 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Wednesday, December 28, 2022 fourth day of Christmas the wholly/holy innocents  The wholly/holy innocents If we remembered the events in story-order, we wouldn’t speak about these children until after Epiphany. But we don’t. Instead, like the death of Stephen and the long life of John (who called Jesus the Word, and urged us to “love one another”, we bring up the story of the children Herod murdered in order to illuminate something about the Incarnation. We know that not everyone was – or is – happy to have their preconceptions shattered by an infant king whose power was in love – not “power.” And it is well to remember that the Christmas story is a controversial one even right now. It’s easy to argue about whether Mary was really a virgin or not, but that hardly matters. It’s not the point. Neither is any discussion about the date of Jesus’ birth. Or whether Christmas includes elements of pre-Christian practices. But these are distractions – maybe deliberate ones. What matters is that the Lord God came to dwell among us in order to turn the entire established order, the “way things are,” upside down. And that is a threat to those who claim power to determine how things ought to be – how their nation’s political and social realities should be structured, which always privileges the wealthy and the powerful and sets the poor and the helpless aside. Collect for the Day We remember today, O God the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen  And according to Matthew, (2:16-18) King Herod was “infuriated” when the wise men returned to their own countries without giving him information to target the child: “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 and under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.”  |
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