WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:03.000 The Holy Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:07.719 2. Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord 00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:11.419 appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Get up, 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:14.580 take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:18.039 and remain there until I tell you, for Herod 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:20.940 is about to search for the child to destroy him. 00:00:21.660 --> 00:00:25.039 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:28.059 by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there 00:00:28.059 --> 00:00:30.980 until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill 00:00:30.980 --> 00:00:33.679 what he had been spoken by the Lord through the 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:38.700 prophet, Out of Egypt I have called my son. When 00:00:38.700 --> 00:00:41.539 Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise 00:00:41.539 --> 00:00:45.500 men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed 00:00:45.500 --> 00:00:49.500 all the children in and around Bethlehem who 00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:52.859 were two years old or under, according to the 00:00:52.859 --> 00:00:57.070 time that he had learned from the wise men. Then 00:00:57.070 --> 00:00:59.170 was fulfilled what had been spoken through the 00:00:59.170 --> 00:01:02.630 prophet Jeremiah. A voice was heard in Ramah, 00:01:02.810 --> 00:01:07.549 wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping 00:01:07.549 --> 00:01:12.349 for her children, because they are no more. When 00:01:12.349 --> 00:01:15.930 Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared 00:01:15.930 --> 00:01:19.629 in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, Get up, 00:01:19.650 --> 00:01:22.810 take the child and his mother, and go to the 00:01:22.810 --> 00:01:25.689 land of Israel. for those who were seeking the 00:01:25.689 --> 00:01:29.849 child's life are dead. Then Joseph got up, took 00:01:29.849 --> 00:01:31.870 the child and his mother, and went to the land 00:01:31.870 --> 00:01:36.030 of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was 00:01:36.030 --> 00:01:39.650 ruling over Judea in a place of his father Herod, 00:01:39.670 --> 00:01:43.730 he was afraid to go there. And after being warned 00:01:43.730 --> 00:01:46.750 in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 00:01:47.230 --> 00:01:49.930 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, 00:01:50.109 --> 00:01:52.689 so that what had been spoken through the prophets 00:01:52.689 --> 00:01:56.560 might be fulfilled. he will be called a Nazarene. 00:01:56.939 --> 00:02:01.659 This is the gospel of the Lord. Grace and peace 00:02:01.659 --> 00:02:03.959 to you from the one who has died for us all, 00:02:04.099 --> 00:02:08.680 Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. There's a true story 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:11.000 about a village and how goodness happened there. 00:02:11.460 --> 00:02:14.039 The story takes place during the most terrible 00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:17.219 years of World War II, where whole ethnicities 00:02:17.219 --> 00:02:20.020 of people, especially Jews, were singled out, 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:24.020 hunted down, taken to concentration camps, and 00:02:24.020 --> 00:02:27.240 murdered. In the midst of this violence, a miraculous 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:29.979 event took place in a small Protestant town in 00:02:29.979 --> 00:02:34.199 southern France called Le Chambon. There, quietly, 00:02:34.419 --> 00:02:37.099 peacefully, in full view of a government determined 00:02:37.099 --> 00:02:39.879 to exterminate human beings, including children, 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:43.319 Le Chambon's villagers and their clergy organized 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:45.800 to save thousands of Jewish children and adults 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:50.159 from certain death. This profound story is found 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:53.259 in the book called Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:56.259 written by Philip Halley. It is well worth the 00:02:56.259 --> 00:02:58.840 read, but what I want to share with you is in 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:01.060 the introduction of the book, where the author 00:03:01.060 --> 00:03:03.139 writes about a lecture and discussion that took 00:03:03.139 --> 00:03:05.840 place a few years after it was published. He 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:07.699 was speaking to a group of women in Minneapolis 00:03:07.699 --> 00:03:10.259 who were all leading fundraisers for the United 00:03:10.259 --> 00:03:13.719 Jewish Appeal. When his lecture was over, he 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:17.039 asked for questions or comments. A woman in the 