IF THE LORD HAD NOT BEEN ON OUR SIDE

 JANUARY 12, 2023

Matthew 2:11-18

11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”

 Now there is a story to skip over, don’t you think?

Today, in our Gospel reading we read the conclusion of Matthew’s Christmas story. I would have been okay with Matthew concluding the birth of Jesus accounts with the Wisemen “rejoicing as they went home by another way.” Matthew draws his Christmas story to a close and we hear that Mary and Joseph have to flee to a foreign country with their son, here we have a refugee family escaping the violence of an out-of-control king. We hear of the murder of children, the weeping of parents, death, and more danger. Matthew’s narrative of the Birth of Christ ends with bloodshed, sadness, and danger.

I’ll stick with the Angels, Shepherds, and wisemen thank you very much!

Yet, this is God’s word we are reflecting on, we need to wrestle with a story of violence and sadness that comes on the heels of Do not fear, Rejoice, Glory to God in the Highest and Peace to those favored ones.

Over the years I have gone in all sorts of directions on this passage. Lately, I have come to think that perhaps Matthew is telling us something we need to always remember: the child born in Bethlehem came to love and serve and save everyone.

He came to love and serve and save people like, shepherds just out in the fields doing there job,  the Magi – people with some wisdom. People with the ability to make a long trip and buy a nice present.

Jesus came to love and save people whose lives seem to go smoothly and have good outcomes.

Jesus came to love and serve and save people like… those families in Bethlehem. The moms and dads whose hearts were broken. Jesus came to love and save those who dietoo young, those who die from violence, those who are victims of repression and jealousy and hate.

 And, the child born in Bethlehem came to love and serve and save families: families like his own family… who must deal with imperfect situations, or terrifying moments. He came to love and save families

who must flee one country to seek safety in another. He came to love and save imperfect families.

Jesus came to love and save every person who ever feels as if their wonderful plans and dreams have been snatched away from them by a situation that is unfair, unjust or utterly terrifying.

The child of Bethlehem comes to every one of us in our hours of darkness, struggle,  disappointment, embarrassment, and fear… he comes to us, to love us and guide us by his perfect light. To teach us how to love others who are struggling or fleeing or afraid.

The child born in Bethlehem also came to love and save people like (are you ready?) people like … King Herod, and his troops, and everyone who thinks that violence is the solution to our problems.

This story about the birth of Jesus reveals that God is present, here and now. Yes, he is present in all that is beautiful in your life. But the savior is also present in every aspect of your life, and our world, that is struggling, suffering, staggering, screaming, streaming with tears. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. A light no darkness can extinguish.

  

LET US PRAY

Jesus,
You are our strength,
the light by which we walk,
the truth by which we talk.

You are our hope,
the promise to which we hold,
the story that must be told.

You are the peace
this world cannot provide,
that overcomes our pride.

You are our God,
the One whose name we praise
to whom our hands are raised. Amen

  

May the light of the glorious gospel of Christ shine in our hearts, transform our lives, and brighten the world. And the blessing of God almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, rest upon you always. Amen.