Welcome to Prince of Peace Church, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania

“God’s Great Gift of Hope”

Christmas I Sunday, December 30, 2007
By pastor John Jorgenson

Matthew 2:13-23
“Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘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.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’ 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. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’

“When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, 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 there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoke through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’ ”

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise be to God.

God’s greatest gift at Christmas is the gift of hope in spite of the suffering we are exposed to every day. It is at Christmas that the baby Jesus conveys that hope to each one of us no matter what problems of difficulties we face in our lives. The special individual relationship God created is expressed as God speaks directly to us each when we think about what impact and effect of learning about Jesus has on our thinking and actions. Now after Christmas as we focus on Jesus as he grows and matures, we too are getting ready for being part of his ministry of teaching by example, which He did most effectively and we can do the same.

We begin this with a look at an episode that reminds us of our world today. Matthew writes that shortly after Jesus’ birth Mary and Joseph had to flee from Bethlehem. Herod ordered all boys under age two to be killed in order to erase the potential of a promised leader for the people. This was a typical practice of that time. A leader simply killed anyone who opposed him or his plan for the area. If people attempted to ask a question or raise an objection, Herod simply executed them. When he came into power as appointed by the Roman conquerors, he began to annihilate the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court for the area. He then killed some 300 other court members for little or no reason other than they may have become his opposition. Herod also killed family members. He killed his wife Mariamne; and her mother, Alexandria; his son Antipater; and two other sons, Alexander and Aristobulus. So killing someone was no big deal for Herod. That is how he governed. Do as I say or else. I am right. You are wrong!

While there is no mention of the killing of children in Bethlehem in other writing of the history of that time, one must keep in mind that Bethlehem was a little village and there maybe were perhaps no more than twenty or thirty children under two years of age and the only reaction would be by the mothers of the children in Bethlehem. It would not be news for other larger communities where greater numbers of adults and responsible people were killed for no other reason but that it was Herod’s will that they be dead. After all that is how Herod ruled. Even at the time of his death he ordered that several notable men of Jerusalem to die also.

When Herod died, the area he governed was divided into three parts. Judea was given to Archelaus. Galilee was given to Herod Antipas. The remaining area beyond the Jordan was given to Philip. Archelaus was worse than Herod and when he began to rule, the first thing he did was to execute 3000 of the more respected and influential people in Judea. So Joseph went on to Galilee to the city of Nazareth where Herod Antipas ruled because he was more fair and responsible as a ruler.

The greedy selfish horribleness of Herod’s actions of slaughtering innocent persons continues in the world even today. Jesus came to bring God’s message of love and peace that conveys hope. This is the experience Jesus shared with people. It is this experience that directly tells us as Jesus did that every day God continues to give us the hope of a new life for tomorrow. This is the message so badly needed in many places, including our own community.

At the same time as the ugly treatment of innocent people continues, however, the impact of Jesus teaching is equally important, for it is the only counteracting force that enables people to deal with the selfish greedy attitude of “I’m right and You are wrong” that we see so much of in our world today. The opportunity for ministry is greater today than it has ever been and we in the church have that which the entire globe needs for survival. However, greed and selfishness is present wherever human nature exists. No person is totally free and will not be until each of us finishes with life and we leave and go to be with God who gave us life in the first place.

For each one of us then it is a beginning as we reach out to one another and thank each other for the friendship we enjoy and come to an agreement on how we can do things together. Vision is truly a critical part of our working together. Shared vision is a tremendous resource in making life worthwhile. The question facing us is how do we share the tremendous gift of love that God gives us each day as Jesus taught us.

So now as we conclude 2007 and look forward to 2008, Jesus will be involved in demonstrating for us what life and faith can be. Questions facing us are quite simple and at the same time complicated.

Basically that question is this, “How do we effectively reach out to our friends and neighbors in Plymouth Meeting?” How do we make a good thing even better?

Well that is what we are going to be doing together this next year. Prince of Peace has a special gift to be shared with this community and beyond. It is our challenge from God to identify that gift and to share it as Jesus has taught us. We have a lot of activity planned for 2008. Our Potluck activities are being planned and scheduled. We will be reaching out with mailings and invitations to people. We will be the people God called us to be 45 years ago and it is this hope and promise that is God’s gift for us to share and that is what makes a church and what it offers worth while.

Amen.