Who rules your heart? - Matthew 2:13-23

Phrases like ‘safety first’ and ‘protect what matters most’ are common slogans in our world. Truth be told, we don’t just say them, we live by them. We spend enormous amounts of time, energy, and let’s face it, money protecting what we value and own. We lock things that didn’t even exist a generation ago. Our phones are locked. Our social media accounts are password protected. Our banking apps have two-factor authentication. Our entire digital world is locked behind layers of security, face scans, passwords and fingerprints so that no one gains access to what is ours.

But it’s even bigger than that. Now, our front doors aren’t secure enough. So now we have neighborhood watch programs, doorbell devices, motion lights and recording cameras positioned all around our property to keep watch day and night. Is this person on the sidewalk a friendly neighbor who cares about their health or are they here with more sinister plans? 

This instinct follows us everywhere in life; it affects how we plan for our future with large life insurance policies. We obsess over contributions to IRAs and 401ks telling ourselves, ‘I need to secure my retirement.’ This sense of security dictates our schedules. It guards our interactions with others. It shapes our sense of control, because being in control feels safe. Let’s be more honest, it feels good. We like being in control over our domain and king over our lives. It is our little kingdom. Well, in our sermon text for this morning we see a contrast between what happens when man rules the kingdom of our heart versus when God does. This morning we are confronted by the question, who rules your heart?

Not less than four days ago we gathered together to sing silent night as we celebrated that peace came to earth in the form of a little baby boy. Both the heavenly angels and the lowly shepherds proclaimed peace on earth for the world to hear. We sang hymns that talked about the peaceful Christ child laying down his sweet head on a bed of hay, as the animals gathered round lowing softly. Oh, but the little Lord Jesus, no crying he made. It makes for a cute, peaceful sort of picture to use on Christmas cards and manger scenes. But it seems a little artificial, no? Have you ever been around barn animals? I can tell you from personal experience they are neither quiet nor respectful of personal space. Have you ever been around a baby, especially a newborn one? Typically they’ve got a lot to say. Contrary to thought, silence and tranquility was not the physical result of Jesus' birth here in this world.

Soon after the miracle of Christmas a new noise echoed from Bethlehem. No longer were peaceful lullabies sung to swaddled babies, now mothers cried out in bitter grief over the murder of their baby boys. All silence and tranquility in little Bethlehem was shattered by Herod’s rage, fury and bloodshed. Matthew records the horrible event, saying Herod “gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was 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.” Yes, any physical remnant of peace on earth was rather short-lived. Because truth be told, Jesus did not come to bring earthly silence and tranquility. In fact, here with Herod, he evoked the exact opposite emotion. Herod feared Jesus. Just the mere fact that Jesus existed, even as a little baby, made Herod furious.

But why? Why would a Jewish baby boy threaten King Herod? Well, hear the rest of the story. We are told that when the magi from the east came to Jerusalem, they went to Herod expecting to find a king. They tell Herod that the prophecy said “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” No wonder, Herod was alarmed greatly, ‘He was the only ruler here!’ So he lies, and sends the magi to “Go search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” But the magi find the child, present their costly gifts and then return home a different way. Herod had been outwitted by God’s plan. But because fear can not coexist with peace, Herod uses the power of his earthly kingdom to do whatever it takes to protect his throne, no matter the cost. Herod’s paranoia of losing control drove him to do the unthinkable. Infants murdered so that a king could feel safe.

Now, thankfully as I look around the room today, I don’t see literal Herods. I don’t see kings or queens issuing death orders. That specific act of violence is claimed by Herod, and he will stand to answer for that one day. But Scripture does tell us that the same sinful inclination, to make myself king of my heart, lurks within us. Herod’s obsession with control plagues each and every one of us. I too, want to sit unchallenged over the throne of my heart, governing and protecting my own interests. No, maybe I don’t murder rivals, but I do guard my little kingdom. I protect my plan. I cling to control of my fate. I, at times, justify sin when it benefits me. Herod used the sword, I use my words, my actions or even my silence. I lower my voice, sharpen my words and let my tone deal the damage til my enemies feel small, exposed and humbled. I aggressively oppose all who get in my way and complicate my life. I tell tales that silently distort the truth simply to protect my image. I frequently act without counting the cost to those left behind in the wake of my mess. In a society that encourages us to be our own king, who answers to no one but ourselves, essentially making ourselves our very own god, is it so surprising that there is a great lack of peace in the world? Suddenly, my fellow man is now my rival. A threat to my little kingdom. Peace cannot coexist with that sort of competition all around. Because when peace is exiled and fear reigns, rivalry and conflict inevitably result.

