I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with some time to enjoy this special time with your families. And, I hope you didn’t encounter too many problems as you spent more time with each other than you usually do; that can sometimes lead to unpleasant moments. I don’t know about you but I don’t know a family that hasn’t had its struggles. Sometimes the struggles are very evident for all to see; other times, they’re hidden from public view but still very real. My parents divorced after quietly struggling through 29 years of a very difficult marriage. And, my sister was killed in a car accident at the young age of 27 – the result of a drunk driving accident. I’m sure all of you can tell of similar struggles in your families. It’s all part of the fallen human condition we find ourselves in and it won’t change until our Lord returns in glory. It’s the result of our sinfulness; we don’t like to admit it but that’s the truth. The good news, however, is – that’s exactly why God came into our midst; to accompany us in our struggles and to help us overcome our sinfulness as we journey back to being one with him. And, today’s Gospel story helps us to understand how it is that God accompanies us. It comes just after we have celebrated the lovely feast of Christmas and it seems to be rather anti-climactic. We like Christmastime to be warm and soft, a story that would look good on Instagram. Cute baby Jesus flanked by Mary and Joseph and donkeys and cattle and sheep. The Magi bringing gifts after following a star. The angels singing in the heavens and the shepherds rejoicing in the fields. It’s a story made for social media.
But we know that that’s not the end of the story; it’s only a snapshot. Before we even get out of December we run into the dark side of the Christmas story. Before Jesus’ birth the angel of the Lord told Mary and Joseph that Jesus came to save us from our sins. And sin is ugly. It’s evil. It’s a rebellion against God and sets us on a collision course with death. The warm and fuzzy Christmas baby came to save us from every form of evil, even death. That’s a heavy calling and a huge burden. And Jesus, Mary and Joseph discover just how hard that is as we hear in this morning’s Bible passage.
We’re all familiar with our gospel account; it picks up as the magi depart. They had been searching for the new king of the Jews. While following the star that marked the presence of the new king, the Magi stopped to ask Herod, king of Judea, for directions. And, we know how Herod reacted; he plotted to kill Jesus, afraid that he would threaten his earthly kingship. He had attained it through bribery and back room wrangling and he wanted to remain in control and wasn’t going to take any chances.
We know that after the Magi found baby Jesus and worshipped him, they returned home by another route for they had been warned in a dream of Herod’s intent. An angel also appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to take Jesus and Mary and escape to Egypt and to stay there until further notice because Herod planned to kill the Christ child. Joseph, true to his character, obeyed. He bundled up Jesus and Mary and they escaped to Egypt.
In the meantime, King Herod ordered his soldiers to kill all baby boys in Bethlehem two years old and younger, to eliminate the chance of a king rising up to challenge his rule. After Herod’s death, Joseph brings his family back to Judea, but out of fear of Herod’s son, Archelaus, they settle back in their little hometown of Nazareth; the name itself means “hidden” and that’s what they wanted to do.
We all like the Christmas story because, as we reflect on the coming of the infant Jesus, we can momentarily be distracted from the reality that being a human is a huge burden. To be human is to experience all kinds of pain and struggle. The son of God came both to experience that pain and ultimately to deliver humanity from that pain. Jesus was barely able to be taken from the manger before his family was on the run to Egypt. And, as we all know, he experienced hardship all his life, including a horrible death.
Incarnation, God in the human flesh, means God did not just take on human characteristics; God took on the human condition. Aches and pains. Poverty and powerlessness. The suffering caused by human injustice. Jesus didn’t just look like us; he lived like us. Life is often hard even to the greatest of saints – sometimes especially to the greatest of saints – even to the perfect Son of God. That is why there is a cross, not a crown, at the center of our faith.
Incarnation, God in human flesh, tells us that God can work in the toughest circumstances and the strangest places. Jesus didn’t have to come in the form of a tiny baby. Jesus didn’t have to be born to a poor family. If you were to rank the least powerful people on earth, you might rank them in this order: newborn baby, refugee, person living in poverty. God, the all-powerful creator of the universe, chose to come among us with all three of these characteristics. He chose to take on the human condition in its toughest state to show us that “God with us” means “God with us in every circumstance.”
Isn’t that why Jesus came? To remind us to look for God’s love, wisdom, mercy and goodness in every circumstance. To remind us that God is at work in the toughest circumstances and the strangest places. In fact, God is often most evident to us in our most trying moments, if only we are open to him.
Incarnation, God in human flesh, tells us that God’s ways can be trusted because God’s love has been tested. Let me repeat that: God’s ways can be trusted because God’s love has been tested. It’s a shallow love that has never been tested. True love gives us the strength to suffer for the ones we love. And we trust the love of those who suffer on our behalf. Jesus didn’t just take on human characteristics; he took on the human condition. He did it to show us that God can work in the toughest circumstances and the strangest places. And through Jesus, God showed us that God’s ways can be trusted because God’s love has been tested.
When you find yourself in a place of confusion or loss or suffering remember that God is working right there. The ending to the story of the first Christmas is neither warm nor soft. Jesus took on weakness and frailty and poverty and persecution and living as a refugee. He took on prison and excruciating suffering. He gave up his power and let the power structures of the world oppress and constrain his life to prove that the message and power of God cannot be constrained and that no earthly kingdom – which is transitory – can match God’ eternal kingdom – which lasts forever. And, Jesus came to show us how to trust God in the present, no matter how it hurts, and to trust God for a future when God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death, or crying or pain, but only endless joy in his eternal presence.
As we leave the warm and soft Christmas season and enter into a new year, I pray we will remember that the greatest gift of all came into a world of hardship and injustice. What does that mean? It means that Immanuel, “God with us,” reminds us that God will be with us in every circumstance no matter how difficult that circumstance may be. And, he will lead us to joy that lasts forever. That’s the good news, the Gospel of the Lord.