to us? Didn’t you know we were looking for you?” Some of us might have added some more colorful phrasing.

Jesus simply says, ‘Why were you looking for me. Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Whatever your take is on Jesus’ response, let’s focus on Joseph for a moment. Why is it that from this moment on – we don’t see or hear from Joseph anymore? Did he die? Did he leave the family? Did he transfer to northern Africa with some carpenter work-trade program? Truth is – we don’t really know.

Reading between the lines, we learn that Joseph did the one thing that every dad hopes to accomplish. At least what every dad should like to accomplish. That is – Joseph, as an earthly father, brought Jesus to a place where he finally realized that the Heavenly Father was his REAL Father. And here – Jesus turns his vocation not to carpentry, but to the work of God.

My dad job is to get my kids to that same place. I don’t know that it will happen when they’re twelve. It might take a few weeks or months longer (years for some?). But the point is the same. If I can bring my kids to a place in life where they finally turn their lives over to God – their heavenly Father – then I’ve done my job. I don’t really need to be in the story after that.

I heard this song on the way to taking the kids to school this morning – and thought of all my kids. My thoughts for them are sure there. It’s a great song. Take a listen!

This is a sermon I preached on December 6th about the advent of the Christ. Specifically – the announcement of Gabriel of the coming child to Mary. I focused on how his announcement translates into our lives as people who are intended to reproduce the Christ in our lives daily.

I think most every missionary from the U.S. must perhaps struggle with living with excesses when others around the world live happily with so little. It’s not just about giving from our excess (though that’s a big part of it). It’s really about understanding that happiness comes from an inner peace that transcends amounts (whether large or small). It comes from learning that we can live at peace with God and the world around us as long as we remain in Christ and have within us the hope that Christ brings.

I still struggle with feelings of guilt over having so much. I’m sure many who have gone on missionary trips have the same struggle. The question is: will I allow myself to forget about it? Or will I do something? I think the answer largely remains to be seen.

Anyway – just thought I’d leave you with an image and a theme song and see how many of you remember watching the Sweathogs?

With that in mind, I recently undertook a sermon series about just that topic. I have only one of the sermons under my belt, but already I am getting positive feedback.

I’m sure that we’re not all going to agree about “end times” issues, etc. etc., but what I think we can all agree on is that heaven is going to be much more than floating on a cloud, playing harps and singing hymns. Not that I have anything against any of those activities, but for ever? Would’t that get boring after a while?

Anyway – my first sermon was directed specifically at the resurrection and the excitement to come on the day of our entering into this thing Paul calls the “spiritual body” in 1 Corinthians 15. When you think of some of the details given – the voice of an archangel, the trumpet of God (and I bet God can outplay Dizzy, Doc and Wyntan any day), being brought up from the earth to join Christ in the skies. All of it is fantastically intriguing. Wonderfully exciting.

This week I’m going to pursue even more on the “spiritual body” from a perspective of Jesus’ resurrection activities. We’ll have to keep in mind that Jesus was interacting in a physical world, but it should give us some insight into what the resurrection body is like – or at least a very tiny bit of what we’ll be capable of in that “spiritual body.”

If you’re interested in listening to the first sermon, you can catch it here.

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