A Concord Pastor Comments: NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 12/29

For many, the Christmas story ends with the arrival of the gift-bearing Magi in Matthew's gospel - but there's more! Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, was careful to plan for the safety of his little family in light of King Herod's scheme to terminate the reign of any "new born King of the Jews." Let's pick up the story in Matthew:

When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He shall be called a Nazorean.” (Matthew 2:13-23)

So, the Holy Family had a rough time of it after Jesus' birth in that stable in Bethlehem: they were on the road, in flight, seeking a safe place to settle. This story inspired Kelly Latimore to paint this poignant icon and Josh Rutter, Coodinator of JRS/USA Outreach and Advocacy to write this beautiful prayer.

The road we take
leads toward the promise
of security and stability
for we flee not solely in fear,
nor do we make this pilgrimage
for the pursuit of untold riches.
We do not seek to spread terror,
for how dearly do we cling on to hope
in knowing that goodness abounds
wherever we shall land as a unit,
but much more than a statistic
or a painfully vetted file,
rather, a family,
peculiar and unusual like any other:
united, courageous, holy.

There are few songs related to the Holy Family's flight into Egypt, and fewer appropriate for our purpose here. But certainly John Foley's setting of Psalm 16 is apt for any time we find ourselves in flight from what we fear or don't understand - and seek the Lord's protection until we find a place of safety and peace...

Keep Me Safe, O God by John Foley

If a widget doesn't appear below, click here!