2nd Sunday
after Christmas
January 2nd, Year of Our + Lord 2022
Our Redeemer and Our
Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, SD
Identity
Who am I? Who am I, really and truly? Do I want to be me? And why are these things happening to me? Today there is a pandemic of identity crises. As the world goes mad, traditional institutions like nation, religion and family somehow fail to help people know who they are. Not finding themselves in their real community, countless souls search the web, seeking a virtual reality to connect with. Still, while this identity crisis is especially severe today, it is not new.
Jacob’s identity crisis is neatly described by his two names, for Jacob is also Israel. Jacob the grasper, the schemer, who weasels his way into his brother’s inheritance and blessing, is nevertheless chosen by God as the third patriarch in the line of the savior
Messiah, the promised Christ. Through the years, God visits Jacob repeatedly, reminding him of his greater identity. Visits which include an all night long wrestling match with God, who appeared in the form of a man. As the dawn broke, with Jacob refusing to give up his grip on the Man, God gives Jacob the new name that his descendants would all share: Israel, he who struggles with God and men, and prevails, just by hanging on.
Now, in our Old Testament reading, Jacob faces a late-in-life tumult: he is called to pick up everything and move to Egypt, trusting the remarkable news that his favorite son Joseph, given up for dead long ago, is alive, and is ruling over all Egypt, in Pharoah’s stead. Can I really trust this promise? Jacob’s internal doubts lead the believer God had made him to be to seek the Lord in worship. Jacob hangs on, and God responds with a definite answer. Yes, Jacob, go. Go down to Egypt, without fear, for I am still with you, wherever you go.
Almost 19 centuries later, the second famous Joseph, Joseph the husband of Mary and Guardian of the child Jesus, was probably wondering, like his ancestor Jacob. A faithful Israelite, who received visions from God like Jacob, and like the original Joseph, Mary’s husband did the right thing. But don’t you think Joseph may have had some questions? Why had he, a nobody carpenter from the northern backwaters, been pressed into repeating Israel’s journey to Egypt, although under much more dangerous conditions? “Who am I, O Lord, that you have called me to this?”
King Herod, ruling in Jerusalem, should have had a clear picture of who he was, don’t you think? Everybody knows him. He’s a powerful and widely feared man. He should be confident of his identity. But it seems not. Word of an unknown infant king rocks his world. Perhaps his insecurity came from the fact that he was not really a king in the proper sense. He ruled, but under orders, governing over the Jews in the name and by the permission of the Roman Emperor. Perhaps Herod’s rise to power was the result of a life of overcompensating for his insecurities. Regardless, for some reason, when Herod discovers the Wise Men have tricked him, he flies into a rage and panics. He reveals his selfish, murderous, hardened heart by ordering the death of all baby boys below two years of age, in Bethlehem and in the whole region, a mad attempt to protect his ego and his pretend throne.
I wonder what life was like in Bethlehem in those two years or so since Jesus’ birth. How well known did the message of the angels and the shepherds make the Holy Family? And what was the village gossip when the Magi arrived, bearing rich gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, and falling down to worship Mary’s toddler Son? The faithful in Bethlehem were drawn into the great drama of God’s salvation, in a frightening and terrible way. Herod’s brutality made the first New Testament martyrs, the first of God’s people to be persecuted and killed for the sake of the Savior, born for us.
The first to be persecuted for the sake of the Christ, but definitely not the last. The Apostle Peter knows the danger of persecution, from his own failure to confess the truth about his connection to Christ, on the night Jesus was betrayed. Around the fire in the High Priest’s courtyard, Peter learned that just the threat of persecution can make sinners deny their identity. Later, his denial of Jesus forgiven, and his call as Apostle restored by the resurrected Christ, Peter went on to face much more persecution, but without denying His Lord.
Peter
knows of what he speaks. And so his
letter to persecuted Christians is chock full of identity reminders: “If you
are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit
of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let
none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a
meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as
a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that
name.”
