And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people. (1 Samuel 2:26)   And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:52)   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.  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)     The last devotion I (Pastor Anthony) offered attempted to tie together a bunch of loose ends into one.  Perhaps it was a bit long and confusing.  But to re-orient us, the theme I'm chasing is this idea of "growing up to maturity in Christ."  The rest of our devotions this week will focus in on this theme.    Most of the Christmas narrative that we have comes from Luke.  Why?  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's birth and growth to maturity.  So, Luke does the same thing.       You can see the parallel between the story of Samuel and the story of Jesus in the verses I chose.  Both of them were very similarly said to "grow in stature and favor with God and man."    In Samuel's case, his growth to maturity is set against the backdrop of the wicked, immature sons of Eli the priest.  Two paths are therefore set out at the beginning of the book: the path of immaturity and the path of maturity.  This theme runs throughout the rest of the books of Samuel, and even shows up in the books of Kings.    Saul, for instance, remained immature: he never grew up into God and therefore also not his into his role as King among the people.  But David did.  He grew up in favor with God and man.  In the book of Kings the pattern repeats.  Even 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.    Jesus is one of the Kings of Israel that grew up to maturity.  Perfectly in fact.  But even Jesus still had to do the growing.  We aren't born into maturity.  We grow into it.  It is the work of our lives.   The apostle Paul therefore centres his ministry around this theme which you can find in pretty well all his major letters to the churches.  He "strenuously contends with all the energy that Christ so powerfully" has worked into him to "present everyone fully mature in Christ."    This runs against the grain of our culture.  Much of our culture idolizes youthfulness.  We idealize childhood—its innocence, freedom, and its unabashed transgressions.  Adults chase after that which will keep them looking and feeling younger than their years—hair treatments, gym memberships, toys, etc.  Churches do the same, believing in some ways that their young people will save them from decline and death.  So in order to attract and retain those youth, the church must similarly strive to be "authentic," "relevant," and "youthful" through its programs, presentation, and worship.    Of course, only Jesus saves the church.  To demand the salvation of the church from our youth will break and disillusion them.  Similarly, to seek to remain youthfully relevant robs older churches and church members from the gift of growing up to maturity in Christ.  And if no one grows up in Christ: who will show our younger members how to do it?  Who will help them seek and find God even when he seems silent or life seems to fall apart?    Growing up to maturity in Christ is our goal, then.  Surprisingly, it's one of the most counter-cultural things we can do as Christians and as a church.  

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