What Compels us to Serve Christ and His Father? by Rev Christopher P Foustoukos

When do you think was the first time Jesus speaks in the Scriptures? Is it in the beginning of the Gospel of John, when He asks the two disciples of John the Baptist, “What are you looking for?” (1:38) Maybe. But I think if you are looking at the timeline of His life, the answer comes from when Jesus was only 12 years old. The Theotokos and Joseph had lost track of Him during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and found Him in the Temple after three days of searching for Him. “Why were you searching for me?” He asks them. “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49)

From that moment until the day He was taken up to heaven, Jesus lived out these words. For His entire life, He dedicated Himself to being “in His Father’s house” or, as others might translate it, “about His Father’s business.”

I would like us to look at Jesus’ deep, compelling desire to be in God’s presence and do His will. I would like us to focus on Christ’s conviction that He must live for His Father. When we hear Christ say, “I must be in my Father’s house,” it can sound as if He didn’t have much of a choice. But how could that be, since He is God? How is it possible for Jesus to feel compelled? Didn’t He, more than any of us, have the freedom to do whatever He felt like doing?

On the one hand, Jesus was completely free. There was no threat of punishment or harsh consequences hanging over His head if He chose a different path. But on the other hand, Jesus lived under the daily sense of obligation to do what His Father wanted of Him. The compulsion didn’t come from some external source, like a supervisor at work or an impatient parent. The Father wasn’t forcing His Son to obey. Rather, the compulsion was internal. Something within Christ urged Him to dedicate His life to His Father, to say yes to His Father’s will, and to follow the path His Father had laid out for Him.

Where did that inner compulsion come from? It came from Love. Even when He was on earth, Christ was one with the Father, and that union was a union of love. From the beginning of time, the Father poured His love into His Son, and His Son returned that love to His Father. Because Christ loved His Father so deeply and perfectly, His Father’s desires became His desires. His Father’s will became His happiness, a “law” that moved His heart (Psalm 40:9). Even today, Christ’s eyes are fixed on His Father as He constantly seeks to share God’s love with all of us who come to Him.

This is the love that compelled Jesus that day in the Temple when He was just twelve years old. It’s the same love that compelled Him every day of His earthly life. Even when he grew tired or weary, He never tired of doing His Father’s will.

Christ never tired of seeking His Father’s presence, either. Scripture tells us that He would move away from His disciples at times so that He could spend the night in prayer (Luke 6:12). Before performing miracles, He would offer a prayer to His Father (John 11:41-42). And of course, before He faced his own death on the cross, Jesus poured out His heart to His Father, praying: “Not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).

Christ’s love for His Father spills out eternally to us as well. In fact, He is just as committed to us as He is to His Father. Just as His love compels Him to do His Father’s will, it compels Him to want nothing but the beauty and the goodness of the Father’s will for us. He only wants the best for us.

This desire to care for us according to His Father’s will was the driving force behind every miracle Jesus ever performed. It was the source of every word He ever spoke, from the Sermon on the Mount to His cry, “Father, forgive them!” on the Cross (Luke 23:34). It’s why He sent us His Holy Spirit, gave us the Church, and promised to come at the end of time to gather us into His Kingdom.

So, just as Jesus said, “I must be in my Father’s house,” He also said, “I must love and redeem my Father’s people.” And that includes all of us!

So this Christmas what are you looking for? Who do you seek in the Manger? What gift do you give to that Baby in the Manger? My dear brothers and sister in Christ, give Him the gift of your love and dedication to be the best Orthodox Christian you can be during the coming New Year! Come to Church more often, be more generous to those in need and to His Church.

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

+ Rev Christopher P Foustoukos