To listen to the 9:00 am sermon click here. To listen to the 10:45 am sermon click here.

St. Charles' Episcopal Church - Saint Charles, IL
The Second Sunday after Christmas - Christmas 2 -- Year B
Sunday January 4, 2009
Jeremiah 31:7-14 - Psalm 84:1-8 - Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a - Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
The Reverend William R. Nesbit, Jr.

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

Today for the Gospel we heard a short section of the birth narrative from Matthew. This is the third different version of Christ coming into the world since Christmas. On Christmas we heard the version from the Gospel of Luke. In Luke, an Angel comes to Mary, who lives in Nazareth at the time, the Emperor makes a decree that causes Mary to go to Bethlehem where she has her baby in a stable, announced by a heavenly host to the shepherds who are hanging out in the surrounding hills. Last week we heard the version from John, a very abstract and mystical version with lots of light and dark and echoes of Genesis; "In the beginning was the Word..."

This week we heard just a part of the birth narrative from Matthew. To hear it all you would have to come to the feast of the Holy Innocents (This year celebrated on December 29) and the feast of the Epiphany (January 6) as well. I think this is just another example of the uppity behavior on the part of the people who wrote the Lectionary. (I mean really, do they expect us to spend our whole life in church?)

Anyway, today I want to look at the whole story together. Besides we're already sort of celebrating Epiphany today, why not throw in Holy Innocents too. (A 2 for 1 after Christmas sale). I want to start by putting this all into the context of Matthew.

Matthew has a very different story to tell than the other Gospels, for a very different reason. Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience, trying to convince them that Jesus is the new Moses, the Messiah that they have been waiting for. And so the Gospel of Matthew has a lot of echoes from Exodus. First of all, the angel comes to Joseph, not Mary. We hear nothing about the census and the Emperor, and Mary and Joseph appear to live in Bethlehem, not Nazareth. We have Magi who come from the East to see the Christ child and Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt because Herod seeks to kill the child. The Holy family eventually settles in Nazareth because it is a place far from the family of Herod. As you can see, this is a different story from the serenity of Luke, with Mary treasuring events in her heart. This is a family buffeted by the winds of changing politics howling around them.

The gospel we heard this morning begins with the words, "Now after they had left." The "they" are the Magi. Those of you who like order will no doubt notice that January 6th (Epiphany - the feast of the arrival of the Magi) is the day after tomorrow and so the Magi shouldn't even be there yet. You're right. Take it up with the Lectionary folks, I'm doing the best I can. Don't worry though, I'll get back to the Magi a bit later.

OK, the Magi have just left and an angel comes to Joseph telling him to flee to Egypt. In this mornings Gospel we go straight from the holy family running away into Egypt to Herod dying. In the full story, something happens though, before Herod dies. It is the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and it goes like this.

"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."

This story of terror further intensifies the threat to the Holy Family. It is no wonder that when Joseph returns from Egypt, even though many years have passed, he takes his family far to the north, in fear of even the son of Herod. He is clearly someone who should be feared.

But this story is more. It also looks at the anger and fear within us all. We all have a Herod within. A place that is afraid of what conversion will mean to us, the responsibilities and demands that a new life in Christ will bring, a place that fights against that conversion. And Fights hard! Let's face it, to be a Christian, even in today's world is not easy. Every day, in a million tiny and insignificant ways the Christian way of life is undermined and diminished. They may be tiny, but they add up. Like waves on a rocky shore slowly beating it into sand. And our own internal Herods wait only for a chance to ride down upon the small faith that struggles to grow within us. The struggle to live a faithful life is not a pretty picture. It is a desperate situation. But we do have help. Help that comes from the most unlikely places.

For Mary and Joseph and their infant Son, that help came in the form of Magi, wise men from the East. We really don't know much about the wise men from the Bible. We don't know how many there were, we don't know what their names were, or what they did, or where they came from. Much has been embellished from their brief appearance in the second chapter of Matthew. We assume there were three from the number of gifts that are mentioned. The only thing we know from scripture is that they are Magi, "mages," and that they are wise and that they paid attention to the heavens. But that's about it. Soon we embellished our knowledge.

There grew up a tradition that they were astrologers or astronomers and since wisdom is one of the main attributes of a ruler or King, that too was added to the mix. We know from the Bible that they came from the East and so there grew up a tradition that they were the rulers of the major Eastern Kingdoms, soon gaining even names, Melchior, King of Persia; Gaspar, King of India; and Balthasar, King of Arabia. Further embellishment made them descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah and progenitors of the three races of humankind.

Clearly these Magi were important to the early faith of the church. That all this cloud of embellishment surrounds them is an indication of the fascination with which they were perceived. It is a fascination that continues even today. What is it about the Magi that so captures our hearts and imaginations. Clearly they are a model of the great quest that is so popular in literature throughout history. And they are outsiders as well, with all the mystery and fascination that goes along with that. But, I think there is more.

If the Christ were to come to us today, who would be the modern day Magi? Who are those outsiders that would reveal Christ among us, that would warn us of impending doom? The mystery is that Christ is coming into our lives all the time. And the truth is that God sends the Magi to us every time Christ is born into our lives. People who reveal and protect the fragile new faith of others. The world is really full of Magi after all. You yourself may be a Magi. And so it is important to search the heavens above and your heart within. Search the heavens for that one star shining in the darkness that tells you that a new child of God is born in the world. Search for that child, even in the most unlikely places. Christ dwells within all of us, especially the least, and the unlikely, if we could only see, if we would only look.

And search your heart within for the treasure you would bring as a gift. What is that special gift that you have in your treasure chest? What is that gift that only you can give? We all have a gift after all. It may not be gold, frankincense, or myrrh, but it is just as precious none the less. When you at last find the Christ child, when you can at last see the face of Christ shining in another, kneel in honor to that mystery, and open your treasure chest and offer your gift.

It is a long hard journey to Bethlehem, it always has been, it always will be, but it is worth every step.

Amen.