Why we should preach the innocents

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I’ve always approached the slaughter of the innocents as a text that demands to be preached whether it’s in the lectionary year or not. Maybe that’s my privileged life talking there—that is, my life where all my children survived childhood without a serious threat. A life where weddings and baby showers are more frequent than funerals. A life where the stability of a home and regular meals were a given.

It seems particularly important to me to bring to my congregation the terror of a family fleeing their home and the inconsolable grief of parents holding their murdered children. Though it is admittedly jarring to bring these messages into our warmly decorated homes.