Homily – Christmas Day, 25th Dec 2023

Reading: Luke 2:1-20

When we think about Christmas there are several images that come to our mind. The Christmas markets and Christmas shopping, the Christmas cakes and the Christmas goodies, the Christmas Tree and the Star, the decorations and the tinsels, the Santa, the carols and the holidays… The list can go on. But what is the most profound imagery of Christmas?

In one of my previous congregations, we had a competition for mangers. When the carol team visited the home, we would also look at the crib and the manger that were prepared.

Like the one we blessed today each home relived the nativity narrative according to their ability and resources.

In one home of an old widow there was nothing special as we went in. After the singing she asked us if we were not seeing her crib.

She led us behind the house and there was her cow shed with the cows. In the trough which was used to feed the cows she had some straw in the straw bed an image of a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. No Mary, No Joseph, No shepherds.

It was in a trough like this the Saviour of the World was laid after Mary gave birth to him somewhere outside the inns of the town.

Amidst all the festivities and celebration, the image of this trough stayed strong with me and the question- Why did God design such a birth?

Was accessibility to the most ordinary the only reason?

Why the manger?

The Mystery of the Manger

We read in Luke, And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Theologians have given us various interpretations for the birth in the manger.

• Humility and Simplicity of the incarnation
• The idea of Accessibility to All
• The solidarity and identification with the marginalised and the vulnerable
• A contrast with earthly kingship
• Symbolism of the Lamb of God and pointer to the image of Shepherd
• The Unconventional Interventions of God

Across the years we have meditated on the fact that the birth in the manger was because there was no place for them in the inn.

The question still continues- Is there room in your heart for God to write his story

As we celebrate Christmas- Is there room in our hearts for Jesus.

Is it a little space that we carve out in one corner where Jesus can be asked to stay so that we could reach out to him when we need him or is he the master and Lord of our lives

The Revelation of the Glory of the Lord to the Ordinary

Have we experienced the Glory of the Almighty anytime in our lives?

On the day of nativity the ordinary shepherds experience the glory of the Lord shining around them

We read in the gospel

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.

The transformation from the mundane to the transcendental happens with revelation of the glory of God

Take for example few Biblical instances

• Glory of the Lord revealed in the burning bush
• Glory of the Lord in Sinai when the ten commandments were given
• Glory of the Lord at the dedication of the tabernacle by Moses, Solomon’s Temple dedication, Isaiah’s vision of the Temple
• Glory of the Lord in The Transfiguration
• Glory of the Lord in the Resurrection- Angel appearing with the glory of God
• Glory of the Lord John’s Revelation in Patmos

Many a times our God experiences become hollow because we miss out on this Glory of the Lord- the Kabod of the Kadish- the Glory of the Holy One.

Liturgically we always say- Kadish Abo Kadisho, Kadish Bro Kadisho, Kadish ruah kadisho- Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit but we leave it mostly as words and seldom seldom seek an experience of the glory of God.

The First Christmas Message

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹ to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 

¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 

The salient features of the first Christmas message included

• Do not be afraid- In a world full of fear there no ‘more relevant’ message than this.
• I bring you good news of great joy for ALL the people
  • Good News in a world full of bad news
  • Great Joy in a world reeling in sorrow
  • All People in a world that is divided by walls
• To you is born this day
  • YOU- It is not just about other people’s experience.
• In the city of David- a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord
  • FULFILMENT of the Prophesies
• This will be your sign- a child in swaddling clothes lying in a manger
  • The Lord of the universe totally identifying with humanity- the divine becoming human wrapped in clothes that symbolised warmth, protection and security

The First Christmas Carol

¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

• The Carol experience is joining the multitude of heavenly hosts
• The Carol experience is celebrating the glory of God in the highest heaven
• The carol experience is about peace on earth in whom God favours.

If at all the world today needs a message it is PEACE

Individuals are torn apart

Families are torn apart

Congregations and communities are torn apart

Nations are being torn apart

The World is thirsting for PEACE

And the Christmas message is nothing but PEACE on whom the Lord favours.

The First Meeting with the Messiah

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.

When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

• The determination to go and see for themselves what was made known to them- They were not satisfied with the story or the theory. They wanted to experience the message
• The went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger- The message of Christmas is all about this journey of seeking and the joy of finding
• The shepherds returned gloryfing and praising God for all they had heard and seen. The joy of Christmas is the experience of this encounter

Conclusion

The challenge of Christmas is simple- Is there space for Jesus in our lives?

Do we experience the Glory of God in our God encounters

Like the shepherds do we have the desire to genuinely go and meet with the baby Jesus

May we have a blessed Christmas.

Vinod Victor

December 25, 2023