While Scripture does not explicitly say that Herod died and went to hell, it does make this clear: whoever sets himself up as king of his own heart while rejecting Jesus places himself on the path to damnation. If Herod persisted in his unrepentance till the day he died, hell is his rightful lot, where there is an eternity of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Herod serves as a stark warning lest we insist on ruling as kings or queens of our own hearts and in so doing, reject Jesus ourselves. When we place ourselves on the throne over our lives, we place our soul in grave danger. Either Jesus reigns in my heart, or I do, there can be no co-rule. The stakes are incredibly high and the consequences eternal. I know that may not sound like a particularly cheerful thought during this season of Christmas, a season often associated with great peace and joy, but it is one no Christian can afford to forget. 

I don’t merely want God ruling in my heart, I need him to. Because God’s rule is not built on fearful rivalry or anxious self-protection. God’s kingdom brings peace. Jesus is called the Prince of peace for a reason. He comes not to compete with us for the throne, but to take it from us for our good, to rule our hearts far better than we ever could.

We see the peace of relying on God's rule on full display in the remainder of our sermon text. Mary and Joseph trusted God that though they had to flee from Herod in the middle of the night God would protect them. Matthew records God’s divine intervention saying then an “Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.” What an upheaval that announcement must have been. Joseph, leave everything here, your job, your home, everything that you know and go where I tell you because Herod is trying to kill Jesus. Wow, seriously! And God was serious, but Joseph took it seriously too, because we are told “he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt.” Joseph’s obedience was immediate because he trusted God had even this situation under control. Joseph knew God would provide and protect them as he saw fit. Herod and his evil plan stood no chance because God was ruling his kingdom. It was for you and me that God would not allow the Savior of the world to be destroyed. 

Even as their life was upended for a time while they lived in a foreign place, God was still in control. In fact God knew that this would happen as Matthew connects the dots to an Old Testament prophecy recorded in Scripture through the prophet Hosea, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” God’s plan was not off the rails. God was still acting in their lives according to his all-knowing and all-good plan. In fact down to the very last verse of our text we see God ruling according to his plan by intervening and protecting his Son. Matthew writes that when God told them to return home, Joseph was “warned in a dream” so “he withdrew to the district of Galilee and they went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.” By God’s guidance the holy family was saved from what may have been one of the most dicey situations Jesus would ever face, and he does so as a mere baby. Jesus was completely dependent on his Heavenly Father working through his earthly parents to protect him.

But God works similarly for us still today. At times in our lives, we too are confronted with challenging circumstances. Circumstances in which we, like Jesus, seem to have no real hand in the outcome. Times when our faith is put to the test. Our gut-instinct, to take it upon ourselves and fix the problem on our own, challenges our faith to entrust it to God’s good plan. It's the struggle of many a Christian. If I relinquish my sense of control, will evil get away with it? Well, what do we see here? Herod’s plan failed. Jesus, according to God’s providence, lived, and Herod, met his own ugly demise. You can read all about it in the works of the historian Josephus, or don’t, it’s actually quite graphic-his death.

No, this doesn’t mean that evil will cease to occur. As much as we may wish that we could live in a world unaffected by sin, it corrupts everything in this life. In Jesus day, evil claimed the lives of baby boys who had committed no crime against Herod. Today violence still claims victims through terrible acts of evil in society. Life ended in the womb. People gunning down others. Hateful speech meant to tear others apart. God is not indifferent to this pain. God is grieved when violence is carried out. God knows what it's like to see the innocent die. God watched his own innocent Son die for crimes he didn’t commit. For evil he hadn’t done. But even in this evil, God had a plan, that he willingly suffer all that for me, for you. So that you and I, who do evil, would never suffer the hell we deserve for our sin. That is how God rules to accomplish his plan of salvation for you.

I pray you take comfort in that truth in this Christmas season. That our Savior king, here just a small child, is the King who now reigns exalted over all things for the good of his people. He's the King who sets up his throne in our hearts. He's the King who wants to rule over your heart today and always. He wants to govern your future. To lead you forward in love. So who rules your heart? By God’s grace and the work of the Holy Spirit, God does. Amen.