Shining a Light in the Darkness

Luke 2:1-20 
Matthew 2:1-8

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered.  Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.  He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.
What do you do when you realize that you've sanitized Christmas so much that you don't even know what it means?  Did it hit you at all that Syria is part of this story?  Did that jolt you?  And what are you thinking now that you see it?  Do the people of Aleppo seem so distant from you that you can't see that Mary and Joseph were being directed to go to a new place and enter a 'registry' by a leader in Syria?

That same sort of jolt is what happens to the narrator of the story in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. She realizes that the Christmas Pageant her church puts on every year has left out the dark side of Christmas.  And even though they may have had a moment in the service when they read John 1: "A light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it" they have moved too quickly from Silent Night to Joy to the World.  And well, the pause is important. And believe it or not, it is the Herdmans who honor the pause.

The Herdmans come from nothing. And they live lives that are on the edge. And they don't know sometimes where their next meal is coming from.  So when they hear of King Herod's plan to rid the world of the Baby Jesus in the Christmas story, they don't gloss over it and throw it out of the story, the way we tend to do... they laser-focus in on it and get to the bottom of it. They find out all the bad stuff that Herod did to try to keep a Messiah from interfering with his power.

The side of this story that the Herdmans focused in on is the story is about the Herod and his plan of destruction. The pageant barely mentions it other than to say the Wise Men were instructed by Herod to come to him and tell him where the child is.

Easy for us who are comfortable to forget Jesus was born a refugee in a world of danger. Easy to forget there are still Herods in the world continuing to seek to  extinguish the light of joy and goodness in our world. It was true at the time of Jesus’ birth, and it’s true now. The dark side of this story is one of power, the power of love and light versus the dark power of political enterprise. You see, Herod really shouldn't be left out of this story because the Herods of this world continue to stay with us.

The song, “Star Child,” mentions all kinds of children who need the light of Christmas. “The street child, the beat child, the child with no place left to go. The hurt child, the used child, the unwanted child. The grown and old child, the sad and lost child, .” And yes, even the spared and spoiled child All children deserve our protection.

In the story, Gladys the angel runs down the aisle shouting, "Hey unto you a child is born!" and we get the point. Angels are elbowing each other out of the way to make sure that people know to see and protect this holy child.  So should we. Are we, in this new year, willing to become angel protectors to all of our children? Or are we complacent to remain with Herod, filled with fear and willing to use whatever means necessary to maintain the status quo?