Sermon – Coming to Jesus – Rachel – Matthew 2:13-23

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Coming to Jesus – Rachel – Matthew 2:13-23
December 11, 2010

I am continuing today with my series of sermon on Coming to Jesus. We have been looking at those who came to Jesus two thousand years ago as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. Two weeks ago we watched as Joseph heard the bad news that Mary was pregnant. And this led us to the genealogy in the first chapter in Matthew which demonstrated to Joseph and us that he was a descendant of David and was needed to adopt Jesus to make him the Messiah. Last week we watched as a wise men east of the Jordan saw a star and the oracle of Balaam guided them to Judah to search for a new king. Today we will look at a text we would rather avoid. It is a text of inexplicable evil. I warn you that children are about to die and women will experience inconsolable grief. And yet it is an important part of the Christmas story. Let us pray.

Father in heaven, in anticipation of the shalom Christ brings to all people we come now before your throne of grace to give you our praise and thanksgiving. Amen. (adapted from When We Gather p.3)

Matthew 2:13-23 13 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." 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 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." 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." 19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead." 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

In the common lectionary that most pastors use for preaching texts, this passage from Matthew is usually assigned for the Sunday after Christmas when most preachers take vacation and someone else has to preach this difficult text. We all enjoy Joseph’s dilemma and rejoice with him as he embarks on his new life with Christ as his adopted son. We also enjoy the historical research and careful thinking of the wise men. But we run away at the thought of dead children in the streets and grieving mothers.

The reason that this story is in Matthew’s account is that not all of us come to Christmas rejoicing. Some of us come filled with grief. Maybe a loved one has died this year and you are approaching your first Christmas alone. Maybe your health is not good and you won’t make it to the family festivities at all this year. Maybe your finances are so terrible that little will be under the tree for the children. So approach Christmas annoyed by all the rejoicing and hoping just to get through it. Grief is a part of Christmas for many of us, but none more so than Rachel.

Rachel was the pretty one who could have anything she wanted. When Jacob came to town looking for a wife he immediately spotted Rachel. She was the one he really wanted. So he worked seven hard years to get her and then was tricked into marring her sister Leah. So Jacob worked another seven hard years to get the sister he really wanted, Rachel.

But Rachel’s life was difficult. Her role was to bear sons, and in this she was a complete failure. Sister Leah had one kid after another, ten sons and some daughters. But Rachel had nothing. She grew so desperate she asked her husband, Jacob, to sleep with her servant so that at least she would have a child to care for. And she prayed over and over again asking for a son. Those prayers were heard and she called her son Joseph, which in Hebrew means “give me another.” So every time she said her son’s name she was praying for another son. Those prayers also were heard and Rachel became pregnant a second time. But she died in child birth, and she named her new son with her dying breath, “son of my sorrows.” Rachel died but was not forgotten. Her story stands today in the Book of Genesis.

Centuries later the prophet Jeremiah watched as the Israelites, naked and ashamed were forced to march to exile in Babylon. The prophet said that the matriarch Rachel must be weeping over the humiliation of her descendants. As Jeremiah watch the destruction of a once great nation and he spoke these words of hope.
Jeremiah 31:15-17 15 This is what the LORD says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more." 16 This is what the LORD says: "Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded," declares the LORD. "They will return from the land of the enemy. 17 So there is hope for your future," declares the LORD. "Your children will return to their own land.

The ancient rabbis explained this passage in Jeremiah by saying that God was so moved by the exile of his children that God began to weep. And God did not wish to grieve alone so he asked Abraham so grief with him. But Abraham said to God, “why did you let this happen? You stopped my hand before the knife plunged in Isaac’s heart. Why did you not stop this?” So God kept looking for someone to grieve with and found Rachel. The two of them wept over the exile of God’s people, and it was Rachel who was comforted by God’s words that her children would one day return to their land.

According to Matthew this prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. By the divine care of God, Jesus was protected from Herod’s evil act. Egypt became a sanctuary just as it had for Rachel’s children. And in Jesus’ return to Galilee the son of God returned to the Promised Land. This is Good News for all who are experiencing grief this Christmas. You are never alone. Rachel and God are always there weeping with you. And they will comfort and remind you that your grief will come to an end because Jesus is coming to restore all things.

So how are we as church to help those who are grieving this Christmas? The author Philip Yancey tells a story about a woman named Claudia. Claudia was a young newlywed married to a hospital chaplain. Suddenly her world was turned upside down with she was diagnosed with cancer. A deacon of her church visited her in the hospital and told her to reflect on her life because she must have done something displeasing to God. A few days later a woman from the church arrived with flowers and began reading some happy psalms; she avoided any talk of illness. A friend dropped in one afternoon and told her about a television evangelist who does faith healing. Finally her pastor arrived and told her that she was on a special mission from God. All of these people were trying to be helpful, but none of them gave Claudia what she really needed. She needed to know that God still loved her. (Yancey, Where is God When it Hurts ch1)

There is another story about Saint Francis. One day Francis, a nobleman, was riding his horse. This was at a time in his life when he was bitter toward God. As he rode he saw a leper lying on the side of the road. Francis could have cursed the man for being sick. He could have cursed God for allowing the illness. But what Francis did was to get off his horse and embrace the leper kissing him on the lips. (Yancey p. 242)

What Francis did was to show God’s love to those who are suffering. And that is what we are called to do. We are to weep with those who grief joining our tears with their’s and Rachel’s and God’s demonstrating God’s faithfulness and love no matter what happens.

So I ask you to go out into the community this Christmas and visit those who grieve, those who have lost or are loosing a spouse, those who are sick, those whose children are in trouble, those with no money in the bank and creditors at the door. Visit them. Cry with them. Pray with them. And assure them that no matter what happens God will always be there to love them.

Lord God, be with all who grieve this Christmas. Comfort them and assure them of your great love. Weep with those who grieve as you did with Rachel for those mothers in Bethlehem. And prepare us for the coming of our savior who will redeem us from our grief. We pray all this in the name of your son whom you lost on the cross. Amen.