“Irony of Faith” (Matthew 2:13-23)

Paul Harvey used to have a popular radio spot called Now for the Rest of the Story for many years before he died.  In this brief segment he would share a story about some historical event as most people remembered it.  He’d begin by telling the story as remembered, but then he would pause and let his listeners know that he was about to tell the story as it happened . . . he was going to tell “the rest of the story.”  Then he would proceed to dispel all the myths and hyperbole about the story with the facts of how it really took place.  People loved it despite fact that it often blew their understanding of history right out of the water.

This morning we are confronted with a “now for the rest of the story” moment in the scriptures.  From the mountaintop of our Christmas celebration we’re are dropped back into reality.  Dashed are all our heartfelt images of the Christmas story that we hold so tightly on as we are told about what really happened.  It is kind of ironic how our understanding of salvation is not presented to us in a neat little package.

The reality of the Christmas story is that not everyone was thrilled about the prospects of this new savior arriving on the scene.  Not everyone is joining the heavenly choirs singing “hallelujah!”  No, there are some who are scared . . . scared of how this new savior can upset the apple cart and mess everything up.  We are told of King Herod.  Herod sees this new arrival as a threat . . . a threat to his power and control.  Like any good monarch of the time period he knew what he had to do . . . he had to get rid of the competition . . . he had to have the child killed.

Feigning interest in this new-born king, Herod seeks the help of foreign dignitaries who are seeking the child to pay homage.  Herod tells them to find the child and to come back to tell him exactly where the child is so that he can go and celebrate the child’s birth.  At least that is what he tells them.  His intentions are quite the opposite . . . and the Magi are warned not to go back.

Herod, having been tricked, is more than a little perturbed . . . he is angry.  In his anger he issues a decree to have all the male children, two and under, to be killed in Bethlehem and its vicinity.  In this way he knows that he will rid himself of his competition.  Surely, he will get the problem taken care with such an action.

This is an abrupt twist in the story.  Most of us go from the celebration of

the birth of Jesus to his adulthood . . . we jump over the nasty parts of the story.  That is kind of what we humans do when it comes to things in our lives, we want to forget . . . those bad moments.  We just jump over them and continue the story from a point where everything seems simple, nice . . . cut and dry.  We have a brief hiccup of amnesia. 

I’m sorry to say, despite our best efforts any of our stories—in order to be truthful and honest, must be complete . . . complete with the good and the bad.  The whole story must be told because it takes all parts of the story to understand who we are and what we believe.  Though we are trying to protect ourselves and others, the whole story must be shared.  When it comes to understanding our faith, the story must be told in its entirety.  We cannot leave out the parts that make us uncomfortable.

Murdering innocent babies surely makes us uncomfortable.  Threatening to have someone killed because they make us nervous makes us uncomfortable.  And, in the hearing of this story, that Joseph and Mary rush Jesus out of the country while innocent children are killed . . . well, the implications of that make us feel uneasy.  Innocents die so that Jesus may live . . . “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Who could blame anyone for wanting to jump over these parts of the story?

I sometimes struggle with what I can the “irony of faith.”  I sometimes struggle with the whole Christmas story and its implications on my faith.  It just does not make sense to me why such a beautiful story . . . such a wonderful gift . . . is plagued with such nasty details that go against what I want to carry in my heart.  Yet, this is how the story plays out.  It goes against everything I hold precious and valuable.  Things like life . . . innocent children are killed.  Obviously, Herod does not value any life beyond his own.  So, I wonder . . . I wonder why God plays the story out in the way we are hearing it this morning?  Surely God could have given the story a Disney-like ending.

In our hearts it seems so simple . . . love.  Through love all of God’s desires are achieved.  Love one another . . . love one another as we love ourselves.  Through love all things are accomplished . . . the world becomes a better place—the Kingdom of God.  If we could just learn to love one another . . . to love everyone.  That’s what our hearts know, but our minds know something completely different.

