“Let It Begin With Me” – Sermon on Dec 8, 2013
Dec 8, 2013
Scripture: Matthew 2
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men 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 was to be born. Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. And 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.
Having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. 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.
Sermon: Let It Begin With Me
by Rev. Doreen Oughton
Last week the theme was hope. We talked about Joseph, facing what seemed like a hopeless situation, with his betrothed Mary pregnant outside of wedlock. We talked about how the child born from this seemingly hopeless situation was not their shame, but their salvation, and ours. We talked about Joseph’s openness to hope, openness to going in a new direction. Today’s theme is peace, and what better example of a man who is not at peace than King Herod. He’s been king of Israel for about 40 years at this point. He’s known as Herod the Great. He had the title of king, but it was granted to him by the Romans, which were the people he truly served, and had to in order to be who he was. He was considered a tyrant by the Jewish people, and even used secret police to monitor and report the feelings of the general populace towards him. In order to prevent people from expressing their disdain for him, he did his best to prohibit people from protesting, and in severe cases, he had people taken away by force.
So you can imagine his reaction when these magi, these wise men from faraway lands came to him quite openly, quite innocently, asking to see the new king that was born. Scripture tells us he was frightened, and not only that, but all of Jerusalem was frightened also. I’m guessing Jerusalem was less afraid of the magi than they were of Herod’s fear. Because a frightened person can be a dangerous person, especially a frightened person with power. When Joseph was hopeless, his hope was restored by a dream. I wonder if Herod had a dream. I wonder if God came to him and said, “Herod, do not be afraid.” If he did, he paid it no mind. His fears had him in their grip, and the things he tried to do to manage them, oh my, Lord have mercy. The way it starts out is not so bad, he tries to get more information. He consults with the chief priests and scribes to find out the meaning of the star, to more clearly understand what the wise men are talking about. But when he gets the information, it does nothing to calm his fear. No, he starts engaging in deceit and manipulation. “Off you go to Bethlehem” he bids them. “Let me know what you find… I want to honor him also!” Our wise men are not wise to his tricks, but are, like Joseph, open to the messages that come to them from God. They have their dream and, after finding the child, avoid Jerusalem on their way back home.
I don’t know how long it took Herod to figure out that he’d been “tricked,” (funny way to put it, definitely his perspective – more like when he realized his trick had been discovered). But when he realized it, his fear and rage escalated and he started his murderous edict – kill all the male children under age 2. What a mess, what heartache. And, I’m guessing it still did not bring him peace.
Now you and I may not have the power of Herod, and may not be quite as destructive and tyrannical, but I confess that when I am frightened or angry, I am definitely not at my best. Those are the times I am most likely to hurt someone else, whether it is with a cutting word, aggressive driving, withdrawal of trust or even connection. It is when I am frightened that I see others as my enemy, that I assume the worst about people, that I take what I consider defensive measures, but others might consider a first strike. I truly believe that Herod considered himself a victim in this – those magi tricked him, this child king is trying to overthrow him, of course he had to do something!
Now for some people, fear or anger rarely if ever gets taken out on others. Instead it goes inward. The violence is done to the self, constant pushing to perfection, do more, be better, if only I were this and not that, what is wrong with me, constant self-criticism. I’m not talking about self-deprecating humor. That, I think, can be healthy. It shows we don’t really expect ourselves to be perfect, we can accept our flaws and even joke about them. It’s a good thing, I think, to laugh at one’s self, but it has to be affectionate laughter, not mockery. Self-mockery and self-criticism are not only destructive, they are self-centered. This is what fear can do to us, make us more self-centered. Fear gets in the way of that still, small voice that reminds us of who and who’s we really are. Fear gets in the way of recognizing who the other is. I wonder how many world leaders today are caught up in fear, so caught up, like Herod, that they can’t hear or see the truth about themselves, about the people they lead, about what true security really is.
Can you imagine a world where people have learned to manage their fears, and their anger? Can you imagine a world where people are open to the guidance of God, open to dreams of hope, to visions of peace? What would it take to get there? How do we even begin? What if we trained people to calm fear, to listen for that still, small voice, to listen to inner wisdom and guidance?
There’s been a lot of research on “stress management” which is another way to say dealing with fears and anger. Meditation has been shown to be very effective. Now I’ve read that the ideal is 20 minutes twice a day, except if you are really busy and stressed, and then you need to increase it to at least 30 minutes twice a day.
I also wanted to talk about what we did in the children’s message today. Even if we don’t take 20 minutes, just taking one or two minutes when we are intentional about imagining something positive, reflecting on our values, this can have a tremendous impact. In 15 states, schools are mandated to take 60 seconds, a minute of silence at the start of each day. It hasn’t been bad, but it neither has it has a tremendous impact.. except in the schools that have been inspired by Rabbi Avraham Frank to have the added feature of parental involvement. In this model, parents are encouraged to talk with their children each evening, and make suggestions on what they might think about during their moment of silence the next day. Parents have the chance to consider what they think is important, what kind of people they hope their children will be, to consider what values to encourage. In the schools that adopt this program, the changes have been remarkable. Their website poses the question: how would you like to dramatically improve your school…with almost no investment of time, effort or money? What if you could improve your students’ attitude towards life? What if you could increase their academic performance? What if you could improve their character? What if you could replace hostility with harmony? What if you could make your teachers happier and more satisfied with their jobs? What if you could make parents proud to have their children in your school?
The testimony from those who are practicing this makes it clear that this is possible, and it costs nothing. It is a ministry the Rabbi offers freely – to send information on how to implement the program to anyone who requests it. To me, this is really exciting. I wonder if this is a way we can minister to families in this area, by learning about this program and sharing it with the schools in our towns. Something to consider.
And we could also implement in our own families, whether you have children at home or not. What if you, on your own, or you and your spouse, took just 1 minute to contemplate something, to give deep thought, or even prayer, to a value, a situation, a condition. Do you think you might find a greater sense of peace? It might be worth trying. If you do, please let me know how it goes.
So to close out this talk on peace, I’d like to lead you in a brief meditation. I’m going to talk you through some relaxation techniques. Now some people are not comfortable with this, and if that is the case for you, feel free to take out a bible, or your cell phone or tablet and distract yourself quietly from what we are doing. For those willing to try, keep in mind that there is no right or wrong. Try not to judge how it is going, just let it go as best you can.
