Matthew 2:13-23
Hebrews 2:10-18
When I read the scripture from Matthew… I was really struck by verses 16 to 18. The verses read “16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.””
Herod was infuriated… and the children… the innocents… were killed. And this is not the only death sentence that Herod was responsible for. He killed anyone who got in his way… who he thought was a rival…this even included his wife and three of his sons. Herod even had John the Baptist put in prison and eventually beheaded because John disagreed with Herod’s marriage to his brother’s wife! Isn’t it funny… how… the innocents seem to be the ones to die.
This piece of the Matthew scripture reminds me of the world… this fallen world… that we live in. The innocents or innocence die every moment…no, every second… of each and every day. Seems to me that things really haven’t changed since Herod’s time… oh the ways they die have changed… but the innocents still die. Murderous behavior by one tribe… or religion… against another is still rampant today. Herod is alive and well… and not just in the “other guy”. In fact… there is a bit of Herod in each one of us when we feel threatened.
Look around us… there are so many ways that the innocent dies… we have abortion used as a means of birth control. These innocent children are dying because they would “cramp someone’s style”… “What would the neighbors think if our 14 year old child has a child?”… the child is “unwanted…a mistake” even before they are born.
There are wars raging all around us. There is the war in the Middle East, there is the war in our streets, there is war within families. In all these situations… the innocent is the one that usually ends up hurt in one way or another. It is the innocent that is dispensable not the ones in control.
You hear about abuse and rape on the news and in the papers. Innocence is lost… stolen… killed in these situations if not a loss of life (which sometimes seems to be the better option for some of these victims of these violent heinous crimes). We wail and cry as they did in Bethlehem… As Rachel wept and still weeps for her children; we refuse to be consoled because they are no more.
There are children out on the streets. They have nowhere to turn. They are not wanted in their homes… they have their innocence taken… stolen… from them by the streets. Where is there hope for a brighter tomorrow? Who will stand in the gap for them?
Even Jesus was an innocent who died for others but in this one, single, solitary sacrifice we have hope. Within this innocent’s death there is life to be found… a new life with a promise.
We are told, in the Epistle reading from Hebrews, that… Jesus is made the pioneer of our salvation perfect through suffering. For the one who sanctifies and all who are sanctified have one Father. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Even though He was tempted… even though He suffered as we do… He remained the pure, blameless sacrificial Lamb. And the scripture goes on to say that “Because he himself was tested by what he suffered… He… is able… to help…those… who are being … tested.”
This statement … this verse… is the very essence of a poem that Ray wrote for me. It is called Tempted:
The final verse of the reading
the lesson for the Hebrews
Jesus was tempted
Other tellings
of the same lesson
say he was tested
An interesting difference
thesaurus needed for the nuance
the related meaning; but a difference too
for he was tempted by the devil
tested by life’s travails
to be the worthy sacrifice,
the humble servant king
the anointed priest
all while fully human
tested, tempted as we are
in trying, fitfully,
doing the Father’s will
It is through His sacrifice on the cross… through this pure life… through Jesus’ obedience right up to and after His death on the cross that we are set free. Free from the death of sin… free from the bonds that hold us down… free to reach out with love and share this good news to those around us. Free to change a life that has broken by the loss of innocence… destroyed by the world we live in and help metamorphous it into a life where there is hope and a future… Give wings to fly to those who have been cocooned by society.
How can we begin to take on this monumental task? We look at the world around us and feel overwhelmed by what we see and hear. Well… all through the bible… we hear over and over again… fear not, I am with you. God is on our side… God is working our His plan… If God is for us (who can be against us). We need to trust in God… we need to reach out to those innocents around us and help them realize there is hope.
Don’t worry if you don’t know what to say. As with Moses… God will give us what need to be said. God wants ALL of His children to come home and He uses you and me to bring that about.
Another thing we can do is pray. Pray for our leaders, pray for our nation, pray for the parents of the world, pray for the children of the world. Just pray for whatever God puts on your heart!
We need to stop and listen to that still small voice within us. It is there… all we have to do is quiet ourselves in order to hear. The Spirit within us will guide us to what we need to do… our call in the world we live in.
God has surrounded each one of us with angels bearing messages we need to hear – messages that have the potential to bless our lives. We as Christians need to be the “angel’s messenger” to the least, the lost, the forgotten… those innocents around us… giving them the message of love, of hope, of peace. You never know… not only may we bless their lives but in the doing… be blessed beyond measure in being the ambassador of Christ here in the world.
We have a choice to make in life…we can either go through life thinking that these things…these people don’t effect us, that we have enough problems of our own, why should we take on another’s issues…or…we can reach out to those who are the innocents around us and share the Good News of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, we can help them metamorphus into what Christ would have them be…help them find their wings and fly as if on wings of an eagle. We can help make this world a better place if we but listen to that still small voice inside guiding us in the direction we should go.
I would like to end my sermon with a poem that I wrote in Mexico when I went on a Liberation Theology trip there when I was in undergrad. school. It is called “Listen to my Children Crying,” I wrote it when I came back and was thinking about all that I saw there. It reads:
Can’t you hear my children crying?
In your neighborhoods and around the world.
Can’t you hear my children crying?
For justice in their oppression and pain.
Can’t you hear my children crying?
For help from those who know the truth.
Can’t you hear my children crying?
There are children in the street,
With not enough to eat.
Can’t you hear my children crying?
There is injustice running wild,
Can’t you see this my child?
Can’t you hear them crying?
You have been sent on a mission,
To care for your brothers and sisters.
To right the wrongs of those with no voice.
They are there not by their choice.
Can’t you hear my children crying?
Why do you turn away?
They need your help not tomorrow but today!
Can’t you hear my children crying?
Why are they dying?
Amen
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