Here’s a “heads up” or a “spoiler alert”: Christmas happens in the real world. Not just in candlelight and carols. Not only on a silent night. And not safely away in a manger. Because today’s Gospel tells us “Herod is going to search for the child and destroy him.” “Get up,” the angel says to Joseph, “take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.”
This a not a lullaby – a joyful Christmas carol. This is fear in the middle of the night. I can imagine Mary and Joseph terrified, running with a crying baby. That is real. And that is where Christmas happens.
Matthew’s Gospel shows us the world into which Jesus is born – the world of King Herod. It is part of the Christmas story we prefer to forget. No one sends Christmas cards with Herod on them. No one wants their child to be Herod in the Christmas pageant. Yet, Herod represents the fear, cruelty, abuse of power, and violence of the world. This child threatens everything Herod depends on. And fear always lashes out. Other children become expendable. Collateral damage – then and still today.
Joseph wakes Mary: “We have to go.” And suddenly the Holy Family becomes a refugee family.
Not much has changed. The Herods of the world still drive families from their homes. Parents still risk everything for their children.
A few years ago, someone told me they received a Christmas card wishing for “migrant-free” New Year. I thought, Wasn’t Jesus a migrant baby? What if the first Christmas had been migrant-free? What if Herod had succeeded? Why not wish for a Herod-free New Year? But the world is not free of Herods. Violence, even during Christmas, reminds us of that.
Herod is as much a part of the Christmas story as angels and shepherds. Christmas happens in Herod’s world. And thank God it does – because that is where we most need the Christ Child to be born.
Today’s Gospel spoils our sentimental illusions about Christmas. It connects the birth of Jesus to the tears of children, the fears of parents, and the pain of the world. I am not trying to ruin Christmas – but to make it more real. I would rather be singing “Silent night, all is calm, all is bright.” But is it?
Maybe we should be singing “We shall Overcome” as a Christmas hymn. That is the “good news of great joy.” That is why Herod is afraid. This birth begins a revolution – not of weapons or power, but of hearts.
So, the question is simple: What needs overcoming? In your life? In our nation? In our world? Is it fear of those who are different? Or is it anger, resentment, or despair? Is it the need to be right or in control? Is it revenge or indifference? Is it privilege, power or position? Or maybe the way we judge or dehumanize people? These are the marks of Herod’s world – and sometimes of our own hearts. Every time we deny them, excuse them, or live comfortably with them, we make no room for the Christ Child who comes to overcome. That is not who I want to be. And I don’t think it is who you want to be.
This may not be an easy homily to hear. It has not been easy to preach. If it unsettles you, that is okay – it should. Christmas is not meant to soothe us into complacency.
I don’t want to settle for just a Merry Christmas anymore. I hope you don’t either. We need something more. We need an Overcoming Christmas – one we live, not just sing about.
So, I wonder: What is Christ asking you to overcome this year? “O Come, all ye faithful” – but don’t just adore. Overcome.