Sermon
Christmas Eve
December 24, 2007
Chronia Polla to Chris, Christina, Emmanuel
Have you ever imagined what it might have been like to be
one of the figures in the Christmas story?
Can you imagine what it might have been like to be one of the shepherds? Sitting outside on a cold night, watching
over sheep, hoping no wolves would come and attack them, shivering and waiting
for the light of the sun to come and warm you up? To be a social outcast, away from the busy
Can you imagine what it must have been
like to be one of the three wise men?
Educated, in the ruling class, a king, looked up to and adored, revered,
perhaps even feared by others. And to
look up in the sky one night and see a bright star, and be moved to leave
everything you have, everything you know and to follow. To follow for two years. Can you imagine the moments of doubt? There are millions of stars up there, how do
I know I’m following the right one? If
this is really some kind of cosmic event I am to be a part of, why is the
journey taking two long years? And after
two years of a long and weary journey, is there any bit of disappointment that
the prize is a baby, rather than a new kingdom?
How ironic that three men to whom people bowed down to, bow down
themselves to worship a baby.
The Christian life is a lot like the experiences
of the shepherds and the wise men that first Christmas. Just as the wise men perhaps wondered, am I
really following the right star, as Christians, how many of us have wondered,
am I really following the right faith?
As the shepherds wondered what was the meaning of the message of the
angels, how many of us have wondered, what does this all mean-—the church, the
Liturgy, Holy Communion. What trust the
wise men must have had, to follow, almost blindly as it were, for they knew not
where the journey would end, they only trusted that they would be reward at its
completion. And the shepherds—of all the
people to reveal the message of Christ’s birth, they were the blessed hearers
of the good news precisely because they were the only ones who were ready to
listen. It would have been impossible to
hear the hymn of the angels over the rush of people on the streets of
Being a Christian is a lot like being a
shepherd or a wise man. Because God came
for everyone, from the mighty ruler to the social outcast, from the one who is
praised by many to the one who is scorned by all. God came for each and every one of us. That’s why at the Great Entrance, when the
Gifts of God to us are taken around the church, it is with the prayer that God
remember ALL of us in His Kingdom. God’s
message to us is one of hope—anyone can find salvation in God. God is the God of everyone. The shepherds and the wise men give us
lessons in how to find God. From the
shepherds, we learn the virtues of stillness and vigilance. This morning, some of you came for the
Vesperal Liturgy, a quiet and peaceful and reflective service. And earlier this evening, some of you came
before the service began and sat in the church in the quietness and stillness
and prayed. Prayer is so much easier
when you remove distractions and temptations, when you seek to truly be alone
with God. Then prayer is beautiful and
timeless, comforting and reassuring.
There is a saying that it is darkest before the dawn. The light of Christ shows itself at its
brightest when it is dark and still.
From the wisemen, we learn patience and
trust. For the Christian journey is a
lot like the journey of the magi. There
are lots of mountains and valleys to be crossed, lots of deserts to be
survived, lots of doubts to be conquered.
But the journey is a lot easier if we are keeping our eyes on the
prize. If we keep our eyes on the Lord
as they kept their eyes on the star. And
when the star came to rest over the place where the child was with Mary His
mother, the magi fell down and worshipped Him, they were exceedingly
joyful. No longer did they see
themselves as high and mighty rulers, but as true servants of God, who fell at
His feet and said, “God, I am nothing without You” and opened to Him their
treasures. And as Christians, when we
come to the point where church is more than a place to go once in a while, when
we come to believe that Holy Communion is an encounter with the living God and
not just a ritual we do out of habit, and when we fall down before God and
confess, “I am nothing without You,” then we will know how it feels not just to
be a servant of God, but a child of God.
As we heard in the Epistle this evening, through Christ, God has adopted
us as His own sons and daughters, and if we are His children, then we shall be
heirs to all of God’s promises.
As I get older, it is getting harder to
be a Christian. We take things that were
once so sacred and innocent and we cheapen them. In our children, we foster a
sense of competition—we push them to have the best grades, the best clothes,
the best toys, the latest gadgets. We
live vicariously through them. How many
Dads push their sons to be athletic maniacs?
