Matthew 2:13-18 (NRSV)
When the wise men had departed, 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 saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
- "A voice was heard in Ramah,
- wailing and loud lamentation,
- Rachel weeping for her children;
- she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."
Today is one of those commemorations that I wish we did not have to remember. After celebrating the birth of Jesus with such beauty and splendor, why must we pause today to remember that King Herod slaughtered all the male children up to two years old, just because Herod was jealous or afraid of his rule being taken from him by the Christ Child? Because the Gospel story of the Holy Innocents is a reminder that the world in which Jesus was born into is the world we live in, even today. It is not a world where we recognize individual people for who they are, or respect others who are different from ourselves. We are reminded today that despite our best intentions, all of us want to maneuver our way around someone else getting ahead of us. We all have a thirst for power, greed and selfishness that leads to destructive behavior.
Not only is today the commemoration of the Holy Innocents, but it is also the 120th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890.
The Sand Creek Massacre and the Washita Massacre both led to the Wounded Knee Massacre. The Sand Creek Massacre brought the realization that "the soldiers were destroying everything Cheyenne - the land, the buffalo, and the people themselves," and the Washita Massacre added even more genocidal evidence to those facts. The Sand Creek Massacre caused the Cheyenne to put away their old grievances with the Sioux and join them in defending their lives against the U.S. extermination policy. The Washita Massacre did that even more so. After putting the Wounded Knee Massacre briefly into historical perspective, we’ll focus solely on the Wounded Knee Massacre itself for the 120th Anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre.
Also recorded in the Native American Netroots Diary
Black Kettle, his wife, and more than 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho had just been exterminated, and Custer’s 7th was burning the lodges and all their contents, thus stripping them of all survival means. Sheridan would wait until all their dogs had been eaten before "allowing" them into subjugation, then Custer would rape the women hostages in captivity.
As we recall not only one, but two tragedies in human history, we are brought face to face with our own human frailty and need of God's redemptive graces. As we have seen time and again where there is ignorance, there is also fear. Where there is fear that goes uneducated it becomes violence. Violence of any kind is never the will of Almighty God. Not due to religious differences, political diversity or any other reason. God makes very good use of the suffering brought about by violence to bring healing and restoration, but the violence itself is never the will of God.
We would like to believe that there no longer exists the political corruption and maneuvering that killed the Holy Innocents and gave rise to the Wounded Knee Massacre. However a look across the ocean in the Country of Uganda where a bill has been written that if passed will make it the law to imprison or put to death individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning. One of the most dangerous parts of ths bill is it will require teachers, parents, counselor's and pastors/bishops etc to report within 24 hours anyone they know who is a known homosexual or they could face prison time. This too is a nation wide, and religious based bigotry with violence at it's root and goal. The same ignorance that has given rise to the hatred of Indigenous Peoples, is the same bigotry against individuals due to their sexual and gender diversity. Political maneuvering that results in such violence, destroys communities and peoples in ways that are beyond explanation.
The Christian Faith rose out of an age of religious and political violence to share the good news of the salvation of humankind in Jesus Christ. Christianity does not hold a monopoly on the truth. Christianity believes in Jesus Christ who is God's truth, but then again, all truth including a respect for all individuals regardless of their religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression etc, etc, etc is God's truth. There is no person, religion, sexual or gender diversity, culture that exists without God's knowledge or creative activity. In the end, God is the one who will save all human souls. Not Christians. The more we try to hang on to our rule, our domain, the more we will lose.
The Episcopal Church though far from sinless in our history, has been for quite sometime attempting to make peace and to include the Indigenous Community. It is not without amazement that the Episcopal Church has been working on making peace with racial, sexual and gender diversity as well. The work of inclusion is far from finished. It has most likely just begun. Unfortunately, there remain even within our Anglican Communion those who do not wish to make room for diversity. Praying for an open heart and mind is easier than allowing God to actually open them on God's timing.
The birth of Jesus was about God doing a new thing in time. It was about God opening up the closed minds and hearts of those who had already decided how God should act and be. God was not finished with humankind. In Jesus, God sought to teach us new things by the Holy Spirit's power working in Christ. We need to pray for that same openness to the movement of God's Spirit in today's Church and society. So that we may see what is in our hearts and minds and allow God to help and heal us of our own biases and ignorant attitudes and behaviors. May our minds always be open to learning about the beauty of all of the colors of God's beautiful garden in humankind.
We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Holy Innocents, Book of Common Prayer, page 238).
Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Oppressed, Book of Common Prayer, page 826).
Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior. Amen. (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, page 816).
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