Online Sermons
Christmas Day: December 25, The Rev. John Horn
Welcome to our website. You are here: The Word --> Online SermonsRecently on the Time magazine website I discovered an article entitled, “Going to Church on Christmas: A Vanishing Tradition.” The basic idea was that millions of people go to church on Christmas Eve – and then stay home the next day. This was contrasted with Easter, when many (especially in our Episcopal tradition) go to an Easter Vigil service, but the church is full again the next morning on Easter Day. Apparently some pastors consider Christmas Eve to be “a prime marketing opportunity,” and they even trade ideas on how to create easily digestible sermons that will bring people back. I guess their regular sermon fare must create heartburn!
Amy Sullivan, the author of the Time article, implies that the lack of interest in Christmas Day services is a big cultural change. I don’t know how old she is, but I’ve been going to church for over a half-century now, and I don’t ever remember Christmas Day being a big service. It’s the night before that has the candles and the children and the carols, and the choir and clergy trying to stay awake and function at midnight. Sullivan says that Christmas has become a day when families stay home and enjoy one another’s company, as though there’s something wrong with that.
But what about people who don’t have family around? Or families that want to come to church? Many churches don’t have Christmas Day services, and some that do have a “Happy Birthday, Jesus” celebration (the thought of which makes me shudder). I am glad that you haven’t taken that route at Christ Church. You probably didn’t realize that you are counter-cultural because you’re here today, did you?The readings that we heard this morning were the same readings heard last night. In fact, even though there are three sets of Christmas readings, they don’t vary from year to year, unlike other parts of the lectionary. So the story is very familiar to us: the decree from Emperor Augustus, the manger with no room in the inn, the shepherds in the field, the angel telling them not to be afraid, the multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace.” This is all so familiar that it would seem hard to find anything new within it.
What really struck me this year, however, was the tremendous amount of joy in these readings – and how that joy is released in song. Psalm 96 just radiates with joy:Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the whole earth.
Sing to the Lord and bless his name;
proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations
and his wonders among all peoples.As Christians, we hear the new song and the good news of salvation as referring to Jesus Christ. For the psalmist, however, the joy comes from God and the worship of God, which strikes him with awe:
Oh, the majesty and magnificence of his presence!
Oh, the power and the splendor of his sanctuary!And it is not enough that all of the people are praising God; in this vision all of creation comes together in praise of the Creator:
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
let the sea thunder and all that is in it;
let the field be joyful and all that is therein.
Then shall all of the trees of the wood shout for joy
before the Lord when he comes,
when he comes to judge the earth.This is how I imagine the scene with the shepherds: not just the angel choir of heaven singing, but all earth singing with them, overjoyed that God has come to earth to be with us, that God has taken on human form. No wonder the shepherds were terrified! “The grace of God has appeared,” the letter to Titus says, echoing that wonderful passage from the beginning of John’s Gospel: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory…full of grace and truth.”
But what of those who do not feel joy at this time of year? Christmas is also a time when losses are felt more deeply, when empty seats at the table and emptiness in the heart become even harder to bear. Our culture does not help at all with that emptiness, for it has nothing to offer except a thin veneer of cheer covering a deep denial of loss. Christian faith, however, is a resurrection faith, the triumph of life over death, and even in Christmas we see that. Consider the passage from Isaiah that we heard this morning. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.” As Christians, we are not afraid of the darkness, because we know that there is a greater light. Again in John’s Gospel we find, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” It is Jesus Christ, that little baby lying in the manger, who is the light that cannot be quenched, over whom all creation sings.
And that is truly the wonder of Christmas. Even if there is not joy enough in our hearts to sing, the living world will sing for us, will sing of the love of God who came and walked among us, who died and rose again and still lives within us, so that we might not walk in sadness and darkness forever. May this light and joy of Jesus Christ be born within you again today and remain with you forever. Amen.