We continue our wonderful Christmas celebration
here in church. I hope that you have been able
to continue and celebrate at home. But here in
church, the church sets before us like it has
for the last two weeks. Family members. Two weeks
ago, the ancestors of Christ by faith and by
blood. Forebears of the Virgin Mary. Forebears
of Joseph, his foster father. Last Sunday, the
same thing, except these were forebears by blood.
And today we celebrate the righteous Joseph,
the betrothed. David, the king and prophet. And
James, the brother of the Lord, in our liturgical
books, he's called the brother of God. He's the
son of Joseph. By Joseph's previous marriage,
his wife had died. So, yes, Christmas is about
family, for sure. But it's not about our family
celebrations. It's about the Lord's family and
our integration into that, becoming... members
of his family which is why we heard that wonderful
and brief epistle on christmas when the fullness
of time had come god sent forth his son born
of a woman born under the law and we saint paul
is telling us that we have also become children
of the father so two weeks ago and last week
that list of ancestors, some were righteous,
most were rather wicked, but today we get to
the top three. The most holy of them, Joseph,
David, and James. And it's important for us that
we use them, we see them, we are inspired by
them in our lives, because the Christian life
if it doesn't have inspiration, if we don't have
models to follow, if we don't understand that
there will be a struggle to us, for us, and with
us, and in us, then it's not Christianity. It's
something different. And my point is this. We
heard the gospel you heard today. This is the
third time in a week. We heard that gospel the
third time in a week. Why is that? Well, let's
briefly go over this chapter 2, verse 13 through
23. The birth has occurred. And the wise men,
the Magi, have departed. They went back to where
they came from. And that's a mysterious thing.
Someday we'll talk about that. And Joseph is
given a vision by an angel. Notice Joseph, this
is his second one. He's got another one after
that. And the angel says, arise, take the young
child and his mother. He doesn't say take your
child and your wife. That's because Joseph is
the foster father. He is the caretaker, the protector.
He is not the father of Jesus. Take them. and
flee into Egypt. So, by night, how long after
the birth, I don't know. Scholars can tell you.
In the night, when it's quiet, Joseph takes the
holy ones with James, his son, and they leave
secretly. They don't tell anyone. None of the
neighbors know. And he takes the child, and he
flees there. And as St. Matthew says, this is
in prophecy. This is in fulfillment of that verse.
Out of Egypt have I called my son. In the meantime,
what's happening? King Herod, who is not a legitimate
Jewish king. He is not in the line of descendants
of David. He doesn't keep the Torah, the law.
He's not religious in any way, as we know from
why he killed St. John the Baptist. In any case,
the Magi did not come back to him to tell him
where the young child was. And he was, it says
here, exceedingly angry, or as you heard in the
King James, exceeding wroth, which has some bite
to it. And he sent soldiers. To all the villages.
And 14 ,000 children in his hunt and his envy
and his fear of a king that is true. He killed
14 ,000 children. Today, the 29th of December,
is the day we remember the 14 ,000. Well, let's
not forget. Kings in ancient times. Caesars killing
millions of people. They came home with laurels
and congratulations and victories and games.
This was accounted to them as something great.
We don't do much better. Over a million children
were aborted just in 2023. In this country alone.
So say what you want about Herod. We're not doing
much better. And then an angel comes to Joseph
again and says, Arise, take the young child and
his mother, exact words, and come back. Now why
do we hear this three times? To me, I could be
wrong, it's my opinion. We hear this three times
to tell us that jesus christ will disturb and
destroy all that is wicked and evil he will mess
up your life if you don't give it to him willingly
or you only give it to him partially listen what
father alexander schmemann has to say about christmas
day he says fear Destruction, hatred, evil, exactly
what Herod did, are the very life to which we
are condemned. Yet this is exactly the awareness,
the image of life that is found in the Gospels.
Christ comes to a people who are sitting in darkness
and in the shadow of death. This is the first
definition of the human condition in the Gospels.
The joy of Christmas night is immediately black
and Herod wants to kill the child and for this
he murders a multitude of children. Now, writes
the evangelist Matthew, quoting the Old Testament,
a voice is heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses
to be consoled because they are no more. To the
Christians of Ephesus, St. Ignatius, the martyr,
the God -bearer, wrote this. He says, the power
of magic in the birth of Christ, the coming of
God in the flesh, all that is dissolved. Every
bond of wickedness is vanishing. Ignorance is
being abolished. The old kingdom is being destroyed.
God was becoming manifest as a man for the newness
of eternal life for us. What had been prepared
by God all those generations had its beginning.
Hence, everything was shaken together for the
abolition of death. Was being planned. That's
Christmas brothers and sisters. Yes it's joyful.
But it's also the challenge to the world. And
it's a challenge to us to live as Christians.
The king is born. The king of kings has come
to the earth. He's not just a little baby. He's
not just the reason for the season. He is not
just or merely the gentle Savior. Yes, he is
meek and mild and full of love. And he says,
come unto me, all you that labor. I will give
you rest. My burden is easy. My yoke is light.
He is also the one who is the conquering king
with a rear action. Against the devil. Meaning
he descends into death itself. He's marching
with his armies. The angels. The hosts of heaven.
The righteous. The martyrs. The saints. The 14
,000 children. David the king. James his brother.
Joseph. his foster father he is invading the
old kingdom he is declaring war on the old kingdom
as saint ignatius says magic ignorance wickedness
being dissolved yes they still exist but not
in you for god has saved us you have been enlightened
all that ignorance and hatred and and sinfulness
is laid to rest it's forgiven Every old stone
is pulled down. The kingdoms of the world are
falling down, according to the prophet Daniel.
For the abolition of death, says St. Ignatius
again, has been planned. Because here, in this
feast, the enemy is confronted. Is it Herod?
Jesus didn't preach against the other Herod.
Is it Caesar? Jesus never preached against the
inhumanity and injustice of the Roman Empire.
No, the battle has begun. Nothing is ever going
to be the same, but the enemy, the last enemy,
is death. St. Paul says in Corinthians, the last
enemy that will be destroyed is death. This is
why... are rejoicing on Christmas, and those
Christmas carols and the hymns we sing, that's
what they're telling us. But we kind of, we can
reduce Christmas to just a family event. Let
it change everything. Be Christian on purpose.
To our Lord be glory, honor, and worship now
and ever, two ages of ages. Amen.