A sermon by Senior Minister John B. McCall, December 30, 2007
Matthew 2:13-23
Many of you can recall the familiar phrase from the Second World War: “Is this trip really necessary?” I am told that it emblazoned billboards and posters from coast to coast, always reminding folks of the need to pull together in the War effort. Short supplies of gasoline and oil, of rubber and of steel made it necessary for everyone to sacrifice for the larger good. Every mile driven behind the wheel of a car was using precious supplies needed by the armed forces.
I wonder where that spirit is today as the cost of everything rises and gasoline reaches above $3 a gallon. How many of us, even now, think twice about driving to the Mall just to browse, or to Freeport to see what’s on sale? While we may be able to afford the gas, we yet are using valuable resources frivolously. “Is this trip REALLY necessary,” or is it a foolish and selfish waste?
I’ve been musing on that question this year as I’ve re-read the nativity story in Luke and Matthew. A travel agent could have kept very busy during the sweep of events surrounding the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Scripture tells us that each of the characters in the story was guided by God to come into the picture at just the right time, each was part of the larger story, and each symbolized some of the meaning of the birth of Messiah.
The initiating event was Caesar Augustus’ call for a great census, which meant every male – and his household – had to return to return to the city of his ancestors. For Joseph this meant a trip of almost 70 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the city of King David, from whom he was descended. I can almost hear Mary’s voice pleading “Is this trip REALLY necessary?” Who can blame her? She might have walked were she not so close to giving birth. And riding on a donkey couldn’t have been much better! But, yes, this trip was necessary, for in the City of David, a savior was to be born who was Christ the Lord.
Others were called out on their journeys. The Gospel tells us of angels who were sent by God as messengers. I have never understood angels, but scripture tells us they are often the means by which God sends the word. They come with the Good News of great joy. Can you imagine them saying to God “look, we’re really busy this time of year… couldn’t you put it off until after the holidays?” For them the trip was necessary. Then there were the shepherds. They made the trip, as well and surely they must have wondered whether the trip was really necessary. They were in the fields tending the flocks. But the angel came and told them the news.
In Jesus’ day shepherds were among the least skilled and poorest folks in a village. So their appearance of represents God’s invitation to the lowly; and also refreshes the biblical image of the shepherd who would lay down his life for his sheep. For these shepherds, this trip was necessary! And then we are told of the journey of wise men from a distant land. Sometimes we call them kings or scientists, or astrologers. We can be relatively sure they were men of great knowledge, but were not Jews. They experienced this whole amazing drama from the outside. They came from an unnamed land and arrived in Jerusalem where they had audience with Herod the Great and inquired about the place of the Messiah’s birth. Herod called in his own seers and they reminded him of the words of the prophet Micah that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. So Herod sent the foreigners on their way with the suggestion that he, too, would like to worship the Christ. The magi arrived in Bethlehem weeks or even months later. But tradition says it was twelve days after the birth – a day which we still mark with the name Epiphany – meaning “appearance” or “manifestation.” They offered their gifts – gifts chosen for a different kind of king.
But we’re also told their hearts were changed by what they experienced there. They fell down and worshiped the Christ Child. Being warned in a dream that Herod’s motive was not to worship, but to assassinate the child, they did not return to Jerusalem, but went home by a different path. The three wise men, too, may have wondered “Is this trip really necessary?” And the answer is “yes!” Because in their coming, we recognize that God’s becoming flesh was revealed to all nations – not only to those of Hebrew descent who believed in the wisdom of the prophets. The wise men at the manger represent the great sweep of the Gospel that cuts across all the cultures and boundaries that too often define us. So they all came to Bethlehem, a little, unimportant town. Mary and Joseph were required to by law; the angels were sent by God; the lowly shepherds were called by the angels; and the wise men were led by the star. Each, for different reasons, made the necessary trip to behold the birth.
I need to insert here that I don’t really believe in Fate – that we’re actors on God’s great stage following a script. We have been created as free beings, free to act in loving and kind ways, free to act in evil and callous ways. So we’re not controlled by God.