Our minds know that it is not as simple as it seems.  There are lots of people in the world and throughout history who are not comfortable in who God created them to be.  There are lots of people who are not satisfied with what they have, and they want more . . . more power, control, riches.  And, we know that these people are not grounded in love, thus they do not hesitate to do whatever must be done in order to get what they want for themselves.  As far as they are concerned, everyone else can go to you know where!

As we hear the “rest of the story” we learn that the story of our faith is not a simple story that is not without its nastiness.  We are confronted with the reality that not everyone wants what God wants . . . that they could care less.  Thus, they become the stick in the mud, the fly in the ointment.  They complicate things.  In this they mess up our story, complicate our faith, and make us insecure.  In our insecurity we attempt to avoid the nastiness . . . to avoid the fact that being faithful to God’s desires is difficult.  We become frightened and look like deer caught in the headlights . . . not sure what we should do.

It has been said that “winners write history” . . . they tell the story from their point of view . . . which are not always the “whole story”.  They leave out those parts of the story that are nasty and paint them in unfavorable ways. 

So, who is writing our section of history as the followers of Jesus?  Who is telling the story as it is really played out? Will it be glossed over, the nasty parts forgotten, so that everyone—at least those in power and control—come out looking good?   

As the followers of Jesus, we are called to do God’s will . . . which is often not the ways of the world we live.  I do not think that I must give a whole bunch of examples about what I am talking about.  All of us can look around the world we are living in . . . our communities, our state, our nation, the world in which we exist.  All are filled with examples of the nastiness in the story that is taking place . . . we read it in our papers, on our social media, and on the nightly news.  All around us are those situations where the world’s desires are clashing with God’s desire.  And, people get hurt.  People get traumatized.  All because of what is happening goes against God’s will to fulfill the wants and wishes of those who cannot love.

It is ironic because we know better . . . we know better because we follow Jesus.  Jesus’ story is not cut and dry . . . not all good.  It was a hard journey filled with lots of challenges that often went against the world.  We know.

This is the never-ending story . . . the pursuit of God’s will . . . the establishment of God’s Kingdom.  We are writing our chapter in the story.  What will it be?  A glossed over happy story where the reality and difficulty of faith is not shared?  Or will it be the truth?  The truth that tells the reader or listener that faith is hard . . . there are hard choices . . . unpopular choices that come in walking in the footsteps of Jesus. 

I don’t know.  That will be up to each of us as individuals and as a community of faith . . . it will be our choice.  But what I do know, is that whether it is a glossed over version leaving out the gory details, or a straight-forward version with all the nastiness we are confronted with as the faithful . . . what I know is that God is with us whatever happens.  God was with Joseph and Mary as they rushed Jesus to Egypt to protect their child.  God was with the mourning families who lost sons in the genocide Herod afflicted upon them.  And, that God will be with us until the very end, and that is the truth.  That is the “good news”.  Kind of ironic how it all works out, isn’t it?  Amen.

“Making Sense” (Matthew 2:13-23)

Christmas music begins the day after Thanksgiving in the Keener household and continues well into the month of January . . . Dana loves Christmas and would keep it going for as long as I can tolerate it.  There is something beautiful about Christmas with God coming to the world in love . . . not in a judgmental way, but in way that makes it difficult to not want to jump into that love and fully embrace it.  God comes as a little baby . . . and, who among us does not love little babies?  Who wouldn’t want to hang on to that feeling for as long as possible?  To keep it going?  This celebratory version of Christmas is hard to shake, especially in the Keener household . . . but, there is a darkness that looms over the Christmas story . . . a darkness waiting to jump out from the shadows and remind us that life is not simple.

Life is complicated.

Life is complicated even when it comes to our salvation story.

