At this time of year many people all over the world are still engrossed in the hype surrounding Christmas and are slowly, perhaps sorrowfully putting away the decorations and the lights and other evidence of the season. For many of us, moving on from Christmas is a sad event because we do wish that the merriment of the season could continue well into the new year. In all the festivities, we often forget those for whom the season has no real meaning or impact. This is not because they are from a different religious persuasion or none or that they are simply culturally untethered to the whole idea of Christmas. These are people who would love to have felt and taken part in the excitement and happiness of the season, but their circumstances and experiences prevented them from doing so.
In the gospel of Matthew we are presented with a situation in which the birth of Christ was not wholly a joyful event for some people, and whenever we celebrate the birth of Jesus in all the ways that we do, we must remember those for whom there is no reason to celebrate, or the different situations that are happening to people that are not cause for any celebration and happiness. Matthew records at least two situations where there was no reason to celebrate because of the birth of Jesus. One is with King Herod, who was madly suspicious of any possible rival to his throne, even if it were a baby, and the second would be those mothers who would have lost their young children because of Herod’s blind suspicion and anger. We do not know how Matthew got this information for his gospel since there are no historical records to prove or disprove this information which he alone records in his gospel. In the text a curious event is recalled by Matthew. He tells us that Joseph is warned in a dream to take the young child Jesus and his mother to Egypt to protect him from Herod’s anger which he promptly does. Only after Herod’s death does the family return to Palestine and presumably assume residence in Nazareth, their real home. As I indicated earlier, we cannot be certain whether this event did happen or not since we have no other corroborating historical record of it but the real point here is that we are forced to see the situation of people who are refugees, because according to Matthew’s report that is exactly what Jesus and his family were for at least a year. I don’t think that this was Matthew’s intention either but inadvertently he forces us to think about those for whom the Christmas season is not a reason for joy and celebration. Instead, it is a continuation of their misery or pain or suffering, or it is a reminder of an earlier trauma that is triggered every time the season comes around.
One group of people we don’t often think about are those who are refugees and even asylum seekers. These are people who for several reasons have been forced to leave their homeland for their own and their immediate family’s safety and well-being. We underestimate quite often how painful it must be to uproot oneself and move to somewhere almost without any prior preparation, and in so doing, not having a clue when or if you will ever return to your home, your family, and the life you once knew. Did Joseph know whether he would be able to return to Nazareth with his young child Jesus? Most likely not. All he knew was that the safety of his family was paramount.
The Christmas story through the reporting of Matthew reminds us of two important things about human existence. First, amid the happiness that most of us share in the season, we cannot forget those who feel only the pangs of grief. Secondly, amid our happiness when we come together as family and friends, there are many who face the reality of forceful separation from their family and the environment that very much defines them, the place they call home. They are refugees. They are exiles. The term itself is not endearing or uplifting but suggests the kind of life of loneliness and separation that many people must live through no fault of their own. The time when people come together and celebrate as family and friends in their homes and communities can be a particularly painful time for refugees who long to have such times of celebration and togetherness with their family and friends too while participating in all the cultural and religious events that are indigenous to them. An important part of the Christmas story as seen through Matthew’s record is the treatment of those among us who are refugees, since Christ himself at one point was a refugee. It must be noted here that Jesus was born among a people who know what it is like to be an alien people in another people’s land as they were in Egypt before they were led out by Moses. Unlike those days it seems that Egypt at the time of Jesus’ birth was a far more hospitable place to go if you were fleeing persecution or your life was at risk.
As we celebrate whether Christmas or Thanksgiving or Canada Day or any other event that draws us together as a nation or when as families we come together in our communities, we must ask ourselves how do we treat those who are refugees, asylum seekers and those who have no status in your country. The Christmas season is poignant because in Christ the refugee we are drawn to see the plight and the loneliness of people who are displaced all over the world. We are forced to temper our celebration by looking out for those who have no reason to celebrate and be happy. We are forced to ask ourselves whether we as people are as welcoming and hospitable to those who are within our country but are still reminded that they are ultimately outsiders and not ‘one of us’. When we think of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants of all classes in general, who do we see? We see people who are a burden to us. We see people who we fear will infiltrate and destabilize our cultural and religious harmony. We see people who take more than they give to our society and our national identity. We see people who take our jobs. We see people who are a drain and a burden on our public institutions such as our schools and hospitals, our police services and housing resources that are far more than they are worth. We see people who we think it is perfectly legitimate to exploit and abuse for our own agenda. After all, they are not one of us. Isn’t all this true? These are the kinds of sentiments that fuel anti-immigrant policies all over the world in recent years especially in Europe and here in North America. These are the sentiments that cause many countries to apply draconian and even inhumane measures to ‘protect their borders’ from these foreigners. Yet the greatest irony of it all is that all humans have been migrants at one point or another of human history.
