Holy Innocents
Today we commemorate in the Church calendar the time when the holy family, warned by the magi that their lives were in danger, fled to Egypt, and the time when Herod, furious to learn that he had been outwitted by the family, ordered all the boys under 2 in and around Bethlehem, to be killed.
This is the 3rd feast day of the Church in the 3 days since Christmas Day – on Boxing Day we celebrate St Stephen and yesterday it was St John. I think this cluster of special days in the period after Christmas is probably not geared up just to shatter any clergy tired after the build up to Christmas, but amongst the reasons for the feasts being observed at this time I think we can learn 2 very important lessons.
The first is that these 3 days remind us that the work of Christmas really begins in the days that follow. It’s wonderful to think of the birth of Jesus, wonderful to reflect on the love that he has brought into the world, but in his birth, his work was just beginning. In the carol service last Sunday, we had that wonderful verse,
"When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with the flocks,
then the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost, to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry, to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among all peoples,
to make a little music with the heart…
And to radiate the Light of Christ,
every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.
Then the work of Christmas begins.”
And so immediately after the joy of Christmas Day we are reminded of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, of John, a great apostle and evangelist, and today of the massacre of the children, known as the Feast of Holy Innocents.
And this leads on to the second thought, and that is the work of Christmas begins with our response to Jesus. His life, his love, his teaching, all represented a wonderful example to us, but our response to him is, in many ways, the measure of our Christmas celebration.
In these feasts immediately after Christmas we learn a lot about some of the work that needs to be done.
In Stephen, we see someone who was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for his faith. Someone who was able to see the importance of the message that Jesus had come to bring. In John we can see the need for teaching, for learning about our faith and growing in that faith. We can also see the need to share the wonderful news that Jesus came into the world to bring.
Many people confuse the Christian message with all kinds of traditions and with sombre celebrations, but the real message of Jesus is a much more earthy message, a message that is to touch the lives of every person, because Jesus came to assure every person of his love for them, and his determination that every one of us should enjoy the fullness of life that he came to bring.
Sadly this message is often lost in the world, as it is clouded by all kinds of human emotions, and that is why we learn so much from the experiences of Stephen and John. Today the gospel message remains as important as it has ever been. Today the gospel still needs people to risk everything as Stephen did, knowing that even if earthly lives are brought to an end, the eternal life goes on, and the message of Jesus goes on.
And the world needs people like John, who are willing to offer themselves for the service of Jesus in every way. Back a couple of weeks now we heard the letter from the Bishop and he spoke about the need for people to consider their calling – and that is a calling that we are all challenged to consider, for some it will be to the ordained ministry, for others there will be countless other vitally important ministries – for all of us there will be a calling because Jesus wants to use all his disciples to work to extend his kingdom.
And today we reflect on the murder of those children, a fact confirmed by historians of the time. But this terrible injustice is sadly not something that was restricted to a different age. Today as Christians we are called to see and address the injustices that are happening all around us, and indeed all of the pain that people are suffering in so many places.
On a worldwide level we see countries where people are treated dreadfully, where human rights are not a consideration at all – we can see places like Zimbabwe, a country with terrible conditions for its people, worse perhaps even than the conditions that led to us as a country entering into Iraq – but maybe there is not as much to gain by overthrowing the leadership in that country ???
The fact is that wherever we as Christians allow injustice to continue and prevail we share in the guilt of that injustice. Today it is so obvious that there are so many places where we must show an interest, where we must offer our prayers and support for those who are oppressed.
And we mustn’t forget that even within our own country, and within our own communities there are people who are struggling with life, who are battling against systems that aren’t perhaps always quite as easy as we would often like to think. As we seek to defend the rights of his people and to share some of the love and compassion of Jesus, we have him as our inspiration.
Jesus – who not only gave so much for us, but was part of a family that were chased from their home land, and even when they returned, they returned to a country that was occupied by a foreign army.
I have said before that one of the great things about the Christian calendar is the number of fresh starts we have, and that perfectly represents the nature of a God who, although we may turn away from him countless times, welcomes us back with open arms.
