As a child growing up, our
family, especially when we were in Belgium, used an Advent calendar. Opening
the "door" and discovering what was behind it, which we did at
supper, was exciting. Then, when Christmas came and went, the calendar was
discarded. Tossed out with the tree. Decorations were put away.
Even as a child I would feel a
vague sense of sadness. I wasn't sure I wanted to return to "normal."
I wanted to hold onto a world where glad tidings were being shared, shepherds
were singing, and the night sky was lit up by the very presence of God.
The reading from Matthew
(2:13-23) for this Sunday tells how after the birth of Christ an angel appears
to Joseph, in a dream, and tells him to get up, take the child and his mother,
"and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about
to search for the child, to destroy him." This is a part of the story we
often skip over. Soon after the birth of Jesus, the holy family flees south to
get away from the forces of hatred and fear that are at work to stamp out God's
new thing. In The Message,
Eugene Peterson says Herod is "on the hunt for this child."
(Jesus, of course, will be
brought back to Palestine from Egypt. It is the Bible's way of reminding us
that Jesus is the new Moses!)
God's work in the world has
amazing power. God's grace is resilient and God's love gets the last word.
However, what God is doing in us
can be fragile. Under threat from a variety of sources. There may be voices in
your head and heart urging you to go back to "normal" after this
season of "glad tidings" and "great joy" and "good
news for all people." Herod may not be hunting down the hope in you, a
paranoid despot may not be the one trying to stamp out the new, God-centered
way of thinking and living in you, but you may be at risk as the decorations
are put away, the tree is carried out, and the Advent calendar is thrown away.
Whatever it takes, don't go back
to "normal." If God is doing a new thing in you, in us, flee from
that voice...the influence...and get into a place where God's grace and truth
can flourish in your life. Avoid the hunter, and resist going back to the
broken place where you've been.
Blessings to you in the year
ahead. May the new born King shape all our days and not just this season!
In Christ and for Christ,
Mark
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