Loss and the Christ Child
Today, I was moved to tears reading the Facebook post of a colleague. In late Fall of last year, in the midst of a global pandemic, she lost her husband of 30 plus years. Her post today created a deep ache in my heart. The depth of her grief is great as is the grief of so many others who lost loved ones in recent times. The Christmas season was particularly hard this year and for those who experienced the loss of a loved one… I am deeply sorry.
This week, I was reading the Christmas story again, andit struck me that a part of the story that we seem to omit from the birth of Jesus is a story of comfort and hope for those who are heavily burdened by loss and anxiety.
In Matthew chapter two we read of visitors who come with lavish gifts (the beginnings of our modern day trappings?). These visitors, the Wise Men, come to worship the Christ Child.
The part that we tend to omit is after the Wise Men had gone. The little town of Bethlehem would never be the same, not only for the birth of Jesus but for another, most sinister reason. Herod the Great was a ruthless king and would not allow the possibility of a newborn Jewish king to upset the balance of power. So, he did the unthinkable, he gave orders to his army to take the life of every baby boy under the age of two.
Imagine the fear. Hiding your child from the approaching heavy footsteps of marching soldiers. And in its deadly aftermath, the sounds of heart wrenching cries from mothers cradling their lifeless sons, as an ancient prophecy is fulfilled.
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted
because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:18)
Joseph is alerted by a dream. He gathers up the child and Mary and they barely escape with the few possessions they can carry as they flee to Egypt. God’s only Son, wrapped in flesh, becomes a refugee.
We don’t tend to include the horrific loss in Bethlehem in our Christmas services or in the children’s Christmas pageant. We choose to turn away.
But God never does.
I believe that the story of loss is included in scripture because God wants us to know that the baby in the manger is more than joyful Christmas carols and shiny gifts. God wants us to remember that Bethlehem’s darkest day was Jesus’ story too. The children who died that night were his neighbours, his friends, perhaps even his family.
We are reminded that no matter what we have lost, Emmanuel is with us.
Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever and this same God leans in to hear our cry. Jesus is the Messiah for those who mourn. The God who understands the cause of the refugee. The King of the Universe who preferred the manager to a palace. God, the infinite, all-powerful Creator who humbled Himself to become vulnerable to all of the hatred and violence we could muster. And He remains the God who walks alongside us in our suffering.
God with us in our loss.
God is with us in the midst of our loneliness and anxiety.
God is with us in the midst of this pandemic.