Glorify God for the privilege of suffering for being a Christian. Yes, Peter is bold to tell those first century persecuted Christians, and us, that we should rejoice if we are persecuted for the Name of Christ.
The
Apostle Paul says the same, and they are both echoing Jesus Himself, for
example in John 15, where Jesus warns the future Apostles: “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before
it hated you.” “Rejoice and be
glad,” says Jesus, “for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were
before you.” (Matthew 5:12)
Persecution flows from the nature of God’s plan of salvation. All the way back to Jacob and beyond, back to
the Garden, God’s intent has been to redeem a people in His own good Name. To win condemned, dying sinners back from the
power of sin and satan, by calling them to a new identity, the identity of sons
and daughters, beloved children of God.
Jesus came to bind the strong man satan and free the prisoners he held
in sin, in order to make them holy members of God’s family. So it cannot surprise us that satan hates and
wants to persecute all who are called by the Name of Jesus. He thought he had us, but now we are free in
Christ. So satan is bitter.
Sadly, the world, knowingly or unknowingly under diabolic influence,
actively serves as satan’s instrument for stalking the Church, looking for
believers to oppress. So we should not
be surprised to suffer as Christians.
But when suffering comes we are surprised, and appalled. Frightened.
Someone you consider a friend mocks God to your face. Your favorite comedian belittles your
faith. The coach of your child’s sports
team pressures you to choose a game over attending church. The in-group at work or school entertains
themselves with pornography and lewd jokes.
And you are called, again and again, to take a stand for who you are in
Christ.
So, who am I really? Do I really want to be who I’ve been called to be? Where will I find the confidence to confess Jesus, and not deny Him? How can I muster the peaceful strength required to rejoice in suffering for the Name?
Such confidence and peace are found in the only character in our readings today who was never confused about His identity. It is a mystery beyond our grasp that God messed a diaper, and nursed, and grew up, learning to walk and talk and laugh and play. We rightly marvel in the love demonstrated when the glorious Son of the Father came down from His throne, to become our brother. At the same time, we should never forget that all the while He was growing through every stage of human development, Jesus Christ was also the eternal and almighty God.
Jesus, the very Wisdom of God, the Word made flesh, always knew who He was. He allowed Himself to be protected and cared for by His own creatures. The One who gave the Law to Moses honored His adoptive father and His mother. He lay in the manger and fled to Egypt, appearing to be just another unknowing refugee child, carried along by the grown-ups, unaware of the passions and hatred that were behind His flight. But He knew who He was. God the eternal Son always knew His identity, and His Mission, what He was here to do.
He was and is Emmanuel, God with us, the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed Savior of Israel. Jesus, the LORD who saves, the Bright Morning Star that enlightens our darkness and dispels our sin. He is the Bread come down from heaven to feed the faithful unto eternal life. The Prince of Peace, who sets us free to live at peace with each other, because He has made peace for us with God. The Wonderful Counselor who gives us His Spirit to teach and guide us on the Way of Salvation. The Seed of the Woman, come to crush the serpent’s head. The Promise of Abraham, come to bless all the families of the earth. The Star of Jacob and the Scepter of Israel, the eternal Son of David, who rules to bless and provide for His people, unto all eternity.
In the many titles of Jesus, the Good News that God is merciful and loving, despite our sinfulness, is fully revealed. The Christ Child, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who formed a great nation for Himself from unlikely beginnings, led them into Egypt, and then out again. The God who, despite Israel’s idolatry and rebellion, remained faithful to them and to His own Name, until the fullness of time. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve, to be the Suffering Servant, on whom all our sins were laid. By His stripes, we are healed.
Rejoice in the Name you have been given. Rejoice, even though from time to time you may suffer briefly. For the sufferings of this present time do not compare to the joy that is to be revealed. You can hang on, because all the while, Christ is with you, hanging on to you, just as He was with Jacob, and Joseph. Just as He was there to comfort the mothers of Bethlehem, and welcome their martyr children into heavenly peace. Christ is with you, to pick you up when you stumble, forgive you when you fail, and to bring you through the journey of this earthly life, safe in His loving care.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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