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:19.400 back of the room stood up and asked him if the 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:21.780 village of Les Chambord was in the department 00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:25.219 of Haute -Loire in south -central Florence, where 00:03:25.219 --> 00:03:28.680 the great Loire River has its origin. Philip 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:30.960 confirmed that it was the village that he was 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:34.960 talking about. He writes, She stood there silent 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.879 for what seemed to be a long time, and then she 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:42.379 said, Well, You have been speaking about the 00:03:42.379 --> 00:03:45.699 village that saved the lives of all three of 00:03:45.699 --> 00:03:48.960 my children. She came to the front of the room, 00:03:49.060 --> 00:03:51.599 turned to face the audience and said, the Holocaust 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:55.319 was storm, lightning, thunder, wind, rain, yes. 00:03:55.780 --> 00:04:00.620 And Les Chambas was the rainbow. Perhaps the 00:04:00.620 --> 00:04:02.919 rainbow in our gospel reading for the first Sunday 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:05.199 after Christmas is the dream God gave Joseph 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.509 that saved the Christ child. Get up, take the 00:04:08.509 --> 00:04:10.810 child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and remain 00:04:10.810 --> 00:04:13.330 there until I tell you, for Herod is about to 00:04:13.330 --> 00:04:16.230 search for the child to destroy him. Joseph gets 00:04:16.230 --> 00:04:18.129 up, takes the child and his mother by night, 00:04:18.290 --> 00:04:20.829 goes to Egypt, and remains there until the death 00:04:20.829 --> 00:04:24.550 of Herod. In this story, the infant Jesus is 00:04:24.550 --> 00:04:28.470 spared, but a cruel foreshadowing looms. He will 00:04:28.470 --> 00:04:32.089 not be spared on the cross. Jesus is saved here 00:04:32.089 --> 00:04:34.750 from certain death in order that he might save 00:04:34.750 --> 00:04:38.579 the whole world. But there were many others who 00:04:38.579 --> 00:04:41.420 were not saved that day. All the infants and 00:04:41.420 --> 00:04:44.560 toddlers under the age of two in and around Bethlehem 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:48.139 were murdered. Is there anything we can imagine 00:04:48.139 --> 00:04:50.579 that is worse than infants being ripped from 00:04:50.579 --> 00:04:53.279 their parents' arms and slaughtered? This is 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:55.040 the part of the Christmas story we don't want 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:58.420 to hear or face. Jesus is born into a world where 00:04:58.420 --> 00:05:01.920 innocents die. Within a few short days, we go 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:04.660 from the angels' joyful Hallelujah and peace 00:05:04.660 --> 00:05:09.480 on earth to unconsolable weeping. Verse 18 in 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:11.459 the Gospel of Matthew quotes Jeremiah chapter 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:16.120 31 verse 15. A voice was heard in Ramah wailing 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:18.939 and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:21.879 children. She refused to be consoled because 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:25.709 they are no more. The context of this verse in 00:05:25.709 --> 00:05:28.310 Jeremiah rises up out of the exile of the Jewish 00:05:28.310 --> 00:05:31.529 people to Babylon. Ramah was a gathering place 00:05:31.529 --> 00:05:34.250 for people of Judah who were being deported to 00:05:34.250 --> 00:05:37.329 Babylon after Jerusalem was conquered. Rachel 00:05:37.329 --> 00:05:40.209 weeps for all of her people who live under the 00:05:40.209 --> 00:05:43.810 boot of the powerful. If Jacob is the father 00:05:43.810 --> 00:05:46.889 of Israel, then Rachel is its mother and matriarch. 00:05:47.529 --> 00:05:50.209 Rachel weeps again for the babies and toddlers 00:05:50.209 --> 00:05:52.449 whose lives were cut short because of a power 00:05:52.449 --> 00:05:56.189 -hungry puppet king. When I spoke to my 10 -year 00:05:56.189 --> 00:05:58.449 -old about this story, he paused for a long moment 00:05:58.449 --> 00:06:02.009 and said, Herod killed all those babies and didn't 00:06:02.009 --> 00:06:06.350 get anything out of it. He dies anyway. And isn't 00:06:06.350 --> 00:06:09.149 this the leveling we all need to face? Death 00:06:09.149 --> 00:06:13.610 itself. In the end, even God's Son is not spared 00:06:13.610 --> 00:06:17.339 from death. Pastor Roger Nelson, in the most 00:06:17.339 --> 00:06:19.680 recent issue of the Christian Century magazine, 00:06:19.819 --> 00:06:23.620 writes this, The outlandish claim of the Gospels 00:06:23.620 --> 00:06:27.240 is that God became flesh, not in the world of 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:30.660 nativity snow globes, shiny happy people, and 00:06:30.660 --> 00:06:33.939 naive spirituality, but in the world where tyrants 00:06:33.939 --> 00:06:37.560 kill babies and parents can't be consoled. If 00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:39.899 the Incarnation has any meaning at all, then 00:06:39.899 --> 00:06:42.920 God came into the darkest realities of this world. 