And Christmas is another chance for a new start. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we celebrate also a rebirth of our own faith, and the start of a new and exciting challenge to serve Jesus in all that we do and say, for his glory, for the extension of his kingdom, and to complete our lives as we enjoy the peace and fullness of life he came to bring us. AMEN
This is the 3rd feast day of the Church in the 3 days since Christmas Day – on Boxing Day we celebrate St Stephen and yesterday it was St John. I think this cluster of special days in the period after Christmas is probably not geared up just to shatter any clergy tired after the build up to Christmas, but amongst the reasons for the feasts being observed at this time I think we can learn 2 very important lessons.
The first is that these 3 days remind us that the work of Christmas really begins in the days that follow. It’s wonderful to think of the birth of Jesus, wonderful to reflect on the love that he has brought into the world, but in his birth, his work was just beginning. In the carol service last Sunday, we had that wonderful verse,
"When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with the flocks,
then the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost, to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry, to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among all peoples,
to make a little music with the heart…
And to radiate the Light of Christ,
every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.
Then the work of Christmas begins.”
And so immediately after the joy of Christmas Day we are reminded of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, of John, a great apostle and evangelist, and today of the massacre of the children, known as the Feast of Holy Innocents.
And this leads on to the second thought, and that is the work of Christmas begins with our response to Jesus. His life, his love, his teaching, all represented a wonderful example to us, but our response to him is, in many ways, the measure of our Christmas celebration.
In these feasts immediately after Christmas we learn a lot about some of the work that needs to be done.
In Stephen, we see someone who was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for his faith. Someone who was able to see the importance of the message that Jesus had come to bring. In John we can see the need for teaching, for learning about our faith and growing in that faith. We can also see the need to share the wonderful news that Jesus came into the world to bring.
Many people confuse the Christian message with all kinds of traditions and with sombre celebrations, but the real message of Jesus is a much more earthy message, a message that is to touch the lives of every person, because Jesus came to assure every person of his love for them, and his determination that every one of us should enjoy the fullness of life that he came to bring.
Sadly this message is often lost in the world, as it is clouded by all kinds of human emotions, and that is why we learn so much from the experiences of Stephen and John. Today the gospel message remains as important as it has ever been. Today the gospel still needs people to risk everything as Stephen did, knowing that even if earthly lives are brought to an end, the eternal life goes on, and the message of Jesus goes on.
And the world needs people like John, who are willing to offer themselves for the service of Jesus in every way. Back a couple of weeks now we heard the letter from the Bishop and he spoke about the need for people to consider their calling – and that is a calling that we are all challenged to consider, for some it will be to the ordained ministry, for others there will be countless other vitally important ministries – for all of us there will be a calling because Jesus wants to use all his disciples to work to extend his kingdom.
And today we reflect on the murder of those children, a fact confirmed by historians of the time. But this terrible injustice is sadly not something that was restricted to a different age. Today as Christians we are called to see and address the injustices that are happening all around us, and indeed all of the pain that people are suffering in so many places.
On a worldwide level we see countries where people are treated dreadfully, where human rights are not a consideration at all – we can see places like Zimbabwe, a country with terrible conditions for its people, worse perhaps even than the conditions that led to us as a country entering into Iraq – but maybe there is not as much to gain by overthrowing the leadership in that country ???
The fact is that wherever we as Christians allow injustice to continue and prevail we share in the guilt of that injustice. Today it is so obvious that there are so many places where we must show an interest, where we must offer our prayers and support for those who are oppressed.
And we mustn’t forget that even within our own country, and within our own communities there are people who are struggling with life, who are battling against systems that aren’t perhaps always quite as easy as we would often like to think. As we seek to defend the rights of his people and to share some of the love and compassion of Jesus, we have him as our inspiration.
Jesus – who not only gave so much for us, but was part of a family that were chased from their home land, and even when they returned, they returned to a country that was occupied by a foreign army.
I have said before that one of the great things about the Christian calendar is the number of fresh starts we have, and that perfectly represents the nature of a God who, although we may turn away from him countless times, welcomes us back with open arms.
And Christmas is another chance for a new start. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we celebrate also a rebirth of our own faith, and the start of a new and exciting challenge to serve Jesus in all that we do and say, for his glory, for the extension of his kingdom, and to complete our lives as we enjoy the peace and fullness of life he came to bring us. AMEN
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