Sermon for December 28 Christmas 1

Sermon for Christmas 1

Amid our Christmas celebration, we are given this story from Matthew. The slaughter of the innocents. The moment where all of Herod’s insecurity and paranoia get the better of him and he orders the execution of all children in Israel 2 years or younger. It is an order that is sadly carried out. Blessedly, as the text relates, the Holy family is able to make their escape, and they stay in Egypt until Herod dies. But in a moment of supreme joy, namely the birth of Jesus, the narrative pivots to offer to us this narrative, a narrative of horror and death.

And while we may not want something like this to disturb the peace and equanimity that we are so desperately trying to achieve this season, it is telling that the story of Jesus’ birth is immediately interrupted by the threat of death and violence. After all, this was the world Jesus was entering into. These were the people that Jesus came to save. This was the world Jesus came to redeem.

It certainly wouldn’t be the only time that Jesus faced such a threat. As his ministry picked up momentum, the authorities became increasingly aware of him. At first, they sought to silence him. But when that failed, they begin to seek his life. Jesus wandered in part to minister to as many people as he could, but I think it also came from the fact that he was always under threat. He had to keep moving. There was a target on his back. If he didn’t keep moving, the authorities would find a way to silence him for good. It wasn’t until he entered Jerusalem that he stopped moving and chose to face the authorities and of course, that resulted in his arrest, torture, and execution.

Jesus was not a stranger to violence. He stood against it all his life, even when the disciples would have fought for him, but in the end, violence found him. Thus, as much as we might have preferred this story of the slaughter of the innocents to take place at some other point in our lectionary journey, it is appropriate that it shows up here. Jesus’ journey was a treacherous one and it starts in the first few days of his life.

But like all things about the stories found in Scripture, this account of Jesus and his family having to flee speaks to the real and true quality of the Gospel story. We want the story to often be polished and nice. We even spiritualize an event like the crucifixion, glossing over the fact that it was a heinous execution method, meant to inflict maximum pain and humiliation on the victim. It was state sponsored execution at its worst and an absolute perversion of justice. To understand that Jesus was forced to endure such a torment is to see how the Roman empire and the local authorities viewed him. He was looked at as a politically dangerous figure. He was a victim of the state’s suppression of any dissenting voices. He would line up right alongside those marched to the gas chamber in World War 2, or disappeared by the KGB, or executed by death squads in central and south America. There is a long history of political violence against those who would speak truth to power, and it is important that Jesus is seen as just such a person. We want to make the crucifixion and the rest of Jesus’ life as pristine and clean as possible, yet it was anything but those things. Jesus entered the mess of humanity and experienced that mess to its fullness. He was in the trenches with the lost and forsaken, advocating for them and fighting against injustice. He was calling out the abuses of power of his own day and age. He was fraternizing with people that his own culture deemed to be unclean. His ministry was marked by the gritty reality of life. If Christ walked amongst us now, he would be found sitting with the homeless man, or the single mother, or the youth, broken by addiction and the apathy of the world. He would be in the muck and grim of life.

And this starts right now, with a ruler who is willing to sacrifice the lives of the innocent rather than risk any threat to his power. Jesus and his family become refugees, fleeing to a foreign land just to find some measure of safety.

Though it is a disturbing story, it fulfills an important function. It frames the entire life and ministry of Jesus in the context of real life. His ministry is not one of ephemeral spirituality that has more to do with the life to come than this life. Although Jesus certainly spoke about the life to come, he also was very concerned with the life that is and about the real-world situations that people found themselves in during his own day and age and throughout history. Christ is no less concerned about the plight of the Palestinians, or the homeless on the streets of Leduc, or the forgotten generations of youth. Christ is right there alongside of them as he was right there alongside of the vulnerable and suffering of his own time. Christ is as present in the shelters in Edmonton as he was in the leper colonies of ancient Israel. He loved those that society so often turned their back on. He loved them and named them as part of his family, just as he loves us and names us as part of his family. The massacre of the innocents is a great tragedy of history, but it also demonstrates to us the tone of the Christ’s ministry. He came for all people, but if you wish to find him, look amongst those that the rest of society has deemed unworthy. Look amongst those individuals and you will find Christ, offering life, and love, and community. And as we look, we will realize that Christ is in fact beckoning us to come and join him. Amen