Second Sunday after Christmas: The Holy Immigrant Family

Today's Scripture Readings

Jeremiah 31:7-14 (NRSV)

Thus says the LORD:

Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

"Save, O LORD, your people,

the remnant of Israel."

See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,

and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

among them the blind and the lame, those with child and

those in labor, together;

a great company, they shall return here.

With weeping they shall come,

and with consolations I will lead them back,

I will let them walk by brooks of water,

in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;

for I have become a father to Israel,

and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,

and declare it in the coastlands far away;

say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him,

and will keep him as a shepherd a flock."

For the LORD has ransomed Jacob,

and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,

over the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and over the young of the flock and the herd;

their life shall become like a watered garden,

and they shall never languish again.

Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old shall be merry.

I will turn their mourning into joy,

I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

I will give the priests their fill of fatness,

and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,

says the LORD.

Psalm 84 (BCP., p.707)


Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a (NRSV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.

Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 (NRSV)

Now after the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly 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 seeking the child's life are dead." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."

Blog Reflection

I love paintings, windows and objects that depict what the Bible reads.  I especially love Nativity scenes this time of the year.  The image above in this blog post is lovely as it shows us an image of Jesus, Mary and Joseph fleeing into Egypt.  Giving us a visual idea of what took place in our Gospel Reading from Matthew.

However, there is one thing that is disturbing about all of these images.  Despite their artistic beauty and spiritual inspiration, they give us a false image.  The Holy Family was not from a Caucasian, Christian or wealthy family.  They were of a middle eastern, poor and Jewish family.  They did not set sail form England to look for the new world that the first Pilgrims found.  They journeyed from Bethlehem to Egypt to escape Herod's slaughter of the Holy Innocents.  The Holy Family was an immigrant family that visited Egypt.

In this Christmastide, we have been celebrating the coming of Christ in the Word made Flesh.  Jesus was born into our world of injustice and separation.  Our God who made everything, needed the help of his human family to escape a coming massacre.  Was God still there, or did God choose the easy way out?

One thing that I get from this Gospel story, is that regardless of our place of origin; all of us are visitors who are just passing through.  God came to us in the Word through whom everything that was made.  In Jesus, was God's very thoughts about who each of us is; perfectly made and spoken into existence.  The Church has proclaimed this Word on every continent, nation and corner of the Earth.  As God's Incarnate Word is not limited to any place or time in God's Divinity, so God is always present in every person created in the image of the Holy Trinity.  In our poverty of spirit and understanding of ourselves and others, God fills us with the awesome vision of God's Self embedded in the diversity of all persons with dignity and full of possibility.

We Christians must recommit ourselves to ending the racism, sexism, heterosexism, gender, religious and social oppression that seeks to make anyone who is different from us, a second class citizen.  In Christ, each of us are the apple of God's eyes, and held deep in the heart of the Incarnate Word.  Enough with the heartless and misguided cries that those coming to America as "illegals" come because they just want "amnesty".  Enough with allowing the wealthy to control our government, immigrations policies, the laws about equality for women, LGBT people, African Americans, Native Americans and more.  Enough with Christians using the Bible and the Holy Name of Jesus Christ as an excuse to ignore what the Gospel is really about; justifying actions and attitudes that are non-existent in the Person of Christ, who is The Word.

As we walk from this Second Sunday after Christmas, to the Manifestation of God in Christ on Tuesday, may we be ready to greet and welcome every person.  May we do our part to help make the Church and society a place where there is inclusive justice and equality in which Jesus will be received, healed and reconciled without exception or excuse.

Amen.


Prayers

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully
restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may
share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share
our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns
with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for the Second Sunday after Christmas.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.214).

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the
earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those
who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people
everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the
nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh;
and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for Mission.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.100).