But we are guided by God. We’re sometimes nudged, sometimes pulled, by God’s larger purpose. Those of us who want to live in harmony with God’s will may find ourselves in amazing places that we had not even imagined. So we can say “no.” We can refuse. We can turn and run.
But I believe God is at work moving creation toward healing, and we can be part of that if we’ll remain open.
So the Christmas story continues. There are more trips ahead. Herod is deeply troubled at word that a competitor has been born, one whom many are already calling King of the Jews. He couldn’t identify exactly which child this was, so he issued orders to kill every male child under the age of two – another parallel to the Exodus story in the Hebrew tradition when Pharaoh issued a similar order hoping to kill Moses before he rose to power.
It’s eternally true that corrupt power seeks to silence opposition by wanton destruction. We’ve had another example just this past week with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan and leader of the opposition to the current military government.
Again, Matthew says God warned Joseph in a dream. The young man took Mary and Jesus to Egypt and remained there until he received word that Herod had died. Matthew clearly wanted us to see the parallel to the earlier Exodus under the guidance of Moses, God’s appointed one. And now Matthew points us to another exodus under the guidance of Jesus, God’s anointed one.
Trip after trip after trip. It’s like any holiday season, I guess. And it all seems to fit together so nicely! But what of us? We who are gathered today have made the trip as well. The very fact that you’re here says something important about your life in the Faith. Many others came on Christmas Eve and stopped at the manger. I wonder where they are today.
So I can ask only you: was this trip necessary? Some of you will say this trip isn’t really worth it. I can’t name all the reasons, but I can guess a few – the holidays cause pain for you – because you have lost someone beloved; or because you’ve lost your sense of wonder and awe; or because you’ve lost your faith in God and in humanity. You may have felt your faith squeezed out of you by times of separation and adversity. For you, slogging through this season of Christmas is painful indeed, because it touches all that once was good, and is no longer. I pray for you a touch of God’s gentleness, and the simple comfort of knowing that you are not alone.
“Is this trip REALLY necessary?” Some others of us might say “I guess so.” You may be one who has been away for a while, for whatever reason, but have not let go of the sense of the mysteries of God. Maybe you’d even echo Matthew’s words and allow as how Spirit nudged and prodded you this year and get up and come to the manger.
Somehow, at times such as Christmas, there is a dimly burning flame inside of you which has not been put out. You, too, have fought gallantly in order to make this journey to the manger. And once there, you’ve found the miracle of the presence of God. I pray for you a deepening awareness of the eternal God in the midst of all that is rational and logical and precise.
“Is this trip REALLY necessary?” There are still others of us today who would say “of course the trip is necessary… nothing could keep me away!” At first glance, we might assume you are people who have lived easy lives, but we know better. You, too, have known losses and suffering; you, too, may have experienced the grief from the death of a loved one; you’ve struggled with failure and brokenness. And somehow, in the midst of it all, you have become more profoundly aware of the presence and power of Christ. I pray for you more of the same! IS THIS TRIP REALLY NECESSARY? It’s an important question for each of us, especially when we know that we’ve stumbled many times along the way – tripped by life, and our own choices or decisions; but still hold out hope.
We wait and watch, wondering if this Jesus-child can lead us to something more, something deeper. He will if we’ll let him. John Westerhoff, a priest of the Episcopal tradition, gives these words of benediction in his book, “A Pilgrim People”:
Wait in Hope,
Hope in God,
believing that we already possess what we hope for.
In this season of sacred quiet amidst profane noise,
of sacred, patient calmness amidst profane, frantic rushing;
of sacred contemplation amidst profane feasting –
we who have been baptized into new life
experience ourselves as strangers in a strange land.
We find ourselves drawn away
from the tinsel and carols of our profane world
into the sanctuary of sacred time and space,
where we might learn what it means to wait for the coming
of what has already come.
IS THIS TRIP REALLY NECESSARY?
Yes – for us as people of faith who struggle with all the tensions that daily confound us. Yes – for the victims of life who suffer and wait for redemption.
Yes – for those who once believed, but have given up, and yet may believe again. You and I have come to be a part of the drama in which God comes to us – to all humankind – in flesh, in an infant king. And once we have taken the trip and have seen the child life can never be the same again.