Lectionary Notebook for Matthew 2:1-12

Thoughts on the Gospel Reading
2nd Sunday After Christmas, Epiphany, Year A
See TEXT below Matthew 2:1-12


The immediate word that comes to mind when offered the Lectionary Gospel reading for this week is absurd. On the face of this it seems an absurd happening. To think that a bevy of foreign kings would search out this humble peasant family and worship at the feet of a child seems the stuff of fairy tales.

However, St. Matthew brings it to us with straight faced seriousness: "magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?

Where, indeed? Herod must have wondered why his own soothsayers and henchmen had missed the upstart king, and this prophecy-promise about Bethlehem. But we know why. These men of the "baser sort" were after power and lived to keep it. Remember, it was Gibbon who told us in his history of Rome that to the common people all the empire's religions were equally true, and to the intellectuals they were equally false, but to the politicians they were equally useful. Such is the way of the world. Herod and his gang were interested in the spiritual sense of the world only to the extent that they could use it to their own ends. Their feign desire to worship the new king belied a desire for self-worship as idolatry. Ruthless to the end, and in the end they would receive what they deserved.

We could say this differently: Christian believers are foolish to believe that the answers to the problems we face will come from Washington or our state capitals or our community leaders. To tie our fate to this party or that movement causes us to lose our prophetic voice and eventually it forces us to remove the grace of the Gospel from those with whom we differ.

Here the Magi become our teachers. They teach us that true faith is a journey. They teach us that a true searching heart reaches beyond what is known, that true faith involves deep risk, that true faith demands courageous action, and true faith takes into account ones own foibles and weaknesses but embarks anyhow.

And whom do the Magi find at the end of their search? They find the King -- the Son of GOD -- manifest in a toddlers missteps and skinned knees. Did this detour them?  We do not know if they winced when they scrapped the ground with their knees in worship of the child, but I doubt it. Having come so far and having traveled so long they probably were grateful for the end of half the journey, and by this time they may not have been surprised at the doings of this GOD who sent them on this long traverse in the first place. The bumps and bruises of long journeys tend to knock-off the veneer of pride.

There are lessons here for us, the most important of which may be the truth that our search for the Son of GOD is actually arduous and life-long. The wandering Magi confront us with the idea that faith may be simple, but it is never cheap; it may be lightly informed, but it is never without struggle. Said another way, if we think we have arrived and we have all things in this Christian life down, then we deceive ourselves, and this to our own peril. (see Philippians 2:12-13)

Think about this from a different direction. How did Jesus of Nazareth himself respond to his own person? He does not walk around town with a neon "I am God" sign flashing about his neck. Instead, his kingship is quiet and shushed. He is forever forbidding those who claim special knowledge of him from sharing what they think they know; he is forever taking the place of the servant and the least; he is careful in in confrontation of the religious leaders knowing that the time for his mission is limited.

This must be our approach as well. In our search for the manifestation or the epiphany of Jesus as the the Christ we must look inside the subtle cracks of our lives, inside the times of trauma and trial and grief. It is there you will find his handiwork if not his hand; it is there you will discover his strength if not his face.

Matthew 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod, 
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled, 
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, 
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, 
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod called the magi secretly 
and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, 
“Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word, 
that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, 
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star, 
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures 
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, 
they departed for their country by another way.

Lectionary Notebook Matthew 2:13-15; 19-23

Thoughts on the Gospel Reading
1st Sunday After Christmas, Year A
See TEXT below Matthew2:13-15; 19-23

The Lectionary Gospel reading for this 1st Sunday after Christmas almost defies description. A deeply challenging text, it stands as stark testimony to the abusive power of the State, and a parsing statement to the mystery of just who is this GOD we Christians claim to know.

The angel warns Joseph in a dream: “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”

Clearly, the dictator King is concerned for his throne and his dynasty, so when he hears from the Magi that they search for the new king, well, he knows how to act -- with decisive and vicious haste.

Of course, you know the story, the Magi do not tell Herod where to find the new king, so he takes matters into his own hands: "When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men." (Mt.2:16)

What would it take to murder those children? What kind of man could think that soldiering duties included the slaughter of the innocents? Apparently, many.

If anything punctuates the way of the world it is Herod and this atrocity. And, even though it is difficult for us in the West to understand -- being so blessed and sheltered as we are from the rest of the world's reality -- it is none-the-less the truth that men with guns rule most of the world with impunity and brutality.

Thus, St. Matthew would have us to understand that the only way Jesus was saved was by warning. I appreciate N.T. Wright's comments at this point: "The gospel of Jesus the Messiah was born, then, in a land and at a time of trouble, tension, violence and fear. Banish all thoughts of peaceful Christmas scenes. Before the Prince of Peace had learned to walk and talk, he was a homeless refugee with a price on his head."

