The Church of St.
Paul and Incarnation
January 5, 2020
Year A: The Second
Sunday after Christmas
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Psalm 84
Ephesians 1:3-6,
15-19a
Matthew 2:1-12
After Christmas: A New Chapter
Happy
New Year!
So,
as you may have noticed, the world pretty much moved on from Christmas about a
week and a half ago, but here in church it is still Christmas, though just barely.
Tomorrow we will celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany but just in case you
can’t make it to church on Monday at noon, today we heard the story of the wise
men from the East, most likely from Persia, which is modern-day Iran.
The wise men boldly followed the star all the way to the newborn King in Bethlehem,
where they presented their symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Those items may not have been such great gifts for a baby, but they appropriate
for a king – for a God - who will die for his people.
The
story of the Magi is beautiful and mysterious and powerful – representing that
Jesus is a gift for the whole world.
But,
already there are shadows looming over this story – one shadow in particular
named Herod, the local king who is none too pleased to learn of this royal
birth and who will soon hatch a bloody plot, trying (and, thanks in part to the
Wise Men, failing) to eliminate this newborn rival.
As
you know, Joseph and Mary and Jesus fled to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath,
staying there until the coast was clear and they were able to return to their
hometown of Nazareth and get on with their lives.
It
was the start of another chapter of their lives.
In
the time just before and just after Jesus’ birth there had been so much
excitement and wonder and struggle and fear: angelic appearances, miraculous
pregnancies, giving birth in a most inhospitable place, shepherds, wise men,
threats of murder, fleeing as refugees – so much - but now that was over.
Now
Joseph and Mary and the young Jesus settled into the next years of their lives
– a time that we know almost nothing about. All we have is just the one story
that Luke tells us of the boy Jesus staying behind in the Jerusalem Temple,
scaring the wits out of Mary and Joseph when they realize that he’s missing.
Aside
from that one incident, the gospels are silent about Jesus’ youth, adolescence,
and young adulthood - silent until the adult Jesus presents himself to John to
be baptized in the River Jordan - a story we will hear next week.
Of
course, this large gap in the story of Jesus hasn’t stopped people from trying
to imagine what those years were like – and I think there are few things we can
say with confidence.
It
was surely a time of hard work - hard
work for Joseph the craftsman and hard work for Mary as she took care of their
home – hard work for both of them as they raised Jesus – and hard work for
Jesus himself who would have been expected to contribute to the household as
soon as he was old enough.
It
was surely a time marked by the rhythms of the Jewish year, with Sabbath every
week and occasional trips up to Jerusalem and its Temple for the great feasts, exciting
times when this little family from a small town in Galilee would be in the big
city, surrounded by Jews and other people from all around the Mediterranean
world.
It
was surely a time when the current events of the world, the clash of empires,
and the desire by some Jews to kick out the Romans from their land, would have
been going on in the background but usually didn’t have too much effect on the
daily struggle to be fed and sheltered and clothed.
Yes,
life was surely hard for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.
But they would
have always had their memories of angels and shepherds and wise men bearing
gifts.
And, I suspect
Mary and Joseph would have seen signs of God at work in their lives and in the
life of the growing-up Jesus – signs like how good it feels to hold hands or to
watch the sun rise and set each day or to offer a simple act of kindness to
someone in need – signs like a boy slowly learning about the world around him,
learning about his people and his God, learning how to build a good sturdy
table, and eventually learning that he was indeed God’s holy child – and
realizing that some day he will need to leave home and begin his work.
And so today, we
find ourselves at the start of another chapter.
It’s still
Christmas, but just barely. The wise men are offering their gifts and will soon
depart, heading back to Persia by a different route to avoid Herod.
When you return
here next week to celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, most, if not all, signs of
the holiday will be gone.
And, despite our
New Year’s Eve hopes for peace and health, unfortunately, the world is a little
more dangerous and a little more frightening than it was just a week ago.
As you’ve no doubt
seen, large parts of Australia are on fire and our never-ending war in the
Middle East seems to be about to heat up once again – just two of the troubles
churning away in the background of our lives.
Here at home, we
have our own challenges – with worries about health and money, fears about
violence, sadness about broken relationships, and regret about wrong decisions.
Life is hard with
long hours of work and not enough pay – or, even worse, no work at all.
But… we have our Christmas
memories of little children dressed as lambs baa-ing their love of Jesus –
memories of the church so beautifully decorated, of music still ringing in our
ears, of gifts given to children in need – we have our Christmas memories of
light shining into darkness and the darkness never, ever able to overcome it.
And, now, as we start
another chapter, if we look, we’ll see signs of God at work in our lives –
signs like how good it feels to hold hands or to watch the sun rise and set
each day, or to offer a simple act of kindness to someone in need – signs like children
and grandchildren learning about the world around them, learning about God,
learning to love one another as God has loved us – signs like people bravely
standing up for our planet, and calling for peace on the streets of Jersey City
and peace around the world.
And, in this new
chapter, as always, we need to be like Joseph and Mary, who held on to each
other and who, most of all, held Jesus so very close.
We need to stick
together and we need to hang on to Jesus – or, actually, let Jesus hang on to
us – Jesus, the light of the world, the light shining into the darkness and, no
matter what, the darkness cannot and will not overcome it.
Amen.
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