Matthew 2:13-23, 2025/01/12, Osaka Church
Christ is born!
King Herod, who learned that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a small town outside of Jerusalem, feared that the child would eventually usurp his position as king, and plotted to find and kill the child. When Joseph, Mary, and the child Jesus found out, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word.
The 11th century Bulgarian Archbishop Theophylact pointed to this passage and said, “Even God fled.” He also said that the angel’s admonition to “remain there until I bring you word ” teaches us that “we too should not do anything apart from God’s will.”
When our souls are in a critical situation, we “straightforward” people tend to confront the situation head-on and try to find a way out. We do not consider our own powerlessness, cling to God, or entrust ourselves to Him, but try to do it on our own. Even if we believe in God, we think that the situation is a test given to us by God, and even though God tells us to “stay there” and stay still, we run around and make the situation even worse.
I will conclude today’s sermon with an episode entitled “My Empty Cup” from the book “Finding God in time of Sorrow and Despair” by Father Konialis of the Greek Orthodox Church.
A woman whose husband had died of cancer was so sad that she gave up on life. At that time, she received a letter of condolence from a friend, and the words of a female poet that were introduced in this letter saved her.
My dear friend, God does not say today “be strong”. He knows your strength is spent, He knows how long the road has been, and how weary you have grown. Jesus, who has walked the many roads of this earth, through low marshes, over rough hills… He understands. And he will say: “Be still, and know I am God.”
It is late at night, and you must rest a while. And wait, until the container of your life is full, just as the drizzling rain fills the empty cup left in the garden. Dear friend, hold the cup quietly in both hands. God will fill it. All God asks of you today is to stay still, holding the cup.
She reflects:
“Those were exactly the words I needed at that time. In the days that followed, God truly filled my cup, little by little.”
The author, Father Coniaris, concludes this episode with the following words:
“Night is the time when it is best to believe in the light.”
Jesus was also born at night.