Member-only story
“What do you want to be when you grow up, Jesus?”
on questions, on not knowing, and vocation
So I had a quickly realized opportunity this morning. Our not-yet-driving-aged daughter was scheduled to be the accompanist at another local congregation. My wife was scheduled to preach at a Presbyterian church about an hour from our home, but then she awoke in pain and an impending migraine. So we made it work. But that meant me filling in for my wife and my daughter driving on her learner’s permit (with my wife accompanying the accompanist) the other direction.
Sometimes we do not know which way we are going.
It reminded me of all the times, especially when I was younger, when people would ask “So, what are you going to be when you grow up?” At that age, you don’t always know what direction you are going.
The texts for this morning start with 1 Samuel 2 and a boy, Samuel, who had a specific destination . . . to be priest. He was studying under Eli. His mother had dedicated him to God and in what seems to be like a yearly re-dedication, she would bring him a new robe each year as their family visited the temple. There was a clear path.
But in the second reading, the gospel reading from Luke 2, I’m not sure that the path is quite as clear.
