Sunday after Nativity 2024

We continue our wonderful Christmas celebration

here in church. I hope that you have been able

to continue and celebrate at home. But here in

church, the church sets before us like it has

for the last two weeks. Family members. Two weeks

ago, the ancestors of Christ by faith and by

blood. Forebears of the Virgin Mary. Forebears

of Joseph, his foster father. Last Sunday, the

same thing, except these were forebears by blood.

And today we celebrate the righteous Joseph,

the betrothed. David, the king and prophet. And

James, the brother of the Lord, in our liturgical

books, he's called the brother of God. He's the

son of Joseph. By Joseph's previous marriage,

his wife had died. So, yes, Christmas is about

family, for sure. But it's not about our family

celebrations. It's about the Lord's family and

our integration into that, becoming... members

of his family which is why we heard that wonderful

and brief epistle on christmas when the fullness

of time had come god sent forth his son born

of a woman born under the law and we saint paul

is telling us that we have also become children

of the father so two weeks ago and last week

that list of ancestors, some were righteous,

most were rather wicked, but today we get to

the top three. The most holy of them, Joseph,

David, and James. And it's important for us that

we use them, we see them, we are inspired by

them in our lives, because the Christian life

if it doesn't have inspiration, if we don't have

models to follow, if we don't understand that

there will be a struggle to us, for us, and with

us, and in us, then it's not Christianity. It's

something different. And my point is this. We

heard the gospel you heard today. This is the

third time in a week. We heard that gospel the

third time in a week. Why is that? Well, let's

briefly go over this chapter 2, verse 13 through

23. The birth has occurred. And the wise men,

the Magi, have departed. They went back to where

they came from. And that's a mysterious thing.

Someday we'll talk about that. And Joseph is

given a vision by an angel. Notice Joseph, this

is his second one. He's got another one after

that. And the angel says, arise, take the young

child and his mother. He doesn't say take your

child and your wife. That's because Joseph is

the foster father. He is the caretaker, the protector.

He is not the father of Jesus. Take them. and

flee into Egypt. So, by night, how long after

the birth, I don't know. Scholars can tell you.

In the night, when it's quiet, Joseph takes the

holy ones with James, his son, and they leave

secretly. They don't tell anyone. None of the

neighbors know. And he takes the child, and he

flees there. And as St. Matthew says, this is

in prophecy. This is in fulfillment of that verse.

Out of Egypt have I called my son. In the meantime,

what's happening? King Herod, who is not a legitimate

Jewish king. He is not in the line of descendants

of David. He doesn't keep the Torah, the law.

He's not religious in any way, as we know from

why he killed St. John the Baptist. In any case,

the Magi did not come back to him to tell him

where the young child was. And he was, it says

here, exceedingly angry, or as you heard in the

King James, exceeding wroth, which has some bite

to it. And he sent soldiers. To all the villages.

And 14 ,000 children in his hunt and his envy

and his fear of a king that is true. He killed

14 ,000 children. Today, the 29th of December,

is the day we remember the 14 ,000. Well, let's

not forget. Kings in ancient times. Caesars killing

millions of people. They came home with laurels

and congratulations and victories and games.

This was accounted to them as something great.

We don't do much better. Over a million children

were aborted just in 2023. In this country alone.

So say what you want about Herod. We're not doing

much better. And then an angel comes to Joseph

again and says, Arise, take the young child and

his mother, exact words, and come back. Now why

do we hear this three times? To me, I could be

wrong, it's my opinion. We hear this three times

to tell us that jesus christ will disturb and

destroy all that is wicked and evil he will mess

up your life if you don't give it to him willingly

or you only give it to him partially listen what

father alexander schmemann has to say about christmas

day he says fear Destruction, hatred, evil, exactly

what Herod did, are the very life to which we

are condemned. Yet this is exactly the awareness,

the image of life that is found in the Gospels.

Christ comes to a people who are sitting in darkness

and in the shadow of death. This is the first

definition of the human condition in the Gospels.

The joy of Christmas night is immediately black

and Herod wants to kill the child and for this

he murders a multitude of children. Now, writes

the evangelist Matthew, quoting the Old Testament,

a voice is heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses

to be consoled because they are no more. To the

Christians of Ephesus, St. Ignatius, the martyr,

the God -bearer, wrote this. He says, the power

of magic in the birth of Christ, the coming of

God in the flesh, all that is dissolved. Every

bond of wickedness is vanishing. Ignorance is

being abolished. The old kingdom is being destroyed.

God was becoming manifest as a man for the newness

of eternal life for us. What had been prepared

by God all those generations had its beginning.

Hence, everything was shaken together for the

abolition of death. Was being planned. That's

Christmas brothers and sisters. Yes it's joyful.

But it's also the challenge to the world. And

it's a challenge to us to live as Christians.

The king is born. The king of kings has come

to the earth. He's not just a little baby. He's

not just the reason for the season. He is not

just or merely the gentle Savior. Yes, he is

meek and mild and full of love. And he says,

come unto me, all you that labor. I will give

you rest. My burden is easy. My yoke is light.

He is also the one who is the conquering king

with a rear action. Against the devil. Meaning

he descends into death itself. He's marching

with his armies. The angels. The hosts of heaven.

The righteous. The martyrs. The saints. The 14

,000 children. David the king. James his brother.

Joseph. his foster father he is invading the

old kingdom he is declaring war on the old kingdom

as saint ignatius says magic ignorance wickedness

being dissolved yes they still exist but not

in you for god has saved us you have been enlightened

all that ignorance and hatred and and sinfulness

is laid to rest it's forgiven Every old stone

is pulled down. The kingdoms of the world are

falling down, according to the prophet Daniel.

For the abolition of death, says St. Ignatius

again, has been planned. Because here, in this

feast, the enemy is confronted. Is it Herod?

Jesus didn't preach against the other Herod.

Is it Caesar? Jesus never preached against the

inhumanity and injustice of the Roman Empire.

No, the battle has begun. Nothing is ever going

to be the same, but the enemy, the last enemy,

is death. St. Paul says in Corinthians, the last

enemy that will be destroyed is death. This is

why... are rejoicing on Christmas, and those

Christmas carols and the hymns we sing, that's

what they're telling us. But we kind of, we can

reduce Christmas to just a family event. Let

it change everything. Be Christian on purpose.

To our Lord be glory, honor, and worship now

and ever, two ages of ages. Amen.