Accomplices
Matthew 2:13-23
The Escape to Egypt
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, 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.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
The Massacre of the Infants
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”
The Return from Egypt
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”
Our gospel today makes for some very dark reading. A reading that, often, I’ll avoid at this time of year. This is Christmas. And, in the midst of the Christmas season, who wants to hear about or reflect on The Massacre of the Innocents? Wouldn’t we all much rather have a nice carol sing and reflect on some of the cheerier Christmas gospels?
And, to be honest, as a parish minister, for years, by the time this Sunday came around, after all the extra Christmas services, I was too exhausted to do justice to such a text, so I simply avoided it and kept the focus on stars and wise ‘men’, and anything else that avoided the brutality and the darkness that is also inherent in the Christmas season - whether we choose to overlook it or not.
This year, it rings too close to home to ignore.
And, because it echoes so closely much of what is going on in our contemporary world, there has also been a lot of splitting hairs over this text recently, with people arguing over whether the Holy Family were refugees as they fled Egypt or whether the massacre of the innocents really did happen.
The refugee status question arises as people argue over whether Mary and Joseph could be considered Refugees when, actually, their heritage was in Bethlehem, that’s why they travelled - and the occupying Roman forces kept open borders allowing folk to move from one territory to another.
Both situations which apparently would disqualify them from refugee status,
However, a young couple with a new baby who were too frightened to go home?
Surely they are Refugees by any reckoning.
And the doubts raised over the reality of the massacre arises because it was not historically recorded although the decree itself is recorded. But, today we know only too well how news of genocide, infanticide and all manner of atrocities can be suppressed - or, shockingly, not even considered news worthy in the midst of so much other chaos and carnage.
And, even if he didn’t follow through, Herod’s threat would be enough to strike terror into all those in his jurisdiction. The Holy Family’s fear was all too real.
And they were forced to flee and wait it out until it was deemed safe to return.
Reliant on the kindness of strangers.
Keeping a low profile.
A predicament that mirrors all too well the darkness in which people are forced to live today.
Being moved from pillar to post.
Relying on others for everything.
Constantly living in fear.
It was to a world just like today’s world that God chose to be born in love.
And the pace of the last week in church where we move from singing about angels and shepherds and peace and joy to the devastating slaughter and fear of today’s gospel speaks of the unpredictability of that cruel regime into which Christ was born.
The story moves quickly from the joyful scenes around the manger to the terrified cries of mothers mourning their children.
No wonder we’d rather linger with the baby in the manger.
But it’s precisely because God sent love into the world, that we cannot stay by the manger.
That love has been entrusted to us to spread throughout the world.
Our world is full of leaders who will do everything they can to hang on to power.
We see it day in day out, both here and abroad - leaders prepared to cheat, to lie, to ridicule others - all so that they can remain in power.
Leaders prepared to reward the rich who will further their cause while keeping the poor so impoverished that they have nothing left to fight with.
Leaders who will, without a second thought, quash any who threaten their power.
We see those who flee their homes, not because they want to but because their lives are in danger - we see those people ignored, threatened and treated appallingly. Many don’t survive the journeys they are forced to undertake and those who do are treated cruelly wherever they try to settle.
Still today, children are being killed by the decrees of those in authority.
The church is called to be counter cultural in all of this.
Called to resist the notion that there is a scarcity of resources to sustain one another.
Called to resist the fear that, by sharing, we will lose out.
Called to resist governments and oppressive regimes wherever they exert unjust power.
Called to ensure that love, love that takes risks, love that is messy, love that is hard, is born wherever we serve.
Love was born to break through the harshness of our world.
And we are called to keep on breaking through, to make a difference for every child of God.
A reflection:
We think of the Angels singing:"Peace on earth"
We imagine the shepherds hurrying to Bethlehem
We romanticise the notion of the stable
complete with a little donkey
and other assorted animals keeping the baby warm.
In our mind's eye is a blissful mother
and a bursting with pride father.
We conveniently overlook the fear
and the poverty
the political unrest
the brutality of occupying forces
and the desperation of folk in that time.
And we try to do the same today.
To make Christmas idyllic
a time of indulgence and goodwill.
A season to deny reality -
be it the harsh reality of today
or of that first Christmas world.
And even when we are confronted daily
by inescapable inhumanity:
The murder of children
The abuse of power
The sleaze of politics
The race to consume
Still we hope and pray for a different world.
But the Advent of hope, love, peace and joy
of which we speak and sing and for which we pray
demands that we get real
that we open our eyes
that we are affected
and that we move to change a world
where weapons are more valued than health care
and where oil revenue is so tightly held
that none can be spared to provide clean water for all.
Where food mountains and arms dumps grow
while people starve and are moved from their lands.
Those who sought the child's life
are still to the fore
and we have become accomplices.
We are called to be accomplices today.
Accomplices, not of those who hold on to and abuse power.
But accomplices of God who breaks into our world with love.
May it be so.