And we forget that our children are gifts from God, that they are
precious, not just fun, that they are created in the image and likeness of God,
they are not just to be molded into our image and likeness. How about ourselves? We pride ourselves on our talents and we
often forget that the gifts we each have are first gifts from God—we’re
reminded of that every time we celebrate the Liturgy and hear the words, “We
offer to You these gifts, from Your own gifts,”
“Thine own of thine own.” For we
have nothing really to offer God which He did not first bless us with. And how about Christmas? A feast of gifts, decorations, running
around, spending money we don’t have, getting totally stressed out, and then it
comes to church and we say, “Just the same old Liturgy, the same Christmas
story we heard last year.” In the
services of the past few days, I have read the Christmas story several times,
and each time I do, I have to fight back tears because that’s how much the
story moves me. I love the services of
our church—I spent almost all day today in the church, praying, worshipping,
and just sitting and taking it all in.
That’s how much I love the church, that’s how important it is in my
life. Not only can I not imagine
Christmas without Christ and the Church, I can’t imagine even a week in my life
with them. And Christmas is not just the
same old thing each year, but an opportunity to proclaim again with joy, the
great news that “God became a man, so that man can become like God.” Every Liturgy is like a little Christmas,
there is a celebration, we get a gift—Holy Communion.
In
the hymns of the Vespers of Christmas, which we celebrated this morning, one of
the hymns we sang included the following words:
“O Christ, what shall we offer You since you appeared on earth as a man
for our sake? Every creature made by You
offers You thanks. The angels offer a
hymn; the heavens, a star; the Wise Men, their gifts; the shepherds, their
wonder; the earth, its cave; the wilderness, a manger; and we offer a Virgin
Mother. O Pre-Eternal God, have mercy on
us.” And in the hours since that
Liturgy, as I have been thinking and praying, I keep coming back to the same
thought—What gift do I bring to the manger this Christmas? What can I give to the Lord this
Christmas? What is it that I can give
that will bring me closer to the Lord than I am today? What is it that will make this Christmas
night not just another yearly ritual, but truly be a night that will
springboard me, so to speak, to an even closer relationship with God. In my heart, I know the answers—I know that
there are things that I can do in my life to bring me closer to God. I know I can give more time, I know I can
give more effort, I know I can be more patient.
I know I can be a better neighbor, a better friend, a better husband, a
better father, better priest. As we sit
for a few more moments in this beautiful house of God, ask yourself the same
question—What gift do you bring to the manger this year? What gift of yourself can you offer to
Christ?
I
was talking to someone recently about Christ, someone who doesn’t come to
church often, and telling them why God is important and why they should come to
church more often. And when I finished
the conversation, I felt like a salesman, like I am selling a commodity. Maybe some people look at God or salvation
like a product for sale, the church is the mall, the priest is the slick
salesman, and when we’ve gotten enough God to keep us going for a while, we go
home and come back in a few weeks or a few months to do some more
shopping. And as I was thinking about
Christ as a commodity, I started thinking about the Wise Men and their long
journey—Can you imagine how many times they stopped on their journey to
purchase supplies or to rest for the night, how many people must have asked
them, “Where are you going?” The
Christmas story doesn’t indicate that these men picked up any followers—but it didn’t deter them in their
journey. Perhaps when questioned, they
said, “We are so excited, you should come with us, only to be disappointed no
one was interested. Or perhaps they
said, “We can’t explain exactly what we are doing, but we believe that it is
right and good and true, and so we go, we forge ahead, without complete
knowledge of where we are going, but with complete faith that this journey will
be worth it in the end.
And
so as we mark another Christmas, one gift I am going to give to Christ is focus
on being the best Christian I can be, and be less the salesman. God’s word is truth, and anyone who spends
any time reading it, God will speak to them, they will know it is truth. The church is not an organization to which we
belong, it’s not a club of people who share the same culture, but it is like
the
I
thank God for bringing me with joy to see another Christmas, to read the
Christmas Gospel about Mary’s First-born Son, that I have a first-born son
sleeping at home tonight, and that I many spiritual children worshipping God
together, communing together, rejoicing together. May God bring us with joy and health to
celebrate many more Christmases together.
Christ
is born! Glorify Him!
Christ
is come from Heaven, receive Him.
Christ
is on earth, be exalted.
All
the earth sing to the Lord,
And
all the people praise Him in joy.
For
He has been glorified.
Merry
Christmas!