Christmas, the biggest, the greatest, the brightest, the loudest and most spectacular birthday party in the entire world. Every Christmas tree is a candle, every light is a flame on top of that candle, and every present is a sharing in the celebration of the most excellent of birthday parties, pretty awesome. No one else receives this kind of party, simply no one. Some believe we go overboard, that’s true if we spend beyond our limits or forget the real purpose of Christmas, but I say, “We can never go overboard for Jesus.” There are not enough lights, trees or presents to fully express the love we feel for our Lord and it is today that we remember that love which broke into human history to save us. It is beyond imagination that God in the 2nd person of the Trinity would become one of us, fully human in every respect except sin. That is the essence of Christmas – God is with us.
Mary and Joseph were the first recipients of God being in their midst, and yet He was still just their little boy. They were a family, though the Holy Family, a family nevertheless, walking on their own journey of faith experiencing life in every respect which we do, with all of life’s sorrows and joys. Once Jesus’ ministry went public then many others experienced God among them. We know the stories handed down of all the miracles, the wonders, the prayers, the sacrifice, the love, all of it quite incredible, but the one thing that is most important and sometimes overlooked is that God, this 2nd person of the Trinity walked among us as a friend. The greatest stories, the ones that touch us the most are the ones about relationships, especially relationships that are healed, between sinner and God.
By Jesus becoming a man he takes on our nature. How much closer can God come to us than that, by becoming what we are, one of his own? Can we be loved anymore? God saw our hurt, pain, our sin and the inability to make it right, so He came and made it right for us. He took our place so that we would not have to suffer both here and after. God indeed is love and the only reason we can love and know love is because He has given us Himself both in a manger in Bethlehem, but also in a manger in our hearts.
Remember as you open each present, exchange gifts, light the Christmas trees, turn on the outdoor lights, and everything else that goes with this day, that our Savior is being glorified, not just for his being born and his birthday, but that He is our friend, God came into this world so that He can sit with us and have fellowship and to say to each one of us, “Hello my friend it’s good to see you, it’s reallygood to see you.” Merry Christmas Lord!
Fr. John
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