“Escape to Egypt”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen. For our Advent and Christmas services during December this year we have
had a sermon series on “The Angels of Advent,” looking at what the Bible teaches
about angels, and their prominent role in the Advent and Christmas story. Today’s Gospel Reading takes place sometime after Jesus’ birth.
“And behold, Wise Men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who
has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and have
come to worship him.’” After their visit to Bethlehem to worship and offer gifts to the
newborn King of Kings, they are warned in a dream not to return to King Herod
and tell him the location of this Babe. Because, we are told that when
Herod had heard from them about this new King, “he was disturbed, and all
Jerusalem with him.” Herod and his court feared this little Babe, for they
thought he was a usurper, whose followers would lead a revolt to kick out Herod
and his court and take over Herod’s earthly kingdom. But, the Babe of Bethlehem had a much greater destiny than simply
overthrowing one wicked king. He came into the world on a mission to
overthrow all the forces of evil. Hebrews puts it this way: “He shared in
our humanity, so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of
death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in
slavery.” Ever since the fall into sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, all of
humankind were held in slavery to the evil forces of sin, death and the devil.
But, immediately after the fall, God had promised that one of Eve’s descendants
would be the Messiah, God born into the world as a man, to crush and defeat
Satan. That is the mission of the Babe of Bethlehem. Paul says in Romans, “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.” Jesus himself is the first and greatest Christmas gift,
for by his victory over sin, death, and the devil, you receive the gift of God,
forgiveness, salvation, eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. “He
shared in our humanity, so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the
power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held
in slavery.” That is the mission of the Babe of Bethlehem, not simply
overthrowing just one wicked king. But, Herod sees this Child only as an earthly rival to his throne, and
plans to kill him. “When [the Wise Men] had gone, an angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Get up, take the Child and his mother
and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search
for the Child to kill him.’” It is not surprising that God would send an angel to protect his own
Son. But, Paul says in Galatians, “You are all sons of God through faith
in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ.” Through Holy Baptism, you are born again as God’s
beloved child. And, so, just as we read in today’s Gospel Reading that God
sent an angel to protect his own Son, Scripture assures us of the wonderful,
amazing truth that God also sends his angels to watch over you. Hebrews puts it this way, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent
to serve those who will inherit salvation?” As I said in my sermon on
Christmas Day, there are indeed guardian angels watching over you. Psalm
91 says, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your
ways.” Jesus says of little children, “Their angels in heaven always
behold the face of my Father.” “THEIR angels;” and not only little
children, but every Christian has “THEIR angels,” special guardian angels,
assigned especially to you, to guard you in all your ways. But, usually, we are not aware of the ways angels have delivered us.
And, if angels do appear to us, it is often in a form that hides their angelic
nature. As Hebrews says, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so
doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” There is a true story about a Missouri Synod military chaplain
stationed in Alaska in the 1960’s. One night he received an urgent call
from another base. A woman was having difficulty in childbirth, and she
was asking for a Protestant chaplain. He headed out in a jeep, but along
the way a blizzard suddenly engulfed him and he went off the road. He was
all alone, many miles from anywhere, stuck in a ditch, in complete darkness in a
blinding blizzard, unable to see even a few feet in front of his face. As he stood there pondering his desperate situation, he was startled
when behind him a voice said softly, “Can I help you, chaplain?” There,
from out of nowhere, stood a young man in military uniform. “Where did you
come from?” the startled chaplain asked. “Let’s just get your jeep back on
the road,” the young man said. Together they pushed it out of the ditch.
But, when the chaplain went around to the other side of the jeep, the young man
was gone, disappeared into nowhere. He checked all the bases, which kept
close track of everyone’s comings and goings, and found that because of the
blizzard there was no soldier out anywhere near him that night. That
Missouri Synod pastor says there is no other possible explanation than God sent
an angel to rescue him. Another Missouri Synod pastor, who was my Hebrew professor in college,
was on his way to the hospital, as a seminary student in St. Louis, with his
wife in labor, when their car broke down in rush hour traffic. A man
stopped and offered them a ride in his pickup, and their first child was born in
the back of that pickup on Interstate 270. After they got to the hospital, the man just disappeared. The
pastor got his name, and they had a picture of him and could clearly see the
license plate on the truck from the hospital security videos. But, despite
a massive search by the police and the media, because this became a big story in
St. Louis, it turned out no such person or license existed. This true
story appeared in Redbook magazine, and the pastor and his wife firmly believe
their child’s life was saved by an angel. Those are just two true stories of guardian angels at work. No
doubt there have been countless times in your life when angels have been there,
guarding you and helping you, without you even knowing it. Only in heaven
we will realize all the times our guardian angels have saved us. “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will
inherit salvation?” Just as God sent an angel to warn Joseph and protect
his own Son, you can be assured that throughout the New Year and your entire
life he will send his guardian angels to watch over you, for you are born again
as his beloved child. “He will command his angels concerning you to guard
you in all your ways.” Amen. Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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