Sermon for the Feast of the Holy Innocents
“These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth”
The Christmas Feast of Holy Innocents operates on at least three levels. There is, first of all, the overarching and controlling concept that the Holy Innocents are “the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb” of the redemption of our humanity. There is, secondly, the purported event of Herod’s fear of a rival to his political power that leads to the slaughter of “all the children that were in Bethlehem” – the harming and destruction of those who can do no harm, hence the innocent – understood as the precipitating event of the flight into Egypt of the Holy Family and as fulfilling Jeremiah’s prophecy about mourning and loss, on the one hand, and Hosea’s prophecy about the God’s love and compassion that delivers Israel, on the other hand. This aspect highlights the theme of loss and mourning as leading to redemption and restoration. And, thirdly, there is the moral application of the whole event in the Collect in which “babes and sucklings” who are weak and helpless are strengthened by God and, though infants, who are by definition unspeaking, nonetheless, “glorify God by their deaths.” This becomes the basis of the moral charge to us about “mortifying and killing all vices” in ourselves so that being “strengthened by grace, the innocency of our lives and the constancy of our faith, even unto death,” we, too, “may glorify thy holy Name.”
In one way, it is all rather complex, a bit complicated, and profoundly troubling. It offers a reflection on a way of understanding the interplay of scriptural passages, particularly between the Hebrew Scriptures and the emerging Christian writings. It is, a rather disturbing and disquieting story that challenges our thinking about the radical meaning of Christmas. It is meant to be troubling and yet realistic about the forms of human suffering, especially of the little ones, the ones who can do no harm and yet are harmed by others, subject to agendas and purposes in relation to which they are simply collateral damage and regarded as disposable, as nothing worth.
This is the theological challenge of Holy Innocents Day. It points us to the radical meaning of human redemption. It suggests in no uncertain terms that the little ones, whether born or the unborn, are the children of God, creatures of a loving Creator in spite of the evil of others, socially and politically. A 15th century Latin carol found once again in the 16th century Scandinavian collection known as the Piae Cantiones, memorably recalls this story, making reference to Herod in his fear and fury: “all the little boys he killed/ at Bethlem in his fury.”
That this should be an essential part of Christmas shatters all our assumptions about Christmas. It teaches us about the deeper meaning of Christ’s sacrifice for the redemption of the whole of humanity. It means the radical overcoming of all our evil and folly. It teaches that “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus,” imaged here as the Lamb of God, on the one hand, and the Son of God who comes out of the Egypt of ancient captivity to liberate us from all evil, on the other hand. That is meant to provide comfort and strength for us in the face of the heart-rending losses of children and infants for whatever reason in the disorders of our day.
