Christmas Interrupted: Refugees, Fear, and Jesus' Way

They have to scoop up baby Jesus, escape from Bethlehem to Egypt in the middle of the night about a 12-hour hike to save his life. The silent night, the stars and the angels, the adoring shepherds are all forgotten. And turns out the real world, the world of hardship and changed plans and threats and fear are part of Christmas too. [00:21:14] (27 seconds)  #ChristmasNotAsPlanned

There is also God, protecting his son, Jesus, protecting his children, Joseph and Mary, too, sending the dream and the angel and giving the instructions to move to Egypt. God has been a protective father throughout the ages, protecting his children, looking to provide safe passage for us back home to heaven. [00:26:47] (20 seconds)  #FatherAsProtector

The second image is when I was a kid, the hill behind our house caught fire. And my dad had trained a little bit with firefighters, and so he joined the firefighters and manned the hose as they were putting out the fire to keep our house safe. I counted on his strength. I knew he would do whatever it took to keep his family safe. It's a good, protected father, like Joseph, like God. [00:27:57] (29 seconds)  #ProtectLikeJoseph

Christmas is about a savior coming to rescue us from a world, a real world, of threat and violence. Jesus is born to save this world, but he will not do it with violence and the use of power like the kings and the emperors do. Jesus comes to show us a different way. He will save the world through weakness. He will save the world through compassion, through love. [00:29:09] (36 seconds)  #SaveThroughLove

And I wonder if that's part of why Jesus always had compassion on the outsider, always gave his attention to the foreigner, always healed people who didn't have systems of support, who weren't part of the in crowd. Jesus went about his ministry looking for Gentiles and the poor and the ones possessed by demons and the ones separated from community because of their illness. I mean, I wonder if he welcomed children into his arms because he knew what it was like to be a child threatened by adults. [00:30:14] (41 seconds)  #GodOurRefuge

Jesus came into a world ruled by people like that. He was willing to be vulnerable, to be a target of people like that. But he grew up and he offered us a different way, a way of peace, a way of empathy, a way of love. He taught us not to attack and destroy our enemies, but to turn the other cheek, to love our enemies. [00:32:25] (29 seconds)  #PeaceOverPower

Instead of putting the sick in quarantine and separating them out from community, what did Jesus do? He reached out to heal and touch the sick. Instead of shackling the possessed, being fearful of them and avoiding them, Jesus taught us to go and set people free and bring peace at risk to himself. [00:32:53] (22 seconds)  #LoveTheOutsider

And when they came at Jesus in the garden with clubs and swords and Peter, following the rules of the world, cut off the guard's ear, what did Jesus do? Put your sword away. It's not my way. He healed the man and he went willingly to the cross because that's the different way. It's a way of submission. It's a way of weakness. It's a way of self-sacrifice, service to others. It's a way of peace. [00:33:33] (33 seconds)  #ReachOutToHeal