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Sermon January 2, 2022
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, MSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Second Sunday After Christmas, Year C
http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC/Christmas/Christmas2.html#Gsp3
Then [Herod] sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ Matthew 2:8
Please be seated
What have you been doing over this Christmas/New Year’s week? One of the things I’ve done is watch some movies. After seeing a number of people post about the movie, Don’t Look Up, I decided I needed to watch it. I’ll try not to give any spoilers if you haven’t seen it.
It’s supposedly a comedy about what happens when astronomers discover a huge comet hurtling towards earth; a comet whose impact will destroy the earth. Of course, there are various efforts to address the impending doom. At one point, people become divided. Some decide the news of the comet is not true. Their mantra is “Don’t Look Up.” They have rallies and paraphernalia with their slogan. Others believe there is a comet and their mantra is “Look Up.” They have concerts and paraphernalia, too.
Finally, the comet is close enough for everyone to see it and to know that it is real. Everyone had a choice to either ignore reality or face reality. Don’t look up is a kind of short hand, I think, for not facing reality – just don’t look up or don’t look too closely. Looking up is shorthand, I think, for coming face-to-face with reality.
As far as we know, there is no large, extinction-sized comet coming at us; however, we face many issues where we have a choice about whether to address them or not. Not addressing them comes with dire consequences.
Will we look up or not?
In today’s Gospel, we read about the journey of the wise men. How many there were, we do not know. They had studied the heavens and saw this amazing star. They believed it was a sign of the birth of a great king and they set off to find this baby, being led by the star.
They stop in Jerusalem and are able to meet with King Herod. Herod definitely led a chaotic life. He was sandwiched between the religious authorities of his time, his family, the ruling Romans, and various countries who sought the land. His ability to remain the King was a delicate balance between all of these.
By the time of the visit from the wise men, Herod would have been in his late 60s and within a few years of his death. With all he had to deal with to maintain his power, now there was a new King born nearby! The news was not good news in Herod’s view.
Herod could not see how this king could save his life. He could only see how this king threatened his life…threatened the life he knew. He saw it as just one more thing to manage, so he could stay in power and continue to live life as he knew it.
While Herod tells the Magi that he would like to meet and pay homage to this King, that was just a manipulation. He wanted nothing to do with this King.
Herod had a choice to make. He chose what he thought would preserve his life and his power. He sought to destroy this new king…this king sent from heaven.
And so, we, too, have choices to make. Will we follow Jesus and his teachings? Can we examine our lives realistically in terms of what Jesus taught and do our best to follow him?
Or are we so connected to the lives we have now, that we will do all in our power to preserve what we have, even if it is against Jesus and God and could lead to harm and destruction?
Are we willing to look up and face reality? Or will we shout like those in the movie, “Don’t Look Up.” Don’t see reality and the truth?
God gave us this fantastic earth; this beautiful home. We know that our actions and the way we live are leading to our eventual extinction. Are we willing to do the hard work to sustain this beautiful earth?
I mean, those devastating tornadoes in Kentucky and wild fires in Colorado in December, appear to be signs that something is clearly wrong.
People continue to live in poverty, without safe housing or enough food, and we somehow allow that to continue. We find a way to justify it by dividing human beings -- created-in-God’s-image human beings – into those who are worthy and those who are unworthy.
Statistic after statistic tells us clearly that the human-created categories of race create great harm, yet we find it difficult to erase them.
Herod had a choice to make. He could have paid homage to this baby Jesus and rejoiced in his birth. Herod, instead, chose fear and tried to destroy Jesus.
The people in the movie had a choice to make to face the reality of the comet or pretend it didn’t exist.
And we, too, have a choice to make. Will we follow Jesus?
Amen