On the other hand, the concept of refugees is not only related to those who have been forcibly removed from or had to flee from their native place of abode. There are many people who are very much among their own home and family but are treated as outsiders too. Emotionally and psychologically, they are also refugees because even among families they are not accepted as ‘one of us’. Here we think about people who may be physically and mentally challenged, and the family find it too embarrassing to acknowledge or associate with these family members publicly. Maybe they are family members, but their lifestyles are considered a huge disappointment or shame among their families, so they are shunned at least publicly. In some families the mere fact that some relatives are regarded as academic and social underachievers in their estimation is enough to cause these family members to feel alienated.
Yet the heart of the story of Advent, the essence of the Christmas narrative is about a Savior who was from birth one of the outsiders and came for all who are outsiders or on the margins of society and of life. He was born in a less than humanly desirable place if we believe Luke’s account. His parents were definitely not from the upper echelons of society. They were definitely among the lower classes. They were definitely poor and humble folk, not the type that most of us would take much notice of or invite into our homes as guests for Christmas. His disciples were as ordinary as you could get, and the people who flocked to him were those that were mostly scorned by the upper classes and the religious Authority of the day. Is the Christmas story then to be seen as a political message for us? Is this sermon to be seen as a political message? No. The Christmas story is a human story, and this message is about human realities and how we face up to the uncomfortable aspects of our human existence. It is ultimately about identifying who our neighbor is and treating that neighbor as we would have others treat us. Is that neighbor only someone from my nationality, or religious persuasion or family or race or hometown? The neighbor is the person who we can be of help to and who will reach out to us when we need help. The neighbor is the person whose needs we must address with compassion without seeing any difference between them and us. The neighbor is the refugee, the asylum seeker, the underachiever, the overly religious and the overly hedonistic. The neighbor is the Cuban, the Canadian, the German, the Filipino, the Japanese, and the Brazilian. The neighbor is the Roman Catholic, the Jehovah’s Witness, the Lutheran, the Pentecostal, the Baptist, the Salvation Army member. The neighbor is the Muslim, the Christian, the Hindu, the Jew, the Palestinian. I think by now you will see the point that I am making. There are refugees in every human group or society. There are people at the margins in every human group or society. How do we show love to all who are refugees? How do we show true acceptance and respect to all who are different from us whether by race, skin color, nationality, ethnic group, religion and so on?
We are being challenged to live the Advent message. It is the essence of Christmas to do so. We do so by reaching out in love and deep affection for those who we would normally see as outsiders. We do so by recognizing that we have a spiritual obligation to meet and be at one with those who society, ethnic groups, races, religions and nationalities have built up barriers to keep out.
We are being challenged today and in this present time to see Christ as a refugee and thereby to see Christ in the refugee and the Christ who came for the refugee in whatever form and color and nationality and religion in which that refugee exists among us. We are challenged to see that refugee as not different from us, but as our neighbor and therefore we must do as the Bible commands, to “love your neighbor as yourself.” (See St. Mark 12:31 NIV) Only then will we understand that the reason for the season is in the Christ who was a refugee and welcomed refugees, as all of us were and many still are, into his company and into a relationship with him.
May we go from here with a radically different understanding of who Christ is and what He is calling us to do as Christians today. Let us answer the call to reach out with the gospel of love and peace and hope, the gospel of liberation to the refugee not by instilling our doctrine or creed but by living the life among them that shows that they are more than just our neighbors. They are one of us, a holy people called into relationship with God Himself, through the saving work of Jesus who himself was a refugee. May God give us the courage to hear and answer His call today. Amen.