Sermon -- Christmas Day

o logos is Greek for "the Word"

JOHN 1:1-18

WHAT IS CHRISTMAS ALL ABOUT?      

In the name + of Jesus.

      What is Christmas all about?  That question gets a myriad of answers.  You would think if Christmas had one main focus, there would only be one answer.  If you asked someone what Monopoly was all about, you would get one basic answer like “gaining control of all the properties.”  That would give you a monopoly, which is the name of the game.  But with Christmas, we get all kinds of answers.

     Some say, “Christmas is all about giving.”  But does that mean presents?  Or charity?  Or volunteerism?  Who is giving?  What are they giving?  And to whom are they giving it?  Is it Christmas shoes, like the song says?

     Others say, “Christmas is all about family.”  I would think that other days would be all about family, too—like Thanksgiving, 4^th of July, Labor Day weekend, birthdays, weddings, and so on.  If Christmas is all about family, you certainly don’t need to be here for it, or to be a Christian to celebrate it.  Much of the world agrees with that.

     Others might insist, “Christmas is all about a festive spirit.”  What are the festivities, and what is that spirit?  Maybe it is a feeling of home.  Maybe it is a party with lots of food.  Maybe it’s alcohol. 

     Other answers are just bizarre.  Maybe Christmas is all about sitting in front of the TV to watch the NBA, or drinking eggnog, or getting 30% off winter tires.  So many people make claims about what Christmas is all about, but few are in agreement.  This is what happens when people tell God what his festival is about.

     What is Christmas all about?  I suppose there are a lot of ways that Christians might express it, but it comes down to this: Jesus.  God the Father has sent his Son into the world to deliver mankind from an aimless life, filled with pain and sorrow, which marches on to an unavoidable death.  For many, that’s all life is; so, they fill it with distractions to keep themselves amused until there is nothing amusing about life anymore.  But there is good news of great joy for you.  And it is for all the people.  A Savior has been born for you. 

     What is Christmas all about?  One of the ways we answer is this: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  It is about the love God the Father has for you and for all people.  God the Father is the Maker of heaven and earth.  God took great delight in what he had made.  Repeatedly, God assessed his creation and saw that it was good.  Even though sin has corrupted everything and everyone, the Father never stopped loving his creation.  So, this is how God loved the world: He sent his only-begotten Son to redeem it.

     What is Christmas all about?  It is to show us that the Lord is merciful.  Your conscience tells you that God has no reason to be merciful toward you.  You might be able to hide your sinful thoughts from others.  You can limit your unkind words to a sympathetic audience.  But your conscience does not let you off the hook.  It accuses you of wickedness and sentences you as guilty.  Now, if you are guilty, you are accountable to God for your guilt.  And your conscience assures you that God’s judgment of you will be just.  The guilty must pay the price.

     However, Jesus reveals to you that God is not only just.  He is merciful.  St. John wrote, “No one has ever seen God.  The only-begotten Son, who is close to the Father’s side, has made him known” (John 1:18).  What Jesus makes known about God is that he does not take pleasure in the death of anyone.  Jesus makes known the Father’s love.  And he does not just talk about it.  Jesus demonstrates it. 

     Even though he is all-glorious, Jesus came into the world with his glory hidden.  St. John wrote, “The Word became flesh and dwelled among us” (John 1:14).  God the Son, here called the Word, became flesh.  To become flesh, he was conceived in the womb of his mother.  He was born into this world as all people are because he became a human being.  He made himself one of us to take up our cause, that is, to answer for our guilt.

     That infant flesh would one day be flogged, pinned to a cross, run through with a spear, and die.  The death would be by crucifixion, but the sentence would be guilty on all counts for all sinners on earth.  Jesus became a man to die on behalf of mankind, bearing the curse that all men deserve.  Therefore, justice was done.  The guilty one paid the price.  As true God, his life and death count for everyone.  God so loved the world that no one in the world should have to perish for his sins.  This is what Jesus has made known about God the Father.  This is the good news proclaimed to the shepherds which is for all people.  This is the glory which the angels sang about.  God’s good will toward men has been made known through Jesus.

