Dear friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The Feast of the Holy Innocents is commemorated every year on December 28^th  as a part of the Twelve Days of Christmas. It is the portion of the gospel reading that inspired the haunting   English Christmas song, the Coventry Carol. Perhaps you know the words:

Herod the King in his raging, Charged he hath this day;

his men of might in his own sight, All children young to slay.

Bye, bye, Lully, my little tiny child, bye, bye Lully, Lullay.

When the Feast Day of the Holy Innocents occurs on a Sunday most churches choose to transfer the commemoration to Monday, the following day.  Apparently, we all prefer to read more pleasant portions of the gospel on the Sundays in worship. The day honors the first martyrs of the Christian faith who were all children killed by King Herod. According to St. Matthew’s gospel, the paranoid Herod was angry at the Magi who had initially come to him seeking this new born king, hadn’t returned to him.  Furious that Jesus had escaped, he ordered the killing of all baby boys under the age of two in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas.  In his writing Saturnalia, the Roman historian Macrobius,  “On hearing that the son of Herod, king of the Jews, had been slain when Herod ordered that all boys in Syria under the age of two be killed, Emperor Augustus said, ‘It’s better to be Herod’s pig than his son.'”  Before this came to pass, however, Joseph was informed by the angel of the Lord in a dream of what was to happen, and he escaped with Mary and Jesus to Egypt.

Legends have often provided the names, colors and descriptions of many of our Christmas characters.  In Saint Matthew’s gospel, you will find no mention of the number of wisemen or magi.  We merely read that three gifts were offered, gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Legend and tradition have informed us that there were three.  Tradition also states that their names were Melchior, Balthazaar and Caspar. The Holy Family’s sojourn into Egypt has given us another name as well, a thief named Dismas.

When Joseph and Mary were escaping Bethlehem, they were confronted by robbers.  One of the robbers wished to murder the Holy Family at once, and to steal the little store of goods that they were hiding… the gold, frankincense and myrrh that they had had been given by the three kings.  But something about the baby Jesus went straight to the heart of the young thief named Dismas.  He refused to allow any harm to come to Jesus or his mother or father.  He looked at the tiny child wrapped warmly in blankets, and held lovingly in Mary’s arms and said, “O most blessed of children, if ever there comes a time for having mercy on me, then remember me, and forget not this hour.”  So, the legend says, that Jesus and the thief Dismas met again at Golgotha, and, as the penitent thief on the right on the cross, Dismas received the forgiveness and mercy that his soul was seeking.  His words echo the ancient legend, “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.”  To which Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

In the second legend, as evening came, the Holy Family was weary in their escape from Bethlehem and they sought refuge in a cave.  It was very cold, so cold that the ground was white with hoar frost.  A little spider saw the infant Jesus, and he wished so much that he could so something to keep him warm in the cold night.  He decided to do the only thing that he could do.  He would spin a web across the entrance of the cave to make a curtain to protect from the cold and wind.

Along the path came a detachment of Herod’s soldier. When they came to the cave, they were about to burst in to search it, but their captain noticed the spider’s web, covered with the frost stretched across the entrance.  “Look,” he said, “at the spider’s web there.  It is quite unbroken, and there cannot possibly be anyone in the cave, for they would have torn the web.”  So the soldiers passed on and left the Holy Family in peace.  The legend states, that to this day, this is why we put tinsel upon our Christmas trees to remind us of the spider’s web covered in frost that protected our Savior.  It also reminds us that no gift offered to the Lord, is too small or forgotten.

Since the time of the early church, this morning’s gospel and the legends of the penitent thief and the spider’s web, have inspired Christian men and women.   Now this may seem peculiar to you.  After all, these stories of human brutality and hatred seem so contrary to the joy of this festive season.  And it’s true, in the midst of the flurry of Christmas activity, this portion of the gospel could easily be overlooked.  But my friends, there is a harsh reality to the story of our Savior’s sojourn into Egypt that cannot be dismissed.  This world of pain is the world our Lord came to redeem.   This world of sorrow is the world the infant Jesus came to save.  This world of sadness and oppression is the world to whom the Christ child came to give light and life.

The Christmas gospel is not simply the romantic story of our Savior born in a stable and resting in a manger, but it is the story of God’s wondrous love breaking forth and overpowering the brutal earthly princes and their power.  It is the story of the homeless seeking refuge, the persecuted seeking protection in a reign of terror, of God’s innocent ones being neglected, of poor nations seeking the charity and mercy of richer nations, of warring factions struggling for power.  Yes, it is the story of a world that often closely resembles our own.  A world in which we ourselves may feel helpless to change.  But this is also the story of a gracious God who so loved his creation that he was willing to place his only son in harm’s way, so that you and I should be saved.  And that, is the true joy and wonder of Christmas.

So how do these stories, this gospel and these legends continue to inspire us?  Isn’t that what you and I long to discover in this Christmas season. You may think that God cannot use you  we you not very powerful. But as Scripture makes clear many times, God’s strength is made manifest in human weakness and here you see the truth of that. How powerless the authority of Herod the Great is against the Lord of life, now just a nursing baby. It doesn’t make sense to us, but we know that it is true. When you take a step out into the unknown, praying for God’s guidance, you never know where it will lead you. But it will always end up in something surprising.

To close, let me offer three suggestions to inspire and strengthen you this Christmastide.  Perhaps you can use these as resolutions for the New Year as well.

First of all, seek ways to help the poor.  Seek ways to help, the refugees from distant shores, victims of war, and especially oppressed children.  It has been written, if you want to live a meaningful life, find a place where it meets face to face with the world’s suffering.  Our Lord Jesus has identified himself most intimately with these, the disenfranchised.  He once counted himself among the world’s misbegotten.  Like the penitent thief, Dismas, God will show mercy and favor to those who have shown mercy.  As Jesus promised the thief that he would be with him that day in Paradise, so he promises you that you will be raised as he was. When tyrants rage, that truth gives us courage, but still the hurt and pain they commit goes deep.

Second, do not avoid suffering even in the midst of the joyous season of Christmas.  Where there is a family member dying, go to them.  Where a friend is sick, be near to them.  Where a child is struggling, assist them… even if it causes you discomfort and anxiety.  In the Letter to the Hebrews, the apostle captured a divine truth.  “It was fitting that God in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering.”  Remember the wooden cross is as much of the Christmas story as is the wooden manger.

And finally, let your acts of charity be as nimble and as delicate as the Spider’s Web. In God’s hands your tiny gestures will be made into silver strands.  In God’s hands your fervent activity will be made holy unto him. In God’s hands your work of love will offer protection for even the most helpless and innocent child.  The picture of the holy family fleeing on a donkey into safety offers great hope and meaning.  God uses the simplest people to get his work done, battling the greatest empire on earth with the weakest and least: a simple carpenter, a new mother and a baby. Joseph is doing what God called him to do: protect his wife and child. There was nothing more that he could do, but it did wholeheartedly and courageous love. It is that love, my friends, that has the power to overcome this world- and- to change you.  Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.