Rev. David Holwick ZQ
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 26, 2010
Matthew 2:13-23
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I. The day after Christmas.
A. The after-season has always been a letdown to me.
1) The excitement quickly dissipates.
2) Mundane stuff takes over.
B. Cleaning up the holiday mess.
Dave Veerman has written a poem called "Many Happy Returns."
See if it resonates with you:
'Twas the day after Christmas
And all through the room
Strewn wrappings were crying
For use of a broom
The children were scattered
The friends' gifts exploring
Since now most of theirs
Were broken or boring.
All tummies were stuffed
From the fabulous feast;
Leftovers would serve
For one month at least.
And mama and papa
Were countryside ranging,
Those unwanted gifts
Returned or exchanging.
Yes, Christmas is past
With its bustle and noise
Sales and carols
Santas and toys.
Decorations are packed
The Yule tree's discarded
The holiday's over
Just as we got started.
II. Even at height of Christmas, we are reminded of our imperfection.
A. There's still no "peace on earth."
Christians in Baghdad this year did not celebrate Christmas
because of the threat of violence against them.
52 of them had been slaughtered when Al Qaeda attacked a
church in November with bombs and suicide vests.
To honor the victims and highlight their insecurity, Christians
did not put up decorations or have special celebrations.
Our conflict is not just with outsiders, either.
At Christmas in Bethlehem three years ago, a bizarre fight
broke out.
Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests began brawling over how
to clean the Church of the Nativity after the Christmas
celebrations.
Priests were whacking each other with brooms and throwing
stones at the other side.
Seven people were injured.
B. Closer to home, consider today's bulletin.
1) Bryan Bostedo, a young man, died on Thursday, leaving
a wife and small kids.
2) My friend Susan Gordon found out her cirrhosis is
stage-4 and her liver is deteriorating rapidly. She
will need a liver transplant by January.
3) I called another friend in Ohio to find out the name
of another man's new wife so I could send them a
Christmas letter.
This guy had been a member of my first church, and his
first wife had died of diabetes a few years back.
He met a new woman, only to lose her to a massive heart
attack on Thanksgiving Day while they watched TV.
Then he became engaged to a third woman, only to find out
she had metastasized cancer.
She died last Sunday.
C. The first Christmas was followed by danger and letdowns, too.
1) Before Jesus was a toddler, his family became refugees.
a) They were hunted and homeless.
2) Yet even in their turmoil, they found God was faithful.
III. Three episodes you don't see in most Christmas cards.
A. The escape to Egypt. 2:13-15
1) In a dream, Joseph is warned to take his family to Egypt.
2) His own connection is kind of downplayed - "take the child
and his mother."
a) Why not "your child"?
b) Joseph certainly has a secondary role here.
3) Yet Joseph immediately obeys and goes to Egypt.
a) There are many parallels in the Old Testament.
b) Joseph's namesake had spent years in Egyptian prisons.
c) Jacob, Joseph's father, made a similar journey in
ancient times. Gen 46:3-4
1> He had been told he would be made into a great
nation.
2> God would go with him to Egypt, and bring him back.
3> I think Joseph went there with the same hope.
A> They would not be alone, either.
B> The city of Alexandria, Egypt, had perhaps one
million Jews.
4) Consider the parallels with Israel's history.
a) An angry ruler, a helpless infant, the slaughter of
children, the nation of Egypt.
b) Jesus is experiencing a new Exodus.
c) Matthew sees the connection, and quotes a passage from
the prophet Hosea - "Out of Egypt I called my son."
Hos 11:1
B. The massacre in Bethlehem.
1) When the Magi arrived, Jesus was probably a few months old
(2:11 says they found him in a house, not a barn).
a) Instead of reporting back to Herod, they evaded him.
b) It didn't take King Herod long to figure out he had
been duped.
2) Herod had a reputation to protect.
a) He had become governor at age 25.
b) A few years later the Roman Senate proclaimed him
"King of the Jews."
c) He did not like rivals. He is known to have killed
a brother-in-law, a mother-in-law, two sons, and
a wife.
3) To protect himself against a potential new-born king, Herod
ordered the killing of boys in Bethlehem aged 2 and under.
a) This may have been only 20-30 individuals.
b) Like Moses, Jesus was endangered from the beginning,
but God preserved him.
C. The return to Nazareth.
1) Jesus stayed in Egypt until Herod died in 4 BC.
2) Once again, Joseph was directed by a supernatural dream.
a) It seems to have backed up his own concerns.
b) So instead of going to his ancestral home in Bethlehem,
they return to Mary's home in Nazareth.
3) The reference to him being called a Nazarene is not found
in the Old Testament.
a) It is probably meant to be an indirect quote.
b) Nazareth was a town that was mocked.
1> In John 1:45, Nathaniel sums up what a lot of people
probably thought of the town - "Can anything good
come from there?"
2> It was like living in Landing - you get no respect.
IV. Beating the blahs.
A. Obey anyway.
1) Every time Joseph is told to do something, he immediately
obeys.
a) He is never actually quoted saying anything in the Bible.
b) But his actions speak louder than words.
2) Joseph never seemed to have great options.
a) First, he is told to marry a pregnant woman.
b) Then, he is told uproot his family and flee to Egypt.
c) Finally, he is told to return to a strange area (to him).
1> It would be perfectly understandable for him to feel
he was being jerked around.
2> In situations like that, it is tempting to
rationalize.
"I don't have to obey God because he is not being
fair with me."
3> Joseph doesn't do this.
3) Do you?
a) Are you using difficult circumstances to justify
disobedience to God?
b) Perhaps you are compromising in relationships, or
holding off on making a spiritual commitment.
c) Is there someone you need to forgive?
B. Anticipate opposition.
1) Jesus started out as a refugee.
a) It was sort of like those kids in Haiti who had to
celebrate Christmas while living in tents.
2) We are not promised an easy life.
a) Do not expect your life to be a Hallmark card.
b) Terrible things can happen to you, and will.
c) If you are true to your faith, special hardships will
come that others get to avoid.
d) Hebrews 11:13 says that all believers are "aliens and
strangers on earth."
C. Trust God's plan.
1) With all the twists and turns, Jesus was protected from
birth on.
2) Things they would have not considered became very
important.
a) Gifts like gold, frankincense and myrrh are not only
valuable, but easy to transport.
3) God did not give them the entire plan ahead of time, but
he revealed each step as they needed it.
4) You may feel your life is falling apart right now.
a) Just trust that God will use the difficulties to
bring about something good.
V. Christmas should change everything.
A. Do not limit it to a holiday.
I opened with a poem called "Many Happy Returns" but I never
finished it. Here is the poem's conclusion:
To celebrate peace
And the meaning of giving
To discover real love
And the purpose for living.
Dear Jesus, please help us
To stop and remember
That you came to earth
Not just for December.
But from birth in a manger
To death on a cross
You gave up glory
And counted it loss.
So now as we trust You -
God's only Son -
The real celebration
Has only begun!
B. Does the celebration continue for you?
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This sermon borrows heavily from Rev. Brian Bill’s sermon, “Dealing With
the Post-Christmas Blahs,” preached December 30, 2007, at Pontiac Bible
Church of Pontiac, Illinois, <http://www.pontiacbible.org>.
This and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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