A Scandalous Love Affair: When Darkness Invades
Matthew 2:13-18
Fireman Edward Cushing tells the story of an old frame house burning on the southside of Chicago. He ordered the hoses to start fighting the fire and then dashed inside and pulled three people out. When the blaze was over, the Chief came over and told him he did a great job but 2 of the 3 people he pulled out weren’t going to make it. “No! They’re all alive!” Suddenly he awoke from the dream in a drenching sweat and his heart racing. It was 4:30 am and it was just a bad dream. He put his head back on the pillow to get some rest before he started his 72 hour shift over the Christmas holiday at the station house. He had an unseasoned crew and just prayed for the God to watch over the city that night. One minute before Christmas, the alarm came in. The fire was a half mile from the firehouse and the old woodframe house was engulfed in flames. When Edward got to the house, he ran inside and found a body lying in the hallway. He bent over and picked up her body and carried her out. As he did, he saw a second body. It looked like a child’s. He ordered a firefighter to get the child as he lay the woman down on the snowbank and checked for a pulse. There was none. He started CPR on her but no response. He ordered the firefighter to enter the house with the hose. The Chief arrived and assessed the situation and told Edward, “You’d better give up on her. She’s gone.” Exhausted and frightened, he silently called out to God: “God, bring her back. I’ve done everything I can do. Only you can help now.” A split second later, he felt the woman’s heart start. And then he remembered his dream: there were three people in the house. He dashed back in the house and up the stairs. At the top, he saw the body of a small child. No pulse. He started CPR as he lifted his body and carried him down the steps outside. After the fire was out and they were putting their equipment away, the Chief returned to the scene from the hospital and informed him that the woman and the child weren’t going to make it. Edward then confidently looked the Chief in the eyes and said, “Chief, no one is going to die.” And both survived. Christmas day, he went by the hospital to check on the mother and ended up telling her about the dream. The woman profusely thanks him for saving her and her children. And Edward responded, “I didn’t save you. God did.”
In our Scripture today, we have the story of another dream which saved a child. In it, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and told him to take the child and Mary, and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So Joseph took the child, during the night, and left for Egypt where he stayed until the death of Herod. Notice his hasty retreat during the middle of the night. It wasn't something they had time to plan for, or get Christmas gifts together; they had to get out in a hurry. It was Christmas interrupted. The holy family spends the next two years as displaced refugees in Africa.
Just a word about dreams. Dreams in the Scriptures were considered to be one of the primary means God’s speaks to us. Most Christians today don’t know or haven’t realized that but it is something we need to reclaim. For God can and does speak through our dreams. In fact, there are 26 dreams recorded in the Bible. Does that mean that every dream is from God? No. But when you open yourself to hearing God’s voice through your dreams, you allow him to speak in a very real and powerful way to us. And when you don’t, you may miss out on a message or revelation that may not only save your life but someone else’s. I remind you that it was because of a dream I had that we discovered Dr. Fortino was getting ready to out his property next door to the church on the market, a property the church had been wanting to buy since 1977. So God can and does speak to us through our dreams, if we allow Him to and can provide direction to us if we listen.
Back to Christmas. Here's the problem with Christmas today: the Christmas we know is so very unlike the first Christmas was experienced by the holy family. The joy of the birth of the Christ child was soon dampened by evil. What we need to remember this Christmas is that we are in the midst of a cosmic battle. Evil is a reality. We are fighting principalities and powers that are not of this world. Evil has many faces and expressions in this world, and one of those in our Scripture today is political. Herod sought to put Jesus to death not because he believed Jesus was the Son of God but because Jesus was from the line of David and thus the rightful heir to Herod’s throne. So Herod orders all children under the age of 2 killed. Evil’s rears its ugly head when the Good News, Jesus Christ, enters the world. So the backdrop of the first Christmas is not warm and cuddly with an innocent baby lying in a cozy, safe manger but evil seeking to destroy the child and the work of God. The birth of the Christ child is immersed in the battle between good and evil. And the result is infanticide, the killing of all male children under the age of two. This causes weeping and mourning amidst the people of Israel. “a voice is heard in Ramah [in Africa amongst those who are refugees] and they are weeping and great mourning.” And they not singing ‘Silent Night, Holy Night.’ The first song of Christmas was filled with weeping and mourning over the death of innocent children. You see the historical Christmas that began with angels singing and the announcement to the shepherds was interrupted by evil and danger.
This is not the first infanticide of Jewish children. Jesus ends up as a refugee in Egypt, the very place where 1400 years before Pharaoh sought to kill all male Hebrew children. Pharaoh did this because he feared the Hebrew slaves were becoming too numerous and could rise up in opposition to his government. But God protected them in what became known as the Passover. When Matthew quotes Jeremiah, he goes back to 586 B.C. when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem. Babylon is modern day Iraq. They took the Jewish babies, bashed their heads against the stones and then burned their bodies. Infanticide is not just a one-time event. It also happened in the gas chambers of Nazi, Germany. And it’s happening in Darfur today and as well as in the Congo. This is why God gave his son to be born in the world because it was filled with evil and we needed saving.