This brings to mind what has become my favorite Christmas song, "Welcome To Our World," by Chris Rice (to listen go here):

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting

Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home
Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence

Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born
So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

Welcome to our world, indeed.

But, there is a deeper challenge here, one I hesitate in airing. However, in my own defense, I think if we do not say what is patently obvious we not only fail to take the text seriously, we also in a more profound way fail to see the mystery of the GOD who is there.

What I mean is, why just warn one family about Herod? Why doesn't the angel warn them all?

I do not understand this, and I blanch at the ramifications. If GOD could save one, why not save all? If GOD has the power to enter the dream of one peasant father, why not all peasant fathers? Why are all the innocents not protected?

All of which ultimately takes us to the questions concerning the problems evil and of accidents in the world, and here we have moved to the borderland. Here we touch the mystery of GOD. Here we are confronted with the deeply unsatisfying truth that GOD's ways are not our ways. Here we are thrust onto the difficult and final question of faith.

Will we believe in the goodness and the providence of GOD, even in the face of holocausts and tsunamis?  Will we believe -- which means will we follow GOD with all we have and all we are -- even when we do not understand what is at work.

The Prophet Isaiah has GOD explaining himself in this way:  Isaiah 45:6-11
5 I am the LORD; there is no other God. I have prepared you, even though you do not know me, 6 so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the LORD, and there is no other. 7 I am the one who creates the light and makes the darkness. I am the one who sends good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things. 8 Open up, O heavens, and pour out your righteousness. Let the earth open wide so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together. I, the LORD, created them. 9 "Destruction is certain for those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot ever argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, 'Stop, you are doing it wrong!' Does the pot exclaim, 'How clumsy can you be!' 10 How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father and mother, 'Why was I born? Why did you make me this way?'" 11 This is what the LORD, the Creator and Holy One of Israel, says: "Do you question what I do? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?

Hebrew Bible scholar Walter Brueggmann (go here and here and here) has a word that he sometimes uses to describe the GOD of the Old Testament. He calls this GOD irascible, which means crabby, angry, bearish, cantankerous, cranky, cross, or feisty. I think he uses this word to illustrate to our ears what is patently obvious in the text -- we do not have handles and levers on GOD. We cannot manipulate and manage GOD in a ways that cause actions we would wish.

Ultimately, then, we are left with this one truth of the text. Namely, GOD is with us. This we learned from last Sunday’s gospel reading. GOD became part of our world, being plunged into the violence and the hate and the sadness just as we were. Here, GOD becomes subject to the same heart-ache and destiny of death that we all share. Could there be any more statement of solidarity?

We, of course, want things to be fixed, mended, tied in a bow and left on the doorstep, but, for some reason, this is not the way it must be. Instead, we are asked, in faith, to join the work the incarnation began. We must slide down into the stench, the  brokenness and the lostness of the world with anyhow love -- "like GOD, we love others anyhow". This, ultimately is the way of the Christ, and anything short of this allows us to succumb to the evil of the human condition within our own hearts.

Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 
When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, 
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night 
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod, 
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.
 
When Herod had died, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, 
for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
He rose, took the child and his mother, 
and went to the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea 
in place of his father Herod, 
he was afraid to go back there.
And because he had been warned in a dream, 
he departed for the region of Galilee.
He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth,
so that what had been spoken through the prophets
might be fulfilled, 
He shall be called a Nazorean.

Lectionary Notebook Matthew 1:18-24

Thoughts on the Gospel Reading
4th Sunday of Advent, Year A
See TEXT below Matthew 1:18-24

The Gospel reading for the fourth Sunday of Advent offers us the crux of the matter, really. That is, the decisive or most important point at issue is the origin of Jesus. Naiveté demands we take the account St. Matthew offers at face value, while sophistication demands that we see here the override of myth.

What are we to think? Is this miraculous event even possible? Or, said more pointedly, do we believe out of our need?

Well, of course, we believe for any number of reasons, some of which are certainly self-serving, but does that truth necessarily mean that the miraculous does not occur? Or, could the incarnation actually have happened anyway, despite our need for it?

Can you imagine the look on Joseph's face when he discovers, by angelic declaration no less, that the unfaithful Mary had not been unfaithful after all? On the surface this would appear to make things easier for him, but only on the surface.

I try to put myself in his position if not his frame of mind. How would I have reacted had I learned of my betrothed's unfaithfulness, only then to be told that she would give birth to a child conceived by God? Which would be easier to believe, the natural explanation or the supernatural? No matter where the truth is to be found, the beginning of Jesus would forever be suspect; there would always be questions. How do you tell friends and neighbors, "Well, she really wasn’t unfaithful, he's really conceived by God!" The looks of skepticism that blare loudly through the centuries must have also been shrill in Joseph's ears as well.

