O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Psalm
96
The Readings
Isaiah 9:2-7 + Titus 2:11-14 + Luke 2:1-20
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.
~ Isaiah 9:6-7a
The Christmas story from Luke’s Gospel is beautiful and powerful. But also, familiar. Familiar enough for most of us, I suspect, that if we’re not careful we can let the remarkable details as well as the astounding, jaw-dropping overall theme slip right past us.
The English poet John Betjeman, in his poem simply entitled ‘Christmas’ closes with these stanzas:
And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall ?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me ?
And is it true ? For if it is,
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies,
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant,
No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare--
That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.
The proclamation of Christmas is no less than that: that in Christ, God chose to come and dwell among us, fully as one of us. And that Christ by the Spirit continues today to dwell with us. Christmas is about God choosing to be manifest among us, taking our human nature to draw us into the very life of God--as one of the early church fathers said, “God became human that humans might become God.” That Christmas proclamation can get muted or even lost in the busyness and nostalgia of our celebrations. Which is one reason I’m thankful for the Old Testament lessons we hear in this season. Less familiar perhaps, and so still strange and even shocking.
In this time of gift giving, a child has been born for us, given to us--and this child is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. That’s a lot to take in. So I’m also thankful that we don’t have to take it in all at once; but as we grow, we can take to heart that promise that the authority of Christ, his kingdom of endless peace, is continually growing. And we might believe that on Christmas Day, though the rest of the year may try us and stretch the limits of our good faith. But the promise abides, and not just for today--it is the zeal of the LORD of hosts that will do this.
Closing Prayer
O Father of mercy, whose Son Jesus took upon himself our nature, that he might bear our sorrows, be the companion of our journeys, and the forgiveness of our sins; pour out on us your Holy Spirit, that as Christ was born in our likeness, even so may we grow into his; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
~from Saint Augustine's Prayer Book, p. 217