     What is Christmas all about?  The very name should tell you that.  It is about Christ.  He is the light which shines in the darkness of a sinful world.  He enlightens us to see the glory of God—that God loves sinners, that God has acted to redeem sinners, that God who created us for himself has redeemed us so that we can be his beloved people forever.  Christmas is all about Christ.  St. John wrote, “We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. … For out of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace” (John 1:14,16). 

     God is most gracious to all he has made.  He provides us with innumerable blessings.  This is why we can enjoy the blessings of family, music, presents, chocolates, and twinkling lights.  But God adds to his grace through Jesus Christ.  In Jesus, we have a God whose mercies are new every morning.  He does not disown us when we must confess our sins to him again and again.  He does not tire of pardoning us.  Jesus Christ has poured out his blood as the eternal payment for all our sins.  The grace of God never runs out.  Out of the fullness of Jesus’ love and from the completeness of his atoning sacrifice, we have grace on top of grace.  His mercy endures forever.

     What is Christmas all about?  The very name should tell you that.  It is about Christ, but it is also about the Mass.  The real feast for today comes from this altar.  For, here is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The Word became flesh to unite himself with us.  The Word made flesh gave his flesh into death in order to pay for all our sins.  The innocent blood of Christ purifies us from all unrighteousness.  The body and blood of Christ are not dead relics though.  Jesus rose from the dead as a glorified body-and-blood man.  Jesus now lives and reigns at the right hand of God the Father.  The right hand of God is wherever God is at work, particularly for the salvation of his people.  Since God is at work everywhere, Jesus’ body and blood can be on this altar as well as on every Christian altar in the world.  Therefore, we can feast Sunday after Sunday, festival after festival, from this altar.  “Out of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace” (John 1:16).  This is Christ’s Mass where we feast on the living body and blood of Jesus for our own eternal benefit. 

     Do you want to say that Christmas is all about giving?  You can say that if you confess that Christmas is all about the Father giving his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.  You can say that if you confess that it is about Jesus Christ giving himself into death to redeem you and to set you apart as a new creation for God’s glory.  You can say that if you confess that it is about your Lord giving you his body and blood to strengthen and preserve you in the one true faith unto life everlasting. 

     Do you want to say that Christmas is all about family?  You can say that if you take to heart the words of the Apostle John: “To all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12-13).  Thanks be to Jesus, you are all children of God.  The Lord has adopted you into his family, and he has given you all the benefits of dwelling in the household of God.  For now, you bear family name, Christian.  You have been exalted to the status of saints.  You get to feast at the family table.  And if you are children of God, then you are heirs of eternal life. 

     Do you want to say that Christmas is all about a festive spirit?  You can, if you recognize that the Holy Spirit has enlightened you to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  You can say that if you acknowledge that by the Holy Spirit you have been born again “not of blood, or of the desire of the flesh, or of a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13).  Thanks to the Holy Spirit, your life is not an aimless march to an unavoidable death.  Rather, it is a life of honoring God, loving your neighbor, and anticipating endless glory with the Lord.

     As people who are in Christ, you get to enjoy not only the Christmas season, but every season.  For, “through (the Son) everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made” (John 1:3).  All that he has made he made for you.  Therefore, you can receive all good things and make use of them with gratitude.  You get to enjoy the presents under the tree, a second helping of eggnog, a bunch of Christmas carols, an NFL contest, or a long winter’s nap.  These are not mere distractions; they are gifts from God.  And even if they are taken away, the Christmas joy remains.  And even if the season is not as merry and bright as you would have hoped, the light of Christ still shines.  Jesus bestows upon you the mercy which endures through sorrow and loss and even death.

     So, what is Christmas all about?  The Church has named it properly.  It is about Christ.  It is about the Mass.  It is about the love of the Father, revealed by Jesus Christ, grace upon grace, which is poured out upon you abundantly and endlessly. 

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.