Tuesday Devotion

Today's offering is from Pastor Mark Cerniglia......

At this time of year we become very familiar with the nativity story of how Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem to give birth to Jesus there in a stable, surrounded by animals and shepherds, angels and wise men.  Indeed, the children at my church are already rehearsing their version of retelling that story again this Christmas.  But it's the sequel to that story that fascinates me.  

After being warned by the wise men visitors that King Herod was in a snit about the birth of the Messiah, Joseph puts everything together in a dream and comes up with a plan to slip away in the night with his family to keep them safe from harm.  Under the cover of darkness they slip out of town and travel to Egypt, looking for refuge there (Matthew 2:13-21).  

As the coordinator for the South Carolina Synod's companion relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia, South America, I have visited communities of displaced persons who live in makeshift communities in the hills on the south side of Bogotá, the capital city.  These are persons who have had to leave everything behind and flee their homes because of threats of violence by either the guerrilla forces or the paramilitary forces associated with the government.  The people are caught in the middle.  Many of them have witnessed the murder of a member of their family.  Colombia has the second highest population of internally displaced persons in the world--over 10% of its total population.  Visiting their homes and hearing their stories always brings to my mind the Holy Family and its flight to Egypt to find refuge.  Their courage and faithfulness is a witness to me about trusting God even in the most difficult of circumstances.

~Pastor Mark Cerniglia, Lutheran Church of Our Saviour, Greenville, SC