The 2nd Sunday after Christmas - January 2, 2011

The Church Season of Christmas
2nd Sunday after Christmas

Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (January 2, 2011)

"The Great Escape"

Readings:   
    Genesis 46:1-7
    1 Peter 4:12-19       
    Matthew 2:13-23

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 2nd chapter of Matthew, verses 13-23

Matthew 2:13-23 (ESV)

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” 19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

On Christmas we celebrated the newborn Christ child.  The only begotten Son of God whom we know is born to a world in a state of being vulnerable and at the same time almighty.  Today we hear that Jesus and His family seem to be controlled by the circumstances set in place by Herod who would have Jesus murdered with all the other babies. 

     One thing that comes through loud and clear in this passage is that Jesus was vulnerable, He was at risk of being hurt or killed.  When King Herod found out from the Wise Men that another King had been born, Herod was fearful for his throne.  He tried to use the Wise Men to find Jesus so that he could have Him killed.  But when that plan failed, Herod flew into a terrible rage.  Because Jesus was at least a year old at this time, and so Herod ordered that all male children in Bethlehem two years of age and under be slaughtered.  As this was about to happen, Joseph was warned by an angel to escape at night and flee to Egypt.  Imagine that the Son of God having to escape under the cover of darkness, being rescued from a murderous monarch who would allow babies to be slaughtered.  Joseph did as the angel said, and they took up residence to the south in Egypt until the death of Herod not long afterwards.  And as we heard in the gospel lesson, all of this occurred in fulfillment of prophecy, according to God's plan.  What at first appeared to be an unwanted vacation in Egypt turned out to be a fulfillment of the prophecy of Hosea "Out of Egypt I called my Son."  (Hosea 11:1) 

Yet Jesus is in control of everything.  Everything that has happened, His birth, the rushed escape and journey to Egypt all happened according to God’s plan for His beloved son.  A plan that continues to the end of Jesus’ earthly life, and to the time of His crucifixion.  On the one hand we know that the cross was a part of God's plan from the beginning.  It was His almighty will that Calvary take place.  And yet, when it actually happened, God the Son was utterly helpless.  No escape occurred on the Cross, and no travel to Egypt was ever planned to avoid the horrible taunting, the nails, and the spear, and His death completely despised and rejected.  Nevertheless, through that almighty vulnerability, God paid the full price for our sins and brought eternal life to all who dare to worship and place their confidence in Him.

We too often feel like our lives are full of vulnerable moments.  Much of what happens to us seems to be beyond our control and often quite random.  We have all lost loved ones, we’ve had challenges with someone in our family, or have struggled with tough situations in our daily lives.  There often doesn't seem to be much order or purpose to the way things happen in our lives, we struggle, we worry, we fret, we cry, we wring our hands, and our minds from attacks on all sides.  But where is our escape plan, how will we get away?

Well we do have an escape of a sort, not made by our hands or our doing, but rather relief because we have been joined to Christ by water and the Word and made to be members of His body through faith in Him.  We should certainly expect to be experiencing Christ’s almightiness and His vulnerability in our own lives as well, both individually and as a part of this community.  And that certainly is the case.  On the one hand when you look at the church at large today, it seems to be in a state of disarray, vulnerable to all sorts of problems, looking less and less like God's set-apart people and more and more like the world around it.  God's holy Law and Gospel often seem to be ignored.  

And yet into the midst of this messy and complex world comes God's Word comes to us.  St. Paul writes, "In everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purposeI."(Rom 8)  Wherever the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, wherever the Gospel of Christ is rightly proclaimed and His sacraments are rightly administered, there God has His people, His church, and the gates of hell shall never prevail against it.

And individually, we trust that despite any appearances to the contrary, God is truly working for good in our lives.  For we know that we were "called according to His purpose" in Holy Baptism.  We’re made to be His sons and daughters through water and the Word, all our sin being washed away.  We therefore believe that, in the midst of our human frailty, God is indeed working out His almighty will for our benefit, he is giving the gift of our escape from sin and hell.

At this time of year when an old year has ended and a new year was ushered in we often look back on our lives.  I'm sure many of us will recall when a time of trouble or suffering strengthened our faith in God.  A seeming setback turned out to be an opportunity for better or happier employment.  A chance meeting brought you to your husband or wife.  In fact it was not chance at all, rather God's gracious working in your lives.

Sometimes the events that happen around us don’t always go the way we want, and maybe we would like to be like Joseph, Mary and that tiny Christ child and flee to another place, another country, or even another time.  Maybe we want to flee from our sins or we don’t want to acknowledge we have any sin.  So we hide our sins to ourselves, and when we realize what we have done it’s only time to run away before anyone finds out what we have done or left undone.  But, in those times when we can't make sense of things, when there seems to be no valid purpose or meaning to what's going on in our lives (and that happens to us all at one time or another), know that Christ has made you His own. 

There is nothing in all of creation that can separate you from Him and His love.  In fact, the Lord comes so near to you with His love that He actually gives Himself into you in the Sacrament of the Altar.  He imparts to you His very own life with His body and blood.  If the almighty Lord would go so far as to take on your vulnerable human flesh, to die in the flesh and shed His blood, and then give you His resurrected flesh and blood for the forgiveness of your sins, then certainly you can trust Him even in those times when there seems to be no reasonable answers to all your questions.

When those times occur. When our plans go crazy.  When there seems to be no reasonable answers to your questions, then that is a time when you can trust God.  Our plans say the year 2010 has ended and the new year 2011 has begun. But, God said through the prophet Jeremiah, “I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11)   God’s plans were for the One little baby laying in that manger.  God’s plan was for One little Christ child whose earthly family fled to Egypt.  God’s plan was for Christ to return to Jerusalem so that He could take our sins with Him to the cross.  God’s plans give you the escape from you earthly bonds and give for you a place to dwell with Him in everlasting peace.   And that is not just a great escape, it is His love for you fulfilled by Christ, just for you.

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

+SDG+