Sermon 214 December 28, 2025: Mt 2:19-23; 1Cor13: 1-13; 1Sam 19:11-17; 2Sam 5:1-3 "The Great Escape" Sunday after Xmas

 As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

 

       Christmas Day is past and in light of all the anxiety that can arise among families preparing for that great occasion, its passing may be viewed as a great escape and cause for a large sigh of relief. Today's readings from Samuel and Matthew recount other escapes that were critical for the success of God's plan for our salvation. If David had not heeded the advice of Michal and fled from Saul's henchmen, he would have been killed, along with God's plan. If Joseph had not heeded the warning in his dream to flee from Herod to Egypt and then on his return to flee from Herod's son Archelaus in Judea to Nazareth in Galilee, the child Jesus may never have lived to fulfill God's work on earth.

       God's plans for us cannot be fulfilled if we are not alert to dangers and act to avoid them. But the dangers that are out to undo us are more likely at first to appear benign but turn out to be deadly. They can often be generally accepted activities or mores of a community or society but may be ethically questionable and destructive. The most glaring example is what happened to Germany between the First and Second World Wars. We may go back and analyze the conditions that caused that societal descent into the abyss, but that can never justify it. We shouldn't deceive ourselves, this can happen to any society.

       This is where St Paul's pean to love, which is the very essence of God's plan for us, answers the question posed by the Samuel and Matthew readings. We need to move away from the evils of this world in order to work for the good that God desires from us. When things begin to breakdown in society, we need to heed the warnings and remind ourselves of the greater good, so powerfully articulated by St Paul.

       When St Paul describes what love is and what it is not, he is giving us a blueprint for how we can promote the good and undermine evil. He also points out some common human impulses that are fueled by passions that will pass away. He is telling us not to be seduced by the prophecies that are doomed to fail, or by the actions of those who pose as knowledgable but who are disgraced when the truth is revealed. But, in doing this, love must be the guiding principle. As he says: "Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds joy in the truth." [13:6]

       However, even if there are occasions when we escape from evil and get a new opportunity to promote the good, the time may come when taking a stand for what is right will lead to death. Thomas a Becket, a saint we remember today, ultimately paid the final price for doing just that. Thomas was following Jesus's example. Jesus's Cross became a beacon of light for future generations and the ultimate path to escape from death to eternal life.

 

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Homily for Christmas (December 25, 2025)

 

As preached by 

Brother Christopher

Holy Wisdom Church

 

 

“Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”  Mt 2:2

 

Isn’t it interesting that on this feast of the Nativity, Matthew’s chief focus is on the Magi, wise men from the east, and not primarily on the birth of Jesus itself? While Matthew obviously appreciates his birth, he’s almost matter of fact about it, offering no details. Recall how today’s gospel starts “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea...” instead, he chooses to dwell on the effect this birth has both on the Gentile world as well as on Herod and the whole of Jerusalem.

          In this, Matthew doesn’t seem to be afraid of using symbols, particularly the star that leads the wise men on their long journey. This is no ordinary star, as Chrysostom observes, but a miraculous one, confirming their path as if it were an inner compass needle. And then there’s the wise men. They themselves symbolize the entire gentile world, who in this child will find the fulfillment of their hopes. In the Book of Numbers, Balaam offered the prophecy: “I see him, but not now, I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” The star that the wise men followed was leading them to what their hearts longed for. They followed the light they had, but it only took them so far. Because they didn’t have the full revelation of the scriptures, they needed to inquire in Jerusalem where the infant king of the Jews was born. The irony is that while the Jewish leaders – Herod, the chief priests and the scribes had the scriptures, they were unable to see the star. Think of that: they knew the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, but they were unable to see the star because they saw the Messiah as a threat to their power, a foreshadowing of the resistance Jesus would meet in his public ministry. So the star wouldn’t shine for them. One could say, metaphorically, it left them to rot in Jerusalem looking at themselves.

With the wise men it was different. On learning of that the Messiah-king was to be born in Bethlehem, they continued their journey, and the star immediately reappeared, filling them with joy and guiding them exactly to the place where the child was to be found. And here we see the real point of the story: upon seeing the child with Mary his mother, they knelt down and did him homage. The Greek word proskyneō that is used here is significant. In scripture it is used exclusively in reference to an object that is divine. Thus, in this context the proskynesis of the wise men reflects actually prostrating at the feet of a king, albeit an infant nursing at his mother’s breast. Their physical gesture reveals their need to give themselves utterly and completely to the one before them who is worthy of worship, that is to say to Christ. They do this before they ever offer him their gifts.

Which leaves us with a question: what would be the gift we offer Christ this particular day? It seems to me the real gift, the only gift that Christ is really interested in is the proskynesis, the prostration from the heart that signals our self-offering to him. For that is what puts us in authentic continuity with all that the wise men symbolize: the willingness to journey to the one true king who seeks to gather all into his kingdom. The good news is that we don’t have to wait for a yearly celebration to do this. We can reaffirm it every day.