Good Morning Friends,
The holidays were originally known as holy days. Unfortunately, holidays are not always happy days for those people traveling nor for people unable to do so. As many of us celebrate the connection with our family and friends, many try to cope with the agony of being alone in a pandemic or facing the memory of a loved ones passing or of violent acts. But the overarching tragedy is I think the fate of the children. Today’s scripture’s story line confronts this reality. And when set against the harsh reality that a child dies from hunger every 10 seconds for about 3.1 million children each year, today’s Christmas story becomes even more relevant. We even sang about the harsh reality on Christmas Eve as a choir when we sang the haunting Coventry Carol. So, no matter how you count it, a lot of children are not making it to adulthood and a lot of regret and sorrow is being felt in the world. But the reality is that there is plenty of food but unfortunately not in all the places it is needed. There is plenty of love but also fear. Now today’s scripture is about Herod, disposing of children to keep Jesus from ruling. He was not the first to use the tactic to thwart God’s plan. But honestly the death of children seems to have lost its strategic relevance. Jesus has already arrived, and he was on track to defeat Satan by becoming the atoning sacrifice for all the world’s sins. But something still terrorizes people’s spirits for evil to persist and for fear to still control us. Interestingly Joseph, Mary and Jesus find a way to avoid disaster by taking what has been portrayed as a pleasant vacation to the South and even as some depict, serenaded by angels. So, Will Messengers Help Us Find Rest On The Way To A Sanctuary This Season?
Scripture: This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 1:5-2:2 (NRSV)
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”
Matthew 2:13-18 (NRSV)
Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8 (NRSV)
Now when Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she set about to destroy all the royal family. But Jehosheba, King Joram’s daughter, Ahaziah’s sister, took Joash son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s children who were about to be killed; she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus she hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not killed; he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.
2 Kings 11:1-3 (NRSV)
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days
Micah 5:2 (NRSV)
Message: In today’s scripture we have a continuation of the story of how evil sought to destroy Jesus from the very beginning and I think still seeks to destroy. It is a long history we know from the story of the baby Moses. But scripture tells us that the attacks against the house of David, from whom the Messiah would come, were many and various as well. One of the evilest were the massacres of the wicked Queen Athaliah. Miraculously one boy survived and was hidden in the house of God for six years, until the time was right to overthrow those who ruled by fear. Then in the book of Esther another attempted genocide of the Jewish people threatened the seed from whom the Messiah would come. Good Queen Esther took her life in her hands and dared to appear uninvited before her husband the king of Persia. He held out the golden scepter towards her in acknowledgement and answered her petitions. Then in Jerusalem, as part of the Christmas story, Herod the Great upon hearing the news from some wise travelers from the East that a child would be born a king plotted to thwart it from happening. To Herod, Jesus posed a threat. Herod feigned interest with the wise travelers but intended all along to destroy. And the death of children under the age of two around Bethlehem began as ordered by Herod. We are rightly appalled at these horrendous atrocities. However, Herod was too late. Joseph had received instructions from an angel, and he had taken the Child and His mother, and they had all escaped to Egypt. One of the most beloved stories about the life of Christ derives from apocryphal infancy narratives dating from the eighth and ninth centuries. In these stories and the paintings that followed, when the Holy Family flees into Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter, which is Biblical, they do not go in haste to their destination. Rather, as fatigue and hunger overtake them, they rest on their journey, settling for the night under a fruited date palm that provides for their needs. In some of the paintings that elaborate on the story one painting has the Holy Family in an enchantingly pastoral Eden like garden. One has an angel playing a violin to the music of the Song of Songs. And in another painting, Jesus and Mary are resting on the Sphinx in the desert. Painters such as Caravaggio, van Dyck, and Rembrandt took up the theme, as many other painters and artisans. The Holy Family appears to be enjoying a very pleasant vacation. But what is the message for us in that? Certainly, we must rest and be replenished physically as well as spiritually and mentally if we are ever to reach Egypt, and all that means pressing forward to survive in the face of difficulties and even find a way to enjoy the journey using our imagination. The challenge is that when Jesus is in us evil still might seek to destroy the child in us. Like it or not, the massacre of children is part of the Christmas story, but it is not shown on Christmas cards for it is too sad event during a time we ask people to be merry. Friends, the Christmas story is not neat nor tidy. Along with good tidings of great joy come great suffering and sorrow as Jesus enters the world. Unfortunately, people are still terrorized by those who desire to instill fear upon their intended victims. Thankfully, friends, we too, like Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus have more than a dream of a safe and secure place for our souls to be grounded. We have a firm and deep hope. We have love. So, never ever forget that Jesus rules still. Share that Good News.
And So, today we are left to our imagination and that is both a good and a bad thing on the surface depending on where that imagination takes us. For what we imagine, and share can take on a life of its own. But since we have this mind that takes us on these journeys, we have little choice, though it is better if we can be good stewards of it. Hopefully as in today’s scripture and the art it spawned, we get some hints at how to embrace even the suffering of life as part of the glory of grace in Jesus. And the thing is that this includes a transformation into a different reality that affirms life and helps us to love the choices we have made. Here we overcome suffering. Overcoming obstacles with Jesus brings us to a picture of a happy family in spite of the sadness. So, we too need to master our imagination for the greater good. For being comfortable in the face of others pain is a bit disturbing. A year ago, migration was growing worldwide. Refugees and people were fleeing from their homes and the result was a challenge to individuals and communities, and their traditional ways of life. Then came Covid-19 and lockdowns and border closures. It is all very disruptive and yet the Good News of Jesus is disruptive too. Friends, at the heart of the Gospel is an encounter and acceptance of others intertwined with the encounter and acceptance of God. Welcoming others means welcoming God in person but how is that to be played out in today’s world has yet to be worked out. We might have the imagination of Herod, but the hope is that our imagination would take on the life of Jesus.
Pray God blesses us with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can be a blessing to others and in these acts of kindness, receive God blessings as our spiritual energy is replenished. Pray we experience God not only in terms of a social consciousness but in the personal good news we share with another individual in need of sanctuary. Pray we use our imagination to serve others in Christ-like ways that lights a spark in our own spiritual lives that in time spreads into our economic life and the very social institutions that we influence. Pray we discover that we do not take Christ into the lives of those in need but simply acknowledge His presence already there. Pray in our reality and imagination we come into the presence of the King and in these moments bear His presence in memory and witness of God with us in all that we experience. Pray we realize that our ancestors in the faith were refugees and displaced people and had to have an imagination to guide them to go on a new journey to explore the opportunities God would put before them. Pray that we discover we are ministering to Christ when we respond to the poor with the dignity, intimacy, and knowledge that we are serving…suffering with Christ himself. Pray in our comfort we still have a heart for the poor realizing that we all are poor. Pray we work to avert the flight of refugees as a result of poverty, violence, and persecution when we can. Pray our souls are not terrorized by our imagination but fueled for the future influence of Christ’s faith. Pray we realize that Jesus sympathizes with our suffering, but that suffering is not the main issue. Pray we realize that suffering is the symptom, and that sin is the disease. Pray we discover the joy of Christian fellowship. Pray we realize that eternity is too long a journey to gamble with one’s soul. Pray that when the lights go out on the journey that we have a light within to shine forth the way to a safe place. Pray we be as the wise men and still seek Jesus, preferring love to all the petty tyrants of this world. Pray we therefor help others to join the most exclusive and most inclusive citizenship of Christ even as we imagine a brighter future in 2022.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 