CHRISTMAS IN THE FACE OF DEATH AND LOSS

When the presents have been opened and the kids are exhausted and the food has dwindled down to a handful of snacks, there’s a sense in which the party is over. People have been fed, songs have been sung, gifts have been exchanged,and the kids are tired. Our Christmas gathering has come and gone for another year... but Immanuel isn't going anywhere! Immanuel means "God with us" and that is forever true. Immanuel is always with us, not only when we open gifts, but when we gather the crumbled paper they were wrapped in. God is with us when we can hardly contain our excitement and God is with us when we can't hide our tears. God is with us when it seems like everybody loves us, and God is with us when we're sure that no one has ever loved us. Christmas is a day when we celebrate the arrival of our Savior- the day when Christ showed up in Bethlehem- but Jesus never leaves!Christmas is knowing that God is with us and it's trusting that God will comfort us, carry us, applaud for us, cry with us, forgive us, direct us, and provide for us… no matter what. It is knowing that God-with-us is enough- and this is a very powerful thing because the world can be a very bad place. According to Matthew, Joseph and Mary moved into a home in Bethlehem after Jesus was born, and they were visited by magi from Persia when their son was 1-2 years old. It was a grand occasion when the magi called because they worshiped Jesus as a King and presented their gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense. It was a fitting tribute, but King Herod was not amused. In his view there was only room for one king in Israel and, since the magi did not returned to tell him where Jesus was, he decided to murder all of the boys in and around Bethlehem who were 2 years old and younger. Which he did, and Jesus would have been one of his victims, except that an angel warned Joseph to take his family and flee to Egypt. When Herod died in 4BC, Joseph was told to go back to Israel and with Mary and Jesus in toll, and he did just that, except that he went to Nazareth instead of Judea because he had been warned by an angel. In the 2nd chapter of the book that bears his name, Matthew tells a story about a mad king, angels, faithful parents, and a God who would not be denied. It is a touching story that elicits many thoughts and feelings within me: 1) Evil men (and women) will do anything to retain power and Herod was an evil man… who murdered opponents, friends, family, and innocents whenever it served his purpose! He was also manipulative and flattering at times, but he was more than capable of killing the babies around Bethlehem,just to ease his mind; 2)Innocent and vulnerable people, including children, always pay the price for our sins, prejudices, and insecurity. Innocent people were murdered just because of who they were in Bethlehem at that time, just as they were murdered in Auschwitz and Buchenwald at another time; and just because they had attended a Bible Study in a Charleston church in 2015; and every single day from street and domestic violence. Rachel has been weeping forever and if you want to pray for someone today, pray for her as she buries her children; 3)God with us does not means that we will never stumble and fall, run into a dead-end, be attacked and abandoned, or lose loved ones. Indeed, as one of my teachers noted, Immanuel deliberately takes our fears, threats, and brokenness on. Christmas endures in spite of sin, evil, and slaughter… because Immanuel isn’t ever going to let us go;4)There’s a young woman in Iowa who lost her son just before Christmas a year or so ago, but instead of shaking her fist and cursing at the night, she spoke words of faith and honest pain. She hasn't denied her broken heart, but her faith did not rest upon everything going her way! It rests on the great truth that God is with her (Immanuel). And so it was in Bethlehem. Sheep. Shepherds. A stable, a manger, a baby, a donkey, a little house, astrologers who were wise enough to worship their King, gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, dreams, death, laughter, and tears. They were all part of Christmas then and they are part of Christmas now. That’s just the way life is. It is part of the Christmas story. Thank God for Christmas. Thank God for coming down here and facing the pain and evil that we face. Thank God for walking with us, for seeing and experiencing us when we are scared, proud, silly, or in love. Thank God for setting his face to Jerusalem and for crying over people like us. Thank God for persevering in the face of Herod, Caiaphas, Pilate, and a hill called "Golgotha." Thank God that Christmas doesn’t come when we put up our lights and go when we take the tree down. Thank God for being with us in good times and bad. Immanuel: may we trust in this! Amen.