Back to Real Life. Matthew 2:13-23. 12/29/24.

Back to Real Life

Matthew 2:13-23

Chapel Jan 29,24

Rev. Dr. Scott Moncrieff

It’s hard not to feel a little let down on the day after Christmas.

A few days after Christmas one year Presbyterian pastor Jon M. Walton was noticing that all the Christmas decorations at one of the local pharmacies had been removed. These decorations already had been replaced with Valentine’s Day trinkets and cards. Red boxes of candy, teddy bears with big hearts on them, red candles for romantic lighting.    

The clerk behind the counter was complaining to another of her co‑workers, “I hate Valentine’s Day,” she said. “I never have a boyfriend, and I hate Valentine’s Day.”

Then Walton goes on to comment with these words, “Nothing is as over as Christmas when it’s over. The empty boxes, the pretty paper on the floor, the stray tinsel from the tree with which the cat had played and left abandoned on the sofa, the empty cartons of eggnog stuffed into the trash bag. Life has come back to normal, whatever “normal” is, and it means that the diversion of the past few weeks, the frenzy and fuss, the lights and glitter are packed away once again like the star at the top of the tree; taken down and carefully wrapped, padded and protected in its box. And what is left? Wars all over the world, homeless people sleeping in tents on San Francisco streets, rising prices, worries about health, kids and jobs. We’re back to where we left off before the holidays.

Here we are just five days away from celebrating Christ’s birth.  But there is the inevitable letdown. So much was packed into the four weeks of Advent. We can talk about keeping Christmas all year long, but who could handle it? We don’t want overcrowded malls all year. And who could maintain the pace of eating? In fact, many of us are already planning our diets to begin January 2.

Actually, we need a little respite from all the busyness, don’t we? Mary and Joseph weren’t allowed to reside permanently in Bethlehem and neither can we. It’s back to the real world.  

You know what happened to Mary and Joseph and the babe after Christ’s birth?   After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So, Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod.

As Pastor Rhonda told us on Christmas Eve, the holy family left just in time -- for when Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old or younger. Such was the cruelty of the king of Judea.

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So, Joseph got up, took Mary and the child and went to the land of Israel as he was told. But when he heard that Arch e la us was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, Joseph withdrew to the district of Galilee. And there he raised his family in a town called Nazareth.

We complain because we have to go back to the real world after Christmas, but our world does not compare to the world of this young family whom we have been celebrating these past four weeks. They lived in a world where a cruel tyrant could order all infants and toddlers to be put to death. They lived in a world where there were no jets to take them comfortably down to Egypt. The back of a donkey would have to suffice, or perhaps they made the journey on foot. Whatever the means of transportation, it was a hard, tiring journey. They lived in a world where, even after Herod’s death, they could not be certain they would be safe. Herod’s sons were as cruel as he.

So, Christmas is over. Where does that leave us? Over the weeks of Advent, we celebrated the prophecies of Isaiah. When the Messiah comes, Isaiah said, the world will have light and love and peace and joy. The faithful will sing in delight, for Immanuel, God with us, will be born. And he was born. And the world was forever changed. But what now? Where is all the light, love, peace and joy now that Christmas is over?

As we saw the first Sunday in Advent, the kingdom of God only established a foothold at the birth of Christ. The manger was just the beginning of God’s plan. There is much still to be done. The babe must become a man. He must teach us his ways. Then we must teach the world. Then in the fullness of God’s time, the age of the Messiah will be ushered in. What are we to do in the meantime?

We do what Joseph did during those dark days following Christ’s birth. First of all, we trust God. When Joseph was warned in a dream to run from Herod’s anger, he acted quickly. Joseph trusted God then just as he trusted God when the angel told him that the child within Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This was the kind of man Joseph was. He was a person of character who trusted God. When God spoke, he obeyed.

Ray Pritchard tells of visiting a graveyard with his brother in a rural area near Florence, Alabama.  He says they drove along a remote country road and finally stopped near the ruins of an antebellum plantation. They got out and walked into the forest about a quarter of a mile. There they found the family cemetery for the owners of the 19th-century plantation. They climbed over a low wall and began inspecting the gravestones, most of them 150 years old. Most of the markers contained phrases like, “Loving father,” “Beloved mother,” “Darling son,” “Rest in Peace,” “Asleep in Jesus,” and so on. Eventually they came to the grave of the man who had owned the plantation for many years. Under his name there was the date of his birth and the date of his death. Then there was a five-word statement that summed up his whole life: “A man of unquestioned integrity.” Just five words. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Those words could have been written on Joseph’s grave. “A person of unquestioned integrity.”

