The sermon for December 25 was based on John 1:1-14.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Right at the beginning of his Gospel, St. John tells us that Jesus is the light of the world but that the world does not comprehend Him. Think about that. John begins His Gospel by telling his readers, in essence, you people just don't get it. It's a little off-putting but true nonetheless. We don't get it. We don't understand the power and the promise of Jesus' incarnation.

In fact, we're lucky if we can even believe that it really happened the way the Bible says it did. Most people don't and most of those that claim to believe it have no idea what it means. Christmas requires us to be very humble and quiet. St. John is talking as much to us as to the Jews when he says that Jesus came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

Evidence of the fact that we don't really know what to do with the idea of God becoming a man is in the way we handle the celebration of His birth. We put a lot of pressure on Christmas. We plan for it for months. We spend so much money on it in this country alone that it effects the global economy. This isn't just mass hysteria. We're looking for results. We pour ourselves into Christmas because we need to get something out of it. But there is a lesson here. Christmas is like everything else. You get out of it what you put into it. What have you been putting into it?

Have you been getting out of it all that you desire? Probably not. The question that runs through every adult mind and the mind of far too many children is this. Does Christmas ever meet our expectations? When we were children, assuming that we lived in healthy Christian families, Christmas succeeded just by arriving. The great thrill of Christmas for a child is that it require no effort. It just seems to happen. One day it's Thanksgiving and then all of the sudden the world bursts into light and song and shades of green and red. The packages just start coming in and the parties just happen. Neither is there any doubt that it will come, just a question of how many days.

Somewhere between childhood and adulthood something happens. We get distracted with the cares of the world, with our own needs and feelings and the next thing we know Christmas isn't something just happens anymore. It takes work. It becomes something we choose to do and that for a wide variety of reasons. We do it for ourselves. We do it for our own children. We do it to keep up appearances. We do it because there is something missing in our lives and the last time we felt that we had it was when we were children and Christmas was happening all around us.

For most of us, Christmas has become a kind of challenge, an opportunity to do something well. Charles Dickens sets the bar for us when he describes the transformed Ebenezer Scrooge. "It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge." Scrooge, of course kept Christmas by being merry and generous. That's what we want isn't it. To be merry and generous and to have people recognize it in us? We try, we really try, I know it. But we fail. Who says of any of us, they know how to keep Christmas well?

Even in your own experience, Christmas was best when it was less something you did and more something you let happen. What was once true is always true. When you were a child your parents and Pastors and school teachers made Christmas wonderful for you and you though you didn't know it at the time helped make Christmas wonderful for them. It is time for all of us, young and old, to let Jesus make Christmas more wonderful still and for all of us. Who after all, could possibly have any better knowledge than He of how to keep Christmas well?

How do we let Jesus make Christmas wonderful? First of all, let's examine our expectations. What are we hoping Christmas will bring? Are you hoping for toys or joys or happiness or peace on earth or good will to men? What do you want from Christmas? Whatever is on your list, it's almost certainly... not enough. If you want given to you this Christmas anything less than the Son of God, all wrapped up and ready to enjoy, you are aiming way too low. The only Christmas gift that really satisfies is the gift of Faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Next we need to reconsider who we ask for what we want. We all compile lists at Christmas time. Even the least organized person has a list in his head of what he wants and what he wants to give away. What do you do with your list? To whom do you take it? Macy's, Santa Clause, Amazon.com or Wal-Mart? What about Jesus? Have you asked Him for what you want? Have you asked him to help your unbelief? Have you asked Him to fill you with the gifts of His spirit, kindness, compassion, fidelity and so on? Have you asked Him to make you a blessing?

We just don't think that way do we? We think of earning extra money, buying gifts on a budget, sending cards to people we don't really like but almost never of conversing with God about the welfare of our fellow men. Christmas truly is beyond our comprehension. The miracle of Jesus' incarnation is beyond our ability to understand. How can Jesus be born of the Virgin Mary? How can He be present in us in such a way that He cannot ever be cut out? I cannot be cut out of my children but I cannot be present in them in way that allows me to work through them.

Christ is present in us in just such a way. He comes to us in Holy Baptism and gives us faith in promises and fills us with His Holy Spirit. He comes to us through the Words of the Bible and makes His will known to us. He comes to us in Holy Communion where He gives us the very Body and Blood once laid in the manger, once hung on the cross, once risen from the dead and now given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins and the transformation of our lives. Who can understand such things. I do not pretend to. It is enough for me to believe in them. It is enough for you too.

To receive Holy Communion is to celebrate Christmas. It is to receive Jesus which is the point of Christmas. To receive Holy Communion is to have Jesus make Christmas wonderful for you and once your Christmas is wonderful you cannot help but make it better for the people around you. Jesus says to those who are looking for earthly wealth that they should set aside their quest, ask God to give Himself to them and then let God take care of them ever after. Matthew 6:33 "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." The same things applies to joy and peace and happiness and good will toward men. Seek first the Lord and all these things shall be added to you.

It is not to late, its never too late. Let' stop asking of Christmas what we should seek only from Christ. Let's take the pressure off ourselves and this holiday and put it on the infinite, incarnate and almighty shoulders of Jesus Christ.

Let's spend the rest of this day and the next 12 days, at least, patiently and prayerfully contemplating Jesus' incarnation with those we love. Don't feel poor because you can't give you loved ones everything on their wish lists. Do something vastly better and share with them what it means to your life that Christ has forgiven you. Don't feel pressured to prepare a feast beyond your means or ability, bring your family here to the altar and let Jesus do the feeding. There will be Holy Communion every day from now till Wednesday, celebrate Christmas by letting it happen to you, by letting Jesus keep it for you the way your parents did when you were small. Let God be your Father and let the truth set you free. Amen. 

The Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Last Updated: 7/15/2008