BROADCASTS.com

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.” 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: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

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.  They themselves had been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod to tell him where they found the new-born king.  Now Joseph also receives a dream: it’s time to flee into exile.  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. 

In our world right now, millions of people have been internally displaced, which is a benign way of saying they’ve been driven from their homes but not yet their country.  Millions more are refugees, meaning that they’ve been driven from both home and country.  But people do not choose this.  Given the choice, people would remain at home.  But when it’s 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.    

Jesus knows what it’s like to be among them, a refugee. 

I also think of Jesus’ temptations by the devil. Taking Jesus to the top of the temple, Satan says “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands…’”  Jesus replies: “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 

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

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

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

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.  Solidarity with the weak and vulnerable, like refugees.  Advocacy in seeking justice and peace where there is none. 

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.  There are a few ways to respond to that invitation today…

Hear our very own Katie’s 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’s asylum system, what our church denomination is doing, and how you can participate, here: https://www2.crcna.org/PublicDialogue/issues/refugee-justice 

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!).  Check out their work, here: https://www.iafr.ca/open-homes-hamilton.html