Just a few days ago we gathered in worship around the
glorious story of shepherds and angels; “a
poor lowly stable ”; and a young couple with their newborn baby “wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a
manger.” Our joy could hardly be
contained as we loudly sang “O Come All Ye Faithful” or in hushed tones with
candles in hand sang of a “Silent night”, where all is “calm” and “bright.” As the days of Christmas have progressed, the
three magi figurines have been making their way across our sanctuary chancel to
take their place at the Nativity scene on Epiphany. As they do, we will hear a very different
Christmas story.
This coming Sunday we will hear that God’s good news of
great joy is not good news to everyone; especially by those in positions of
power. We will hear of an earthly king
who in his narcissistic paranoia is so threatened by the birth announcement of
another king, that he desperately seeks out this newborn in order to kill
him. This is certainly not a story told
in any Christmas pageants I’ve ever seen.
And yet it is a critical part of our story. We know that for his whole life, this newborn
king will be a marked man, one day being tortured and killed on a cross for
bearing witness to God’s Kingdom over and against those of Herod and Caesar;
what the biblical scholar Raymond Brown refers to as “An Adult Christ at
Christmas.”
I’m not completely sure where my sermon is going on
Sunday. I’m intrigued by the
juxtaposition of outsider magi, who get what God is doing, to insider religious
folk who do not.
I also can’t help but wonder who the Herods and Caesars of
this world are and what the church’s voice could and should be in the midst of
it all. Am I a religious insider who
thinks I’ve got God all figured out and am therefore closed to God’s new
revelations? Am I one who craves my own
power, desiring that my will be done over and against that of God? It’s way too easy for me to point to powerful
world leaders and assign Herod’s name to them; though there may be some wisdom
in that. But am I just as capable of
seeking to eliminate anything or anyone that I perceive is a threat to my White,
male power?
Toward the end of Matthew’s gospel, the adult Jesus tells us
that what we do to the least among us, we do to him. What are the implications of that when put in
the light of this Sunday’s gospel reading?
Are tax laws that remove 13 million people from health care coverage akin
to Herod seeking to kill the infant Jesus?
These are all valid questions with which people of faith
must wrestle and I invite you into this holy struggle of which I don’t pretend
to have easy answers. There is nothing
simple about this Christmas story. For
it is far more than just an account of a birth, It is the story of God dwelling
with us and our response to that new reality.
On the journey with you,
Pastor Doug
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