Matthew 2:13-18.

Today’s lectionary readings bring us firmly back to earth with a bump after Christmas.  As I read them I began to question why on earth I had volunteered to preach today!  Just 3 days ago, we gathered in church to worship together and joyfully celebrate Jesus’s birth.  Today we hear how quickly this vulnerable young family were plunged from a state of the greatest happiness to one of immense fear.

Joseph is told to flee to Egypt with Jesus and Mary, as Herod has passed a decree to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and the surrounding villages.  Herod was afraid, he did not want this newborn ‘King of the Jews’ to threaten his throne.  He was paranoid about losing power, this fear made him both cruel and unpredictable.  This Sunday is often known as the Feast of the Holy Innocents in commemoration of this tragic event. 

In Advent, we often remember the willingness and obedience of Mary who unquestioningly followed God’s instructions.  I wonder why we seem to overlook Joseph?  He appears wearing a tea-towel, often decked out head to toe in brown, in the background of every nativity play.  Mary, Jesus and even the angel Gabriel take the limelight.  Yet, his actions are powerful and life changing.  Joseph demonstrates great faithfulness as he is guided by God in a series of 4 dreams.  The first instructs Joseph to take Mary as his wife and to name the child Jesus.  Almost without hesitation, despite the shame and honour culture of the time, Joseph accepts the responsibility for Mary’s pregnancy.  As a pregnant unmarried woman, Mary could have been cast out and rejected by Jewish society, perhaps even stoned to death.  As a couple they would have been socially excluded and rejected.  By saying ‘yes’ to God, Joseph was saying ‘no’ to everything that he had worked for and he would forever bear the shame.  Joseph says yes on behalf of another, this is perhaps the most courageous response of all.

Today we hear of Joseph’s response to his second dream.  God commands him to take Jesus and his wife Mary and flee to Egypt immediately.  It is easy to overlook just how challenging that journey would have been and enormity of leaving behind their home, friends and relations.  Joseph does not hesitate, he gets up in the middle of the night gathers his family and leaves.  They become refugees and live in exile, unable to return home until God decrees it is safe.  Joseph demonstrates immense courage on behalf of Jesus and Mary.  We see echoes of the story of Joseph in the Old Testament who was also summoned to a life of hardship in order to save the people of God and also of Abraham and Sarah’s journey to Egypt in search of food at a time of famine.

The times in which we live are not so different to those of the Holy Family.  Jesus is born at time when the Roman empire was struggling to maintain its grip on society.  The economy was faltering, famines were widespread, the poor were oppressed and political instability was evident.  At the helm was Herod, a leader who had a proven track record of cruelty and violence.  The basic human rights of liberty, fair trial, freedom of expression, freedom to worship and freedom to vote were incomprehensible.

It is easy to draw contemporary parallels with the situation in Israel, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  These countries are so unstable they are named as the most fragile in the world as a result of ongoing crises of civil war, political instability, extreme poverty and humanitarian disasters.  We can easily see reflections of Herod’s tyrannical control and desire for power in some of the world’s leaders today.  And even here in the relative safety of the UK we live at time of overlapping crises.  Ecological despair, a health service on the brink of collapse, rising loneliness in all age groups, huge concerns about our digital world and the erosion of a sense of community.   Today’s readings encourage us to courageously come alongside the Holy Family at their time of darkness, to remain with them rather than turn a blind eye to their suffering. 

Contemplative spirituality does not deny the violence and suffering of the world.  It invites us to be present and to recognise God’s presence among us.  Just over two years ago I was on holiday on the tiny Greek island Symi, close to the border with Turkey.  At the time there was still a steady flow of refugees arriving on small boats, fleeing war, violence, political oppression and poverty in the Middle East.  As a result of helping with medical emergency I found myself giving statements to the Harbour Police.  I was allowed to sit inside where some fairly useless fans moved the hot air around while I waited for officials and a translator to arrive from Rhodes.  Nothing could have prepared me for the conditions that the refugees were held in there, begging for shade, food, water and crowded together into a small courtyard.  I felt compelled to sit with them, to understand what had driven them to risk everything and leave their former lives behind, just like our Holy Family.  The stories that they shared were those of the terror of living in war zones, scarcity of food and being unable to access health care or medication.  Sitting alongside them, listening and sharing in their suffering has changed me forever. 

Joseph displayed immense courage to take Mary as his wife.  He faithfully trusted God, he protected Mary from public humiliation and faced personal condemnation.  And then, just a few months later his world was turned upside down again when God called on him to gather his family and flee to Egypt.  Joseph is not the nativity character we so often place in the background, his costly, compassionate and courageous actions change the fate of the world forever.  He listens quietly and intently to God, then he obediently and faithfully follows God’s call. 

A New Year is just around the corner.  I wonder what we might hear if we had the courage to really listen to God just like Joseph?  How might our lives change if we prioritised taking time to sit quietly in silence with God each day.