A Broken World, A Dream Born
December 28, 2014
Mark S. Bollwinkel
When Jesus
learns of his best friend’s death, and against his disciples’ warnings, he
insists that he must return to Bethany to be at the funeral. On the way he encounters Lazarus’ sister
Martha, convinced that if Jesus had been there Lazarus would not have
died. Jesus is using these events as a
sign of his divinity. He says those
powerful, comforting and promising words to Martha, “I am the resurrection and
the life. Those who believe in me though
they die yet shall they live, and those who live and believe in me shall never
die.” (John 11:25-27)
When he
arrives at the burial site and is joined by Mary, his other friend and sister
to Lazarus and Martha, the village has gathered to mourn his passing. It is there as Jesus joins them and cries
tears of grief.
Why?
Lazarus will be resurrected from
death. He will leave the tomb as a sign
of God’s presence in the life and ministry of Jesus. (John 11: 43-44) These events will lead to Jesus own crucifixion
and resurrection (John 11:45-57). As the
son of God surely he knows how the story is going to end. Why would he weep?
Unless of course that God so
completely shares life with us that he can do no other. Jesus will work as a carpenter, will eat and
laugh and walk with friends. He will
know what death is all about and he will know what it is like to lose his best
friend. So Jesus weeps. God weeps with us in our grieving. He is found in the depths of the human
experience.
We hear that again in our gospel
lesson from Matthew.
We
preachers try to avoid it as much as we can.
Our
Christmas story and liturgical season ends with an astonishing scene. No sooner have the Magi left the manger at
Bethlehem than Joseph and Mary become political refugees and immigrants. They flee to Egypt to escape the violence
of King Herod who will murder all of the male children in and around the town
so to eliminate any potential threat to his power.
We would
much rather end our Christmas season on Epiphany with stories of the wise men
with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
But the Bible confronts us with the reality of the world into which God
enters as the Christ child.
Although our technology is
advanced, are we really so very different from that ancient world? Too many innocent children are still
murdered by tyrants. It remains a world where people are displaced
due to the politics of violence and poverty. The United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees estimates a record number of displaced persons now
reaching 15 million people around the world (UNHCR.org, 12/21/14). The Immigration and Nationalization Service
of the US Government estimates that there are 12 million people in our country
without proper documentation. (INS.gov).
The Bible actually has a lot to say
about how we are to treat refugees and immigrants; "The strangers who
sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you and you shall love
them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus
19:33-34)
Abraham was
a “stranger” among the Hittites at Hebron (Gen. 23:4) as was Moses in Midian
(Exodus 2:22), the Israelites in Egypt (Deut. 23:7) and Ruth the Moabite,
daughter-in-law to Naomi who married the righteous Boaz and was grandmother to
King David and 14 generations later to Jesus of Nazareth (Ruth 1:1-f); the baby
whose birth we celebrate during Christmas becomes a political refugee himself and
immigrant almost as soon as he is born.
In the New Testament, this Jesus
tells us to welcome the “stranger” (Matthew 25:35), for "what you do to
the least of my brethren, you do unto me”. (Matthew 25:40)
The United States of America has a
long history of welcoming those oppressed to our country and has benefited
greatly as a result.
John Muir was one of eight children
born to Daniel and Ann in Dunbar, Scotland.
The family immigrated to Wisconsin in 1848 due to poverty and his father’s
piety. John Muir settled in California
in 1868 where shortly thereafter he discovered Yosemite Valley’s beauty. Muir would become one of the founders of our
National Park system as a result of his passion for creation.
Madeline Albright was born in Czechoslovakia
in 1937 to Josef and Anna Korbel. They
came to the United States in 1948 as refugees from growing Soviet
communism. She would become the first
women Secretary of State and highest ranking female officer in our government
in 1997.
Jonas Salk was born to Dora and
Daniel in New York City in 1914. His
parents came to America as immigrants fleeing the persecution of Jewish people
of Russia. Dr. Salk would discover the vaccine
for polio in 1952. He died at the age of 80 working on a vaccine for HIV/AIDS.
Since 1975 alone the United States has resettled over 2.6 million refugees
in our country, 77% from Indochina (USDHHS: Office of Refugee
Resettlement). Religious organizations,
including the United Methodist Committee on Relief have been instrumental in
this effort here and all over the world.
How we treat each other is how we
treat God. That is especially true for
how we treat the least and most vulnerable in our society. It is no coincidence that the one who teaches
us that is the carpenter from Galilee who was born in a stable and himself
became a political refugee and immigrant no sooner than he was born.
Our tradition does not suggest a
Divinity that is distant and abstract from history but just the opposite, a God
who shares our life, our future and our suffering with us. A God who weeps when we weep. A God who knows what betrayal and love are
all about. A God who lives and dies just
as each one of us will. That is what
the Christmas narratives are really all about and why we celebrate the savior’s
birth.
It wasn't the presents they brought
with them. Grandma and Grandpa had lived
a modest life. My grandfather sold
hardware in New York City. They lived in
a rented apartment across the river in Northern New Jersey. They weren't poor. But it wasn't the things they brought with
them that got us excited.
My Grandmother Loretta was a
reserved woman, quite proper. When my
brother Paul and I would get into a fight yelling "shut up" at each
other, she would correct our manners saying "...don't say 'shut up' say
'be quiet'" She was not a 'sit in
the lap and cuddle' kind of grandmother.
Paul and I would take turns dipping a tea bag into her cup of tea. That was how we shared affection for Grandma
Loretta.
My Grandfather Elmer was the
boisterous, extraverted energy of the family at the holidays. He was hearing impaired and had one false
eye due to injuries from World War I.
He was full of jokes and stories about his life. He was the kind of person that could sit
down at a bus stop full of strangers and leave five minutes later with a friend
(kind of like my beloved Bonnie!).
Grandpa would play games, check out our toys and really pay attention to
us kids.
What I remember most about their
holiday stays with us was the laughter.
My Mom and Dad loved them dearly and so enjoyed their company. Meal time was the sharing of good and special
foods and laughter, lots of laughter.
As I look back I can’t remember
many of the presents I received as a child over the years but I will never
forget my grandparents at Christmas time.
Both were second generation
immigrants from Germany. Claus Elmer
Bollwinkel at the age of 14 was given the choice to stay in prison or immigrate
to the United States. We have a copy of
the prison ship’s manifest from Dresden that landed him in New York in 1857.
His grandson Elmer Jr., my
grandfather, would serve in an American uniform in World War I.
This fourth generation immigrant
thanks God for the decision of my great-great-grandfather to immigrate to this
country. I thank God for the faithful
life his family lived and the joy they brought to me and mine at Christmas
time.
It’s the love shared around it that
makes all the difference.
Now that Santa has gone back to the
North Pole, we can remember that Jesus was born a political refugee having to
flee his home to the temporary safety of another country. God’s love is born to us in the darkest time
of year and in the most desperate of situations.
In the end, that is the good news
we are called to share. We worship the
one God who completely shares life with us, even weeps with us. We who are each strangers in a strange land.
Amen.
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