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When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. \u201cGet up,\u201d he said, \u201ctake 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.\u201d So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: \u201cOut of Egypt I called my son.\u201d

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Here goes Matthew, shattering our cute nativity scene ideas of Christmas again.

The political intrigue in this clash of kingdoms escalates the moment the Magi step out the door to return to their country by a different route.\xa0 They themselves had been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod to tell him where they found the new-born king.\xa0 Now Joseph also receives a dream: it\u2019s time to flee into exile.\xa0 Assassins are coming.

People do not usually flee their homes or even their temporary places of shelter (as was the case for Mary & Joseph in Bethlehem) without cause, and certainly not in the middle of the night.\xa0

In our world right now, millions of people have been internally displaced, which is a benign way of saying they\u2019ve been driven from their homes but not yet their country.\xa0 Millions more are refugees, meaning that they\u2019ve been driven from both home and country.\xa0 But people do not choose this.\xa0 Given the choice, people would remain at home.\xa0 But when it\u2019s no longer safe, secure, or possible to raise a family due to things like famine or violence or both, people are driven to flee for something better, safer.\xa0 \xa0\xa0

Jesus knows what it\u2019s like to be among them, a refugee.\xa0

I also think of Jesus\u2019 temptations by the devil. Taking Jesus to the top of the temple, Satan says \u201cthrow yourself down. For it is written: \u2018He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands\u2026\u2019\u201d\xa0 Jesus replies: \u201cIt is also written: \u2018Do not put the Lord your God to the test.\u2019\u201d\xa0

It was not the Holy Family putting the Lord to any test in Matthew 2.\xa0 It was not their own fault.\xa0 It was Herod who was seeking to throw down God\u2019s Kingdom and King.\xa0 And indeed, God did command his angels concerning his son in response.\xa0 But he did not command them to miraculously create a spectacle of power by catching Jesus, Mary, and Joseph up in their hands.\xa0 No.\xa0 God\u2019s Kingdom would not come in the way the Devil had tempted Jesus into bringing it. \xa0It would not come by powerful, self-serving public spectacles.\xa0 It would come in God\u2019s way: through quiet, humble, compassionate means.\xa0

The angel comes to Joseph not openly, but in a dream.\xa0 Not to snatch away, but to warn him so that normal human Joseph might take the agency and flee.\xa0 Not in the light of day where they could be seen, but in the dead of night so as to remain hidden.\xa0 \xa0

God used quiet, human participation in his Kingdom plan rather than spectacular, public force.\xa0 Which meant that his son would bear the stigma of being marked as a \u201crefugee.\u201d

But even now as we serve and await the coming of our ascended Lord and King, we find that he still prefers to use quiet, human participation in his Kingdom plans.\xa0 Solidarity with the weak and vulnerable, like refugees.\xa0 Advocacy in seeking justice and peace where there is none.\xa0

So today, in this story of the Jesus the refugee, hear his invitation to join the quiet, humble work of the Kingdom in loving compassion for those, like Jesus, forced by no fault of their own to flee their homes and dwellings.\xa0 There are a few ways to respond to that invitation today\u2026

Hear our very own Katie\u2019s story of journeying with dear refugee friends (and see their picture), here: https://www.facebook.com/crcpublicdialogue/photos/a.1260670050612516/1260670053945849

Or, learn more about refugees, Canada\u2019s asylum system, what our church denomination is doing, and how you can participate, here: https://www2.crcna.org/PublicDialogue/issues/refugee-justice\xa0

Or, you could consider getting involved directly right now in offering to share your home with a refugee family through Open Homes Hamilton (yes, even in COVID!).\xa0 Check out their work, here: https://www.iafr.ca/open-homes-hamilton.html \xa0

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