Perhaps the deeper question is why Matthew included this in the story of Jesus at all; why open him and the new fledgling faith to such ridicule? Perhaps this was given to answer these critics and skeptics. Anyway, it is clear that Matthew believed this to be the way things actually happened, for he tells us flatly: "Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way..." But, just because Matthew takes his history seriously, does this mean we should?

I think we must. For, what we are offered, even without the veneer of two-thousand years of church accretion, is the most important announcement in the history of the world. Do we need this incarnation to be true? Yes, of course we do. But does the fact we need it negate its possibility? It does not.

If there is a God at all, and if this God is benevolent (and we cannot really conceive of a God who is not), then we would expect this God to communicate with us in a way we could understand.

Now, what Matthew is telling us is that God has indeed heard our cry and has in fact spoken in a way we could understand -- for God became part of the mess, part of the human condition. In this most startling and unexpected development, God, as Emmanuel, is with us; God is pro nobis, even with all our sinfulness and self-inflicted wounds. He has not come as judge at all, but rather as Savior from our sins. I take this to mean that Christ is Savior  of the entire human race. That by his place in the world he uniquely became the one who Redeems.

What must emphatically be said is that this is our direction as well.  We, too, must now move toward the world. We who claimed to have been touched by the incarnate one must now move outward toward the surrounding brokenness just as he did. We must act with consistent compassion and haste for a world in crisis. Do you not see the importance here? Do we not hear the cries of the dying? Have we not yet heard of the cholera filled streets and the swollen bellies of children?  Or have we heard and are willing to ignore? Will we not act?

Here the indictment against us is clear and compelling. We must not let the belief that the Savior visited us from outside the world lead us to other-worldliness! This misses St. Matthew’s point entirely. It is the enfleshment of the the Savior that is paramount. It is the God who is there presenting himself as the God who is one of us, one who is drawn down into the same sweat and mire that we face.

When I think in this direction I always am reminded of Camus’s words to Christians: "I share with you the same revulsion from evil. But I do not share your hope, and I continue to struggle against this universe in which children suffer and die."  He also said: “Freedom is not made up principally of privileges; it is made up especially of duties."  Are Christians free? We say we are. Do Christians have hope? That is our chief claim. How is it then that Camus who is atheist could act and we who have the hope of hopes live as if the rest of the world does not exist?

Camus indictment is similar to Feuerbach challenge: “My only wish is…to transform friends of God into friends of man, believers into thinkers, devotees of prayer into devotees of work, candidates for the hereafter into students of the world, Christians who, by their own procession and admission, are "half animal, half angel" into persons, into whole persons.”

Would you be surprised to learn that Jesus expected nothing less! “I give you a new commandment,” he says, “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34, 35) And, just how had Jesus loved them? He washed their feet -- service. And how would Jesus love them? He would go to the cross -- sacrifice.

So Joseph did as the angel commended and he married his betrothed. He withstood all the icy looks and judgmental smirks because for him the question of Jesus' identity was settled. He raised Jesus and saw to his needs and the needs of the rest of his family. He took responsibility when responsibility wasn’t really his.


Matthew 1:18-24
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,

Lectionary Notebook Matthew 11:2-11

Thoughts on the Gospel Reading
3rd Sunday of Advent, Year A
See TEXT below Matthew 11:2-11

 Advent Week Three offers us a sober picture of what it often means to follow the Christ -- prison, persecution and eventually death. Not exactly what you want on a recruiting poster for the faith, which is probably why this part of discipleship is left out or left to the fine print in our Gospel presentations ("They'll find out soon enough").

This part of the discipleship presentation (Luke 26:34) may also be neglected because at least in the West we have not suffered for our faith in very a long time. The hegemony that Christendom once had in the West insured this lack of persecution, but of course the hegemony could only be maintained by softening the Gospel demands. Said another way, if the church in the West had ever really attempted to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom -- dropping out of the culture of consumption -- then many would have eventually ended up in prison as well.

In today's Gospel reading John the Baptizer is in Herod's prison, the current King being unable to stomach the repentance message aimed at his own behavior. (Mt. 14:1-12) This meant the Baptizer's public ministry was essentially over. The preacher of repentance is locked up, but the preacher of the Kingdom was now coming to the front. The important transition was occurring. (Jn.3:30)

We do not really know the motive as to why John sends word to Jesus, asking him to identify himself plainly, but it could be Jesus was not what John expected in the Messiah. John expected the bringer of fire and judgment, and Jesus was presenting "love thy neighbor." Somehow, things just did not add-up in John's mind. Was Jesus the real deal, or not?

