1st Sunday after Christmas at Epiphany on December 30, 2007

Grace, mercy and peace through the One who left his home in order to lead us home. Amen.

Matthew 2:13-23 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." 19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel , for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead." 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel . 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth . So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

It's a Long Way Home

Osborne Russell was a Christian man and a trapper in the Rocky Mountains in the 1830s and 40s. He tells the story in his book, “Journal of a Trapper” of one occasion where he had not seen another human for 28 days. It was fall and he had run out of supplies, and went hungry except for what he could hunt.

He had a good relationship with the Indians among whom he lived and worked. With wet snow falling, tired and cold, with his clothes soaked, he came down out of the high mountain valley to find a dry place for sleep and hot food in the Flathead Indian Village , which had shown him hospitality in the past. He came within sight of the village and the elders of the tribe came out to meet him. They informed him that even though he was their friend, he could not enter the village. Other trappers had come through a few days earlier and stolen some property, and killed a young man who had discovered their thievery. Even though he was not a party to the trouble, the elders were afraid some of the angry young men in the village might try to take revenge on him if he spent the night.

Osborne was deeply discouraged as he turned his horses and rode back up the valley. He finally found a makeshift shelter beside some downed trees and tried to build a fire. Although everything was wet, he finally managed to get a small fire burning. Then, just when that fire began to raise his hopes a bit, the wet snow changed to rain. The fire fizzled out leaving him in the dark, cold and wet. He wrapped himself in his cold, wet blankets and laid down beside one of the downed trees, shivering, having had nothing to eat all day. He wrote in his journal, "I laid there for a long time afraid to say my evening prayers lest I show anger to the divine."

At first light he headed down the valley intending to pass the village before anyone was awake, but he saw so much smoke in the distance, he raced his horses across the meadowland. Down where the smoke was, he saw a sign of great disaster. He discovered during the night, Blackfoot Indians attacked the sleeping village. They had set the tents on fire, and many of the Flatheads had been killed and wounded. He stayed in the village for three days tending the wounded, gathering scattered supplies and standing guard lest the Blackfoot returned. During that time he realized if he had stayed in the Flathead camp as a white man he would surely have been among the first to be killed. And furthermore, if he had been able to build the fire, the Blackfoot who traveled within a few yards of where he camped would have surely discovered him and killed him.

This gave him a new perspective on God's protection and on the difficulty we have in sometimes understanding it. It's easy to lose our way and lose our perspective when life doesn't go as we plan. And sometimes we are forced to go down roads we would never choose on our own – roads that include pain and disappointment and suffering, and in such circumstances it's easy to misunderstand what God is doing. It's easy to become frustrated with the detours and angered by the roadblocks that challenge our plans.

Joseph and Mary must surely have known what that was like. They are eager to be married, and then Mary is miraculously pregnant with God’s child. They are ready to settle down in Nazareth as husband and wife, and then they are compelled by the Roman authorities to take that long journey to Bethlehem just to pay another tax, at a most inopportune time when Mary was pregnant and about to give birth. Then they have to travel to Jerusalem for Jesus’ circumcision and then the cleansing of Mary. They eventually get back to Bethlehem with plans of staying there. Perhaps Joseph was already finding work as a carpenter and they are among family and friends. Then suddenly, to their great surprise, a caravan of camels and Kings from the East show up at their house with expensive gifts for their child. But this great blessing has a deadly side effect, King Herod has now heard about King Jesus – and he wants him dead. An angel spoke to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up and get out of here. Herod is trying to kill the child.” They fled in the night down an unknown road to the far away destination of Egypt . And after months, perhaps more than a year in Egypt , an angel told Joseph to return, but not to Bethlehem because of Herod’s son who was King now. So they settled in Nazareth . A lot of roads and roadblocks and detours for the Holy Family.

It might be a bit of a jolt for us to find in this story of the Holy Family and their travels, the story of the slaughter of the baby boys in Bethlehem by the wicked King Herod. Those who planned the readings of the Church Year had omitted the verses of Matthew’s gospel which tell the story of Herod’s slaughter of the innocent children. “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." Right after we celebrate the beauty and joy of Christmas we are confronted with the slaughter of innocent children. While the strains of "Silent Night" still linger in the air, we hear the agonizing cries of mothers and fathers who will not be comforted. In the still, silent, and dark streets of Bethlehem come swords and spears bloody with death and destruction.

If we were planning the Bible lessons for the Sunday after Christmas, we would probably have eliminated these verses, too. It doesn't seem right to have bloodshed connected with the beautiful story of Jesus' birth.

