Reflections on Advent Part 15

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord 

appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the 

child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there 

until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, 

to destroy him.  Matthew 2:13

I've been looking for a reason to include the Grinch in this blog in a big way and I think I've found it.  You see, my youngest son has recently been the victim of a bully at school, a bully who also rides his bus. And when I think of bullies it's not a far stretch at all to think of the Grinch.  Perhaps Dr. Seuss had a bully in mind when he wrote the children's story How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Every Who Down in Whoville Liked Christmas a lot...

But the Grinch,Who lived just north of Whoville, Did NOT!

The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!

It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right.

Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

But I think that the most likely reason of all,

May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

We've all seen bullies whether we've been the brunt of one or not.  They come in all shapes and sizes.  They appear very heartless, just like the Grinch.  They prey on those who are vulnerable, which says a lot about them really.  They likely don't feel good about who they are.  They bully because it gives them a temporary feeling of superiority, which is what they suspect they lack.

Now I don't want to spend an entire blog ranting about bullies.  That in and of itself would be pointless.  But I do want you to consider for a moment that there is a bully who shows up even in the Christmas story.  (Wouldn't you know it!)  God knows about this antagonist.  It comes as no surprise to Him.  In fact, He warns the wise men to stay away from Jerusalem on their return trip to protect Jesus from said bully.  But I get ahead of myself.

When the magi arrive in Israel looking for the new Jewish king they head to Jerusalem.  Why wouldn't they?  It was the location of David's throne.  Makes sense, right?  Only there hasn't been a Jewish king in Israel for a very long time.  Instead there is a Roman appointed foreigner named Herod who has been given the title of king. When the foreign academics start questioning where this new king might be, Herod becomes highly troubled. He assembles as many temple gurus as he can to determine where this new king might be found.  After he updates the inquirers, he sends them off with a stern caveat to return so "that I too may come and worship him."  (Matthew 2:7b)  We know that Herod has no intention of worshiping Jesus because when the magi fail to return with news of King Jesus he slaughters hundreds of innocent male babies to ensure that no new king would try arise to take his or his son's place. (Matthew 2:16-18)  Herod was, in reality, acting out of fear, another common distinctive of so many bullies.  

So what are we to do with bullies?  Perhaps the better question would be, what did Jesus do with bullies?  He encountered them on numerous occasions.

Perhaps Jesus' best known sermon includes instruction on what to do with bullies.  "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."  (Matthew 5:43-44)  Paul reminds us also:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy 

or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does 

not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or 

resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, 

but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, 

believes all things, hopes all things, endures 

all things.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Radical, right?  Yes, but doesn't Jesus call us to be different from the world around us?  He did tell His disciples that the world would know us by our love.  (John 13:35)  Love takes many forms.  It may be the best way to love the bullies in our lives is to just quietly pray for them.  That has certainly been true in our case.  Much, much prayer!

In Matthew 2 we see that God warns Joseph in a dream to take "the child and his mother" (Matthew 2:13) away from Israel because Herod wants to hurt the child.  In this case, Jesus avoids the bully.  Not a bad idea.  Paul also tells believers in Rome "if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all."  (Romans 12:18)  Would the magi have avoided Jerusalem to begin with if they knew they were tipping the hand of a bully?  We have no way to know that.  But we know that God allowed it.  He shows up and shows us there's a way out.  Walk away.  We've repeatedly told our son to just walk away and ignore his abuser.  Unfortunately sometimes it's not so simple as to just avoid confrontation.

Sometimes, as is going to be the case for our son, you need some intervention.  In John chapter 8 we see the bullies thinking they are going to trick Jesus into joining their bullying. But He artfully sidesteps them.  He manages to intervene for the poor woman who has been humiliated by the bullies, scribes and Pharisees!  Yep.  Sometimes we even find bullies in churches!  Instead of condemning her along with these religious bullies, Jesus extends grace as only He can do, "Go...and sin no more."  (John 8:11)  Forgiveness!  Imagine her relief!  She needed Jesus.  He stood up for this vulnerable woman.  

But ultimately bullies need Jesus, too.  They need the humility by which He comes.  They need the love and grace He extends.  They need the forgiveness He offers.  Bullies may not take it, but if we are to be true followers of Jesus we need to extend the same forgiveness He extends.  Jesus prays to as He hangs, dying on a cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."  (Luke 23:34)  We are not above Jesus.  If He chooses to forgive, so must we. 

The Christmas story reminds us that bullies are going to show up.  Unfortunately, we have no control over this.  But we have much control over how we choose to respond.  Go in the humility of the manger.  Don't let the bullies in your life get the best of you.  Love them.  Forgive them.  Or, when necessary, just walk away and pray for them.