December 24, 2004; The Nativity of Our Lord, Year A
The Rev. Harold "Skip" Comer, Rector
As I looked at the Children’s Christmas Greeting section of the Record Patriot on Wednesday I couldn’t help but notice that a drawing of the birth of Jesus Christ was missing from the entries printed in the paper. The vast majority of entries depicted snowmen and Christmas Trees. The only saving grace is that the reindeer beat out Santa Claus this year.
There are so many stories for this time of the year: “Frosty the Snowman,” “The Night Before Christmas,” “The Grinch that Stole Christmas,” “A Christmas Carole,” “Miracle on 34th Street,”…
So many stories competing for Christmas, it is no wonder that Children, and even some adults, get confused about what tonight and tomorrow are really all about. Is it a holiday or a Holy Day?
We are not waiting for Santa Claus, who only delivers gifts to those who have been nice. We are not here to find out if the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future are going to visit us tonight. We are here because on this night we celebrate that God gave a gift to every man, woman, and child in the world. There is no distinction whether we have been naughty or nice. God didn’t even ask if we wanted this gift. He just knew that we needed it.
One of the cards that we received this year was rather straightforward. At the top of the card was the caption, “This is the touch of Christmas…” In the center of the card was a small picture of a nativity scene – Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, and a sheep. Underneath the picture were the words, “The simple…” When you open the card you find the words, “… becomes the sacred.”
We are here tonight because in one way or another we have been “touched” by God. We have experienced some of what we read about in the Bible. Because of that “touching” or experience we long to embrace, or be embraced by, it more. What is it? It is a feeling or awareness of the presence of something greater than we are. We have come to identify that presence as the grace or love of God, which he expressed in the gift of his Son Jesus Christ. This night is holy, it is sacred, because the babe who was born in Bethlehem, is God’s gift to us.
The question that Christmas poses to us, is do we want this gift. It doesn’t come wrapped in bright paper with a pretty bow. It is not a gift that we can take back to the store and exchange for something else. To open, or accept the gift is dangerous because it has the power to transform our lives. It will place demands on us. It is also a gift that keeps on giving.
The real danger of Christmas is that we do not open our hearts to experience the gift of love that is to be found in the birth of the Son of God. In the busyness of the holiday we can push Jesus and his gift of love back onto the pages of the Bible, close the cover, and put it back on the bookshelf with all the other story books.
The fact of the matter is that we can have a happy holiday, even a merry Christmas, without Jesus. We can have a great time with family and friends, with opening presents, and feasting on delicious meals. But to do so will rob us of what Christmas is all about. But then all of you know this or you wouldn’t be here tonight.
There is a difference between a happy or merry Christmas, and a blessed Christmas. The difference is that in the simple story the sacred has reached out and touched us.
May you have a blessed Christmas.