Deus Misereatur

{Here is the manuscript from the last sermon in the series. The audio file is here . Freely spread around as you see fit. Mike} --- Do You See what I See? Pt 4: Matthew 2.13-23 Do you ever find it interesting when someone tells a story the things they leave out? Most retellings of the so-called “Christmas Story” include the wise men – even though they really don’t arrive for almost 2 years after the birth. But most retellings end there. Yet this episode, which on a rare occasion or two is recited, ought to be included in the story. It’s the darker side – just like at communion, when Paul says, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed   took bread, etc.” (1 Corinthians 11.23). We don’t like rehearsing the darker, drearier side because it brings us down. But as Christians we, of all people, ought to be more daring, real, and courageous than our neighbors. Bringing out the dark side can be a blessing to peop...

“Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more”” (Matthew 2.16-18). So the story goes! Imagine the parents wailing as the gruff soldiers slammed through their doors, cleared the houses, yanking up the frightened infants and startled toddlers from sleeping mats, out of mother’s arms, and away from dirt-floor homes. The crying sounds, blood and carnage spewing through the air, while helpless mothers and fathers are held back at spear point. What despair must have drowned their parental hearts! In a strange way, these infants and...

‎ 28 December is the feast day honoring the death of the holy innocents (the infants and toddlers slaughtered by Herod as he sought to wipe out the child Jesus-Matthew 2.16-18). It is a good day for remembering others (fellow human-beings, as well as Christian brothers and sisters) who have been forced to their deaths because of tyrants, malicious ideologies, evil, abortion, euthanasia and cowardice.   ‎"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 powers, tyrants, and those who take the lives of others unjustly; 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" (adapted and modified from the Book of Common Prayer-1979).