Sunday After Christmas – The Love of God in a Hostile World

Sunday After Christmas – The Love of God in a Hostile World – Reflection on Matthew 2:13-23

Today’s Gospel in the Eastern Church is from Matthew. It’s the story of Herod the Great killing the young male children after the birth of the Messiah (Matthew 2:13-23). Herod afraid of losing his worldly power and discerning that he has been tricked by the Wise Men, seeks to “destroy” the new born King. This shows us that from the very beginning, God’s greatest sign of his love for us, the gift of his only begotten Son, was meet with hostility and the fear of losing one’s way or status in the world.

Herod had a nice position as King of Judea. Yes, he was a puppet for the imperial government in Rome, but he did have his special prominence in the world and enough power to make himself important. Rome needed people like Herod to help keep the Jews of the day in line, and he was more than willing to help. So, when a person like Herod hears the news that another “King of the Jews” has been born, what is his first move going to be? Indeed, try to remove this new challenge or obstacle to his rule, to his power. It is truly amazing that the mighty Herod the Great would be so afraid of this new born baby, and should lead him to go to such extreme measures. But, then again it is in our human nature to remove whatever sort of problem might be in our way. Even for Herod, a new born King.

One key aspect of this Gospel and I think most important for us today, is Herod’s pursuit for power at any cost. We look out at our world and see this everywhere we go. No, it may not be as dark and visible as the means that Herod took, but still serving the same purpose. This power has become, the power of the individual, to do what I want and when I want to. No God or Church is going to tell me otherwise. Yes, I may still go to church and believe in some sort of a god, but that is where it stops, I do not conform or transform my life around this god. No, I make my god what I desire it to be. This allows me the power to be my own individual, my own man. Look at how some people pick and choose what teaching of the Church they are going to live in their lives. Not matter if it is not going to Church on Sunday, practicing artificial birth control, or unmarried cohabitation, this all steams from the same pursuit of individual power and a so-called freedom of self. And yes, that list could be much longer, with issues like gossiping and being heartless, but I think we all get the point. (See Romans 1:28-32)

This may seem an extreme jump to make, but when we look at a world that is becoming more and more hostile to God and has lost its basic understanding of what true love is, then maybe we do need this type of picture painted. This Gospel passage from Matthew and the effects of power in our world causes me think about a short passage from George Orwell’s 1984, there the main character is talking with one of the chiefs in the ruling government of the day. The Party agent is describing how the desire for “power” works, “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness; only power, pure power.” This should give us something to think about, to get our minds around. How do we as a Church get people back from living this sort of a life, to one that is Christ centered, not self-centered. A life that at its very heart is focused on the love of God and others.

Now today’s Gospel is not all doom and gloom, we have the humble figure of Joseph. We are told that he gives up his status in Nazareth, where he more than likely had a carpentry business of some kind. He then flees to Egypt in order to save Mary and Jesus and stays there two years. He does the complete opposite of what Herod does, giving up self, making a decision based on faith, not power. Trusting the God of creation and then putting that trust into action. He saw beyond himself, beyond the individual, he understood that he was a person, a family man. Someone in communion with God and others. This is the answer to the problem that confronts us, the problem of self over God. It is the basic understanding that God created persons, not individuals. People in communion with others not themselves. That is why we call the Trinity, three Persons, not three individuals. They do nothing on their own account, but always out of love for the others. As our Lord himself says, “I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 5:30)

We should all look at ourselves, stand back and see where the issues are. Ask God, “where am I putting myself before you and others?” Let us take the time in prayer that God may answer us back. This might be a first place to begin for many of us, challenging ourselves by giving God some of my “me time”. We are all called through our baptism to put off our own power and service of self, like Joseph did, and to become the faithful people in action that God wants us to be. Not out of the purist of power, but purely out of the power of love! The same love that sent the Son of God into the world, should be at work in each one of us.