Come and See (Sermon based upon Matthew 2.1-12)

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 

asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." 

When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him...  (Matthew 2:1-3, NRSV)

It was a Friday evening, January 27, 1956…A young Martin Luther King came home late from navigating another difficult day resulting from the bus boycott fueled by Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus. Tensions were high and he was exhausted. His family was already asleep, so he went into the kitchen for a moment when suddenly the phone rang. On the other end of the line, a voice, raspy with hate, told him if he wanted to live he better leave Montgomery for good.

For just a moment, King was defeated. He laid his head down on his kitchen table and thought about walking away from it all – it was just too much. He knew, however, that he need to pray about it first. He needed to take his pain, his fear, his anguish before God – Dr. King described it this way…

He prayed…"I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But now I am afraid. The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they too will falter. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I've come to the point where I can't face it alone."

At that moment, I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced God before. It seemed as though I could hear the quiet assurance of an inner voice saying: "Stand up for justice, stand up for truth; and God will be at your side forever." Almost at once my fears began to go. My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything."  (King, Martin Luther. Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. 1958.)

In the days of Racial Oppression…the movement for civil rights was born.

In dark days of injustice, God calls forth those to stand against it…God always has. Matthew reminds us….

In the days of Herod…Jesus was born

Outside the perfection of Eden, the world has always known injustice – because the world has always been filled with Herods, those who, through their own insecurity and power-hungry ego, seek to rule and control others in ways that inflict suffering, pain, and oppression. Herods, those who think of nothing other than their own benefit and have no qualms about standing on the backs of others to rise to higher heights of glory.

We know the Herods well because history is full of their stories – stories that have lead to atrocities like slavery, colonization, dictatorships, genocides, and holocausts. Horrendous acts perpetuated at the hands of horrendous leaders.

We look back at history and we wonder, "How could they have not seen? How could they let such evil have that much power and control?" Well, evil wouldn’t be tempting if it didn’t first look appealing would it? It starts quite simply really. The leader just needs to convince the people there is something, or someone, to fear and once they are sufficiently afraid the people will do whatever horrendous thing asked of them in order to protect themselves.

Herod the Great, sat in his palace and listened intently as the Magi ask, “Where is the child born King of the Jews?"  With this question, his gut turned cold. HE was King over the Jews! Rome had appointed him so. What would happen to him, to his crown, to his power, to his ego, if another King rose up from among the people. A rebellion? A riot? A protest? Rome would never stand for such insurrection. As the most powerful nation in the world, they would sweep in and annihilate everyone in order to keep control. Most likely that was all the ploy Herod needed to convince the rest of the Jews that a new King would get them all killed. This is how the Herods of the world work and it apparently worked well for the infamous Herod the Great because Matthew records that indeed, not only was Herod afraid of the news the Magi brought but ALL of Jerusalem was afraid with him.

Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, professor and theologian at Duke Divinity School, summed it up best I think, when he wrote, “So, ‘all of Jerusalem with him’ is fearful, [would indicate] that Herod’s rule is possible because the fear of those he rules makes Herod’s rule seem necessary.”  (Hauerwas, Stanley. Matthew: Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids Michigan: BrazosPress. 2006.)

We just came through one of the most divisive presidential campaigns in modern history: a campaign driven on both sides of the aisle not on issues, plans and agendas but instead driven by fear. It was a campaign that issued the call for each party to circle the wagons and prepare for battle against an enemy that included our family, friends and neighbors...against our fellow Americans. Sadly, we now join the way of the world and a society in which our policies and actions are born more out of fear than out of reason and truth. 

We don’t like to acknowledge it, but our world is still ruled by Herods –leaders constantly trying to convince us to trust no one but them – to believe no truth but their own. It was good news for Herod that all of Jerusalem was afraid along with him but it would not be long before their fears turned to grief when they stood by as Herod slaughtered their innocent sons in an attempt to kill the Christ child.

The “days of Herod” still haunt us. The weeping of the mothers and fathers whose innocent boys were slaughtered by Herod are echoing in the streets of Aleppo and other such war torn regions where the Herods of today still rule.

If you are like me, we are tempted to be defeated by the fact that God doesn’t yet see fit to rid the world of its Herods. We are tempted to be defeated…but friends…we are not going to be defeated. Because in the days of Herod…Jesus was born

In the midst of fear, in the midst of a time when yet another ego-controlled tyrant was bent on ruling with injustice and oppression, Jesus was born. God may not be ready to eliminate the Herods from the world, but God did send us his son to strengthen and empower God's children to find a different  path that leads away from fear and towards justice and truth.

How do we find this path?  We respond to God’s invitation to follow the light of truth and spirit….to come and see that Jesus is indeed Emmanuel, God with us.

The Magi saw the invitation as a star, Dr. King as the still voice at his kitchen table, We still find that invitation today in the words of Jesus who said,  “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4.18-19). The invitation to follow the light of Christ means we must be armed with a few tools for the journey. 

Like the Magi, we must have a willingness to seek direction. They would not have found Bethlehem had they not heard the counsel of those learned in scripture to direct the way. Reading and understanding the Bible is essential to the journey. Second, we must have a willingness to listen to God’s still small voice that brings warning and insight. This only happens through prayer and a close relationship with God. Third, we must have a willingness to take a path that we have never taken before. We must be willing to take a stand against the status quo of the world and go in the direction God calls us, not the direction in which the world’s Herods say we should go.

God may not be ready to eliminate the Herods, but God is ready to lead us along a path that prevents them from having their fullest reign of terror. God is ready to lead us to paths that are lit with strength and empowerment rather than fear and control. The invitation from God as issued through scripture and paraphrased by Dr. King is clear: "Stand up for justice, stand up for truth, and God will be by your side forever."

The Herods cannot be allowed to have their way. They cannot have their way as long as God’s children answer the call to come and see that into a world of fear – Jesus is born.