Scripture Readings:
The Message: “Who Needs Help?”
Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, our Lord, our Strength, and our Redeemer. Amen
Have any of us ever received a warning? Warnings can come in many different ways including winter storm predictions, lab reports of health issues, phone calls telling us bank accounts are low, or calls from teachers saying things aren't well with our child. Warnings can come from friends or family concerned about us in some way. Warnings also come from God through prayer, an angelic presence, or in dreams. The warning I’m going to speak of was the second dream Joseph received from God. Joseph's first dream warned him not to divorce Mary as she was faithful and her child would be the expected Messiah. (Mt.1:20, 21). His second dream which I speak of today warned him to flee and told him how to protect the life of Jesus.
Although Joseph wasn't Jesus' biological father, he was his legal father. Joseph was not only open to God's guidance; he also accepted responsibility for the safety and well-being of Mary and their son with passion, strength, and courage. Fleeing to Egypt was wise as there were large Jewish settlements in many Egyptian towns and cities that had formed during the Exile. God not only provided a warning to the Holy Family, but also directions and guidance to ensure a prosperous and safe future.
Now, he could have chosen to dismiss it all as "just a dream," and sleep in. But, he had spiritual eyes and ears that saw deeply onto truth and was therefore obedient to God. This reality saved their lives as the Holy Family fled from Herod's troop's intent on killing all baby boys under the age of two in Bethlehem.
That was how Joseph dealt with the warning he received, but, how do we deal with warnings in our lives? Do we ignore them, hope they go away, or refuse to believe they are real? Divine guidance speaks loudest to those with open hearts and spirits who believe God can and will speak to us. When we draw close to God and open our ears, God will speak to us in new and deeper ways if we have the humility to listen!
I think we can all agree that when traveling, it’s always great to take a direct route to where we want to go without any bad roads or detours along the way, but unfortunately detours happen in life, not only on bad roads but sometimes as we are going forward in the directions in life we intended and loved. It is not fun to be stuck in a position where our health, finances, or other difficulties forced us to go a different way like Joseph, Mary, & Jesus.
And, because Joseph believed the promises of God's word, he did what God told him and did it very quickly. The Bible tells us that “…. he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ….” Could we do that? Could we have such faith that if God told us in the middle of the night to do something very difficult, would we do it, or just think to ourselves, “Well, I think I’ll just sleep on it and see how things are in the morning.” But Joseph had faith, my friends, faith in God and God’s messengers!
And that was Joseph and his story. What did this young mother Mary think about all this, having to wake up, get the “stuff” together for immediate departure, not knowing how they would get to Egypt, what was needed on the trip, and what they would need when they got there? What should she take? How could she prepare for what would lie ahead?
Well, let’s bring it to today. What if we were in that same situation? What if we were told to get out of our house quickly and travel some distance away and stay for an unknown period of time. And, what if we could only take what will fit in the car, and we had a very short period of time to make it happen. What do we do? Gas up the car, or for Joseph, check the donkey. Is it suitable for the journey? Make sure we had our credit cards and some cash, or for Joseph, make sure he would take the gold left over from the Wise Men gifts. Grab a travel bag and maybe some boxes; fill them with clothes and other odds and ends. Pack the car, and for Joseph, wrap the required belongings and pack them on the donkey. For us, grab the AAA US map book; plan a quick route/direction to go. For Joseph – I don’t know. I suppose he knew where the caravan route could be found to start him in the general direction of Egypt. Then, for us and Joseph, play it by ear and pray to God for protection and guidance!
Did I forget anything?
Oppppsssssss, almost forgot to make sure we got all the family in the car, and if we have pets, make sure we’ve got them! For Joseph, he had to make sure that his two most important things in his life, Mary and Jesus, were ready!
We probably noticed that Joseph didn’t linger, but why did God choose Egypt? Well, it seems that going to Egypt was not unusual. 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Bible have reported that Egypt had been a place of refuge for Israelites during times of political upheaval (1 Kings 11:40; 2 Kings 25:26). There were also colonies of Jews in several major Egyptian cities. But, even though Egypt was a Roman province, it was outside Herod’s jurisdiction, so Herod could not touch them! Egypt seemed to be the most appropriate place for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to travel to so that they could be out of harm’s way, and it really wasn’t that far away.
