Children’s Sermon

Luke 2: 22-40

What Will You Be?

By Lois Parker Edstrom

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? Although you have lots and lots of time to decide, it’s fun to think about the possibilities. Some kids know from an early age what they love and what they want to do with their lives. I know a boy who loved music from the time he was a baby and as an adult became a music professor and a pianist who performs for other people’s enjoyment. (Substitute personal anecdote.)

Others find many things they enjoy and don’t decide what they want to do with their lives until they are in high school or college. Some adults are still trying to figure that out!

Do you think Jesus, as a child, knew what he wanted to be? Other people knew, from the time of his birth, who he was and what he would become.

In the Bible, in the second chapter of Luke, we read about two prophets – people who, guided by God’s Spirit, are able to look into the future. The first was a man named Simeon. When he saw the child, Jesus, he praised God because he knew he was seeing the Messiah, the one who came to bring God’s love to the world.

The second prophet was a woman named Anna who also praised God because she recognized the child, Jesus, as the one who had been sent by God.

The story then tells us, “the child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him” (2:40).

This is what we want for every child; that you grow strong and be filled with wisdom to make good choices. You may not know what you want to be when you grow up, but know that God’s love, God’s favor, is upon each one of you.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible

Copyright 2008, Richard Niell Donovan