00:06:45.149 --> 00:06:47.350 Many theologians believe that the saving act 00:06:47.350 --> 00:06:50.189 of God is the incarnation, the birth of Christ 00:06:50.189 --> 00:06:53.069 into the world. For in being born, he will surely 00:06:53.069 --> 00:06:56.029 die. And this is the good news for each of us 00:06:56.029 --> 00:06:58.829 and for the world. Jesus brings deliverance when 00:06:58.829 --> 00:07:02.050 everything seems bleak. We live in a world where 00:07:02.050 --> 00:07:05.170 death, violence, and war happen because people 00:07:05.170 --> 00:07:08.649 love power and wealth more than God and neighbor, 00:07:08.790 --> 00:07:12.430 where the Herods are not held accountable. Jesus 00:07:12.430 --> 00:07:14.990 shows us a different way of being in the world. 00:07:15.550 --> 00:07:19.350 Instead of grasping for power, Jesus empties 00:07:19.350 --> 00:07:22.009 himself even to the point of death on a cross. 00:07:22.410 --> 00:07:26.279 Instead of condemning sinners, he forgives. Instead 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:29.879 of ignoring the sick, he heals. Instead of hating 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:33.019 enemies, he pours out his love and dies. And 00:07:33.019 --> 00:07:35.199 this is so different than Herod's fear -driven 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:38.639 life as Jesus ushers in to the kingdom of God 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:41.680 here on earth. The good news is not front and 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:43.860 center on this day in the season of Christmas 00:07:43.860 --> 00:07:46.240 in which we observe the slaughter of the innocents. 00:07:46.300 --> 00:07:49.060 It feels like a lot of law where human beings 00:07:49.060 --> 00:07:52.050 literally get away with murder. This story leaves 00:07:52.050 --> 00:07:54.430 us at the foot of the manger and also the cross 00:07:54.430 --> 00:07:57.689 in need of a savior, God made flesh. We need 00:07:57.689 --> 00:08:01.230 Jesus. This world God loves so much needs Christ. 00:08:02.009 --> 00:08:04.509 What I've had to admit about this story is that 00:08:04.509 --> 00:08:07.689 Herod needs a savior too. That the awful truth, 00:08:08.009 --> 00:08:11.449 which is also the good news, is that Jesus was 00:08:11.449 --> 00:08:14.649 born and died for Herod, just as he was born 00:08:14.649 --> 00:08:17.269 and died for you and me, and certainly the children 00:08:17.269 --> 00:08:19.550 who met their end far too soon in Bethlehem. 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:22.579 Pastor Nelson continues in the Christian Century 00:08:22.579 --> 00:08:25.899 magazine. The mystery of Christmas is that Jesus 00:08:25.899 --> 00:08:29.180 is born into the world as it stands. The world 00:08:29.180 --> 00:08:32.019 to which we wake again and again. The world of 00:08:32.019 --> 00:08:35.320 school shootings, terrorist states, rulers who 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:37.600 feel threatened, and parents who bury children. 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:41.879 The world in which Rachel weeps. God doesn't 00:08:41.879 --> 00:08:45.220 rise above, whisk away, or shrug off this world. 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:49.809 From cradle to cross, God enters it. shares and 00:08:49.809 --> 00:08:52.990 bears our pain. Our hope, even in the Nativity, 00:08:53.110 --> 00:08:55.629 is that God in Christ is resurrecting monuments 00:08:55.629 --> 00:08:59.070 of stone and overthrowing tyrants, and we are 00:08:59.070 --> 00:09:02.909 not alone. It is true that Christ promises to 00:09:02.909 --> 00:09:05.950 be with us always, and we also have one another. 00:09:06.250 --> 00:09:09.850 I marvel at the story of Les Chambons, the people 00:09:09.850 --> 00:09:12.450 who peacefully and steadfastly lived out the 00:09:12.450 --> 00:09:15.549 kingdom of God, saving life after life. They 00:09:15.549 --> 00:09:17.850 did not let the Herods of the world get away 00:09:17.850 --> 00:09:21.029 with murder. They lived as if every life was 00:09:21.029 --> 00:09:23.409 precious to God, even at the risk of their own. 00:09:24.049 --> 00:09:27.009 I wonder what the Holy Family found in Egypt. 00:09:27.490 --> 00:09:30.230 It is absolutely clear in the Gospel of Matthew 00:09:30.230 --> 00:09:32.970 that Jesus and his parents were refugees, fleeing 00:09:32.970 --> 00:09:37.320 to Egypt to escape death. I imagine This exile 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.679 shaped and formed our Lord in significant ways. