Lisinski, Peter

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Slaughter of the Innocents

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 25Issue 1 Contextual Perspectives in Pastoral Care andCounsellingArticle 85-1-1999Slaughter of the InnocentsPeter LisinskiFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Sermons is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationLisinski, Peter (1999) "Slaughter of the Innocents," Consensus: Vol. 25 : Iss. 1 , Article 8.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol25/iss1/8Slaughter of the InnocentsPeter LisinskiPastor, Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church,Fergus and Flora, OntarioText: Matthew 2:13-18 (The Holy Innocents, Martyrs)We have heard a lot about “El Nino”. According to arecent Associated Press article, “El Nino is a periodicweather-disrupting condition in the tropical Pacific inwhich westward-blowing trade winds weaken, allowing warm waterto drive east to South America....”El Nino caused snow to fall in southern California, and earlier inDecember [1997], snow fell in Mexico for the first time in more thanone hundred years!The newspaper article continues:“The name [‘El Nino’] is Spanish for [‘the child’, and it is tradi-tionally connected with] baby Jesus because the huge, warm poolusually arrives around Christmas...” {The Record, Dec. 20, 1997, p.A7).El Nino, it seems to me, nicely ties together the themes thatemerge from today’s Gospel reading. In it we find “the child”—babyJesus—and we see the disruption his birth brought into the lives ofKing Herod, his own refugee family, and the young mothers andfathers of Bethlehem, whose innocent little “ninos” were executed bysoldiers carrying out orders.All of this serves to remind us of another image of little childrenjthat has been captured on our television screens in recent weeks.This one is not like the images of laughing, wide-eyed Mexican “ninos”96 ConsensuswhoVe never seen snow before frolicking in the miracle—like theancient people of God receiving manna from heaven in the wilder-ness. No. This is an image of some innocent little “ninos” of Rwandawaiting, with bloated bellies and worried parents, for the garbagetrucks to unload at the local dump so they can rummage throughthe trash in hope of finding their daily bread!Poverty is a killer of innocent children, as effective as any swordin King Herod’s arsenal. Now, 1 don’t pretend to know enough aboutRwanda to make a fair, moral judgment on such abominable condi-tions; but we all know enough about human nature to recognize thatthere’s not much difference between our society and theirs, morallyspeaking. Whether it’s ancient Israel under Herod, or modern-dayRwanda or Canada, such “suffering of innocent children is not anaccident of fate, or the will of God. It is the result of political will.”^It will not surprise you to hear that “there are politicians” at alllevels of government “who have done everything in their power tocut welfare, food, housing” and health care programs here at home.They have also cut foreign aid budgets. It seems clear that “when-ever governments need to ‘tighten the belt’ it’s always around thenecks of the poor—and children suffer most!”Nearly two million Canadian children live in poverty today, andthe number increases daily! “Any government policy that makes achild’s life more miserable is an abomination” before the Lord. “Itbreaks the heart of God. And any society that allows such condi-tions” to develop, whether around the corner or around the world,“loses any claim to being a moral one”—much less a faithful one.“You and 1 are part of the tragedy” we call ‘child poverty’. “In ademocratic society our elected leaders carry out the will of the peo-ple.” In other words, child poverty is the result of our shared valuesand our political choices. Whether it’s by our votes or by our silence,we’ve allowed the innocent suffering going on in Rwanda and inCanada to happen.“We who are the descendants of the Old Testament prophets,and followers of Jesus Christ, simply cannot abandon the world’schildren.” We who claim to stand in the Judeo-Christian heritageare called to hold up, vigilantly, the plight of the little “ninos” andproclaim God’s word of justice publicly, if our vocation as disciples ofSlaughter 97“El Nino”—the Christ Child—is to have any credibility or integrity.As we celebrate the birth of El Nino—the child Jesus—let usremember that we are all “el ninos”—the children of one heavenlyFather. And let our New Year’s resolution be to join our voices in theinconsolable lament of Mother Rachel, mourning over the sufferingof innocent children, in Ramah and Rwanda, in Canada, in Bethle-hem, and wherever the lives of little “ninos” are disrupted by thevalues of greed and violence.I leave you with the words G.S. First Lady, Hilary Clinton spokeon Christmas Eve as part of the president’s Christmas greeting to theAmerican people. Reflect on them as you ponder your own NewYear’s resolutions, and hear them as your invitation to hold our pub-lic leaders accountable for what they say and do—or fail to do—about child poverty. That’s our calling; that’s our mission.Here’s what Ms. Clinton said: “This Christmas, as we celebratethe birth of a homeless child, who grew up to be the Prince of Peace,let us all cherish the gift of every child among us; and let us pledgeourselves to building a better world, where all children—no matterwhere they are born—can thrive and make their dreams come true.”INotej^ Material in quotation marks reflect my notes on Dr. George Regas’Lutheran Life Lectures at Mount Zion Lutheran Church, Waterloo,Ontario, 10 October 1996.

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