Jesus' answer is instructive and powerful for us to hear.

Thoughts:

TELL WHAT YOU SEE AND HEAR
Notice Jesus' cryptic response -- tell John what you've seen and heard. This is very important for us to think-through. Rather than making identity claims, Jesus offers his work as evidence.

This reminds me of the account of the healed blind man in John 9. The second time the religious leaders confront him about who it was that healed him, asking him to give GOD the glory because Jesus was in fact a sinner, the TEXT reads: "He answered, 'I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.'"

Claims and assertions about the identity of Jesus are just so much claims and assertions, but the real message is this: People on the Jesus-way are offered new life and a new way to live. People on the Jesus-way are offered a new narrative by which to pattern their lives (I once was this, but now...now I'm that!). And people on the Jesus-way are offered a new biography that includes a break from the past (repentance and forgiveness) and a new way to see and behave in the world (faith).

Said another way, in this culture it is useless to claim things for Jesus' identity. When we claim deity for Jesus we actually end the conversation; we actually circumvent what the hearer can only discover on her own! Instead we must tell what we see and hear. We must tell, simply, what happened to us. The person in front of us then either chooses to follow and find new life in the Christ or not.

GOD OFFERS NEW LIFE IN THE CHRIST
Which leads to the second point. Christianity is no mere academic exercise. The claims of the Gospel are clear: Change -- heart change and life change.

This is particularly difficult for us to hear, of course, being earthbound as we are to rationalism and the scientific method. To be sure, rational thought and science have given us many wonderful things, but they cannot offer us meaning and they do not have the instruments to measure the depth of the soul.

Christians claim that the Christ offers this, which is at the very heart of Advent. For the preparation that is Advent is nothing less that the miracle of forgiveness and a new-life allegiance.

THE VALUES OF THE KING ARE NOT THE VALUES OF THE WORLD
The TEXT reads: "As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: 'What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.'"

This obvious reference to King Herod sets up a not so subtle contrast between the Baptizer’s message and Herods’ message, but it also sets up a subtle contrast between the Baptizer's desert lifestyle and Herod's royal lifestyle, giving us a nudge toward what may be the most important idea we can grasp this Advent: A person's life does not consist in what they posses.

The values of the desert Fathers and Mothers, the Baptizer and the Christ himself all warn us against gluttony, avarice, consumption and the self-life, but this is so difficult for us to grasp in practice. The culture so seductive, the means of purchase so available, the "I deserve this" so ingrained, we are netted and captured without even a gasp.

Perhaps the Baptizer's lasting gift to us will be the promise of the gateway to the discipline of the soul and body. Perhaps our repentance-preparation for Advent is nothing more than a moment-by-moment rejection of the values of power and the subtle gravity of the royalty world-view. (1 Jn.2:15-17)



Matthew 11:2-11
2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" 4 Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me." 7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' 11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Rationale

What I am attempting to offer in this blog is a witness to the end of Christendom and the hegemony that this world-view once enjoyed. It seems to me that as a culture the West has not really come to grips with what the loss of Christendom’s meta-narrative really means. There are those who view Christendom as overtly life-denying (most of the time I number myself among them), who may rejoice at its demise (“we have no restraints now”), but with nothing to replace it -- nothing with its compelling power and its dense durability -- we are left with this vacant, pungent vacuum.


There are many ways to frame this, but look at what passes for art today. It's mostly derivative. Or, look what is happening in the cinema -- remakes simply for the cash. There are exceptions, thank GOD, but they are rare. Said another way, the culture is in a coma. The institutions are in decay. The social-psyche marred by memory lapses. We are in a steep identity crisis.

Or, said still another way, what we didn’t realize is that Christendom was more than the center of the church, it was also the center of the West, the source of our values and law and so many other pieces of the puzzle. This does not mean that all were personally Christian, far from it, but it does mean that our people’s world-view was shaped and socialized by the thoughts of the Bible and biblical world-view. Of course, this is now extinct. What is coming to replace it I do not know, but I fear the fundamentalist who would attempt to recapture what was lost (which is not possible without some sort of imperial dictatorship), and the materialist who would use the rational to create a scientific rationalism using the human as the tools of experimentation.


My small piece is then to attempt to remain loyal to what Jesus taught (the end of Christendom is not the end of Christ), and to the historic practices of the church (its liturgy and prayer). No easy task in a social structure that is so seductive and powerful. I try to wrestle with the biblical materials, viewing them through the human and the grid of the post-christian West. I’m not sure this comes through very well -- each one reading into whatever text that which they wish to see.


Refernces: