“All According to Plan”
Text: Matthew 2:13-23; Galatians 4:4-7; Isaiah 63:7-14
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and
from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
On
Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, we heard again the story we know so well -
the story of Christmas; the story of the birth of the Son of God for us. St.
Luke told us again of the journey to Bethlehem, the manger, the angels and
shepherds (Luke 2:1-20). And
St. John told us those amazing words: The Word became flesh and dwelt among
us (John 1:1-14).
Today,
St. Matthew tells us exactly what kind of world Jesus was born into. And it’s quite a different picture. A world of jealousy. A world of hate.
A world of sorrow. A world of
deception. A world of anger. A
world of inconvenience. A world of trouble. A world of fear. Or in other words: your
world. For are not all these things what plague you too? They are the fruits of
sin. The sin that continues to make this world quite a different place than it
was created and meant to be.
We could
call these the fruits that hang off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that tempt us still today. Fruits that look so good and
tasty and just what we need . . . but that once we sink our teeth into them,
they produce nothing but evil; nothing but bitterness and strife and sadness.
You know
it. Think about it. The last time you exploded in anger - did that solve
your problem? Really? The last time
you seethed in hatred - did that make things better? The last time you
burned with jealousy - did you get what you wanted? The last time you
stewed in resentment - did that satisfy you? Yet how often do we do
these things? And keep doing them? Or have them done to us? Causing
sadness, causing division, causing fear, causing so much hurt.
So Jesus. He
comes and doesn’t just
have the really cool stuff happen to Him - the angels and shepherds and wise
men. But this. Our
this. He goes through what we go through; what you go
through. Whatever sin has stung you, Jesus has felt it too.
That is
what we hear from Matthew today. God’s people have to go to Egypt to save their life. Jesus too. His people are brought out of Egypt by
God. Jesus too. They can’t go home right away, however. Jesus too. They live in the midst of their enemies. Jesus too. They live in the midst of sorrow and
death. Jesus too.
The first few years of life for Jesus were spent in travelling and fleeing,
living in weird and unusual places, and in fear for life itself.
Merry
Christmas!
Well,
yes, actually! This is, in fact, what makes our Christmases merry! That
God came to be with us in all this. That Jesus came to
protect and rescue us from all this. From all the sin that plagues us
from without, and from all the sin that plagues us from within.
As I
seem to say a lot in Bible classes, God never promised you an easy life; that
He would keep all trouble from you, give you all you want, and make you better
off than everyone else. Maybe that’s true for you; probably not! But what He has
promised you is what we hear today: that whatever
happens to you, He will be with you through it all. And so
Christmas. Immanuel: God with us.
And God with us at just the right time. That’s what
St. Paul said. When the fullness of time had come,
or, at just the right time, God sent forth His Son. Now, you have to
admit, hearing all that we heard from Matthew today, it sure doesn’t seem like just the right time! And
to think about that a little more broadly, it sure doesn’t seem like the right place
either. If location is everything (as realtors tell us today), then right in
the backyard of an fearful, jealous king doesn’t seem like the optimal place for
this birth. But of course, it was. All of it. According to plan.
For
nothing can stop what God has ordained. The beginning of Jesus’ life is not trouble or worry free,
but He is protected and preserved. Which should tell us
something when a few years later, suddenly Jesus is not protected and
preserved. When a few years later, one of His own turns on Him, He is
arrested, beaten, treated as the worst kind of criminal, and then hung up to
die a criminal’s death
on a cross - a Roman warning to the world: do not be like this man, or this
is what will happen to you. This too then is God’s will. This is the plan. Everything to fulfill God’s Word. Everything to fulfill God
will.
We’re going to hear that a lot this year
as we read through Matthew’s Gospel. It is one of his themes, one of his most-used
phrases: this was to fulfill. It is not an accident, it is not chance or
fate. It is God for you. God saving you. Even if that
saving doesn’t happen
exactly as you think it should . . .
And it’s the prophet Isaiah that helps us
think about that a bit. For he starts out today by saying: Let me tell you
of the steadfast love of the Lord! And he talks about Moses and the exodus
. . . and then how the people rebelled and grieved His
Spirit. You know the story. But let’s
think just a moment about why they rebelled and grieved Him, and if it’s
not the same as what we’ve been thinking about.
And so
God brings His people out of Egypt - that’s great! But in just a day or two, they find themselves
trapped between the Red Sea on the one side and the Egyptian army on the other.
So, God, is this how you save us? Is this what your plan was? Really? Then they travel to Mount Sinai where Moses
disappears for forty days. So, God, is this how you save us? Is this what
your plan was? Really? Then they find themselves
in the desert with no water and no food. So, God, is this how you save us?
Is this what your plan was? Really? Then they get
to the border of the Promised Land and discover the people already living there
were really big and really strong. So, God, is this how you save us? Is this
what your plan was? Really?
You seeing a pattern here? The people wondering about God and His
plan and His ways, yet God saving His people. It’s not always easy, it may not always
make sense to us, but it is God in His steadfast love saving His people. His love rescuing, His love disciplining, His love providing, His
love struggling. To make for Himself, Isaiah says, a
glorious name. Not because He needs the glory, but so that all the
world know His glory and know Him as their Father. As a God
of love. As a God dependable and reliable and saving.
A God who doesn’t walk away when the going gets tough,
but loves all the way to the cross.
So now, too, your life. Not the right time? Not the right place? Not making
sense to you? Lord, I really don’t need this cross right now? Shhhh.
God
divided the Red Sea. Moses came back down the mountain with the Word of the
Lord. God provided food and water in the desert. God defeated those big, bad
people in the Promised Land. God came as a baby. God hung on the cross. God
died for you. God rose from the dead for you. God gives you His Spirit. God
baptized you and made you His child. God forgives you. God feeds you here with
His Body and Blood. God gives you parents to protect and raise you. God gives
you friends to help and care for you. God gives you your body and life and all
you have. God gives you a family and a church. God is Immanuel, God with us,
still.
Not
exactly what you had in mind? Maybe that’s a good thing! You think maybe we’ve tried our own way long enough?
So maybe
it’s time to try love instead of anger,
confession instead of excuses, forgiveness instead of revenge, gladness instead
of jealousy, service instead of selfish, prayer instead of spite. Receiving all
this from Him who came to be with us in our sin, and then giving all this to
those He sends to us now. For as St. Paul said, because of Jesus we are no
longer slaves to sin, but sons of God. Yes, God fulfilling His plan for
you.
In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.