Gordon E. Ellis
January 2, 2005
THE BOY WHO WOULDN’T GROW UP
We just passed a MILESTONE, a 100 year anniversary. Anyone KNOW what it WAS? Well, in December, PETER PAN turned 100 years old! In 1904, just a year after the Wright Brothers’ famous flight, a flying BOY appeared in a PLAY on a London stage. It was Peter Pan, OR the Boy Who Would NOT Grow Up. In 1911, the play was turned into a NOVEL, and LATER, an animated film, a TV musical and a live-action movie. And WHAT a GREAT story it IS! I used to LOVE it as a CHILD.
IN the story, Peter Pan invites a girl named Wendy to travel, via FAIRY dust, to NEVERLAND, so that SHE can be a mother to his gang of LOST BOYS. Many adventures unfold, including BATTLES with Peter’s arch-enemy, Captain Hook. But in the END, Wendy decides that the best place for HER is HOME with her family. And after her return, Peter looks IN on her and REALIZES that HE will never experience the HAPPINESS of growing up with a mother and father, sister and brother. Well, YEARS later, Peter returns to see Wendy and is SHOCKED to discover that she has GROWN up. She’s become a mature WOMAN with a daughter of her OWN! And Peter is SO frightened by the SIGHT of her that he cries out in PAIN. I AM old, Peter, Wendy tells him. I am EVER so much more than 20. I grew up long AGO.
But you promised NOT to! Peter protests.
I couldn’t HELP it, she explains. I am a married woman now, Peter. And Peter sits down on the floor and SOBS, unable to ACCEPT the fact that Wendy has grown UP and become a woman, while Peter is destined to forever BE the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow UP.
Our Scripture Lesson today tells us that Jesus grew and became strong, filled with WISDOM; and the favor of GOD was upon Him. But how many of US -- IF given a CHOICE -- would prefer that JESUS be the boy who DOESN’T grow up, that JESUS be the BABY who STAYS in the manger. After all, this is a MAGICAL time of year! The lights, the carols, the decorations, all COMBINE to evoke the memory of PAST Christmases, the MEMORY of GOOD times, BETTER years. It fills us with Peterpandemonium, in which we LONG for that which will escort us BACK to simpler, maybe more cherished, times in our lives. Yes, we LOVE the Christ Child in the MANGER, the shepherds kneeling, the angels singing, the magi worshiping, and the camels trekking across a midnight desert following the LIGHT of a brilliant NOVA. Yes, we LOVE the holy family gathered in BETHLEHEM. And we’re not too THRILLED with the idea that this beautiful Christ Child will have to LEAVE His CRIB and EXCHANGE it for a CROSS. We’re not too THRILLED that this beautiful CHRIST Child will soon grow UP. I guess there’s something about BOTH Peter Pan and baby Jesus that appeals to the CHILD in ALL of us. PETER PAN lives a life of fun and adventure, without a SINGLE adult responsibility. And JESUS is born into a loving, nurturing family and GREETED by the songs of ANGELS and the adoration of SHEPHERDS. WHAT a LIFE these two seem to have: unconditional LOVE, PRAISE and adoration, FUN and adventure, and FREEDOM from grown-up responsibilities. WHO wants to focus on ADULT concerns when we have NEVERLAND and BETHLEHEM , FAIRY dust and flying ANGELS, wondrous ADVENTURES and GOOD NEWS of great JOY? It makes you want to stay a kid FOREVER, doesn’t it?
Yes, BOTH the Christmas story AND Peter Pan make it CLEAR that being a GROWN-UP is NOT much FUN. After all: WHO would ENVY Mary and Joseph, trekking ALL the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem just to satisfy some imperial bureaucratic requirement, and then facing the stress of searching for lodging in an overbooked village. And WHO really wants to be WENDY at the end of Peter Pan, when it says, she sits huddled by the fire, not daring to move, helpless and guilty, a BIG woman? And it’s such a BITTERSWEET moment when she says, O Peter, don’t waste the fairy dust on ME. NO! There doesn’t seem to be much MAGIC in MATURITY, does there?
HOWEVER, before we jump to the conclusion that perpetual CHILDHOOD is PARADISE, let’s remember the REST of the story. Yes, Jesus has his MOMENT of birthday GLORY and PRAISE. But THEN, He gets carted off to EGYPT to escape the HOMICIDAL hysteria of the bloodthirsty King HEROD. And being a REFUGEE is no picnic, whether you are on the run in the FIRST century or the 21st century. And it’s WORSE if you’re a helpless NEWBORN, DEFENSELESS against soldiers and bandits, accidents and diseases. And AS for PETER PAN: being STUCK in CHILDHOOD is no picnic either. Peter never really DEVELOPS as a person, but STUBBORNLY holds ON to his NEVERLAND view of reality. He shuts out GROWN-UP thoughts, feelings and responsibilities. AND, as a RESULT, he NEVER experiences MATURE human emotions. He never knows the JOY, OR the heartbreak, of falling in LOVE, of getting married, of having children, of raising a family, of holding down a job, of experiencing success, of enduring failure, and of growing OLD. NO! HE’S a victim of what’s called The Peter Pan Syndrome — a REFUSAL to grow up, settle down and COMMIT oneself. Unfortunately, I know a NUMBER of people, mostly MEN, who are VICTIMS of this SAME syndrome.
