2 Christmas, Year C

“COACH, GAME PLAN AND PLAYERS”
A sermon by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, January 3, 2010
Jeremiah 31: 7 – 14; Psalm 84: 1 – 8; Ephesians 1: 3 – 6, 15 – 19a; Matthew 2: 13 – 15, 19 – 23

One of the joys of being with family this past week was the opportunity I had to share some time with my sons-in-law, watching football. Of course, this is football season: the pro teams are finishing up their seasons this weekend, the playoffs are coming soon, and then there are the 39 college bowls (remember when there were only about six of them?), not to mention the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl, both of which occur in February.

The football game in question this past week was the Baltimore Ravens’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Apparently, this is a rivalry which stretches back some years, and this year, both teams had similar records, and both have playoff hopes.

So, it was interesting to sit around and watch the game on the large screen, high definition set, every detail coming across with vivid clarity.

As I reflected on this morning’s gospel text, I thought of the game of football.

My reflections led me to recast this very familiar account of Joseph and Mary’s flight into Egypt with the young child, Jesus, using football images to put into perspective the persons and the situations they faced.

In my reflection, I thought of God as the masterful, experienced coach who knows his own players and team, as well as his opponents’ players, team and tactics.

Just as a coach would take steps to protect his star quarterback from the opposing team’s attempts to neutralize the quarterback’s role in advancing the ball, in this situation, God assigns to Joseph the task of protecting the young child.

The threat is great enough to cause God to tell Joseph that he’s got to leave the Holy Land. We can understand the situation a little better if we liken it to the removal of the quarterback from the field for awhile. The opposing team’s plans to focus in on the quarterback and to negate his actions are thus upset.

Here, the threat comes from King Herod the Great.

Herod’s plan to kill Jesus is in keeping with his character. The first century historian, Josephus, paints an appalling picture of Herod, a man who killed members of his own family in order to secure his power as the puppet king of the Jews.

But once the threat has been removed (Herod died in the year 4 BC), Jesus is able to return to the Holy Land, for the Holy Land is the field upon which the divine drama will be played out.

God’s game-plan can now unfold, though the opposition will not go away until God’s time has elapsed. The removal of Herod does not end the threat, for, just like an opposing team, other players will step up to try to thwart the advancement of the game-plan. Archelaus falls into this category, as will the Pharisees, the Scribes, the Sadducees, and eventually the Romans and Pilate. God’s guiding hand will be necessary to chart a course which will ensure victory on Easter Sunday morning.

But my football analogy falls short in one very important respect: Last week’s game generated a lot of interest in Baltimore, probably because of the playoff implications of a win for the Ravens. However, even if we follow football only a little, we know that such deep interest in the results of a particular game diminish rather quickly.

Just the opposite is true with the Good News that Jesus Christ brings. The divine drama, God’s game-plan for rescuing lost humanity, jumps off the pages of Holy Scripture will all the vividness of a large screen TV. Its importance to us spans the years and the miles which separate us from the coming of Jesus into the world.

Jesus’ victory over His enemies, and over death itself, ensure our place in God’s eternal game-plan.

Thanks be to God!