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And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people. (1 Samuel 2:26)

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And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:52)

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To [his people] God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.\xa0 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:27-29)

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The last devotion I (Pastor Anthony) offered attempted to tie together a bunch of loose ends into one.\xa0 Perhaps it was a bit long and confusing.\xa0 But to re-orient us, the theme I\u2019m chasing is this idea of \u201cgrowing up to maturity in Christ.\u201d\xa0 The rest of our devotions this week will focus in on this theme.\xa0

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Most of the Christmas narrative that we have comes from Luke.\xa0 Why?\xa0 Well, Luke models the opening of his Gospel on the book of 1 Samuel which spends its first three chapters on the story of Samuel\u2019s birth and growth to maturity.\xa0 So, Luke does the same thing.\xa0 \xa0\xa0

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You can see the parallel between the story of Samuel and the story of Jesus in the verses I chose.\xa0 Both of them were very similarly said to \u201cgrow in stature and favor with God and man.\u201d\xa0

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In Samuel\u2019s case, his growth to maturity is set against the backdrop of the wicked, immature sons of Eli the priest.\xa0 Two paths are therefore set out at the beginning of the book: the path of immaturity and the path of maturity.\xa0 This theme runs throughout the rest of the books of Samuel, and even shows up in the books of Kings.\xa0

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Saul, for instance, remained immature: he never grew up into God and therefore also not his into his role as King among the people.\xa0 But David did.\xa0 He grew up in favor with God and man. \xa0In the book of Kings the pattern repeats. \xa0Even though everything in the Kingdom looked great, Solomon in all his wisdom and splendor never grew up into maturity with God, whereas even very young kings like Josiah did.\xa0

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Jesus is one of the Kings of Israel that grew up to maturity.\xa0 Perfectly in fact.\xa0 But even Jesus still had to do the growing.\xa0 We aren\u2019t born into maturity.\xa0 We grow into it.\xa0 It is the work of our lives.

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The apostle Paul therefore centres his ministry around this theme which you can find in pretty well all his major letters to the churches.\xa0 He \u201cstrenuously contends with all the energy that Christ so powerfully\u201d has worked into him to \u201cpresent everyone fully mature in Christ.\u201d\xa0

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This runs against the grain of our culture.\xa0 Much of our culture idolizes youthfulness.\xa0 We idealize childhood\u2014its innocence, freedom, and its unabashed transgressions.\xa0 Adults chase after that which will keep them looking and feeling younger than their years\u2014hair treatments, gym memberships, toys, etc.\xa0 Churches do the same, believing in some ways that their young people will save them from decline and death. \xa0So in order to attract and retain those youth, the church must similarly strive to be \u201cauthentic,\u201d \u201crelevant,\u201d and \u201cyouthful\u201d through its programs, presentation, and worship.\xa0

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Of course, only Jesus saves the church.\xa0 To demand the salvation of the church from our youth will break and disillusion them.\xa0 Similarly, to seek to remain youthfully relevant robs older churches and church members from the gift of growing up to maturity in Christ.\xa0 And if no one grows up in Christ: who will show our younger members how to do it?\xa0 Who will help them seek and find God even when he seems silent or life seems to fall apart?\xa0

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Growing up to maturity in Christ is our goal, then.\xa0 Surprisingly, it\u2019s one of the most counter-cultural things we can do as Christians and as a church.

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