Category: 2016 (Page 2 of 85)

Today’s Bible Reading

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men[a] from the East came to Jerusalem,  asking, “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.”  When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;  and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah[c] was to be born.  They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
   who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men[e] and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.  Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”  When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.  On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

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.”  Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt,  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.”

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, 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 wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

“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.” — Matthew 2:1-18

More thoughts for meditation

It happened in Bethlehem soon after the birth of Jesus. Slaughter. It happened in Aleppo this week. Slaughter. Terror. The innocents suffer.  Our idealized renditions of the Christmas story ignore this part of the birth story of Jesus. We struggle to reconcile our feelings about such utter, senseless brutality.  But in the service of power, humans have practiced slaughtering one another, including children, all through our history.  Jesus is a refugee child, an immigrant, a stranger in a world of violence justified by governments desiring to hold on to power. He and his family have to flee for their lives.  That’s the Christmas story.

Why doesn’t God address this horror? Make it stop! Our thoughts run in these circles regularly.  Haven’t you heard someone just this week wonder how God could exist in the face of such realities. If God were God would he not stop this slaughter?

God’s yearning sent Jesus to save us.  God’s longing for the slaughter to stop is made visible in the small hands and vulnerable flesh of the infant Christ.  We need a Savior.  The world has not yet accepted him.  The slaughter goes on, but now  for followers of Jesus the change is in the knowledge and experience of God-with-us, Emmanuel.  We still need saving as our violence still goes on.  Now, for those who believe, the answer has come. Jesus saves.

I don’t mean to be simplistic. I certainly don’t want to diminish the suffering of children and families through the centuries.  I do want to remind myself in the desperation of our world in our time that the Christmas story includes the slaughter and addresses it only by the reality of Christ coming into the world.

The 16th century English Coventry Carol is all about this slaughter.  Christians of another era seemed more able to include the brutal reality in their remembrance of Christ’s birth. The Renaissance carol takes its name from the city of Coventry, but it is also know as “Lullay Lully” from the line in its refrain which means “I see, I see.”

Bearing witness to the slaughter and the plight of Jesus and his family is what this song is all about. No solution is offered to this brutality other than bearing witness, I see!  This carol is also one of the earliest polyphonic carols, meaning that it has several vocal lines mixing throughout the song so there are multiple voices at play. That seems to capture what was important to these early authors and their audience.  I see, I see rings out into the night of suffering and in the midst, the Christ is born and lives through it all. A lullaby in the midst of slaughter.  

Suggestions for action

Listen to this version of the carol by Pentatonix and consider  the need we all have for a Savior, the need  our world demonstrates so vividly. See it.  Sing lully, lullay.

The Coventry Carol (Lullay Lully)

Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day.
This poor youngling for whom we sing
By, by, lully, lullay.

Herod the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day.
His men of might, in his own sight,
All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!
And ever morn and day,
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.