Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas
Festival of the Innocents
Text: Matthew 2:16 When Herod realized that the visitors from the East had tricked him, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood who were two years old and younger. |
A few days ago we
were singing “Silent night, holy night,
all is calm, all is bright” as we gazed upon the new born baby in the
manger. We listened to angels tell
the shepherds about “peace on earth to
those with whom God is pleased”.
Today’s reading from Matthew shocks us back
to the real world – the world we live in where threats of terrorism, murders,
violence, jealousy, hatred, and anger feature daily on the news.
And even though we enjoy the happiness and joy of the sweet-smelling hay
and the beauty of a baby in a manger, it doesn’t take us long to get back to our
humdrum lives with its routines and temptations and arguments.
On 28th December, the church has
traditionally remembered the sobering truth that the birth of Jesus is followed
by death and destruction, weeping and wailing, suffering and evil of the most
dreadful sort. Matthew tells us that
when Herod learned from the wise men that a new rival king had been born in in
his kingdom, he was outraged. He ordered
all boys under two years of age in Bethlehem to be killed.
In that way, he would eliminate any
rival to his throne.
Let’s be clear: the Christmas story is no
fairy tale. There’s nothing rosy here; there’s no swell of orchestral music, no
golden hues in a fading sunset as the story of the first Christmas closes with
smiles all round on the faces of the cast as they gaze at the baby in the
manger. The problem with having nice nativity scenes
in our churches and homes is that we get the impression that what you see is
the end of the Christmas story and we are left with a wonderful warm feeling.
That’s the beginning of the Christmas
story. The baby Jesus is born into
the real world. The world of
violence, wickedness and cruelty.
Very quickly our tears of joy are turned into tears of profound sorrow as the
air is pierced with loud screams and wailing.
The happy faces of Mary and Joseph are replaced with the faces of grief
stricken parents as they hold the lifeless bodies of their sons in their arms.
Though separated by 2,000 years, we too grieve with these parents.
Their sons had done nothing to deserve this kind of thing.
They were innocent victims of a jealous king who should have been
protecting them rather than taking their lives.
Matthew
hasn’t skipped over the horrible bits.
The baby Jesus has come into a world where children are caught up in war,
genocide, terrorism and die cruel and senseless deaths.
He has come into a world where many more babies than the babies of Bethlehem are
aborted every day for no reason, others are treated badly, even killed.
He has come into a world where child prostitution and slavery are at an all-time
high.
The baby Jesus came into a world where more children die of hunger every minute
than the children of Bethlehem died at Herod’s command.
This is the real world, and it’s into this world that Jesus came.
It’s into a world of pain and sorrow, of political intrigues and deceit, of
murdered children, and people who are imprisoned, tortured, and executed; where
uttering the simple creed “Jesus is Lord”
is enough to sell your whole family into slavery.
The baby
Jesus comes into our own personal world of death, grief, sorrow, helplessness,
and suffering.
I’m glad that Matthew doesn’t leave this
story out of his Christmas account simply because it is unpleasant and because
it doesn’t fit in with the magic of Christmas.
I think Matthew does it deliberately.
He starts by setting the scene saying,
“Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,
during the reign of King Herod” (Matthew 2:1).
That sentence probably doesn’t mean much to us but Matthew’s first time
readers would have gasped at hearing the name “King Herod”.
Herod was a nasty piece of work.
Sure he had his good points (he was a great builder of cities) but he was
violent and thought nothing of murdering family members and innocent children to
protect his throne and his authority.
Setting
Christmas in the world of King Herod makes us realise how magnificent Christmas
really is. That God who is holy,
pure, everlasting and almighty should became a human and enter this world that
is so impure and unholy, is truly amazing.
This whole plan of entering our corrupt world should have been so
repulsive to God that he shouldn’t have given it second thought, let alone even
contemplate sending his son as a small, tender, vulnerable baby into such a
world.
This
certainly was a bold plan. It was a
plan that was motivated by love for all people, for you and me.
It was a risky plan because it meant Jesus would have to also face the
horrors of this world.
Just as there was violence, blood and pain on that awful day in Bethlehem, there
was violence, blood and pain when Jesus died on a cruel cross for our salvation.
God doesn’t shy away from evil and wrong but tackles it head on.
Matthew’s
Christmas story may not be the warm, cosy Christmas story that we like but it’s
the Christmas story we need. It has
a lot to say to us as we encounter adversity, suffering, grief and death in our
own lives. Remember, it is Matthew
who reminds us that Jesus is “Immanuel”,
which means “God with us”.
We need to know that God is with us even when we feel that there is nothing but
chaos and stress around us.
We need to know that God is right here with us when things are getting us down,
when our sorrow is overwhelming, and when death stares us in the face.
We need to know that God will never consider us too sinful or too far away from
him for him to stop loving us.
This is a story about God's love that will do anything to be with us and help us
when we need him the most.
At the
very end of Matthew’s story of Jesus’ life he records the last words that Jesus
says to his disciples before returning to heaven.
They are the words of promise that Jesus makes,
“Be sure of this: I am with you always,
even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20).
He is saying that to us today as well; to us who are still living in this
world where there is enough happening to scare the living daylights out of us.
Evil, death, disasters, bad choices, temptations, are in front of us
every day and at times we could feel quite helpless and hopeless against any of
these. It’s heartening to know that
Jesus was born into this same world.
He is our Immanuel – he is
“God with us” in the troubles we
encounter as we journey through life.
He sticks by his promise to always be with us throughout the ages until
the day he comes again.
“Be sure of this: I am with you always”,
he promises.
He made
that promise to each of us at our baptism.
Today, he made that promise to Braxton.
Even though we don’t know what the future will hold for Braxton, it is a
certainty that he will make some bad choices in the future, just as we all will.
There will be times when he will suffer the consequences of the wrong and
the evil that he will get caught up in.
Like all of us he will say things and do things and upset the people
around him as well as God, like we all do.
There will be times when he will worry about the future and wonder,
“Where to next?”
God has
called Braxton and each of us to trust in his love and presence in our lives.
He loves us and forgives us and invites us to follow him.
He accepts as his own beloved child because of what Jesus has done for us
on the cross. We are forgiven.
We are drawn close to God.
We are given eternal life. We are
given the Holy Spirit who will help us and guide us to make the right choices
along life’s journey and comfort us and strengthen us when the journey gets
tough.
When
Jesus says, “Braxton, I am with you
always” (and you can add your name here) this means -
“Braxton,
Jesus knows you intimately and personally.
He knows what your future holds.
He knows what will scare you in the future.
In your baptism, Braxton, Jesus has
promised that his power is at your disposal.
His strength is your strength.
His wisdom and Spirit guide your ways.
His love watches over you and keeps you safe.
His forgiveness gives peace.
His presence gives confidence, boldness and peace even when everything is going
crazy in your life”.
Today as we remember the death and grief in
Bethlehem, we remember how people the world over suffer because of evil in the
world and pray that this injustice would stop.
At some time the violence and evil of this world will touch our lives.
We thank God that Jesus didn’t hold back but came into our world to
become part of our lives and to assure us that whatever happens
“God is with us” always to give the
assurance that whatever happens, “We are
in God’s loving hand”.
© Pastor Vince
Gerhardy
28th December 2014
E-mail:
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