A Time To Dream
Sermon by Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-23
Some among us know all the words to the Twelve Days of Christmas. Many of us do not, but we do know the tradition of celebrating something twelve days after Christmas. We call it Epiphany. Twelve days after Christmas, January 6 every year, the Western Church celebrates Epiphany. St. Andrew will celebrate it today rather than on Friday, the 6th. Epiphany is not a word we use very often. It means a “manifestation” or a “revelation.” So, we should ask ourselves what is being revealed to us,12 days after Christmas?
We usually read about the Magi on the Sunday we celebrate Epiphany. Those foreign outsiders seek the King of the Jews who was revealed to them in the stars. Two thousand years later, again we can ask: what is being revealed to us? Is it just the baby?
On Christmas Eve, we heard the Gospel of Luke describe the sacred scene of a holy, silent night at the manger, after the angelic multitude sang “Glory to God.” All earth seemed to rejoice. But today we shift to Matthew’s telling. There are no angelic singers; no sweet little Jesus boy cooing softly in the hay. Instead, Matthew’s scene depicts a political power struggle, terror and violence, death and weeping, and the holy family urgently fleeing in the middle of the night. Years later, Matthew also shows us the adult Jesus saying, “Foxes have holes…but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (8:20) His homelessness starts on Epiphany, which means Matthew’s Gospel reveals the Messiah is born into the real world, where we live. So stop here and read Matthew 3:1-23.
One thing Matthew reveals is that God initiates human connection. In these early scenes, Matthew lays out various plots, but we can easily see God is active first. The designer of what happens is divine, not human. The stars aligning in a particular way sets up the Eastern astrologers’ trip to see the new King of the Jews, so they stop in Jerusalem and encounter Herod. Then God sends angelic messengers to speak into people’s dreams, so the magi go home by another route and the holy family flees Bethlehem.
What we may not catch completely is how Matthew reveals God’s coming among us in the midst of real life. The translators use softer language than the scenes may actually call for. The warning to the astrologers to go home by another way may have been a firm but quiet warning given in a dream, but the warning to Joseph must have been more like a split-second nightmare. An angel comes into Joseph’s REM sleep vision and essentially says, “Wake up! Run!” God comes right into the worst moment of the holy family’s life so far, and connects with them to keep them safe. Then down the road (literally), in Egypt, God sends another messenger to tell them when the vicious threat from Herod is past, but then God needs to add another REM sleep warning. “Stop! Judah still isn’t safe. Take a detour to the mixed area, Galilee, known as Galilee of the Gentiles.” Into real life, with terror and promises, murder and dictatorial threats, God is actively present with us. If we are listening, messages are being sent. In all of life’s circumstances, we can be assured God is already present, still speaking, and at work, because God connects with us first.
So then the faithful can respond. Our job is to act on the messages God sends. If we keep alert, we get divine guidance. Like when the angelic messenger shakes Joseph awake, we know Joseph pays attention because Matthew says Joseph gets up. He doesn’t wait until daylight. He rouses his wife; they throw their meager belongings into whatever duffel is around and slip out into the night. We can imagine their hurried steps, keeping to the back streets, avoiding being seen by anyone since it could be one of Herod’s soldiers. A terrifying escape, heading to a foreign country beyond Herod’s reach, where the language, the food, the currency, the customs will all be unknown. Foreign. People would say they were crazy, but it saved their son’s life.
We also hear the screaming lamentations of parents whose children were not saved. Apparently no message came for them or at least no message they understood. We hate this part of the story, partly because many of us have experienced horrible situations where we yearned for a message telling us how to survive, but the message didn’t come, at least not a message we understood. But we know even there, in the midst of ungodly circumstances, even the murdering of toddlers, God is present. I always imagine God screaming and crying with those parents.
One of the worst responses obviously was Herod’s. When the magi and scholarly experts gave Herod the message about a new King, he connived and lied and flew into a murderous rage, although it didn’t benefit him much since he died fairly soon afterwards. But the holy family survived. Once again a divine message interrupted Joseph’s REM sleep to report Herod’s death. They didn’t have to flee in the night this time, but they were free to return. However, messages continued, warning them of the danger from Herod’s son, so they settled safely in Galilee. Since God is even still speaking, especially in the worst circumstances, we need to stay alert to hear whatever messages God has for us, because then, if we are faithful, we can respond.
So, St. Andrew family, let’s dream. Joseph seemed to get the best advice when he was asleep, so we might benefit from following his example. Let’s dream. We are at the beginning of a New Year. Next Sunday, we are sealing our commitment in the Installation service. We will spend much of 2023 with Matthew, who believes that in the birth of Jesus, a new era dawns. So, this is a perfect time to be open to how God is calling us now. In the midst of whatever ungodly situations are around, God gives us dreams of justice and compassion to show us the road ahead.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean we should enter some mumbo jumbo Ouija board séance to hear God. I mean, God is speaking all around – in our dreams, in our moments of quiet at a stoplight, in conversations at coffee hour, in disagreements in church meetings, in those final moments before we drop off to sleep at night, or while we are trimming the bushes – there is God speaking, all over the place. But we need to stop and ask what the message is. What is God revealing to us now?
Someone this week told me they were struggling with a decision, so before they went to sleep one night, they asked for guidance. “Tell me which of these three paths I should take.” The next day, a friend called and said he had been thinking of them and that decision he knew was troubling them. He stated a preference for the person’s least favorite option, but then he added, “I think that’s what God wants you to do.” Then he added some support for that decision. Now the person could have said, “No, I really like the other two possibilities better.” But instead, they realized the third suggestion actually was best. They recognized they had received a message from God.
We can be open to what God chooses to reveal to us in various ways. We can ask God to fill our dreams; we can look for God’s angelic messengers around us in human form; or we can quietly watch the stars with anticipation. I hope I am not alone in thinking St. Andrew is entering a new season of life, because if we are heading someplace new, we will benefit from listening to and following whatever guidance God reveals to us. So, let’s dream together.
God is at work, revealing messages, even in the midst of the worst conditions. God called the holy family at its most vulnerable, with a toddler, to do something outrageous – flee to a foreign country. And they did. So, if they can do that, then we can commit our gifts and talents to do whatever God drops into our REM sleep visions to move towards God’s plan of a world of justice and compassion. We can move forward in response because God is among us.