Merry Christmas! Peace and blessings to you in this season of celebration.
As we approach the New Year, Matthew's Gospel takes us right back to how harsh this world can be at times. But God works even in the darkness. The life of Jesus comes as a challenge to the worldly powers. Here is the manuscript from the sermon preached on December 29, 2013 - the first Sunday after Christmas.
Matthew 2:13-23
13Now 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." 14Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15and 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."
16When 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. 17Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
18"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."
19When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20Get 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. 21Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22But 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. 23There 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."
“Jesus changes things…forever”
The rage of Herod and the death of children are not the way to celebrate Christmas. Here we are just days from the wonder of the manger and the joy of the birth of Jesus - the celebratory hymns, the reflective candlelight, the peace of Christmas Eve. Today’s story from Matthew comes as a rude awakening. It arrives too soon.
Without our permission we are rushed back to reality where death and madness creep along in the shadows of life. Even small-town Fredericksburg cannot remain untouched by violence. The boarded-up windows of the shot-out Valero station on Adams street stands as sharp reminder that we are not immune to how harsh the world can be at times. We return to our newspapers and to the evening news on TV where the first segment is normally filled with bad news. Back to the grind. The soft light of Christmas seems to have faded away into another life.
Matthew does not waste any time in his Gospel returning to the brutal reality of his day. While we do not know how much time actually passes between the birth of Jesus and the visit of the Magi - Matthew estimates that it was a couple of years - the narrative time moves quickly. The magi come looking for the new born king. Herod, troubled by this news, tries to find the child by means of deceit. The gifts are given. Dreams and warnings come to Joseph and the magi. Both parties slip quietly out of town. Herod explodes in a fit of rage.
What follows is a brutal story. Matthew tells us that Herod gives an order to slaughter any male child in Bethlehem and the surrounding region who were two years old and younger. While terrible, this act is not out of character for Herod. He is known for other such despicable acts as killing three of his sons. Caesar Augustus himself is rumored to have said, “"It is safer to be a pig in a parent's household than to be a son in Herod's court.” Not very high praise. But Herod did not seem to care about this bit of bad press. Herod was interested in maintaining his control. And he did so at all costs.
Herod was a puppet king for Rome. He was given permission by the empire to rule the people of Judea. He took the title king for himself when he came into power. Though Herod practiced Judaism, he was not considered a Jew by most Jews of his day, and was an outsider to the people he ruled. Herod ruled with an iron fist and did all he could to protect his self-claimed kingship. And this is why he reacts so violently to the birth of Jesus.
When Herod catches wind of the birth of Jesus, hailed the king of the Jews, he is greatly troubled. Anyone who would dared to call themselves king was a threat to Herod’s power. It mattered not to Herod that the king was only a child, the threat was real and Herod’s power was in jeopardy. So Herod does what those in power do, he attempted to eliminate the threat. That’s how power works. Once you gain power, there is a relentless need to maintain that power. And it comes at all costs.
While this violent story may be a turn-off in this season of Christmas, it is critical for us to listen to and acknowledge. Herod is just an example of how the powers of this world react to a challenge of their power, of which Jesus is the ultimate. Here I speak of what the New Testaments writers called the “powers and principalities.” While I cannot give a full treatment of the subject here, a brief summary would help.
We can think of the powers in terms of an image or an institution. A king is an image of power. Kingship is bigger than one man. Herod was a king, but the image of king survives his reign. Once he claimed the title of King, Herod had to play by the rules of king - he had to look and act like a king - or suffer the consequences. The presidency is an image. The office of the president is bigger than one person. The office is bigger than George W. Bush, it’s bigger than Barack Obama. Once elected, one must play by the rules of the president. Our elected officials are a great example of the exhausting cycle of protecting power - they work for a few days and spend the rest of their terms campaigning for the next election. That’s why we have campaign that last three years. This is how worldly power works. And it’s fallen and broken because it does not recognize its vocation to serve God and God’s creation. This is why the life of Jesus is so important.
Matthew shows us that Jesus changes things. His life changes everything.
What unfolds in Matthew’s story of Jesus is how the life and ministry of Jesus is a challenge those in power. If the story were about the death of Jesus, solely about his death, then Matthew could have ended the story here. If the death of Jesus was all that was needed, then Herod could have saved Matthew a great deal of time and paper. He could have saved the followers of Jesus a great deal of pain and anxiety. But this story is not about the death of Jesus, it’s about how he lived - how he still lives in us. The life of Jesus, the love of God incarnate, is a challenge to the powers of this world. And his life belongs to us who follow in his footsteps.
The life of Jesus was about engaging the broken power structures of his day. His acts of healing reached beyond the corrupt temple complex and those who were in charge. Jesus dared to heal on the sabbath, eat with those labeled as unclean, and forgive sins. He was labeled as a glutton, drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and sinners by those in power. He showed the world what following God’s call to community life really looked. A life of wholeness for all people. His life shocked those he encountered and offended those who were comfortable with the ways things were - the status quo. His life lead to the cross, to the only way that earthly power knows how to deal with a threat. The life of Jesus, ultimately leads to his death. But even in death, God’s power cannot be defeated. Jesus is raised as a statement to those in power that their unchallenged reign has ended. God’s new life for the world through Christ works in us and through us to usher in God’s kingdom of mercy and forgiveness. This is the life we are called to as followers of Jesus.
We are no strangers to the reality that Matthew points us to this morning, the violence in our world. the “new normal” of gun violence in schools is a constant reminder that the most vulnerable in our midst are still our children. Those of power in this world still argue endlessly about the proper way to govern, but when we peal back the thin veil of critical words we find Herod’s slaughter all over again. It seems that those who lead would rather kill each other with words than address the hunger, poverty, violence, and death that threaten to overwhelm us all. In a sense, not all that much has changed when it comes to power in this world. Nothing has changed except Jesus still changes everything with his love. The example of his life is still a beacon of hope to all who sojourn through this world.
The life of Jesus shows us true power. Power that loves, sacrifices, heals, and reaches beyond itself for the good of another. This way of life continually calls us into the promised future of God’s kingdom. Through Christ we are given the ultimate display of how power was and is always meant to work on the behalf of the other, and not for selfish gain.
As we approach a new year there are many possibilities that entice us from the horizon. Our call as children of God and followers of Christ point to a clear way to engage the world. Let us humbly go forward in love. Let us leave the fear of Herod where it belongs, on a broken thrown. Let us move out into the world with the power of God. The power of peace, mercy, and love.
Be assured, people of God, that God goes with us into the future. As we begin a new year let move out into our community with the confidence that God is already at work here among us. Let us be a witness to the powers of what God’s kingdom can look like in this world.
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