GOD WITH US

A Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas
December 30, 2007
Pastor Laura Gentry

Matthew 2:13-23
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son." When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more." When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean.”(NRSV)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Today, the first Sunday after Christmas, we hear the Gospel lesson known as the flight to Egypt—how the Holy Family had to leave Bethlehem to protect the Christ child. Now this reminds me of the story about the pastor who visited the Sunday school class and saw all the children’s art work up on the wall. The pastor could tell that each one depicteda Biblical scene and he went through and tried to determine what each one was. There was one with a barn and a man and a woman. It was obvious that this was Joseph, Mary, and Jesus at the manger. Another had sheep, men, and angels in the sky. The shepherd scene, he concluded. Another had a caravan with camels and a star in the sky—the wise men seeking the Christ child. They were all quite obvious.


But one puzzled him. It was an airplane with three figures going up the steps boarding the plane and one other figure in the cockpit. He thought and thought until he had to ask what it meant. The young artist spoke up, "It's Jesus' flight to Egypt." Ok said the pastor but who is that up in the cockpit? "Oh, That's Pontius the pilot."

Most of us have finished our Christmas celebrations. This is often a joyous time of year—a time of family, festive meals, gifts, carols and general merriment—certainly not a time of wailing and death. We prefer to rejoice in the birth of Jesus, rather than dwell upon suffering. But Jesus did not come into the safe and joyous setting we see in the art of our Christmas cards. In taking on human flesh, he was subjecting himself to the same risks humans face. Already as an infant, Jesus finds himself in great danger.

The today’s reading from the gospel according to Matthew, we hear how God again directed Joseph through dreams—this time, to protect his family.  In the first dream, the Lord warned Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod.  And so Jesus is, thus, spared from an infant death. Others will not be, however. Wailing and loud lamentation are heard as all the children two and under are slaughtered. Scholars estimate that since Bethlehem was a small town, perhaps twenty to thirty children were killed. This event fulfills Jeremiah’s prophesy of Rachel’s lamentation. Jeremiah was referring to Rachel’s sorrow over her descendent being led away from the promised land in the Babylonian exile of 587 B.C. Now, as Matthew uses this prophesy, Rachel’s voice—the voice of Israel’s history—now symbolizes the anguish of these mothers whose children have been lost to the evils of Herod. Rachel’s voice carries with it the all the sorrowful weeping of the world, a world that intimately knows suffering and death.

There has been much art work done of this event, known as the “slaughter of the innocents.” Artists have tried their best to visually portray what this biblical passage presents—the brutal murder of all the babies in Bethlehem. Perhaps even the most masterful artistic depictions, however, fall short of capturing the true horror of this event. It must have been virtually unimaginable.

And yet the slaughter of the innocents wasn’t the worst thing Herod did. When he came to the throne, he assassinated the whole Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the Jews. Later, he slaughtered three hundred court officers out of hand. He murdered his wife, Mariamne, and her mother, Alexandra, his eldest son Antipater, and two other sons, Alexander and Aristobulus. Even in the hour of his death, he arranged for the slaughter of the notable men of Jerusalem. This was one seriously bad guy—no wonder he wouldn’t stand by and accept the news that a child had been born who was prophesied to be king.

What kind of place has the savior been born into? Is this really the world God has chosen to save? How can it possibly be that this world of callous ambition is the one that God loves so passionately? And why does Matthew have to ruin the beauty of the Christmas story by telling this terrible tale right after the tranquil description of Christ’s birth? This story presents more questions than it does answers.

Then moving on in the scripture lesson, Joseph has a second dream, which tells them that they can return to the land of Israel because Herod has died. Historians tell us Herod’s death happened in 4 B.C.  Then, in a third dream Joseph is warned to settle in Galilee rather than in Judea, because Archelaus, the son of Herod, is king of Judea.  In every case Joseph follows the Lord's guidance and keeps his family safe.  These moves also fulfilled what had been predicted about Jesus by the prophets.

Yet, as I have said, it is strange that the son of God would suffer so much from the very beginning. We’re still singing the Christmas carols in church and Jesus and his family are already on the run. Surely Jesus was what Isaiah prophesied: a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.

This reminds me of Dr. John Rosen, a psychiatrist in New York City. He is very well known For his work with catatonic schizophrenics. Normally doctors remain separate and aloof from their patients. Dr. Rosen moves into the ward with them. He actually places his bed among their beds. He lives the life they must live. Day-to-day, he shares it. He loves them. if they don’t talk, he doesn’t talk either. It is as if he understands what is happening. His being there, being with them, communicates something that they haven’t experienced in years—somebody understands them.

But then he does something else. He puts his arms around them and hugs them. He holds these unattractive, unlovable, marginalized people and loves them back into life. Often, the first words they speak are simply, "Thank you."

Christ came into a world of sorrow, suffering and danger—he literally moved into our “ward.” He placed his bed among our beds. He felt the pain of human life—even from the very beginning. He walked with the blind and the lame, he talked with the outcasts. And he stood before Pilate and said nothing in his own defense when he was accused and sentenced to death. Then, he went to the cross and rose from the dead for us. He endured all this in order to love us back to life.

And so this scripture demonstrates that Jesus is here not merely to rejoice with us. He is here not merely to commiserate. He is here to save, to call us into life, and to be irrevocably God-with-us, emmanuael. This Christmas, may we live in the reality of this glorious, good news!

Let us pray:

Oh Holy Child, we praise you that you chose to enter into our world of violence, hatred, and danger—to suffer the things which humans suffer in order to triumph over them. Allow our hearts to embrace you fully, as the God-become-flesh, who has come to save us, to call us to life and to be God with us. Amen.

Now, may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© 2007 Laura E. Gentry