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:43.559 I wonder if he grew up learning that he was the 00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:47.419 only child to survive a massacre. I wonder if 00:09:47.419 --> 00:09:49.559 he brought to mind the children killed by Herod's 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:52.259 order when later in his ministry in Matthew chapter 00:09:52.259 --> 00:09:55.740 19 he says, Let the little children come to me, 00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:58.879 and do not stop them, for it is to such as these 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:02.200 that the kingdom of heaven belongs. I wonder 00:10:02.200 --> 00:10:05.700 how Jesus' experience of being A refugee influenced 00:10:05.700 --> 00:10:08.919 what he had to say in Matthew 25, where he says, 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:11.279 Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:13.860 the kingdom. For I was hungry, you gave me food. 00:10:14.019 --> 00:10:16.299 I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. 00:10:16.460 --> 00:10:18.759 I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:21.000 naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, 00:10:21.019 --> 00:10:22.879 and you took care of me. I was in prison, and 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:26.059 you visited me. Jesus knew what it felt like 00:10:26.059 --> 00:10:28.980 to flee with only the clothes on his back, to 00:10:28.980 --> 00:10:31.179 watch his parents make a life for him in a new 00:10:31.179 --> 00:10:34.350 place, in a new language. Were they welcomed 00:10:34.350 --> 00:10:39.029 or turned away? Matthew chapter 2 reminds us 00:10:39.029 --> 00:10:41.029 that the Christmas story does not only encompass 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:44.690 a star and a manger and angels singing, Mary 00:10:44.690 --> 00:10:47.470 pondering, and shepherds and wise men worshiping, 00:10:47.470 --> 00:10:51.029 but equally important is God's guidance through 00:10:51.029 --> 00:10:55.169 dreams, Rachel's tears, Jesus' life threatened 00:10:55.169 --> 00:10:58.110 before he could walk, and a ruthless king who 00:10:58.110 --> 00:11:01.129 would even kill babies to hold onto his power. 00:11:02.730 --> 00:11:05.149 Today the Church remembers the children Herod 00:11:05.149 --> 00:11:08.649 slaughtered. December 28th is the day we commemorate 00:11:08.649 --> 00:11:12.750 the Holy Innocents. Verse 6 in hymn number 430 00:11:12.750 --> 00:11:15.830 in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship Book memorializes 00:11:15.830 --> 00:11:20.129 the little ones who died. All praise for infant 00:11:20.129 --> 00:11:23.470 martyrs, whom you with tenderest love received 00:11:23.470 --> 00:11:26.950 from Herod's bloodshed, to share your home above. 00:11:27.289 --> 00:11:31.269 O Rachel, cease your weeping. They rest. from 00:11:31.269 --> 00:11:34.909 earthbound cares, nor grant us hearts as guileless 00:11:34.909 --> 00:11:39.649 and crowns as bright as theirs. How strange it 00:11:39.649 --> 00:11:42.149 is to read a story such as this in the Gospel 00:11:42.149 --> 00:11:43.889 of Matthew on the first Sunday of Christmas, 00:11:44.169 --> 00:11:48.269 but I for one am glad for it. Sorrow is not without 00:11:48.269 --> 00:11:51.889 joy, and joy is not without sorrow. We can be 00:11:51.889 --> 00:11:55.450 singing Christmas hymns and yet lament that all 00:11:55.450 --> 00:11:58.460 our relationships are not reconciled. or that 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:00.860 this Christmas is the first without a loved one, 00:12:00.980 --> 00:12:04.279 or that children go to bed hungry, or the gap 00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:06.440 between the rich and the poor keeps widening, 00:12:06.460 --> 00:12:09.440 or the political polarization keeps us from loving 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:13.820 our neighbors as we ought. It turns out we still 00:12:13.820 --> 00:12:18.080 need a Savior. It turns out we need reminding 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:21.299 that God speaks to us through dreams, and God 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:24.919 makes a way where there seems to be none. It 00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:29.289 turns out... Villages like Le Chambon truly exude 00:12:29.289 --> 00:12:32.750 the kingdom of God in this world and make a difference 00:12:32.750 --> 00:12:36.490 for many. Philip Halley concludes in his introduction 00:12:36.490 --> 00:12:41.009 to the book, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed. The 00:12:41.009 --> 00:12:44.169 rainbow reminds God and humankind that life is 00:12:44.169 --> 00:12:47.549 precious to God, that God offers not only sentimental 00:12:47.549 --> 00:12:50.870 hope, but a promise that living will have the 00:12:50.870 --> 00:12:56.009 last word, not killing. Isn't this the good news, 00:12:56.090 --> 00:12:59.769 dear people of God? That God has the last word, 00:12:59.850 --> 00:13:03.990 and God's word is life for you and for the world. 00:13:04.610 --> 00:13:07.370 In this season of Christmas, we celebrate Jesus 00:13:07.370 --> 00:13:10.570 our light, the light no darkness can overcome. 00:13:11.070 --> 00:13:13.789 And for this we say, thanks be to God.