In today’s Gospel reading, we are taken on a twelve-year journey in the life of Jesus in a just a few lines. Joseph and his family have been forced to leave Bethlehem to leave Judea in order escape the wrath of King Herod. This has lead to a lot of speculation over what took place during those “lost years”.
Are we going to talk about all those “stories”? No. Why? For one they do not add to the message of the Good News, and another there is little truth Biblically to be found in these lost gospels. They would make a good Bible Study though, and maybe a series some day.
So why include it? We know from Isaiah that it was prophesied. For another it gives us a historical reference in the Slaughter of the Innocents in Bethlehem by King Herod. In fact, that is what this Sunday is officially known as. It is something isn’t? We go from the beautiful image of Jesus being born to within a week to an image of babies being slaughtered because of the fear of a king.
As we know Jesus and his family made their way to live in a Jewish community in the land of Egypt. We can guess with Joseph’s skills he took up the carpentry and settled into the community without raising any suspicion.
We can assume that Mary set up home with her new born son and remained pretty much anonymous. I do not expect Jesus acted like anything, but the small child he was. I would reckon that to be, at least it is what I would do if I did not want to attract the attention someone.
Now what are we supposed to take away from this story? Some people, especially those working for the rights of illegal immigrants, point to this as an example of a savior in their midst.
The problem with this idea is Egypt at this time in history was no different than Judea in its status in the world. Egypt was a province of the Roman Empire. The last pharaoh of Egypt had been dead for nearly 30 years, with the suicide of Queen Cleopatra the IX.
In other words, for Joseph’s family their travel from Judea to Egypt was more like going from Texas to Tennessee rather than going from the United States to Mexico, for example. True there were different local customs and different forms of language, however they were still under the same government and governed by the same law, Roman law.
So why do people compare “The Flight to Egypt” with the plight of refugees from other countries? I guess it would have to be the strangers in a strange land scenario. We don’t know what the local Egyptians felt. We can assume the Jewish community in Egypt was fairly old, probably dating back to the time of the Babylonian Exile around 640 B.C.
We can assume they went there knowing no one at all. We know that God told Joseph to go to Egypt. We know that Joseph was righteous and that his faith in God was very strong. And in that knowledge we can deduce that Joseph figured God would not lead him into harm’s way and that everything would be all right.
Or we can also assume that maybe Joseph had relatives living in Egypt. This is quite possible, that there were members of the tribes of Judah and Levi living in Egypt. Probably even members of the House of David as well. So Joseph knew he could probably find some of them there and settle in amongst them as well.
Even today people make these same assertions when they move from one area to another. Often times people who are forced to leave their homelands and settle in with people of the same backgrounds so to have that familiarity of custom and knowledge.
In the 1840’s the Irish who came to America settled in Boston and New York City, in and around those who shared their heritage. The Scotch-Irish settled in the mountains of Appalachia in terrain very similar to what they left behind along the border country of England and Scotland.
Even amongst our newest influx of immigrants they too settle into communities and family units of the same nationality, not necessarily out of fear from the native population, but out of familiarity and need of reminder of things from back home. When Luann first moved to Iowa from Mississippi, she too felt the desire to hold onto that connection she had with the south. She hung pictures of magnolias in our home and placed around the home different items she had brought with her from the south. While she was fine with living in a different part of the country, she still wanted that familiarity.
Even when we are overseas on vacation, often times people seek out Americans. Why? Because there is that common bond that feeling we are in this together.
Do we do this in faiths as well? Sure we do. Not only do Christians search out other Christians, moreover we search out “our type” of Christians to become apart of. We want to disappear into the crowd, we seek out the church that we feel apart of as a community. This is what Joseph and Mary did.
Today we live in a culture where moving from one state to another is common place. It can be hard on people, even Luann and I experienced a bit of culture shock in our move across the state. However for Joseph and Mary this had to be heart wrenching.
Mary had probably never been more than a few miles from where she grew up in her whole sixteen years of life, and Joseph may have been to Bethlehem and Jerusalem before, we do not know.
Can you imagine what this was like for them? And they did not know for how long this would be. They would not have any contact with any of their family members for years. Neither of them knew how long King Herod would be alive, or if they would ever be able to return home. God promised them that they would return home one day though, so they had that hope.
For us today we have so many ways to communicate with each other over long distances it is almost hard not too. We can call each other on the phone. We can email each other. Some people text or send instant messages to each other. I have a way I can talk to people overseas through my computer.
So while we may not physically see our relatives for a long period of time, we still have the ability to keep in almost instantaneous touch. In fact not too many of us are not out of a day or two’s reach of our loved ones.
The fact remains that Joseph and Mary trusted that God would take them beyond their own comfort zones. God took them from where they had spent most of their lives, where their family and friends were, to a far off land to live with the hope that some day they would return to their homeland.
God led them to live among people who were not so different from them. God allowed them to live and worship in the manner, which they had grown up doing so.
So what kind of message can we take away from Joseph and Mary’s flight to Egypt?
Well the most important one that I can see comes in the form of Jesus’ name from Isaiah. Emmanuel. “God is with us”.
You see, no matter where Joseph and Mary were or where they were going, God was with them. Not only in the flesh through Jesus, but also in the Holy Spirit. God made sure that they were safe and secure no matter where they were.
God can and does the same thing for us each and everyday if we let him. God may send us to unfamiliar places where we do not know a single person. However, if we let the Holy Spirit lead the way more often then not, we are lead to a friendly face in a sea of strangers. God brings somebody into our lives who we can form the bond of friendship with so that we do have hope.
Tuesday, we will celebrate the beginning of a brand new year. This New Year will be filled with many new adventures. I am sure there will be many blessings given to each us throughout the year of 2008.
For some of us, however, we may find ourselves led by God from our comfort zones into a place of unfamiliarity. We may be led by God to serve him in ways that we never dreamed we could. In doing this, we may find it hard to leave loved ones or we may be afraid to carry out the mission set before us simply because we cannot see what lies ahead of us.
But, I want you to know that God has promised each of us that He is with us. He watched over Mary and Joseph and he will watch over us as well. Sometimes, it can be very hard to step out of faith and leave behind all you have ever known in search of the unknown. But, I know first hand, that God does provide. He has allowed Luann and me to meet some wonderful people (all of you, for example) along this journey that we are sharing in, and he will do the same for you.
I do not know what this next year holds for you and I do not know what ministries you will be called to work in this next year.
But, I do pray that God will give you the strength to carry it out, the faith to make it happen and the peace of knowing that he is in control.
God loves you. You are the reason that Jesus came to this earth. He will not let you fall. He will protect you and keep you from harm, just as he did for Joseph and Mary. May we all have enough faith in him to believe that with everything inside us.
Amen.
