Things Can Turn Quickly

"THINGS CAN TURN QUICKLY"

a message by Rev. Dr. Bruce Havens

Coral Isles Church, U.C.C.

December 29, 2024

Matthew 2:13-23 NRSV

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” 16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” 19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazarene.”

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas!  I hope Santa was good to everyone.  We had a good time.  But now here it is 4 days after Christmas.  Technically, it is the fourth day OF Christmas.  If you haven’t gotten your calling birds from your beloved yet, they are due.  All that said, our Scripture lesson this morning reminds us just how quickly everything can change in life.

Five nights ago we were celebrating angels and miraculous births and joy to the world.  I spoke about the “wise men” or “magi” that came to visit Jesus.  The Scripture says they brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Each had a symbolic meeting.  This morning we are reflecting on what happened after the visit from the magi.  Matthew tells us that they had stopped by King Herod’s to check in.  They asked, “Hey, where is this NEW King of Israel, we wanted to go worship and salute him.  Now, I’ll give you this – most kings aren’t going to be real excited to hear they are about to be replaced.  But King Herod, we’re told, was in a right fit of rage.  He is so raging that he orders the murder of all babies – not just the boys - under 2 years of age!  Matthew tells us that Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus become undocumented immigrants, going down into Egypt.  Matthew tells us all this happened to fulfill a little-known prophecy about God’s son coming up out of Egypt.  We don’t know how long they stayed, but ultimately an angel got word to them that Herod had died, so it was safe to go back to Israel.

Still, Joseph hears that Herod’s son has taken over his father’s throne.  Rather than take chances he still has a vendetta Joseph goes to Nazareth which is ruled over by a different King.  Matthew also attributes them taking up residence in Nazareth is also to fulfill a little known prophecy.  Luke’s Gospel tells us a different story, nothing about all the trouble with Herod or Egypt.  He simply has Joseph and Mary coming from Nazareth to Bethlehem because of a tax that Rome wanted to charge and so a census was taken to make sure everyone got charged.  Whatever the reason or the historical facts of the case, my point this morning is simply: how quickly things in life can change; how unexpectedly celebration can turn to trouble, or, alternatively, how quickly trouble can turn to celebration.

I’m really not trying to put a damper on anyone’s holiday mood.  I really don’t want to give you the impression I don’t want anyone to be happy.  My hope is really to show that even throughout all these things, the Gospels tell us one thing:  God is still at work.  God is still working through our joys and our tribulations to bring blessing to us.

Maybe your Christmas wasn’t the merriest.  Maybe you are dealing with the same old difficulties you have been dealing with all year, or for years.  Maybe you have had new challenges or even tragedies happen despite this being the “hap- happiest time of the year.”  You have had a loved one die.  A doctor gave a bad prognosis.  A family member is dealing with mental or physical difficulties.  Business has gone bad, the world’s wars and economies or problems you never imagined have made Christmas more grim than you imagined and the New Year looking just as bad or worse.  Lots of ways life can turn in an instant, change from good to bad.  And our fear can tell us, Oh, it will never get better, or things will only get worse from here. In the face of things like that it is easy to figure that God, like Elvis, has left the building.  It would be understandable to feel like everyone and everything, including God, is out to get you.

I’m here to try to give you some hope, some faith that the opposite is true.  I’m here to promise you that God does not set out to smite, punish, crush, or otherwise manipulate us because we aren’t holy enough, straight enough, rich enough or anything else enough to be lovable.  In fact, I’m here to promise is you that God will sit and cry with you.  God’s heart will break with you.  God’s fear is that our fear will push God out of our hearts so badly that God can’t heal our fear, comfort our hearts, strengthen us to make it from Bethlehem to Egypt and back to safety and new life in Nazareth.

I’m here to promise you that however things turn in your life, whether you won the MegaMillions and all is right with the world, or everything you ever bet your life on has turned to dust, like Job, God will not leave you or forsake, but will go through it with you.  I even promise you can hate on God, curse God, think you have turned your back on God forever, and God will not hate you or curse you or turn God’s back on you in return.  I’m here to say as quickly as life can turn bad, God will stay with you longer than it ever takes to turn right again. 

I’ve been through the valley of the shadow enough to know, even when I have walked away from God, God has kept walking right with me.  If you’ve been through the desert and thought there was never going to be another oasis, but you’ve survived and even found a way to thrive you know what I mean.  You may be looking forward to 2025 with joy and certainty that all your problems will be solved, or you may be filled with fear that disaster is already upon you.  God will still be with you.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 

I’m here to tell you not only can things turn bad quickly, when we discover God is still with us, things can turn good just as quickly.  See that is what sending Jesus was all about.  It was about a word, a name Jesus’ people have that the prophets tell us about.  That name is Emmanuel.  That name means “God with us.”  That is the promise God made, the promise Jesus came to make to us, and be for us.  God with us is the reason, even when everything is wrong, we can believe all will be right.

You may think I am wishing on a star.  You may think I am selling what you can’t afford.  You may tell me to take my story somewhere else and tell someone else.  That’s ok.  I will.  I will tell it to you and I will tell it to anyone and everyone.  I will tell it from this pulpit and I will tell it on a beach, or a boat, at a wedding or at a funeral.  If I have to I will go and find a hill, or a mountain and I will go tell it on a mountain:  Jesus Christ is here!  God is with us.

And I promise you one more thing: every time I have remembered that, things have turned, quickly.  When you experience that, I promise you will want to go and tell it on a mountain, too!  AMEN.