What happened to Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in Egypt and how long they stayed is pretty well unknown. Research suggest that they stayed in Egypt for a number of years, the Coptic Christians say 3 ½ years, the Muslims say 7 years. Some say that the family settled down in one place and others say that they traveled most of the time, only settling in one place for about 6 months. Whatever happened, for who knows how long, Jesus and his family were kept safe by God!
It seems that Jesus also started getting an excellent education while living in Egypt, possibly even in Alexandria, the well-known world-wide seat of learning during that time that also boasted the largest Jewish community outside of Judea. Joseph and family continued to have faith that they were still doing the right thing and that God would tell them when it was time to travel back to Israel. It seems obvious that they would have settled down and stayed in one spot for a few years so that Joseph could earn enough money to be able to feed, clothe, and lodge his family.
Well, Herod finally died which removed the threat of Jesus being killed. Or as Matthew tells us, “19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.”
And while the news of the tyrant’s death must have been welcomed, it also must have created problems entailing more difficult changes. Some of the family must have wondered, “So, here we go again, moving! Why can’t we just stay in one place for a while and have a normal life! Why didn’t God just cause Herod to die before we had to go through all this and do all this difficult moving?” At least I think that is what some of us might have thought if we were part of Joseph's family! And, moving back to Israel was certainly not that easy. Joseph heard that one of Herod’s sons was in charge in Judea. Was this going to be “like father, like son?” Joseph decided not to find out after he was told in a dream not to go back to Judea, so he and his family took a different route home and went to Galilee to the town of Nazareth. Nazareth should have been a natural choice for them since that was where Joseph and Mary were living when engaged. Did Joseph still have a house there? We really don’t know, but back to Nazareth they went even after having been absent for a few to maybe many years.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I am deeply touched by their numerous long journeys, these detours in life, as I can see God carefully providing and protecting his Son’s life, guiding Joseph and Mary as they took the child away from Israel when he was in danger, and then again as they returned to Israel when it was once again safe. God was not only protecting the Holy Family but also working out His plan of salvation for our sakes. And so my friends, when we are facing times of danger, insecurity, fear, or anxiety, and confronting hard times of change, we all need to read this story of the Flight into Egypt once more and consider with awe the hand of God working behind the dangerous circumstances and complicated scenes to protect the life of Jesus Christ and the Holy Family on this earth. Or as scripture in Romans 8:31 reminds us, "If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
Have any of us ever been stuck in a lengthy detour and despaired of ever finally escaping from it? Well, after finding Jesus and worshiping him, the Wise Men were also warned by God not to return to Jerusalem but to take a detour and go home by different roads than the ones they had come on.
Finding Jesus may mean our lives need to take a different direction, one that is responsive and obedient to Christ's teachings and God's best plans for our lives. Are there ways that finding and worshipping Jesus has affected the direction or plans in our lives?
There are many detours going on today in our personal lives, churches, communities, and nation. Some of those detours are good, some strange, some not so good, and others distressing. They can include chronic illness, financial challenges, a sudden car wreck, unexpected loss of loved ones, a cancelled vacation, roads with pot holes causing flat tires, etc. Detours in life seem to plague us at times. Be if we stay connected to God, the Holy Spirit can and will bring us through it all with safety and hope leaving us the better for it.
A simple prayer in times of detour and change can make such a difference. Never forget to pray when we find ourselves on unexpected detours in life and rocky winding by-ways. Remember God is always there, bringing us directions and the exact answers we need in His time. It may not be the timing or directions we are expecting or hoping to hear, but God always answers and protects. Trust in the Lord! Rely on Him, for without God there are no good answers. The detours of today that we are frustrated with may well be God's plan to save our lives and offer us a brighter future than we can even imagine! Let us remember, warnings can bring new beginnings, and detours can bring fresh opportunities!
Let us always remember:
Yes, God is for us, God is our protector, He is with us all the time, and we, you and me, all of us, can win the battle if for God we stand!
So may it Be, Amen
Prayer: Lord, Open my spiritual eyes and ears anew today and change the detours in my life to blessings. Amen.
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