St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
425 Cleveland Ave SW
Canton, Ohio 44702
Phone: 330-455-0286
Fax: 330-455-9818
E-mail: office@stpaulscanton.org

Christmas 2
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Canton OH
Matthew 2:1-23

January 3, 2010
The Rev. Barbara Bond

Guard the Children

That was certainly a long Gospel reading! We had several choices this morning, readings that showed various aspects of Jesus’ birth and infancy, by three different writers. The Luke story gets all the attention on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with the baby in the manger and angels and shepherds; and the John narrative was our focus last week. This week, we had two selections from Matthew as possibilities, with a crucial section deleted. Not wishing to withhold anything from you, I decided to do it all! And thus we have just heard the entire second chapter of Matthew.

We get the whole story as Matthew tells it, not the slice-and-dice pieces we are accustomed to. The first section is the familiar story of the Magi who followed a star to find the new-born king. The last section is often called “The Flight Into Egypt,” when the Holy family sought asylum in another country. What is missing in most accounts is the small section in between, entitled the Slaughter of the Innocents. We rarely hear that piece, as it is just too heart-breaking. Carefully removed from our Christmas observances is any mention of the terrible consequences of King Herod’s megalomania.

You just heard the whole story, but it’s a big story, so let’s review it in sections: Part One: The Magi. These three gentlemen are stargazers from the East. They have observed something curious in the cosmos. A new star is beckoning them to travel and see something entirely new: the birth of a new order, a new way of life, the redemption of God’s people. They can’t resist. They travel west and stop off in King Herod’s court to ask for further directions. Herod, in addition to being a megalomaniac, is also paranoid. When the wise men ask where to find the new-born king of the Jews, he is frightened that he will lose his throne – after all, he thought he was King of the Jews! Keep that response in mind. The wise men continue on their way, find Jesus and his family, offer their gifts, and go home by another way. That was wise.

Now the dreams begin again. There are five big dreams in this story, four of them to Joseph. Joseph’s first dream, in the previous chapter, told him that Mary’s pregnancy was by the Holy Spirit and that he should take care of her and the child. The second divine communication was that curious star that the wise men followed. Now we get three more dreams, three more divine communications to Joseph, as God protects the new-born Jesus. The three dreams tell Joseph to take his family to Egypt, then later tell him to come back, and then redirect him towards Nazareth. I wish God gave me such clear directions! Joseph heeded the dreams.

Why go to Egypt? King Herod was dangerous. The paranoid megalomaniac wanted to hunt down Jesus and destroy him, and just to be sure, he ordered the extermination of all Jewish baby boys. The story, while not necessarily factually true of the historical Herod, is something he was capable of: destroying all the opposition. The historical Herod had snuffed out members of his own family, including a wife, who he considered competitive to his rule. What’s a few children to a tyrant?

I restored these painful verses to our Christmas story to give us some perspective. We are awash in sentimentality this time of year. We love art work and Christmas cards showing the wise men on their journey. We admire lovely renditions of the Flight into Egypt, Mary on a donkey holding the newborn, perhaps resting by a sphinx. What we are missing is the terrible story in the middle: the reason the wise men went home by another way, and the reason God spoke to Joseph in dreams and sent him traveling. We miss the poignancy, the horror, the consequences of power gone mad. And, in the process, we miss the whole reason God came to be among us.

Why on earth would God come to earth, unless it was crucially important in God’s grand plan? God did not come to earth to give us sentimental Christmas cards. God did not come to earth to give us a tremendously successful shopping season. God came to earth to overthrow the grandiose assumptions of people like King Herod, the power mongers who squash the little people. God came to earth to bring justice and peace. No wonder Herod was worried.

This is not a story confined to the first century. The world is still full of power brokers, and God’s people still suffer. Families still flee from oppression and seek asylum in neighboring countries or farther afield. Refugees flow over borders in war-torn parts of our globe, fleeing terror politics, fleeing terror tactics, fleeing threats to their lives and their beliefs. Many do not find safe haven, but are regarded by the host countries as a threat to their own well being. Host governments and citizens can be paranoid too: what’s going to happen to me, or my taxes, or my medical care, or my job, if I take compassion on a refugee? God’s message of justice and peace is often inaudible in the outcries of self-interest. God’s compassion is ignored. If Jesus and his family arrived today, how would the refugees be received?

Not all children are in danger in exotic and faraway places. I chanced upon a situation here in Canton this past Thursday. It was New Year’s Eve afternoon, and I was doing some end-of-year banking, about a mile from my home. As I was leaving the bank, a woman left in front of me through the double glass doors, yanking her small child through the doors. He looked to be about three or four years old, a tiny little guy, wearing a knit cap. I wasn’t paying very close attention. He seemed to have a dark tassel or tag hanging down in front of his face. She pulled him roughly through the two doors, and I followed, somewhat absently, wondering why he deserved such rough treatment. When we got outside, I saw him more clearly. The dark tag on his face was something else: he had a huge gash down the middle of his face, from the crown of his head down to his lips, cutting his face in two. The gash was healing, in a dark wound. The little guy held out his hand toward his mother as they approached her car – reaching for safety and assurance. She did not notice. The child showed such trust, even as he bore his horrible wound. I was aghast, and my heart broke to see him. They left before I could say a word.

Let us hope that endangered children continue to knock on the doors of our cold hearts, and that we will recognize their message. None of us can rest and be complacent, guarding our borders, until all God’s children are safe. Let us respond to the needs of children, and of the needy of our world, wherever we find them. God sent Jesus to us as a helpless child, and that child grew up with God’s message of justice and peace. Let us work for that message in the world today. Let us not side with the Herods and power systems of our day, but let us see the poor, the weak, the needy; those who suffer, those who live in fear, those who have no other choices. We who do have choices – let us make them for those who do not have a voice. Do we want to be like Herod, shoring up our own power? Or do we want to empower those with no power, that they get a more even chance in life?

This is a tough story from Matthew. Heed it and follow your heart.