Yet, it is at this point that the Christmas story becomes real. It's at this point where we realize that God comes to us right in the middle of a world of suffering with violence and bloodshed. He comes into a world where thousands perish in terrorist attacks, where thousands of unborn children are slaughtered every day in abortion clinics, and where bombs explode in market places. He comes to a world where ethnic cleansing has become a commonplace phrase. He comes to a world where millions of people are forced by war to flee for their lives and become refugees struggling to survive. He comes to a world where countless thousands die every day of starvation. This is the kind of world we live in.

We need a God who will come to us in the midst of all of it, right where we are, because we can't get to God on our own. Even people who endure trouble later on in life, usually enjoy some amount of peace and quiet in infancy. Not so the baby Jesus. He is “a man with whom the whole world strives and contends.” (Jer 15:10) As there was no room for him in the Bethlehem inn, so there was no quiet room for him in the land of Judea . It should be no surprise that God's coming into this world will provoke all kinds of opposition. After all, it is the invasion of occupied territory and Satan will do anything he can to stop it. Christmas is about God making a home with us. Emmanuel; "God with us." Jesus becoming human in order that He might open for us a new way of hope, a way that leads to eternal life.

Jesus’ family fled to Egypt . Isn’t it remarkable that God chose Egypt for the safety of the Holy Family? Egypt was infamous for idolatry, tyranny and enmity towards God’s chosen people. It had been a house of bondage to the Israelites and particularly cruel to the infant boys of Israel . Yet this heathen land is the place of refuge for God’s Son. Please note that when God pleases, he can make the worst places serve his best purposes.

It is difficult for us to accept that God would allow the murder of these children by Herod. Yet Jesus did not come to bring peace, but a sword. (Matt 10:35 ,35) This is their martyrdom. This is their passive testimony to the Lord Jesus. They shed their blood for him, who afterwards shed his blood for them. They were in the infantry of the noble army of martyrs.

So, here we see that the Messiah, the Consolation of Israel, was introduced with great lamentation. The One whom the angels sang of joy and peace on earth, also brought with him grief that refused comfort.

There was a congregation in a small city that wanted to give a Christian witness, but they were aware at Christmas time of the legal challenges of putting up anything on public property. A few weeks before Christmas they were thrilled when the owner of a vacant lot on the corner of the town's two busiest streets, asked if they would like to decorate it for Christmas. Because it was private property there would be no legal challenges. They quickly erected a traditional manger scene with Mary and Joseph and the baby, and the manger with the animals around and the shepherds and even the wise men in the background. Behind this scene they erected a large cross. They put spotlights on it so it could be seen for blocks. It created a lot of interest. Lots of traffic went by that intersection. The people slowed down to take a good look at the beautiful display. Because it created a bit of a traffic jam, the local news media was interested and sent a reporter down to get reactions of people driving by. Almost all of their comments were favorable, except for one man who said, "They've ruined it by putting that big cross in it."

That's the challenge we face also, keeping the cross in Christmas. It's such a beautiful story that the cross doesn't seem like it belongs. But because this is a world of sin and death, the cross is essential. Only the cross can give us hope. Jesus came into this world for that very reason. He came to suffer and die on the cross for our sins; to shed His blood as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world; that we could be reconciled to the Father, that we could be brought back home so we can find the way through Him.

Bethlehem reminds us of just how important that is. Like Mary and Joseph, we are on our way home, too. We know the way, the destination, but the path is one God charts for us. In a world saturated with sin and plagued by problems; in a world bathed in bloodshed and covered with corruption, we are always threatened. The road which we walk is unknown to us, but not to Jesus. Sometimes it requires, like Jesus and His family, fleeing from evil into the constant refuge of His love. For the way He came to prepare for us, leads through the cross. There is no other way. We follow Jesus because He already walked that way before us. He has walked into death in our place. And then He has broken the bonds of the tomb for us. We hold onto His hand in the certainty that He knows the way--that He is the way.

Sometimes this road home leads through difficulty and pain. But we don’t need to doubt the will and purpose and love of the One who has planned the way for us. Our plans may change, but the Planner doesn't. His love for us is constant. His will for us is always good and if we need a reminder of how much He loves us, we can always look to the cross.

As we prepare to enter this New Year, the illusion that we are always safe and secure, insulated from harm has been replaced by the reality that danger lurks around us. As we enter this New Year each day, we have the assurance that God is with us and for us. He is with us in His love with the promise of His forgiveness and the sure and certain hope of eternal life in His Son. It's a long way home, but we can walk with confidence and hope knowing that Jesus is our Savior. Recall how he left his home in order to lead us home. Amen.