Caroling at Herod’s House

Matthew 2:13-23

1st Sunday After Christmas

12/30/07

"When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."

Suppose you were an extremely brave person and you decided to go Christmas caroling at King Herod’s palace? Just play along with me for a bit, imagine that it were somehow possible to bridge the time and language differences and you were actually able to go Christmas Caroling at Herod’s place. Imagine that!

How do you suppose you would be received? For he was no good king Wenceslas who once looked down on the feast of Steven, He was Herod. Herod the Great. Well, I can tell you that he wouldn’t much care for the Christmas Carol we just sang: “Joy to the world, the Lord is Come! Let earth receive her king!” Whoo boy! Herod wouldn’t like that a bit. He was the king! He would not tolerate any other king on his soil! If you showed up at at Herod’s house, all rosy cheeked and cheerful singing “Joy to the World”, his face would turn ashen gray and you would find yourself being given a rather thorough tour one of his many dark Jail cells. Or perhaps he would introduce you to the whip or the sword of one of his maniacal guards.

For you see, Herod felt threatened by Jesus. The coming of Jesus was one of the most frightening things he could ever imagine. When the Magi came to him and asked “Where is he who is born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and we have come to worship him. ” These were not tidings of comfort and joy to this old tyrant. On the contrary, St. Matthew reports “When Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all of Jerusalem with him.” All of Jerusalem got disturbed because they knew the kind of person he was. History had shown that whenever Herod felt threatened or disrespected in any way, blood would flow. And of course, in this case as we know, it would happen again. All of the boys under the age of two in Bethlehem and surrounding environs were put to death.

Oh no, Herod would not want anything to do with your “Joy to the World.” If you went to his house to sing, he would very much prefer it if you were less specific in the lyrics of all of your Christmas songs. He’d rather you sing about snow and reindeer and sleigh rides and chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and going to a meadow and building a snowman and calling him Parson brown , anything but the imminent coming of God’s Kingdom into the world. He’d rather you say “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas. Stories of scrooge and Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim would be acceptable, But absolutely no talk about the birth of a New King.

If you would just toe the line and abide by these simple rules, It would be possible for you to bring some “Holiday Cheer” to Herod’s house. If you would simply remove all references to Christ Jesus and and His coming he would find you to be fun, amusing, entertaining, and you would be welcomed in his home. Kings were like that. They like to be entertained, helped them keep their mind off their usual blood-guilt.

The Spirit of Herod is very much alive in our day. As it turns out it was never really about Herod. Herod was just a silly pawn in a much larger game. The coming of Jesus into the world to redeem people from their sins actually was of cosmic or universal significance. We sang about it in the third stanza of “Joy to the World” “No more let sins or sorrows grow nor thorns infest the ground.... He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found far as the curse is found far as far as the curse is found” What’s that talking about? It’s talking about nothing less the reversal of all the effects of sin in the world! It’s talking about redeeming the earth from decay. It’s talking about redeeming us from sin and death! It’s talking about restoring everything back to the way God meant it to be at the beginning.

Of course the one who introduced sin into the world , the tempter, the serpent, the Devil himself is disturbed by the coming of Jesus; all those he has managed to persuade are also disturbed by him. How they frown and reveal their displeasure when we say that Jesus is the the door, the way, the truth and the life. How they scowl that we would dare to send missionaries to places where people are given to worship rocks and trees and birds and demons and Lord knows what else. In a world where we are constantly taught to believe that all religions are the same we are judged to be quite annoying for standing up and saying that Christ Jesus is unique.

Come to think of it, we are caroling at Herod’s house. That’s the description of the life of a Christian in this world. There are people out there, who don’t agree with you and don’t like what you believe. They don’t like Jesus and as a result, they won’t like you. Don’t be surprised. As a matter of fact, you can expect it. Jesus said to his disciples “If the world hates you, keep in mind, it hated me first” (John 15:18). Yeah, no kidding, they tried to kill him when he was just a baby!

“Well maybe we ought not sing our songs so loudly. Maybe we ought to just keep the message of Jesus coming into the world to reverse the power of sin confined to are little group.” No! You’re not getting it! Where in the middle of a cosmic battle. Large chunks of the human race are now completely lost and bound for hell. Satan has convinced them they are on the better path. They don’t need us to back down right now. They need what we have! We are god’s remnant: Reserved and preserved to give testimony of him to those who need him. If you have been called to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit you are called to bear witness of him to the world. You do this by the way you live your life; by the way you speak; by the way you treat others; by the way you stand up for Jesus when the situation calls for it.

Herod did die by the way. Satan is bound and his days are numbered. He will be thrown into the abyss. We’re on the winning side. So don’t be afraid, you who are Caroling at the house of Herod. Don’t be afraid. AMEN