The Wise and the Innocent
Our story this Sunday, the second Sunday after Christmas, is a different story of the Nativity ... or of the early infancy of the Child Jesus. For it begins with representatives of the nations, people from far away, arriving in the court of Herod the Great with a humble request to see the child who has been born king.
Somewhat awkward. The powers that be had not expected this. There had been 'messiahs' before, and champions of freedom, and there would be again. This however was not the arrival of a warrior.
It was worse. The prince of peace arrived innocent. In the City of David to be sure, but a shepherd boy would be more menacing. This is an opportunity, the king concludes. To get in there right away and do the right thing ... by his own lights.
But he sends the seekers on their way and they do visit the child and his family, and surprise them with gifts.
They begin to see the danger.
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and thought, I know what I have to do? Right now?
Something like that happened to Joseph (and more than once). He took mother and child by night and fled.
What a beginning, and what an exit.
***
Stars you say? Or perhaps a great conjunction of planets. Somehow in the skies a cosmic event heralded, to the wise, an event with earthly import. And more importantly, an earthly event had cosmic significance.
Zoroastrians might point to this as the collision of darkness and light. Certainly the powers that be, with all their dark significance and mighty power, were troubled at this small glimmering of hope in a stable.
But not even the night belonged to Herod the Great. Not truly. For it was under the cover of darkness, over those self-same stars now slowly departing from their conjunction, that the holy family made its escape.
And when they return freedom will travel with them.
***
So the Christmas season continues after the birth of the Savior.
After the angels depart. After the wise men go their way. So now what? Howard Thurman, a pastor in San Francisco, told us this way:
When the Song of the Angels Is Stilled
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.
Now the work begins.
Now it is our turn, our time. The story of the child is not over, not yet.
When the family returns from Egypt they go not to Bethlehem but to Nazareth. And there Mary and her husband Joseph will raise the child. They will diligently take him to the festival in Jerusalem, Passover, the feast that means so much, and promises freedom as it celebrates the faithfulness of God. But soon, we will be hearing and celebrating - and trying to understand - the story of the adult, of Jesus coming out of Nazareth to the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and returning for that festival - with cosmic consequence.
For now though it is on us.
Can we join him, join Jesus, as he grows and matures into an adult and fearless faith? Into action prophetic and natural? As he simply does the right thing, the significant thing, which is the human thing to do? And realize how in each cup of water, each tray of food, each healed sore or sadness, we proclaim the glory?
That God is with us.
God is with us first as a fragile child, who must be wrapped up in his innocence and born far away. God is with us in the proclamations of the angels, the singing of the shepherds, the doting of a father?
God is with us in anger over injustice, and in doing something about it.
How we treat each other, our environment, and the creation of which we are a part, shows that glory.
Perhaps it is as simple as calling a friend or greeting a stranger: how are you doing in these dark times? Do you see the light is coming back? What can I do to help you? Or how can we pray together? Maybe it is more political than that. Maybe it is more indirect, not knowing the impact of your gift or confidence.
But it is our time now. To do what Jesus will do, to learn who Jesus is, and who we are becoming in Him.
In Him, in his footsteps, rejoicing in what he is doing, we begin to heed the words of many prophets.
"To heal the broken-hearted"
"To make his pathways smooth"
To go ourselves to Jerusalem, in our hearts, to adore - and to get busy. Good trouble, indeed, is on the way.
https://fcjsisters.wordpress.com/2013/01/11/when-the-song-of-the-angels-is-stilled-howard-thurman/
http://edgeofenclosure.org
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