Christmas Calls Us Home

Now, today’s scripture does talk about homecoming, but there are difficult things before we get there. It’s disturbing really, the day after Christmas and we are talking about King Herod killing babies and Joseph, Mary and Jesus having to flee in the middle of the night and hide in Egypt. We have all the ingredients of a blockbuster movie…A frightened family, some tricky wisemen, and a crazy ruler bent on revenge. And, for their own safety, God sends Joseph and the family to Egypt to hide from the crazy Herod until the family could return to the place they would call home. Mixed into this season of joy and hope is this story which points us to the very humanity of Jesus and his family. Amidst the tinsel and the wrapping paper we are reminded that there are still Herods in the world and that we still seek refuge in our own Egypts. But, we are also reminded that we are also called to return home and that each of us are given homecomings in our own ways.

We have our own Herods.
We have our own Egypts.
We have our own homecomings.

We have our own Herods. There are people in our world to day who are like Herod was. Herod was a nasty nasty man. He was bad to the bone, evil to the core, the essence of ugliness. This was a man who had his OWN children killed so that they couldn’t take the throne from him. This was a man who upon his own death ordered one member of every family killed so that the nation would truly mourn. It should come as no surprise that he wanted any threat to his reign killed, especially one already touted as “king” of the Jews. Unfortunately, the reign of “herods” in the world did not end with the death of Herod the great. There are people who are so obsessed with power that they will kill or hurt anyone who gets in the way. Aside from the Sadaam Hussein’s and Osama Bin Ladens, there are Herods of smaller degree who do just as much damage. There are people who mishandle money to the detriment of their employees. There are people who abuse others either mentally or physically. There are people who think only of themselves and care nothing for the lives or affairs of others. There are the Herod’s in our own lives…the people or things in our lives that hurt us. These are the people that hurt our feelings intentionally and often, those who lie to us or cheat to us. They are the ones who make our lives just a little bit harder to lead. They are our Herods. And worst of all, there are moments when we ourselves are like Herod. There are the times when we think of ourselves first and others second. There are times when we hurt other people intentionally or unintentionally so that our own goals are met. There are times when the words from our mouths or the decisions we make cause strife in the lives of others. Yes, there are still Herods in our world. We have our own Herods and sometimes we ourselves are Herod.

We have our own Egypts. We have our place of refuge where we hide from the dangers the world presents us. We have the places where we wait in exile. The first time we learn of Egypt in the bible it is because Jacob and his family find refuge there during the famine. Now, eventually the situation would change and the Israelites would become slaves need liberation at the hand of God and Moses, but in the beginning Egypt was a place of refuge. It was a place where Israel was fed and cared for and protected from the famine. Egypt would again prove refuge, this time for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. Imagine, a few days after the birth of your child being told that your lives are no longer safe. Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes for just a second… Imagine first, being told your girlfriend is pregnant and knowing the baby isn’t yours, but being told by an angel that you are to be a father to the child. Then, you travel hundreds of miles…you walking, your very pregnant wife riding a donkey. Then, when she is ready to give birth having to watch the child born in a stable because no one had room for you. Then all these people show up at the birth…shepherds, angels, wise men. And after all of that, you get told…pack up there’s a crazy king who wants to kill your child, you’d better move. Can you imagine the fear? The parental instinct kicks in and you pack everything up and head to Egypt. There in Egypt they were safe. They found refuge, but they couldn’t stay hidden forever. We too find our places of refuge. The places and people that are safe for us. The places we go to heal when we are hurting. The places we go when we just need to hide from the world for a while and find our place in it again. Where is your Egypt? Where is your place of refuge? My place of refuge is St. Meinrad’s archabby near Jasper Indiana. Its one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. It is peaceful there and I get very poor cell phone reception so I’m not tempted to spend time on the phone. Each visit to St. Meinrad gives me a place of rest and respite. It is my Egypt, my place of refuge. I have other places of refuge…standing on top of a ski slope, the vespers area at Wakondaho, all of these places have the same effect. These are my places of refuge. We all need our places of refuge—our own Egypts.

We have our own homecomings. Eventually we must leave our places of refuge and come home. Sometimes we get to come back to what we know as home, other times we go to what will become home, and still other times we return to someplace we once called home. In today’s scripture, an angel appears to Joseph and lets him know that it is now safe for him to take Mary and Jesus back home. But instead of going to back to Judea or returning to Bethlehem, Joseph takes the family and makes a home in Nazareth. Joseph was told it was safe to leave Egypt and was told where it was safe for him to take Mary and Jesus. He had a reason to leave his Egypt and he had a plan for making a home. But what defines home? What does it mean? Close your eyes for a moment. When I say the word Home….what do you picture? Some of you likely pictured the home you grew up in, or perhaps a warm kitchen, or maybe even a church. Others may have pictured the place they live now, or a particular person. For me, to truly be “home” I must be curled up in the big bed under the flannel quilt and fluffy feather duvet, cuddling with my husband Kevin and our two cats. For me, moments like that are when I feel truly home. Home is other places for me too… home is this church, home is the soda fountain at Dad’s drugstore, and home is Lexington Theological Seminary. I’ve made new homes for myself as I have grown older, but the old ones don’t dim in importance to me. I’m sure it is the same for you, and I’m sure it was the same for Joseph and Mary. They had places they called “home,” but when they were told to leave Egypt, they created a new home for themselves and their new family. They MADE a home. They MADE a home. What does it mean to make a home? What is it about those places that we call home that makes them so? I think, its comfort and warmth, but I also think its love. We make a place or a person our home when we love. And make no doubt of it, Mary and Joseph loved Jesus very much and their love for him created a home in which he would learn and love and grow into the man who would offer himself upon the cross.

We aren’t just called to come home. We are called to BE home, to CREATE home, to MAKE home for ourselves and others. We are called to create that feeling of love and safety for others who might not have it in what we would think of as normal places. We are called to provide environments where children can learn and love and grow into strong confident adults. We are called to be a home for families, for refugees, for the homeless of all kinds. We have been called to make a home, and like Joseph we must find a way to answer that call. We have been called here. We are having our homecoming. Welcome Home.