Dec. 29, 2019                       Two Kingdoms                              

On Christmas Eve, I spoke about the movie, “It’s a Wonderful life”. I talked about the difference between the world that was Bedford Falls with George Bailey in it, and the world that would have been, Pottersville without George Bailey. I talked about how Jesus Christ was born into the world, so that rather than the world becoming a Pottersville, it would become for us Bedford Falls. And finally, I spoke about how we were called to follow in the way of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to continue to bring into being God’s kingdom in our lives.

This morning, I would like to continue this theme. Bedford Falls is a place where people have a conscience, where they do the right thing, where they help the young and the old, where they take care of those in need, where they provide opportunities to live a reasonable life to those who are weak and struggling to make ends meet. The end of the picture, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, doesn’t tell us that the Potters of the world are gone, or that things will be rosy from then on. There will still be plenty of trials and troubles. But the good news of the movie, and the good news of the Gospel are, that the powers of darkness can be overcome, by the Spirit of God in human life.

That is where our gospel lesson in Matthew picks up this morning. A lot of commentators and sermons I read this week speak about how it would be nice to continue living in the Christmas moment. Jesus is born, God is with us, all is calm, all is bright, peace on earth and goodwill toward all humankind. But that’s not the story we get this morning.

Jesus is born into the world where a despot rules. Herod has been appointed by Rome to rule Israel, and he does so with an iron fist, and by murdering members of his own family to do so. Herod is so fearful that someone will do the same to him, that when he hears that a king has been born who will someday rule his kingdom, that he orders the slaughter of children. You want a sure sign that a ruler is unfit, they always go after the children. Pharoah had them thrown into the Nile, Herod had them slaughtered. You want another sure sign, they don’t care about foreigners or refugees. Pharoah made the Israelites living in Egypt slaves, Herod with his slaughter drove them out of Israel back to Egypt. That’s what happened to Joseph and Mary, they became refugees, fleeing from Herod.

How does the world get like this? Matthew has a theory, and that is that the world gets like this, when people forget who they are, children of God. People who are called not to take life, but to give life. You know, I never really understood that stuff about Rachel crying for her children till this week. Rachel is the first woman to die in childbirth in the bible. She suffered death in order to give life to her child. That’s the kind of people the Israelites were supposed to become, but they didn’t. So Rachel’s tears were for her children, which were no more.

Christmas has come to us, we have celebrated the birth of Christ, and we have been comforted by the idea of peace and hope, and joy and love. But the reality is, the world still is as it is, and there are despots out there going after children, and foreigners, and refugees. There are plenty of people out there in the world, beyond the walls of our church, who have forgotten who they are, sometimes we forget ourselves. We forget that we are called to be Children of God, called to give life to others. But through our faith in Jesus Christ, we are reminded again who we are called to be, a people who give life to others.

We are called to be a people who protect the young and the old. A people who care for the weak and powerless. A people who welcome and work with the stranger and the foreigner, so that we may grow together and become one people. A people called to suffer one another in love, so that the world may become a better place for all. And the good news is, like the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, despite our failures, we will have wonderous moments when we overcome the forces of darkness in our lives, and we know God’s peace and joy and presence among us.