Weeping for her children

Christmas 1 year A Sermon 

Matthew 2:13-23

In Israel’s ancient story…Rachel[i] weeps for her children
a toddler and a new born infant are left behind…
a people are carried into exile…
baby boys are murdered by King Herod…

When we hear Matthew’s gospel…
we discover the birth of Jesus is bound…
by blood and legend…to Israel’s story…

only this child…born in Bethlehem…
will bring a new covenant…from which God’s promises to Abraham and Jacob will be realised. [pause]

Both Matthew and Jeremiah...recall Israel’s ancient story…the epic saga of Jacob and Rachel
…who personify the nation…and bind them…
by blood and legend…to Abraham and God’s promise…

And whether you’re a Babylonian exile or a
1^st century Jewish convert to Christianity…
you’d know Rachel’s tale by heart…
when a nation and a baby are born…
and Rachel lies dying

God has just spoken to her husband…
‘your name is Jacob[ii]…but you’ll no longer be called Jacob….your name…will be Israel.
And so the saga goes…
God named him Israel…and said to him,
“I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply.
A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.
The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac…
I also give to you…and to your descendants after you.”

Then God went up from him…and Jacob built up a stone cairn and poured a drink offering and oil on it. And Jacob called the place where God talked with him: Bethel.

Soon after… Rachel began to give birth… but with great difficulty. Her midwife tried to comfort her… saying “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”

But as Rachel breathed her last—for she was dying—
she named her son Ben-Oni which means son of my trouble. But his father named him Benjamin…
which means son of my right hand. [pause]

And though Jacob… loses the love of his life…
he has become… Israel. With Jacob…now Israel…
God has renewed his promise and his covenant…

And just  like the prophet Jeremiah…
the gospeller Matthew…recalls Rachel weeping…

A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled

Yes Jesus has been born in Bethlehem but
but the blood of innocents is being spilled…
King Herod has ordered the slaughter of every child under two…Rachel is weeping alright…

And we ask…our story teller…
just how… is there hope for the children of God…
in this turn of events! [pause]

But by recalling Rachel’s weeping…Matthew at once reminds us that promise and prophesy and covenant
into Jesus’ story too…

as a new Joseph goes down into Egypt after a dream… taking the child and his mother by night…
and staying put till Herod’s death.

And Matthew explains…
this fulfils what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet,

"Out of Egypt I have called my son."

And when Joseph returns home to Nazareth…another ancient prophesy is fulfilled…
"He will be called a Nazorean."

Promise and prophesy and covenant…
keep the people going when all is in darkness… [pause]

It’s no wonder in the run up to Christmas…
we prefer Luke's account of Jesus birth…over Matthew’s …the gospels of Mark and John…don’t even mention it.

It could be because Luke has all the great lines:
the shepherds "watching over their flock by night,"
the angels' bring "good news of great joy,"
the baby "wrapped in swaddling clothes,"
the heavenly host singing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom God is pleased."

But Matthew presents us with a problem.

You can see the difficulty right away.
Even though Matthew’s story of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents is historically accurate…it is an ugly and gruesome reminder of what’s still wrong with the human story...

it's easy to understand why children’s pageants and Hallmark Christmas cards… stick with Luke’s version …and advertising gurus ignore Rachel’s lament.
My guess is we’ll see no Christmas specials
on the plight of those wee Bethlehem babies.

But what do we…the believing community…the ones who kneel at Jesus' manger in obedience and not just in curiosity…what do we do with Rachel?

How will we heed the Spirit's plea through our sister's wailing voice?
How can knock back the bubbly and unwrap our presents…how can we revel in the innocent delight of our children and grandchildren with all that weeping and wailing in the background?[iii]

Will we forget, too? Will we read Luke story…
and then for theatrical purposes… borrow only
the visit of the magi from Matthew’s gospel?

I think there’s a God problem here…in how we remember the Christmas story…and it’s mostly
because you and I are sheltered and protected
from the bloody realities faced by the rest of the world.

The poor already know…
that what constitutes good news for them…
is likely to be bad news for those who… like Herod…
have all the wealth and power.

Not everyone welcomes the baby Jesus. [pause]

The slaughter of innocent children is a scandal…and a scandal generally evokes abhorrence and opposition from "the world." Just as Jesus crucifixion was a scandal to the Jews and folly to the Greeks. And yet sound of this scandal continues today…
even in Aotearoa New Zealand. [pause]

It’s the sound of Rachel… weeping and dying.

It’s a sound that accompanies the birth of the Christ child in Matthew’s gospel.

And we will only begin to understand the whole story
if we consent to hear it.

Yes at Christmas we’re called to worship and adore the child born in a manger…but we’re also called to do justice, and announce Jesus…
in a world where mothers and fathers still grieve for their children…a world where war and greed, hunger and disease make orphans every day.

Otherwise our nativity scenes are nothing more than sentimental drivel.

Only Rachel's tears can help us truly comprehend Jesus' reassuring words:

Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament,
but the world will rejoice;
you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is in labour she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she’s delivered of the child,
she no longer remembers the anguish,
for joy that a child is born into the world.
So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.[iv]

Even though all creation appears to be covered in darkness and cries out in anguish,
the announcement of Christmas joy declares that a light does shine, that a child is born.

We are not alone, we are not consigned to destruction. Rachel will find her comfort. The streets of Ramah will once again echo the sounds of children playing unafraid.

Only when we hear the crying…only when we refuse to stop our ears…will we gain the true Christmas spirit for which we long. And by which…
the whole world is redeemed.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.... for unto us a child is born." Thanks be to God.

---

[i] Rachel is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 29 when Jacob meets her as she waters her lamb. He looking for his mother’s brother, Laban. Rebekah sends him there to be safe from his furious twin brother, Esau. During Jacob's stay, he falls in love with Rachel and agrees to work seven years in return for her hand in marriage. On the night of the wedding, under a veil the older sister, Leah, is substituted for Rachel. Jacob has to work another seven years as payment if he wants to marry Rachel too. After Leah bears four sons, Rachel remains unable to conceive. She becomes jealous and gives Jacob her maidservant as a surrogate. Bilhah gives birth to two sons: Dan and Naphtali. Finally Rachel is finally blessed with a son, Joseph, who Jacob's favourite child.

[ii] Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he deceives

[iii] From A Voice Was Heard in Ramah. by Ken Sehested. Sojourners Magazine, December 1988

[iv] John 16:20-22