Sometimes
the story of the birth of Jesus seems so perfect,
angels,
dreams and visions,
more
angels,
the
sign of the star,
yet
more dreams and
angels
in dreams.
But
the reading from Matthew is not all sweetness and light.
Just
like life really.
We
are living through a hot dangerous fire season. Fires have been burning in NSW
since September.[i]
There are still fires burning on the north coast, but the fire danger has been
slowly moving southwards. We see people taking huge risks to save people and property.
One
thing I noticed with this reading is the number of responses people had to the birth
of Jesus:
Magi
were curious
Herod
was worried
Magi
were thrilled and excited
Magi
warned, in a dream
Joseph
warned, in a dream
Herod
was angry, furious, murderous
And
that is just in Matthew’s gospel.
While
the news of a child being born is often greeted with joy, sometimes ….
Sometimes:
·
people are threatened
·
an older sibling feels overshadowed
·
parents worry about how to cope
·
sometimes the birth of a child starts a chain
reaction.
Matthew
is pointing to Jesus as the new Moses, he is saved at birth when other male children
were killed.
He
goes on to save his people.
I
wonder what our part in the story is.
Who
do you resonate with?
Maybe
·
Mary and Joseph fleeing for your life or
·
the Magi seeking and searching or
·
the soldiers following orders or
·
the parents crying for their children or
·
Herod
I
suspect none of us want to consider ourselves to be like Herod. We don’t have
that level of authority that we could command and army to kill if we wanted to.
We
don’t think of ourselves as evil.
Here is some
of what Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote after being in a Soviet Gulag
“The
line separating good and evil
passes
not through states,
nor
between classes,
nor
between political parties either –
but
right through every human heart –
and
through all human hearts.
This
line shifts.
Inside
us, it oscillates with the years.
And
even within hearts overwhelmed by evil,
one
small bridgehead of good is retained.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn” in Gulag Archipelago[ii]
Alexander Solzhenitsyn” in Gulag Archipelago[ii]
I suggest that
within hearts overwhelmed by good, one small bridgehead of evil remains.
I wonder:
·
In
what ways do we resist the reign of God amongst us?
·
In
what ways do we participate in structural evil?
·
What
policies of government and business do we benefit from that disadvantages others?
The Magi went
back home by another road.
When we meet
Jesus, are we compelled to live differently?
Just
as we heard in the video from the Moderator[iii],
God took a big risk coming in Jesus. Life is risky.
I know
sometimes it seems like there is a lot of talk about safety processes and risk
assessment in the church; and I know some people find that frustrating.
Life is inherently
risky. We do what we can to alleviate risk, but the unexpected can still
happen. Like when I stepped out the back door one day, as I do most days, and my
ankle twisted and broke.
It is
important that we have buildings that are well maintained and fit for use by a variety
of people. Life is risky, so we do what we can to moderate those risks. Just as
we have total fire bans on days of high fire danger.
But there is
another type of risk,
risk that says
I will become human
risk that
says i will follow a star,
or
a dream,
or
the message of an angel.
Risk that
says yes to God
yes to being
the odd one out
yes to allowing
the Holy Spirit to work in and through you.
are you
willing to risk looking in the manger?
to risk going
home a different way.
are you
willing to risk living the way of God?
the way of
peace, love, joy and hope?
Do you resist or risk the reign of God
in your life and in the world?
[i]
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-summer-from-hell-how-the-fire-season-has-unfolded-20200103-p53onh.html
[ii]
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/450864-the-line-separating-good-and-evil-passes-not-through-states
[iii]
https://vimeo.com/378954594