As soon as the wise men left, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream with a warning: “Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.  Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”  Joseph is warned that Israel is no place for him and his family . . . that there was danger in staying . . . grave danger.  Heeding the warning of the angel, Joseph packs up his family and hightails it to Egypt . . . runs for their lives.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (as they say in all the great Westerns), Herod realizes that he has been duped.  The wise men do not return with the information of where the new king of Israel has been born; nope, they have skipped town.  Furious Herod does the only thing that he can do to remedy this competition . . . he issues an edict to kill all the boys in the vicinity of Bethlehem who were two years old and under.  This was the only way he could be assured that this challenge to his power would be eliminated.

The darkness moves quickly to squash out the beauty of the Christmas story. The children are killed.  A nightmarish tragedy echoes forth from the story as death moves through families and communities.  A prophecy has been fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Such actions kind of put a kabash on the Christmas story . . . no one really wants to sing Christmas hymns and songs knowing that innocent lives were taken.  It doesn’t make much sense does it?  And, yet, this is a part of the story of Christmas . . . a part of the reality of our salvation story.  Darkness engulfs the story . . . and, it just does not make sense.

So, the baby Jesus is whisked off to safety in the land of Egypt.  Kind of ironic that Egypt would be the place of safety for the saviour of the world?  Egypt which had been a house of bondage to Israel . . . the land of their exile for so many generations . . . a place where they were oppressed . . . a place where their children suffered.  Ironic, yet so symbolic.  For it was out of Egypt that Israel was born . . . it was out of Egypt that Israel found itself as God’s children . . . out of Egypt from where it was saved and had its beginning.  Once again, it will be out of Egypt that the family of God will be born anew . . . that it will be established as a new creation . . . a new beginning.  It is difficult not to note the parallel of this story with the story of Israel’s exodus from bondage into life.

But, again, does this make sense?

In light of the fact that we were just getting our Christmas groove on, does any of this make sense?  Does it make sense that so many innocent children would be allowed to be killed?  Does it make sense that Joseph drags his family off to Egypt--not quite one of the top ten places for Jews to go and take an extended vacation?  All of this puts a damper on our Christmas celebration . . . from joy to crushing frustration and ultimately, depression . . . as darkness casts a shadow over the promise and the hope of the season.  Doesn’t make much sense does it?

One biblical commentator stated that this was a “trial of the faith of Joseph and Mary.”  In my mind and heart, this is a pretty harsh trial of faith.  From the beginning it has not been easy for either of them . . . an unexpected pregnancy before the wedding has even happened . . . news that their kid would be the saviour of the world . . . no room in the inn . . . a birth in a stable . . . strangers showing up all goo-goo eyed over their kid . . . angels coming with messages and telling them to get the heck out of Dodge . . . running off to Egypt.  That is a lot of stress on the newly married couple who have just had their first baby.  Nothing normal about it.  And, I imagine that both Joseph and Mary were overwhelmed with feelings of frustration . . . nothing made sense.

But, God is funny that way.  Not “funny” as in a “ha ha” sense of the word, but “funny” as in “peculiar”.  God likes to throw a lot of curveballs in a world that expects fast balls.  But God never said it would be easy.  Jesus never promised that it would be easy.  Heck, faith is hard.  Because we really do know how difficult and hard faith can be . . . and, we also know that God has the capability to simply fix it all with a simple motion of love and grace to make all things work out . . . we just don’t understand why it has to be so difficult and hard.  Why do we have to go through all this muck and mire?  So why doesn’t God just fix it?  

It just doesn’t make sense.

As we were growing and continue to grow, did it make much sense if our parents, teachers, and mentors did everything for us?  No, it didn’t.  If our parents, teachers, and mentors did everything for us, what would we have learned?  Nothing.  And, what would we have become?

God understood and understands this.  If our parents, teachers, and mentors did all the work for us, would we be the people we are today?  Would we know who we are?  Probably not, and for that reason we have to go through life experiencing all of its ups and downs for ourselves . . . having to make the decisions for ourselves . . . having to learn the lessons.  No one else can do it for us . . . not even God.  The choice is always ours.  And, a lot of the time, the choices we make do not make a lot of sense at the time that we make them.

