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Atlantis: the domain of the Stingray
5Jan
2014
Sun
17:20
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Second Sunday after Christmas

Matthew 2:13-23

Second Sunday after Christmas 2014 Wordle
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Christmas season is winding down. Matter of fact, this is the 12th Day of Christmas—the last day of the season. The gifts are no longer under trees. If trees are still adorning our houses, they are likely beginning to drop their needles now more than before. People are putting away their manger scenes. The Christmas albums are beginning to gather dust again. And to close out the season at church, we hear this: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”

Joy to the world, the Lord is come, and Herod goes on a murderous rampage to end the threat to his throne, power, and glory—murder, politics, blood, the slaughter of innocents in the hopes of getting at the One. Soldiers are seen bursting into homes. The sound of swords being taken out of scabbards echoes throughout Bethlehem—young boys scream out in agony; parents wail in grief. The smell of death lingers in the atmosphere. The taste of blood tinges the air. The agony is palpable. Gone is the Silent Night, now Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.

Merry Christmas? Hardly! Christmas means death, for the boys of Bethlehem, and as you recall from Christmas Eve, for the Lord who is come. Christmas means death for many, as Simeon prophesied: “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against...that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” For now, Rachel weeps, but a sword will pierce Mary’s soul, too, as her Son, Jesus Christ, is destined to die. (cf. Luke 2:34-35) Jeremiah wrote of Rachel’s weeping, but that wasn’t the end of the prophecy. Another voice is heard:

Thus says the LORD:
“Refrain your voice from weeping,
And your eyes from tears;
For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD,
And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
There is hope in your future, says the LORD,
That your children shall come back to their own border.” (Jeremiah 31:16-17)

What hope? The scene and aftermath looks hopeless. Jesus, the Hope of all escapes to Egypt. A murderer gets away with a massacre and Life goes south and escapes. Life and death contend in the little town of Bethlehem, and to all senses it appears as if death has won. Where is the merciful God in all of this?

Herod isn’t the only raving mad murderer. Today, the world over, there are about three children aborted every two seconds—life snatched by death before it has a chance to breathe. There are no soldiers or swords. There are are no screams heard from the children. It all smells sterile. And for many of those who opt for such procedures, it feels completely antiseptic and cathartic. Where is the merciful God in all of this?

Herod isn’t the only raving mad murderer. Innocence is murdered as children are victimized by sexual predators. An estimated 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is such a victim. A parent or step-parent, an uncle, a teacher, a priest or pastor—more often than not, such innocents are murdered by someone they know and respect...by someone they are supposed to trust. No soldiers or swords; few, if any, screams; done in secret; no one else knows anything. Where is the merciful God in all of this?

Herod isn’t the only raving mad murderer. Innocence is murdered as children are caught up in the dark world of human trafficking. Whether for sexual slavery, forced labor, or organ harvesting, an estimated 35% of people trafficked are minors—innocents who have their innocence taken from them—in an “industry” that purports to earn an estimated $32 billion per year. There may be soldiers and swords, though there are likely few screams; everything is down on the “down low.” Where is the merciful God in all of this?

Where is the merciful God? Did Jesus abandon us all to save Himself?

It’s not only the slaughter of innocents that prompts these kinds of questions. Confronted with the dying and death of loved ones and even our own mortality, we are wont to ask them. Visiting our sick relatives and friends in the hospital as they are taking their last breaths, confronted by the casket of a parent or grandparent at the funeral home, or receiving the phone call with the diagnosis of cancer... Where is the merciful God in all of this?

No, do not believe that when life is surrounded by death—that when it appears to all senses that death has won over life—that the mercy of God has abandoned you or that Jesus, the Word of Life, deserts you. That is not at all the point of today’s Gospel. Life does not fear death and run from the battle. You are not abandoned in order to battle death on your own, only to be left with despair and heartache and grief. Jesus Christ, the Lord of Life, the Life of all the living, the One who is your Life and Hope does not flee. If only for a moment, Jesus retreats to Egypt, but only so that death puts down its guard.

Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

Death swallows up death, and Life returns. When death had been caught up in its false sense of victory, it is defeated by death, and Life claims the victory.

Some years later, another voice is heard. This one is in the wilderness. “Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.” (Matthew 3:3) “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) John is that voice, pointing to Jesus as the Sacrificial Lamb who is to be the recompense sought by weeping Rachel. Jesus is the the One through whom her children will come back from the land of the enemy. Jesus is the One who is the Hope for the future. These innocents are wrapped up in Jesus, in His flesh and blood, in His death and resurrection.

He is the merciful God who is ever present. He is present for those aborted, for those abused, for those trafficked. He is present for the sick and dying among us. He is present in the phone call diagnosis of cancer. Jesus is ever present in our life and death, even as He has taken it all into His flesh and blood and died with it on the cross.

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” He is become one of us in order to redeem and save all of us. Jesus is come to endure the sufferings and trials of this sinful life, in order to assume them into His flesh, make them His, and complete, fulfill, and finish them on behalf of sinful man. Therefore, “[D]o not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” (1 Peter 4:12-13)

That’s what this Gospel is all about. It is a looking forward to what Jesus’ life is all about. It shows you how He will be your Jesus, your Savior. It is an unwrapping of the gift that is the mystery of the combat and struggle between death and Life. The death of the innocents in Bethlehem contains Good Friday and Easter. It shows you what it means to be born into, wrapped up in, united with, immersed in, and live and die in our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, wherever there is life, there is also death. Wherever Jesus is, there are Herods seeking to destroy and kill him. Wherever the Life of all the living—your Life and your Light—shines through the darkness you find yourself in, there is always something or someone that seeks to extinguish that Light and Life.

Where is the merciful God? Your merciful God is Jesus. He is there on the cross, and in His death on the cross is where He is most merciful for you. He is burst forth from the tomb as your victory over illness and victimization—of being a victim and the one who victimizes. He is risen from the grave as your victory over death. He is ascended to the right hand of God as your Intercessor, pleading for you and ordering all things for your good in Him. He is here, in this very place, your refuge from a world full of Herods and of being a Herod. And He bids you to put your hands into His hands and side, as He did for Thomas—to reach in and take of the peace that passes all understanding. Into those holy wounds—the places that mark His death and resurrection—you are placed as the Baptized. Forth from them flow your life as your Lord bound Himself to your death. From them flow the announcement of mercy and peace, grace and hope for you and for the world.

Death surrounds Life. This is what it means to be the Baptized. In the midst of Life you are in death. And that is why your God took on flesh and blood, to assume your death into His own and give you the victory. Jesus shed His blood for you; He was wounded for your transgressions. You have been placed into His body—the Church—and you have refuge from a stark, raving mad world in His holy wounds. In them you have Life, the forgiveness of all of your sins.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Download media: 20140105.christmas2.mp3 (5.87 MiB)
audio recorded on my digital recorder
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