So, when an angel came and told him to take Mary and the child and to flee into Egypt, Matthew tells us, “Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt . . .”

That was Joseph. A man of integrity. Do you think it might make a difference if all the people who call Jesus Lord had that kind of integrity, that kind of complete trust in God’s will and God’s way? My guess is that it would change the world overnight. The first thing we need to do after Christmas is to keep trusting God.

The second thing we need to do is to take care of those we love. That was Joseph’s primary concern. He loved Mary and he loved their son Jesus, and he was committed to doing whatever was necessary to keep them safe and to provide for them--not only to provide for them materially, but emotionally and spiritually. That is what we do when Christmas has passed. We keep trusting God and we take care of those we love--not only materially, but emotionally and spiritually. We love them, listen to them, encourage them. We understand that they are God’s gift to us, and we treat them with love and dignity.

Jesse Jackson tells the story of a visit he made to the University of Southern Mississippi. While touring the campus with the university president, he saw a towering male student, six‑feet, eight‑inches tall, holding hands with a fidgety coed barely three‑feet tall. What a contrast, six‑feet, eight-inches tall and only three‑feet tall. His curiosity piqued, Jackson watched as the young man, dressed in a warm‑up suit, tenderly kissed the tiny coed on the head and sent her off to class.

The president said that the one student was a star basketball player. Both parents had passed away when he was a teenager, and he made a vow to look after his sister. Many scholarships came his way, but only Southern Mississippi offered one to his sister as well.

Jackson went over to the basketball star, introduced himself, and said he appreciated the way he was looking out for his sister. The athlete shrugged and said, “Those of us who God makes six‑eight have to look out for those he makes three‑three.” Don’t you wish every young person could have that kind of love for his or her siblings? We are to live lives of faith and look out for those we love.

And that brings us to the last thing. What do we do when Christmas has passed? We remember the world to whom Christ came and for which he died.

Why did Christ come into the world? One reason and one reason alone: Because “God so loved the world.” That’s it. Christmas is centered on love. We want to keep the Christmas spirit all year long, because the Christmas spirit consists of loving our neighbor and loving God not just one day of the year, but all the year round.

One more thing – a true story.

A man was walking down a dimly lit street late one evening when he heard muffled screams coming from behind a clump of bushes. “Alarmed, he slowed down to listen and panicked when he realized that what he was hearing was the unmistakable sounds of a struggle--heavy grunting, frantic scuffling, and tearing of fabric.

“Only yards from where he stood, a woman was being attacked. He froze in his steps, hardly daring to breathe lest the attacker should notice his presence. But then a strange thought occurred to him: Should he get involved?

“Frightened for his own safety, he cursed himself for having suddenly decided to take a new route home that night. He had family responsibilities; what if he became another statistic? He instantly had the urge to run to a safe place and use his cell phone to call the police. But he could hear the struggle becoming more desperate.

“An eternity seemed to pass as he argued with himself. The deliberations in his head had taken only seconds, but already the girl’s cries were growing weaker. He had to decide--and fast. How could he sleep at night if he walked away from this?

“So, he finally resolved that he could not turn his back on the fate of this unknown woman, even if it meant risking his life.

“Known neither for his bravery nor for his athletic abilities, he summoned up all the moral courage and physical strength he could muster. And once he had finally determined to help the girl, he became strangely transformed. He ran behind the bushes and pulled the assailant off the woman and wrestled with the attacker for a few minutes until the man fled. “Panting hard, he scrambled upright and approached the girl, who was crouched behind a tree, sobbing. In the darkness, he could barely see her outline, but he could certainly sense her trembling shock. Not wanting to frighten her further, he first spoke to her from a distance. ‘It’s okay,’ he said soothingly. ‘The man ran away. You’re safe now.’

“There was a long pause, and then he heard these words, uttered in wonder, in amaze­ment. ‘Daddy, is that you?’ Out from behind the tree stepped his youngest daughter.”

What if he had passed by that night? What if he had decided not to get involved? What I want to say to you on this Sunday after Christmas is this: We will only have the true spirit of Christmas when we understand that every child on this earth is ultimately our son, our daughter, our brother, our sister. It’s good that we take care of those we love. However, as people of faith, the babe in Bethlehem’s manger calls us to expand those borders, to understand that the good of every person on this earth is our concern.

So, Christmas is over, but living for Jesus may just be getting started for some of us.

1. Trust God.

2. Take care of those you love.

3. Expand your love to all for whom God sent His son into the world.

Praise be to God.  Amen.