The 12 days of Christmas, made famous by the song, start on December 25 and conclude on January 6. The song came from the persecuted catholic minority in post-reformation England, and was originally a catechism song.
If you were a church historian, you would also know that these days after Christmas are filled with a number of minor church festivals.
For example, Dec 26 was the feast of St. John the Apostle, author of the Gospel of John, 1-3 John, and Revelation.
Dec 27 was the feast of St. Stephen. This festival seems a bit out of place for anyone who gets into the commercialization of Christmas. This was the tragic death of an innocent man, stoned outside the walls of Jerusalem for His faith in Christ.
The 28th was the feast of the Holy Innocents, the children who were murdered by Herod in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus birth. This dark day obviously stands in stark contrast to the bright cheerfulness of Christmas.
Our Savior, Jesus, came because our lives are indeed in need of the very salvation, which He brings to us.
I invite you to pray with me. “0 Lord, speak in this place, in our minds, in our hearts, by the words of my mouth, and in the thoughts we form. Speak, 0 Lord, we, your servants, are listening. Amen.”
A traveler tells about a trip to the Holy Land. While there, he bought a nativity set. It was carved out of olive wood in the town of Bethlehem, and had all the traditional figures, including the various animals, Mary, Joseph, and, of course, the baby Jesus.
As he began the return trip home, he had to go through very strict security at Tel Aviv airport. He didn’t figure that the nativity set would attract any attention, but he was wrong. Each figure was carefully scrutinized, and even X-rayed. The traveler asked why they were being so diligent. The security officer explained it this way, “You see, we must make sure there is nothing explosive in them.”
But the Christmas story is explosive. It’s part of the dynamite of the Gospel. There is power in knowing that almighty God loved us enough to be born into this world, live a perfect life, die for our sins, and then rise from the dead, and give us the promise of eternal life.
Do we generally get caught up in the explosive Christmas story, or do we merely celebrate the festivities of the Christmas season?
For example, “Do we even hear God’s call to discipleship” in our celebrations. I am going to ask you to think about that for the next few minutes.
Some would say that we are on the other side of Christmas for 2019. The gifts are opened, the parties are over, and the Christmas goodies are mostly eaten.
But as a Church, we are still celebrating Christmas. We are not ready to pack it in like the society around us.
Our Church celebrates the 12 days between Christmas Day and what is called the Epiphany, which is the day we celebrate the visit of the Magi, bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the baby Jesus.
Of course, society has been celebrating Christmas all the while we were observing Advent, and now that we’re ready to continue celebrating, they are done. The birthday’s over, so it’s time to pack away the lights and the manger scene for another year.
But a much-sung Christmas carol encourages us to think deeply about the mystery of the Baby in the manger, the mystery of the Word made flesh, the mystery of the Son of God coming into our world … “What Child is This?” (vs. 1-2)
What Child is this who, laid to rest / On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, / While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King, / Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud, / The Babe, the Son of Mary.
Today’s Gospel reading from Matthew, immediately followed the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus. The Magi came, following the star, to seek out the “child who has been born king of the Jews.”
In Matthew 2:2 God tells us what the magi did. They arrived in Jerusalem asking a question. “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” They sought Jesus and they worshipped Him.
Worship means to give honor and glory to someone, who is worthy. But worship is not just something that happens for a short period of time once a week, and is then considered complete.
Worshiping God is something Christians do with their whole heart, their whole mind, and with all their strength … every day. So what is one to do now that Christmas is over for 2019?
Following the example of the magi, we should seek Jesus and worship him. That may sound almost expected for Christians to say, but especially today, worship seems to be radical.
Worship is counter-cultural. In times when people are obsessed with “what do I want?”, “what is good for me?”, “what can I gain?” … giving honor and service to someone else is contrary to what the rest of the world is doing.
But, the child born in Bethlehem is Christ the Lord. He is the promised Messiah and God Himself, come to save us. He is worthy of worship, as the wise men showed.
But that makes Christmas more than just a winter holiday.
The wise men arrived asking, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Seeking and worshiping Jesus is the proper response, not only at Christmas, but every day.
The star led the Magi to Jerusalem, where they went to talk to Herod. He sent them to Bethlehem, but with special instructions to tell him Jesus’ whereabouts, when they located Jesus.
But the Magi were warned in a dream about Herod, so they returned home by another road. When Herod realized that his plan backfired, his anger got the best of him.
He ordered the murder of all the male children in and around Bethlehem, who were two years old or under.
The pure joy of the celebration of the birth of Jesus is suddenly interrupted by the thought of this horrific act of sin. Some historians have estimated that about 24 children were murdered by Herod’s men in the community of Bethlehem when one considers the size of the community.
The death of an estimated 24 innocent children isn’t something we want to associate with the peaceful serenity of the Christmas scene.
But here it is. The Christmas decorations haven’t even come down, and we’re already been reminded of the need for Christ’s birth among us once again.
We would like to sing Christmas carols, drink eggnog, and ignore the fact that the baby in the manger must suffer and die.