But, we have to believe.  We have to believe in the promise.  We have to believe in the gift.  We have to believe that God will not abandon us.  We have to believe that we are on the right path . . . a path blazed for us in the life and example of Jesus.  We have to believe in love and grace in the face of a world that seems to be spinning towards darkness.  We have to believe.

And, to believe . . . to believe is our choice.

Throughout the Christmas story, all of the leading characters had choices to make.  God did not force them to go one way over the other, but allowed for them to make choices.  In the story we read of the choices that they made even though we do not quite understand the choices that they were given.  This is probably not the way we would have written the Christmas story had we been given the chance . . . we would have had it end with “. . . and they all lived happily ever after.”  Thus we are confused . . . confused and attempting to make sense of it all.

Darkness invades the Christmas story just as it invades our lives.  That is the way life is . . . the way that faith is.  It is hard and often times unexplainable and difficult to understand.  And, we wonder . . . we question . . . we attempt to make sense of it all.  The truth of the matter is, darkness is a part of the Christmas story . . . plain and simple, just as it is a part of life.  What makes it easier to endure is the choice to believe . . . to believe in the promise . . . to believe in the love and grace . . . and, to set that belief into action in the way that we live our lives.  That much of our story we can control.  That is our choice.

This darkness that invades our joyful celebration of the Christmas story does not have to be the end of our joy or our celebration.  Christmas hymns and songs can continued to be sung despite this darkness that produces a bump in the journey of faith.  True, it is a part of the story . . . a gruesome part . . . but, a part nonetheless.  As such, it presents us with a choice . . . a choice of how we confront the darkness that enters into our lives.  We can acknowledge the darkness, and we can respond with belief.

Belief that Immanuel . . . God with us . . . is where we begin.  With such belief we begin to live life.  God’s ways may not make sense, but God does.  In that we believe and live.  Amen.

The Dark Side of Christmas (Matthew 2:13-23)

     Paul Harvey used to have a popular radio show in which he would tell “the rest of the story.”    This morning I would like to tell you the rest of the story about Christmas . . . the part of the story no one really likes telling or hearing.  It is a story that begins long before that first Christmas . . . it is a story that begins with Jacob and his wives. 

     If you remember Jacob and how he fell in love with Rachel . . . how he agreed to work for seven years for the privilege of having her hand in marriage from her father and was tricked into marrying her older sister, Leah, and then working another seven years to finally marry Rachel.  Rachel was the love of his life, but she had a difficult time conceiving, while on the other hand, all of his other wives had no trouble.  Eventually she gave birth to two sons—Joseph and Benjamin . . . dying during his birth—according to Jewish tradition she was 36 years old at the time of her death.  Of the four wives, she is the only one not buried burial cave of the family . . . instead she was buried on the way to Bethlehem.

     According to the Jewish legend, Rachel was not buried in the cave because Jacob had prophetically foresaw that the Jews would pass by her burial place as they were being exiled to Babylon.  As the legend continues its story, as the captives passed by, Rachel would tearfully plead to God on their behalf: “Will you cause my children to be exiled on this account?”    The prophet Jeremiah, who foretold this terrible saga in the history of the Jewish people . . . who foretold the destruction of the Temple and the eventual exile to Babylon, might have alluded to this legend when he prophesied: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

     In the Old Testament whenever God made a covenant between an individual and God’s self, God would mark the covenant with a name change for the individual.  Thus God fulfilled the promise of a great nation to both Abraham and Jacob through the sons of Jacob.  Remember what name God gave to Jacob?  Israel.  For those of you who enjoy biblical genealogy, Jacob had twelve sons . .. of which two of them were Joseph and Benjamin . . . these sons become the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel . . . they are a homeless people, refugees in a strange land, when God calls them out of exile in Egypt to claim their own land . . . which they eventually do and the land is named Israel.  All this taking place long after the death of Rachel, but the thread is woven through the story . . . generations later, she would weep for her children . . . the children of Israel . . . as they are hauled off to captivity in Babylon.

