January 7, 2009 Sermon
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Christmas 2 - 2009
January 4, 2009 Allan Conkling
With the Epiphany pageant Wednesday night and only a couple of bowl games left, the holidays are just about over for another year. For shepherds and wise men it was a time to get off bended knee, out of the manger and back home. For us it is back to school and work.
My hope is that we are leaving, not just with a new tie or perfume, but with a sure and certain knowledge that whatever the world throws at us this New Year, things will be alright. The declaration by God through Jeremiah is a message of Good News for us:
God will bring us and gather us as lost sheep
God will lead us to verdant pastures.
God will turn mourning into joy, and
Give us comfort in troubled times
These are gifts to cherish for a lifetime.
Of course not everyone feels that way. Not everyone was happy to see Jesus come into the world. Today's Gospel is about the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt to escape the villainous King Herod. This sad incident is remembered on the Feast day of December 28, and called the Massacre of the Holy Innocents. Scholars doubt that it happened historically as Matthew describes it, but the point of the story is that darkness is forever locked in a battle with the light. Sin and brokenness seem forever waging war on the spirit of light and life. Herod did not want a new king. He wanted to be king himself.
If we are honest we would have to admit that Herod is not so different from us. Matthew knows that. This passage shows that the ways of God will at times interfere with the ways of the world, with political power, with vested interests, and with personal ambition:
"Whenever Jesus is born in Bethlehem, Herod wakes up in Jerusalem."
But it doesn’t have to be that way. There is another side.
For on the other hand, if we allow ourselves to truly embrace the message of Christmas and allow it to enter our hearts, it can change us from inside out. The season just past can become for us a moment of new birth, new life. The message and the mystery of the Incarnation is that God has given value to all of humanity. We are all redeemed and restored to unity with our Creator. Unlike so many other "deities" or mythological heroes that have come and gone throughout history, this God knows and shares fully in our love, joy, pain, grief, life and death. All these things Jesus did. This was God's gift to all humankind.
To those who would say that Christianity is boring and out of touch with reality our Christian faith tells us something completely different: that this is reality. In stark contrast to the worlds which we create this world is real. It beckons us and challenges us. It knocks at the door of our heart. It invites us to partake of things that are timeless and eternal; and to share and serve others around us in Christ’s name.
Three truths are revealed for us this morning:
Our life has meaning
God wanted and wants our love
God's Glory is in this world.
Lovingly, persistently and gracefully God shows us a way to better living. This is a journey of a thousand miles, which begins with our first steps to the altar.
Copyright © 2003 Emmanuel Episcopal Church. All rights reserved.
Revised: 01/11/09