There
has been so much lead up to our celebrating of Christmas, which here on the
second Sunday of Christmas we continue to celebrate. We have lit the candles of
our Advent wreath each week and even as we worship this morning, they all
remain lit as a reminder of the continuation of this season. It is Christmas
and it continues to be Christmas. Even as the world around us has gone on to
celebrate the New Year, with the stores already decked in pink and red as they
have moved on to Valentines, we continue to celebrate Christmas.
As
we all moved toward December 25th, and the world around began celebrating, we
as the people of God, slowed down and waited. Now as the world around us has already
moved on, we as people who orient our congregational life around a different
calendar, continue our celebration of Christmas. In so doing we speak against this
hurrying on to the next thing, and the market forces which move those around us
on. In tension with our culture’s “pre-emptive celebrations of Christmas that
begin in late November, we patiently waited until the conclusion of Advent and
THEN began to celebrate Christmas. In these weeks following this Holy day, we
remind ourselves by continuing to listen to and perhaps we even continue to sing
our Christmas hymns. It is my hope that in these days following the 25th,
you have continued to surround yourselves with carols of glory to the newborn
king, commemorating the woman with child, and the coming of Emanuel. We continue
to say “Merry Christmas,” and celebrate joy on earth.
A
week and a half ago, we listened to the birth narratives, of the Angel coming
to Mary, and to Joseph, the angels singing on the night of Christ’s birth. We
reminded ourselves of the true “reason for the season,” we reflected on the
birth of Jesus Christ in the little town of Bethlehem. So, is this season any
more than Jesus’ birthday? If not, then we may conclude our season with singing
Happy birthday to you, dear Jesus, don party hats, pull out some noise makers
and have a cake with “Happy Birthday Jesus” written on it and call it good. If
the birth of our savior is all we celebrated, then I would not go so far as to
say that the cake is a lie, but it is at least not the whole truth.
The
reason behind this season of Christmas is indeed Christ’s birth, but it is more
than just a birthday. To come to a better understanding of what it is we are
celebrating, we turn their attention to the miracle of Jesus’ birth. Though this
is a miracle indeed, it is no greater thing for God to cause Mary to conceive
than it was for all the other women in the Old Testament who were barren and
unable, for a variety of reasons, to have children, until God intervened in the
natural order of things. We also turn our attention to the fact that this is
not just the birth of any King, but Jesus, the King of Kings. Even though this
too is to be celebrated, it still leaves us a bit short of what this Christmas
celebration truly is.
In
the weeks leading up to this Season, we were preparing ourselves by listening
to “O come, O come Emanuel.” Emanuel, being a title often given to Jesus, which
means “God with us.” Christmas is the most poignant remembrance there is of the
name “God with us.” God with us is the truth behind the incarnation, the birth
of Christ is God coming to be with us, to dwell with us. There can be no better
understanding of God dwelling with us than in the incarnation of Christ.
It
is for this reason; we turn our attention to the Gospel of John this morning.
One of the core beliefs of the Christian faith is the nature of the person of
Jesus Christ. John writes, before all things were created, the Word was with
God and the Word was God. Before Jesus was born of a virgin, before the
prophets spoke of his coming, before the creation, the divine Son of God was
there. This is one of the greatest mysteries of the Christmas season.
John
goes on to tell us “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” It
is in this statement we see most completely what this idea of Emanuel, of “God
with us,” of what the incarnation is. The One, who is God, becomes flesh. This
is the mystery, the messiah is fully God, and yet came into this world, fully
human, as a small and fragile baby. The Christ child is a paradox in himself. In
this child, we see the divine Son of God, co-equal with the Father who
rightfully sits on the throne of heaven, and is also a tiny baby who lies in a
humble manger. God becomes flesh, is born, and we like the shepherds, revere
this God-child, this divine-human; understanding only a little of what we see.
However,
the meaning of why we celebrate this day is not wrapped up completely in just
the birth. We celebrate his birth, his life, his mission, his work, and even
his death and resurrection. Christmas is the beginning of a chapter, and it is
one, which covers all of who Jesus is. Our redemption, our savior, our God, is
a child whose cradle means little without his ministry, his cross, and his
empty tomb. Today we continue to celebrate the glorious fact that we do not
have a God, who sits forever above us, over us, separate from us in all things
and in all ways. We do not have a God that will remain idly by, allowing humanity
to parish in its own folly. Our God is active. No, even better than that, our
God is interactive. Our God speaks and sends; moves and works, on our behalf. We
celebrate God’s love for us, which is so deep that God would be born, and live
among us and would suffer with us, would die for us, and be raised before us. All
for us, for our salvation and redemption, so that God might be united to us, so
that we might be united with God.
The
incarnation revealed in this passage this morning, as the purpose of the birth,
allows this season to be so much bigger so much deeper and so much more
profound than honoring the birth of our messiah. Christmas is not simply the
celebration of a birthday, it is the celebration of the moment when the eternal
God of creation stepped into finitude and dwelt among us. It is the celebration
of the moment when heaven and earth were changed forever because a child was
born and that child was God in all ways it means to be God and yet was human in
all that it means to be human. It is a celebration our minds cannot completely comprehend.
What does it mean for one person to be 100% God and a 100% human, defying
mathematics and nature, as we know it, simultaneously? It is the most holy of divine mysteries, which
we, in our ignorance grasp ahold of, rejoice because of, in all its holy paradox,
and celebrate because it changes everything and it changes everything for us.
God broke the laws of nature, physics and mathematics to restore relationship
with us, to bring us the salvation we needed, and to redeem the brokenness
humanity brought into creation.
In
this season, we look to this chapter at the beginning of John’s gospel, as it
gives us hope for who God is in Christ and who we can be because of Jesus. It
gives joy for what God is doing for us and among us. It brings peace in the
wake of God’s word and deed. The beginning of the Gospel of John speaks to the
love of God for us. Christmas is when we behold this child in wonder, in
thanksgiving, and in awe. In this season, we commemorate not just Jesus’ birth,
but also his incarnation. We celebrate who Christ is, and remember what he does
for us. It is a season of wonder as the cradle overshadows the cross and empty
tomb.
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