But God’s way wasn’t the easy way. Glory must come through a cross. Let us sing … “What Child is This?” (vs. 3-4)
Why lies He in such mean estate, / Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here / The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through, / The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh, / The Babe, the Son of Mary.
Today we hear of Jesus’ being delivered from certain death, saved when an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “…take the child and his mother to Egypt…”
There was another child in Israel with a similar history. Baby Moses was spared from the murder of Israelite infants in Egypt. The Pharaoh feared that the Israelite slaves were getting too numerous, so he decreed, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews must be thrown into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.” (Ex. 1:22)
So, Moses’ mother hid him in a basket in the Nile River, where he was found and taken in by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses was delivered; so that he could save God’s chosen people.
And in a similar way, Jesus was taken to Egypt (ironically enough) for safe keeping, so that He could be the savior of God’s people.
Readers of Matthew’s Gospel would have immediately made the connection between Moses and Jesus since the primary audience of his Gospel was Jewish Christians.
Just as Moses was spared so that he could deliver God’s people, Jesus was also spared so that he could deliver God’s people.
But Jesus life was destined to save more than just the Israelites. Jesus death and resurrection was for all people.
The world though has a difficult time understanding Jesus. They want to celebrate his birth … the happy news with the angel chorus, the animals in the stable, and the shepherd’s rejoicing. But when the suffering of Good Friday rolls around, they seem nowhere to be found.
And what about us? Do we forget about the suffering of our Lord, choosing instead to simply focus on the Christmas decorations and festivities surrounding the holiday?
Are we content to sing hymns and drink our coffee, while forgetting about the suffering that comes with true discipleship?
And then, the questions becomes, “Do we really suffer?” How many of you suffer today because of you publicly profess faith in Jesus Christ? How many? I suspect none of you do.
Maybe you are afraid of being embarrassed or ridiculed, so you don’t even let anyone know you are a confessing Christian. But even if you do, nothing really happens to us in this country.
We might be inconvenienced in some ways … we might be left to feel uncomfortable in some ways …. but none of us really suffer for our faith in Jesus Christ.
First Peter reminds us that suffering will come on account of the Good News … who was born at Christmas.
Peter tells us, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:12-13)
I will never forget the young Centennial High School junior, who refused to recant her faith in Jesus Christ, even with the shooter’s gun pointed at her head … and he eventually pulled the trigger.
When we reach out to the hurting and suffering in the world, we reach out with the hands and feet of Christ. When we give of ourselves so that others may know the peace and love of Christ Jesus, we may experience suffering just as He did.
Today we have Christians dying every day in other parts of our world … Egypt, Syria and Sudan, just to name a few countries. People, who are killed and murdered, just because they believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, who came to save them from sin and death.
You and I do not worry about losing our lives for our faith. We seem to think it is a big deal if someone ridicules us, or tries to embarrass us because of our faith in Jesus. There is a big difference when your life is on the line.
How do you think you would fare trying to worship the Triune God in Egypt or the other Middle East countries today? How would you fare? Would you only try to worship in secret?
Because we are not really persecuted for our very lives, we often don’t remember or discount the words of Peter when he says, “But we need not be discouraged, because we will be blessed in our suffering. “If any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.” (1 Peter 4:16)
Regardless, our suffering does not earn us merit in God’s eyes. It merely indicates to us that we are following God’s path to the Kingdom … that we are being obedient to His will.
Later in His life, Jesus taught the crowds, “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven…” (Matthew 5:11-12)
Can you rejoice and be glad when others around you ridicule and embarrass you for your faith in Jesus? My prayer is that you can learn to rejoice in this type of suffering that we experience in our country, because our Lord promises to be with you in the midst of even that suffering.
A wealthy businessman, who was well known for being ruthless and unethical, told Mark Twain that before he died, he wanted to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He said that when he got there he wanted to climb to the top of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments, and there read the Ten Commandments aloud at the top.
“I have a better idea,” replied Twain, in his typical wit, “You could stay in Boston, and keep them.”
I believe that Jesus would have preferred that He stay in Boston and keep the commandments as well. But we always prefer some great religious experience to the routine of obedience.
We would like some mountaintop emotion rather than actually showing the evidence of a changed life. I have known many people over the years who talked a lot about some spiritual encounter they have had, but never showed much evidence of it, when it came to the way they lived and treated other people.
We can celebrate Christmas, suffering and all, because we believe in the God who triumphs over the suffering of this world, the God who promises that not even death can separate us from Him. And He only asks for obedience to His Word.
So go ahead … celebrate … even when the world is putting away the decorations. Dare to live a life of faith and generosity, even in these uncertain times, and know that your efforts do not go unnoticed as we try to obey God in all that we do.
Christ our King reigns and will reign for all eternity.
Let us sing “What Child is This?” (vs. 5-6)
So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh, / Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of Kings salvation brings, / Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high, / The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born, / The Babe, the Son of Mary.
Jesus’ star still shines to continually call us to discipleship … to continually call us to be a person who walks so close to God that we leave no room for the Devil to come in between. Amen