     Which brings us to that reference once again in the Christmas story.  A part of the Christmas story that we did not hear on Christmas Eve was the part about the Magi . . . or what we commonly call the story of the three wise men or three kings.  These were those foreigners who had stopped by the palace of Herod to inquire about the birth of the new king of the Jews.  Surprised by their inquiry, Herod is a little perplexed because he was the king of the Jews . . . in his mind he is wondering if this was the signal that he reign as the king was soon to be over . . . but, nonetheless, he helped the Magi . . . gave them directions . . . and then, explicitly told them to come back, tell him where this newborn king was, and then he would go and pay homage to the child.  What we all know is that Herod had no plans to pay homage to the newborn king . . . he planned on killing his competition.

     As the story goes, the Magi were informed by heavenly messengers not to go back and tell Herod anything.  Joseph was also told by heavenly messengers that he was to take his little family and hightail it to Egypt . . . Herod was going to kill the child.  And, everyone does as they are told.  The Magi head back to their own homelands, they avoid going back to see Herod . . . Joseph takes his family to Egypt . . . and, well Herod, is a little peeved when he learns that no one did what he told them to do.  Angry he figures the only way to solve the problem is to kill all the male children, two years and younger, in Bethlehem and its vicinity . . . to massacre the children.

     The writer of Matthew’s Gospel then proclaims that the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

     Light casts shadows, and the light of God’s gracious gift of Christmas casts shadows upon the story as we know it.  It is in the shadows that the darkness lurks . . . it is in the darkness that bad things seem to happen . . . and, so it is with the Christmas story.  As we are reveling in the great joy of the Christmas story . . . the birth of a Savior, there are plots being conceived to kill the child . . . families are exiled to foreign lands . . . children are massacred . . . and, even when the threat is gone, fear still clings to the situation making the young family return—not to their homeland of Bethlehem, but instead to another district . . . the district of Galilee where they make their new home in the town of Nazareth.

     The truth about the rest of the story about Christmas is that it has a dark side . . . a dark side that we usually ignore or hurriedly skip over.  That seems to be a part of human nature . . . we do not gather to hear stories of death and suffering . . . no, we gather to hear the good stuff . . . the nice stuff.  But, remember, light casts shadow . . . even the light that breaks forth for all the world to see in the story of Christmas.  Life nor faith is as easy as it is often portrayed . . . it is not all black and white . . . there are always areas of gray as we journey the spectrum of life and faith.  Innocents die . . . people are exiled . . . plots are sprung . . . and, there is lamenting for the children.

     No one wants to throw cold water on the celebration of Christmas, but we would do well to heed the words of the past as they are shared in our reading this morning . . . the past of that first Christmas . . . the past of God’s story in the history of faith.  There is a dark side that must be considered, and maybe, just maybe, this is the gospel writer’s way of forewarning us and future readers that the joy of the Christmas story is shadowed by hard times yet to come.  The cross is still to come . . .

     . . . and there is hope.  There is hope despite the darkness of the story.  With perfect 20/20 vision we know how the story ends . . . we know of the triumph over the cross . . . we know of the fulfilled promises . . . and, we have hope.  Life and faith are adventures in which we never quite know exactly how we will get to the destination, but we know what and where that destination is.  We need to acknowledge that there will be days in which we will walk in the sunshine, and days when the gray clouds block out the light and darkness seems to be our constant companion.  Yet, there is hope . . . hope because we know the promise . . . we know the gift . . . we are not alone.  Immanuel . . . God with us!  God is with us, even as we pause in the darkness of the Christmas story . . . even as we encounter the darkness of life and faith . . . God is with us!  Amen!