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The Second Sunday after Christmas, 2005
January 2, 2005
Christ Church, Covington
“Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to
Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. (Matt. 2:14-15).
“Foreign intervention” and “military occupation”: that is, the world of
“foreign intervention” and “military occupation” into which Jesus was
born. The Roman Imperial power came early to Palestine, in the person of
General Pompey and his army. Their “intervention” in Jewish politics began
with the siege of the Temple and the slaughter of its defenders, bringing
an ironic sort of peace to the sacred precincts of Judaism. A number of
years later, it was the “Ironclad” and “Gallica” legions, battle hardened
troops from the Roman borderlands, that ruthlessly installed King Herod as
their puppet on the Judean throne. Armed revolt against this regime was
constant, as the intervention and occupation were inimical to the Jews,
people who were uninterested in the supposed “benefits” of Roman culture.
The legions returned again and again from the Mesopotamian front to
suppress the revolts, which never ceased. In the end, the only solution
was to raze Jerusalem and kill or expel the inhabitants. All of which is
by way of saying that the context of Jesus’ life, from its beginning to
its very end, was the “meat grinder” of foreign intervention and military
occupation, in the hands of some pretty ruthless people.
So what does this world look like? It’s dangerous, no doubt about it.
Guilty and innocent people are tortured or put to death in this world, by
other very well-intentioned people, sometimes acting under orders. Just
think about Jesus’ crucifixion. In the world of foreign intervention and
military occupation, everyone is in danger as selfish people pursue their
own goals: just look at Herod’s massacre of the children of Bethlehem.
This world is inherently unstable and anxious, with goods and services
disrupted by combat, refugees fleeing, and the burden of economic ups and
downs. Remember that in our Gospel today Mary and Joseph are represented
as refugees, and that the Christmas story itself began with a Roman tax,
no doubt meant to pay for troops.
It is this world that the Christian Gospel addresses, a world of danger,
instability, and anxiety. Events like these may not be happening in our
neighborhoods (thank God), but they are not too far off from us, and we
know what they are like. They are part of the world we live in, the world
of sin.
The Gospel poses a counter-world, something different. What does that
world look like? Peace, to begin with; not just the absence of conflict
(that would be blessing enough) but the peace of mutual agreement and
complete transparency of purpose. St Augustine once wrote that in heaven,
the hearts and minds of all are open to all: a fairly challenging
standard, if you think of it. Our society couldn’t function that way,
which is pretty much the point. Love, of course; a willingness to give to
others rather than to take from them. It’s love that manages to transform
actions like the crucifixion and make them into an act of self-offering
for others. Then there is everlasting joy or delight, which is something
more than desire, because it is secured by the promise of God. No
instability or anxiety is conceivable there.
Now the key point: this world of the Gospel, this counter-world, is also
(again, thank God) part of the world we live in. It is fantastic, but we
can imagine it. We see flashes of peace, love, and everlasting joy all the
time. We see them in some simple things, like a child being born or people
gathering in safety. We see them in some profound things, like the heroic
actions of a family that refuses to die or of the man who offers himself
on the cross. All these are a part of our world, too. So where will we
give our loyalty? That’s the great question, this year and every year.
There is every indication that we are mightily tempted by the one, yet
that we were made for the other. Part of our job this year is to find
those glimmers of peace, love, and everlasting joy, and cultivate them, so
that this fantastic possibility becomes the reality we inhabit.
The Rev’d John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church, Covington.
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