In Matthew 2:15, it says: "Out of Egypt, I called my son." Egypt represents slavery. You can't understand the context of Christmas apart from the context of what God did in Egypt in the Exodus. Let's look at Exodus 3:7 where Moses has had this encounter with God in the burning bush. And God says to Moses. "I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers. I am concerned about their sufferings so I have come down to rescue them out of that land into a good spacious land. A land flowing with milk and honey." And so Moses asks, God, what are you gong to do? Out of Egypt I call my son. In Exodus 3:9, God answers "Now, go Moses. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." Who is the first deliverer out of Egypt? Moses, who delivered the Jewish slaves out of the oppression of slavery into a free, good and spacious land. “Out of Egypt I call my son.” You can't understand the Christmas event apart from this. Jesus is the second deliverer who comes out of Egypt to deliver not just the Jewish people but all people out of the slavery of oppression to sin.
But when Jesus came, he didn't come as the victor but as the victim. He didn’t come to be served as a King but as a suffering servant and Savior, sisters and brothers. You talk about a scandalous love. Jesus came as a baby who was thrust into a world mired in sin, a cosmic battle between good and evil and the experience of the oppressed refugees of the world. He shows up in the places of pain. You talk about a scandalous love, not as one who comes to be worshipped but who identifies with the oppressed. A God who stoops so low, who empties himself and makes himself of no reputation. God identifies with the slave in the hold of a slave ship, the Jew in a concentration camp, the child infected with HIV and the orphan in the Congo. That’s scandalous love. This is what Christmas is about. We talk about the miracle of the resurrection but Jesus wasn't the first resurrection. Elijah raised a young boy from the dead and then there was Lazarus? To me, that’s not the greatest miracle. The greatest miracle is the incarnation. That God would stoop so low to come as the refugee Jesus. Wow! Scandalous love.
We have allowed our theology of Santa Claus to determine our practice of Christmas instead of the biblical, historical account of the birth of Jesus to determine how we celebrate Christmas. How do you honor and celebrate the birth of the Savior? First, by listening for the voice of God. At the announcement of the conception, Mary listened to the angel as did Joseph. Joseph listened to his dream. The wise men saw the star. The Shepherds listened the angels. The very first way to celebrate Christmas is to listen for the voice of God and hear his call upon your life. But how do you do that? The biggest challenge during the Christmas season is first to slow down amidst all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas: attending the holiday parties, cleaning, cooking, decorating, shopping and wrapping gifts. You cannot hear the voice of God if you are always on the move. You’ve got to slow down, stop and listen. The second challenge is all of the noise: people talking the radio, the TV, the non-stop Christmas carols. All of these things tend to draw our attention away from the voice of God and drown Him out. So this Christmas, celebrate the birth of the Christ child by slowing down, stopping, being intentionally silent and listening.
Second, bring your treasures to the manger. The magi came and "They bowed down and worshipped him and they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." Matthew 2:11 How do we honor and celebrate the birth of this king? With our gifts. We’ve got to get away from the consumerism of Christmas, the Christmas of Santa and remember that it’s about Jesus and not us. Christmas is not our birthday. It’s Jesus’ birthday! So why do we get the presents and we give none to Jesus? Bring your treasures and gifts to the Christ child.
Third, you’ve got to act on the Good News. The question is in light of all of the atrocities going on in the world is this: where is God? Somebody ought to do something. Let me tell you where God is. God has come down to do something, and you are the somebody he's going to do it through! What does God say to Moses, “I have seen, I have heard, I'm concerned so you go now, I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” Jesus said the same thing to the disciples, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you!” And he says the same thing to us: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you!” Why doesn't God do something? GOD HAS DONE SOMETHING! He’s called you and he’s planning on doing something through YOU!
But Moses’ immediate response is, ”but who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11 You think: Who am I? What could I do? I don’t have the gifts, the resources or even the power to change the world. Evil will always try to convince you that you can't change anything, that nothing you do can really make a difference. Remember what Jesus said: “Whoever believes in me…out of their innermost being shall not flow drops, but rivers of living water.” John 7:38 The unlimited resources of God come through each and everyone of us. It's been said before that the only thing necessary for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing. We can all do something. What can you do?
First, commit to proactive parenting. Joseph is a great model. We don't hear much about Joseph in but one thing we do hear is he took charge in his house and protected his family from the evil in this world and the distorted priorities and values of the world. Men, if there's nothing more that we can do, make your homes a place that is on fire for the real purpose of God in the world. Teach your children that we are here to serve God's purpose, not be the consumers of Christmas. Spend less time shopping and more time together as a family.
Second, be light in the midst of darkness. Jesus says “In the same way, let your light shine before others so they may see your good deeds not hear your good words first.” Matthew 5:16 When they see your good deeds, then they will glorify or worship your Father in Heaven. Look for ways to be light in the darkness.
Third, witness with your words. We need to name the Name. Can you imagine what a crime it would be if I see the power of Christ in your life and you never name Jesus’ name. That's the Name that's above every other name. I'm not up here because I'm good; I'm up here because I had an encounter with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has changed my life. So talk about it. Share it. Tells others. The disciple Peter would have never met Jesus without his brother Andrew. Andrew had an encounter with Jesus, and he went to Peter and he said, “The dude that I just met is like unlike anyone I’ve ever meet in the world. Come and see.” That's all you need to do. You don't have to try to convince somebody. You don't have to try to push Jesus down anyone’s throat. Just bring them with you and there is no better time than Christmas Eve. Invite the people in your oikos to Christmas Eve. And if you do these things, then you will truly have celebrated Christmas and worshipped the Savior. Amen
