The Second Sunday after Christmas Day

January 4, 2009

Year B

Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

St. Francis, Norris

For the past few weeks I have been preaching the humility of the birth of our Lord and savior. I have stressed that God came to us through a human being, the theotokos (bearer of God)…Mary. This helpless infant, so tender and mild, born in a stall, in a feeding trough is to be the King of all eternity. Who would expect anyone to believe such a story at its outset? Once again we have the advantage of knowing how the entire story will end as we hear its beginning. I can’t say about you, so I speak for myself when I say that I would have had a great deal of difficulty believing that this infant, born to commoners would ever become king of anything! But that’s just me.

If you think about it, Herod obviously believed. He was furious that the three kings had protected Jesus whereabouts and ordered the death of all the male children in the region to try to exterminate this one helpless child. You can say that Joseph and family fled to Egypt in order to fulfill the prophecy but they really left in order to save their only child from being brutally murdered. Prophecy or not, they would have done the same.

Then when Herod dies and the return should be safe they return to Nazareth in order to fulfill the prophecy. Again, they were more likely protecting their child than they were making the story turn out right. But turn out right it did.

Consider this though; from the very beginning of his life, the powers that existed were trying to kill this person of Jesus. Even before he had performed any miracles or had any following whatsoever, they wanted him dead. The Pharisee’s were Johnny come lately in the world of the persecution of Jesus.

Within one generation we will hear of all of the followers of this man also being persecuted even unto death. Within one generation this child will be put to death on a cross. His entire life had been one fraught with danger and deceit. Finally it is His refusal to escape any longer that brings about the end. And it is this end that brings about the new beginning.

The angel came to Joseph and told him to flee to Egypt. After Herod died, the angel again came to Joseph, telling him to go to Israel. Once he returned and discovered Herod’s son was ruling the area, he went to Nazareth. Again we hear that this is to fulfill the scripture. It seems as though fulfilling scripture happens when Jesus is being protected by his family and the angels. The point is that it was those trying to kill Him that became the instruments of that fulfillment. I guess you might say that it is similar to you trying to best someone and the tables are turned on you because of that attempt. We have all had that happen to us at one time or another, I’m sure.

While there is no mention of Mary in this passage it occurs to me that she and Joseph are merely pawns in this unfolding of events as are Herod and Archelaus. I am hard pressed to think that even Jesus had any idea as to what was happening around him in this time of childhood. So that leaves us with God as the orchestration of events. Imagine that! God is in charge.

Joseph had to have wondered, why is all this happening to me? Mary had to wonder the same. They had done nothing wrong. Nothing to put their child’s life in danger as well as their own lives. Do you think they may have ever thought; “why is this happening to me?” Why does God allow bad things happen to good people?

I wish we knew what happened to Joseph after this, but we don’t. We do know that Mary suffered through the witnessing of her firstborns’ death at the hands of cruel and unfair persons. She had to endure Jesus teaching this radical new religion that made the Jews hate him too. I have to imagine that she said more than once, “Why God, why?”

Mary, like the rest of us, had no crystal ball to see what the future would bring. Even the experience of the resurrection must have been confusing, as well as comforting. I believe in the resurrection but it doesn’t keep me from sadness when someone dies.

The point is that we are not so different from these parents who were struggling for understanding of the events taking place in their lives. They were trying to do what was right but it had it seem unfair at times. They were following the plan God had laid out for them not knowing how it would end. Who knows, if they had known how it was to end they might have stayed in Egypt.

We don’t know how our journeys will end either. I never have had an angel visit me and tell me what I should do. If I did I wonder if I would follow the instructions given if they didn’t seem best for my way of thinking. But still, God visits us in many ways and quite often. And we always follow, when it is part of OUR plan. Sometimes, we even follow when we are unable to see the outcome of our following. We know it as God’s call and it is not reserved for clergy. God calls all of us. Following that call is known as having faith.

I think that occurs when we do for our neighbors when we aren’t truly sure it is best for us or even for them. When you give a homeless person twenty dollars for food without knowing it will be used for food, you are showing faith. When you offer to help someone with a project without knowing how you will find the time, you are showing faith. When you get up and come to church when you really want to stay in bed, you are showing faith. Any time you do God’s will without knowing the end result, you are being faithful.

We wonder why God does things sometimes. We wonder if God is with us sometimes. Mary and Joseph probably wondered too. They were long since gone when the purpose for all these happenings were clearly understood; if they are even yet understood. But Mary and Joseph had faith. They did what God wanted them to do even when it seemed far from the best idea.

Knowing what God wants can sometimes be difficult to determine. Doing as God wants is much harder still. As humans we are often not willing to make the sacrifices that God wishes us to make. I know that is true in my case. But I try a little harder all the time on those things I know God wants of me yet I am afraid of. Jesus’ parents must have lived in great fear and doubt. Yet they were able to overcome with faith. That is where I want to be. Stronger in faith than in doubt. To be honest I do not know where I stand right now. My faith is stronger than it ever has been. At the same time, doubt and fear are still very much a part of my makeup.

We will never be at the point in our lives that we have as much faith as God wishes us to have. It is very important that we are at least moving in the right direction though. So, if we have to move from Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth to Jerusalem in our faith journeys, so be it. Just don’t get stuck in one place or God’s plan for you will be stalled. You do not know the plan. No one does. It will be fulfilled one way or another, though and I, for one, think that is a good thing.