Out of Egypt: Sermon Matthew 2:13-24

Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

Well the Holidays are winding down. Most of the presents have been opened, the food has been eaten, and the decorations are coming down. Soon the schools will once again be filled with children and we’ll all have to go back to work if we haven’t already. It seems as soon as Christmas gets here it is gone in a flash. But Christmas does give us an exhale from the rat race of life, however brief it might be. For that one day, most of the stores and restaurants are closed and Pulaski is like a ghost town. Everyone is at home or with friends and family celebrating the birth of the Christ child. Perhaps this day is a glimpse into the peace we will experience when Christ comes again, even if it is just for a moment. There are many things we love about Christmas, but most of all we love the stories. We love Twas the Night Before Christmas, but most of all we love the story of the birth of Christ.

Our reading for this morning is part of the Christmas story. However, you won’t see it on a Christmas card, or in a Christmas pageant, or in a movie, or in a carol, but here it is none the less. On the heels of the beautiful Christmas story, right after the birth of our Savior we have this horrid story of the slaughter of children, by a ruthless and jealous ruler. We have many reactions to the birth of Jesus. There are the angels who proclaim that there is good will and peace toward men and glory to God in the highest. There are the shepherds who leave their flocks to seek the child that whose birth had been told to them. There are the Magi, the three wise men who come from distant lands to worship the new born king. Then there is Herod who reacts to the news of a newborn King of the Jews, with the massacre of innocents. Herod is trying to snuff out this new king, this new threat before it can grow in strength and power. In order to receive the full Christmas story we cannot overlook this event.

We can however, ask questions. Why does Matthew ruin a beautiful scene with a story of murder and rage? Why does Matthew record this event? It is not in the other gospels, so why Matthew? Although we do not know for certain because Matthew is not here to explain himself, we can take a guess. There are several reasons why Matthew includes this story in his nativity narrative and each reason can give us insight into our own Christian lives these many years later.

First, Matthew is trying to prove to a Jewish audience that Jesus is the Messiah that they have been looking for. Matthew wants to show the people that he knew would be reading this gospel that Jesus is who he says he is even from the very beginning. Matthew wants to place Jesus as the second Moses. We remember the story of Moses who had to escape death, from a ruthless ruler, as an infant. Moses the deliverer of the Israelites came out of Egypt and so the deliverer of the world also would come out of the land of Egypt. Matthew tells this part of Jesus’ life to illustrate the point that Jesus is nothing new and opposed to the Hebrew Scriptures, but in Jesus the words of God thought the prophets are fulfilled. Matthew is connecting the Old Testament with the New Testament, the new story with the old story. Matthew shows us that there is no new or old, but it is the same story throughout the course of human history. The Word of God is united through the embodiment of the word which is Christ. We must see the Bible as a tapestry of God’s whole interaction with humanity, as a story woven together which demonstrates God’s love for humanity. That love which was made flesh in Christ.

This story also serves to remind us that despite the Christmas cards and movies we see this time of year the world is not perfect. Despite our attempts to escape it, we must realize that we live in a broken world. Even at the birth of the Prince of Peace 2000 years ago the world was not peaceful. Even then there was treachery and evil afoot. Even now as we gathered with friends and family to a hearty meal and presents under the tree, the world is not peaceful. Even as we sing the songs of peace on earth and goodwill toward humanity the world is not peaceful. Despite what the Christmas songs may say not everyone has a Holly Jolly Christmas. We must be aware that there are those who did not have a Christmas dinner. There are children who did not have gifts to open Christmas morning. There are those who didn’t have crackling fires to warm themselves beside. Even as the most beautiful moment was happening, the birth of our Savior, there was tragedy and horror occurring just down the street. Even as we gathered a few days ago to commemorate that beautiful moment, there were and still are horrid things happening just down the street and around the world.

This story tells us that people do not always react well to the Good News of Christ. Some will ignore it, some will reject it, and still others will react with violence and hatred. Spreading the gospel means speaking truth to power. The fulfillment of the gospel means that the rich and powerful will fall and the poor and meek will inherit the earth. Herod heard the good news that the King of kings and the Lord of lords had been born and his reaction was to attempt to exterminate the problem before it could grow despite what other damage might be done. Herod did not care about the thousand of innocents that were slaughtered; he only cared about upholding the status quo.

There are those here today that do not want the status quo changed. They want to hold on to their money and power and they will not go without a fight. Sometimes that means persecution and sometimes that means death. We do not see it much in our own country, but in many other places it is an all too common occurrence. This threat cannot prevent us from spreading the gospel. This cannot prevent us from speaking truth to power despite what consequences it might bring.

Fred Craddock, the preacher, tells the story about going back to his hometown in rural north Georgia where he would often go for breakfast in the café run by one of the members of his church. It was a restaurant in what’s called a “shotgun house” – a long slender house with a door at each end. In this case one door opened onto the front street. The other door, the back door, opened onto the alley.
One day when Craddock arrived the owner, a man named George, who was a member of Craddock’s church, said, “Let’s go for a cup of coffee.” Craddock was surprised. “You don’t have coffee?” But George insisted. They went to a nearby fast food restaurant and sat down with their drinks.

“You know the curtain?” George asked.
“Yes,” said Craddock. The curtain George referred to was stretched out across the middle of his café, between the two doors of the shotgun house. It was there to segregate. White folks entered the restaurant by the front door from the main street. Black folks entered from the alley. The curtain separated them.
“The curtain’s got to come down,” said. George.
“Then take it down,” said Craddock.
“But if I take it down there’s a lot of folks who won’t like it,” said George.

“Then leave it up,” said Craddock.
“If I take it down I may lose my business,” said George. “But if I leave it up I lose my soul.”

We must stand up for what is right no matter what the cost might be even if we are labeled as loons and nut-jobs, even if we are persecuted by our friends and family; even if we loss our businesses or jobs, even if we are thrown in jail unjustly. We must stand with the gospel. We must stand with what the Christ child represents, peace, justice, and equality to all of God’s people.

Sometimes we want to ignore this part of Matthew’s gospel. To be honest I really did not want to preach on the subject. We want to forget about the brokenness of the world and sit in the safety of isolation that is until our security blanket is ripped from us and the chaos of the outside world comes in to stark reality. We want the Christmas story with no baggage, just a nice little story that we hear once a year. But Matthew won’t let us do that. Matthew pulls us out of our daydreams and into the coldness of the world.

Now so far this has been kind of depressing. We shouldn’t be depressed until mid-January when the credit card bills arrive. So what good news can we find in this story? Is there any good news in this story? Yes. The good news in this is that hope did not die. Hope could not be killed. As the Christ child survived so did our hope for salvation. Hope could not be killed in the manger of Bethlehem and it could not be killed on the cross of Calvary. It is this hope that allows us to carry on in the midst of a broken world. It is this hope that supports us when we are weak, even in the valley of the shadow of death. Our hope in God will endure until that hope becomes reality, until our Advent becomes the present. When true peace will cover the earth and the fullness of God love will be known to us. This is the hope of the Christmas story, this is the hope of the Gospel.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.