But The Peter Pan Syndrome is NOT a syndrome that afflicted JESUS! HE’S the boy who DID grow up, settle down and commit! When you read about the trek to Bethlehem, remember HIS journey to Jerusalem. When you imagine the visit of SHEPHERDS, remember that HE became the GOOD Shepherd. When you hear about the ANGELS in Bethlehem, remember the ANGELS at the empty TOMB. Yes, UNLIKE Peter Pan, JESUS grew UP! And it’s ONLY through the lens of His maturing, His ministry, His death and His resurrection that we can truly appreciate and celebrate the WONDER of His BIRTH.
Now, our Scripture Lesson tells us that, at age 12, Jesus goes with his parents to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. There, He slips OFF to the Temple, WITHOUT telling his parents, who are FRIGHTENED and FRUSTRATED by His disappearance. JESUS, however, sees it as a SIGN of His MATURITY. He ASKS them, Why were you searching for me? Did you not KNOW that I must be in my Father’s house? For JESUS, you see, growing up means breaking OUT of His sentimental, Christmas-card world. It means discovering for HIMSELF what GOD is calling Him to DO, and WHO God is calling Him to BE. And SOON, Jesus will settle down, but NOT with a wife and kids. CONTRARY to The Da Vinci Code, the family of Jesus does not begin with a marriage to Mary Magdalene. NO, it starts with the calling of 12 disciples and many OTHER followers: men, women and children. And LATER, when He is pressed to DESCRIBE His family, Jesus will say: MY mother and MY brothers are those who HEAR the Word of GOD and DO it. Yes, THAT’S the group with whom Jesus will settle down, a family that has NOW grown to some 2 BILLION Christians across the globe. And it’s THIS family to which WE belong. And God is constantly CHALLENGING us to LIVE by, and proclaim, ITS family values, NOT by putting up Christmas decorations in JUST the right way, but by HEARING the Word of God and DOING it. And according to JESUS, that means loving ALL people, even our ENEMIES, and doing GOOD, even to those who HATE us. It means BLESSING those who CURSE us and PRAYING for those who ABUSE us. It means doing to OTHERS as WE would have THEM do to US. And THAT’S not some CHILDISH, Peter Pan approach to problem-solving, is it? It’s a MATURE Christian METHOD for achieving peace and reconciliation among people everywhere. It’s not EASY! NOR is it free from PAIN or sacrifice! But IF we want to settle down with JESUS, THAT is the KEY family VALUE. Martin Luther King, Jr. captured the FORCE of that family value when he said: DARKNESS cannot drive out darkness; only LIGHT can do that. Hate cannot drive out HATE. Only LOVE can do that. And he’s SO right! And THAT’S the message of JESUS!
And finally, Jesus was a person who was ADULT enough to make a COMMITMENT. AT His baptism, He received the Holy Spirit, and the BLESSING of God. When He was TEMPTED, He was GUIDED by the WORD of God. In His ministry, He followed the SPIRIT of God, bringing good news to the poor, release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He submitted to the WILL of God. And on the CROSS, He cried out, Father, into YOUR hands I commend MY spirit. Yes, Jesus was all ABOUT commitment! He was all ABOUT keeping His PROMISES to God! And as a RESULT, HIS growth took Him far BEYOND the NARROW world of self-interest and personal pleasure. It took Him through SACRIFICE and suffering to a place that can ONLY be reached by total FAITH in the power of GOD. You see: Jesus never STOPPED growing until He was NAILED to the cross! And THEN, GOD carried Him to a place that PETER PAN can NEVER reach, for the KINGDOM of GOD is NOT a NEVERLAND. The Kingdom of GOD is an EVERLAND, awaiting ALL who DARE to grow up like JESUS, instead REFUSING to grow up like Peter Pan. You see, friends: Peter Pan was NOT what Jesus MEANT when He said: Unless you receive the kingdom of God like a CHILD, you shall not ENTER it.
What DID He mean? Well, in LIGHT of what I’ve said TODAY, THINK about it and PRAY about it. Amen.
(I am grateful for the thoughts of Leonard Sweet in Homiletics, December 2004.)