Sermon for Christmas Eve
“And the Word was made flesh”
Christmas parties ought to come with an advisory, a cautionary warning, not about the dangers of drinking and driving – but, of course, do be careful! – but about the Christian faith itself. Recently, I was at one such gathering at which Christmas carols were sung, quite lustily and in good cheer, in fact, but after one carol – I forget exactly which one – someone cried out, “Doesn’t sound very Christmassy!” Though perhaps a wee bit tipsy, he was right!
In a way. But here is the problem and, hence, the need for an advisory. Christmas carols are often quite direct and clear about the realities of the Christian faith, about the meaning of Christmas itself, we might say. And no, don’t worry! I am not going to go down that rather over-worn and obvious path about Jesus being “the reason for the season”! Of course, he is. It is Christmas, after all. And yet, it is the sad reality that in a recent survey among school children, Christmas is associated with everything except Jesus Christ and his birth. Santa Claus wins out. Not enough Christmas carols, it seems. The point is who is this Jesus whose birth we celebrate? Can we really ignore the rich images of this season and its profound message conveyed through music and song, through story and service, especially in worship and in all the rich trappings of this season? I don’t think so.
There is hardly a Christmas carol that doesn’t proclaim Jesus Christ as the Son of God become the son of man for us and for our redemption; hardly a carol that doesn’t allude to sacrifice and death, to sin and grace, to our darkness and the light of Christ, to God and man. They go to the very heart of Christmas, but if we think of Christmassy things as just being happy thoughts and bonhomie, then, of course, these things may seem, well, ‘unChristmassy’. They may even disquiet and disturb us.
That may be a true Christmas blessing. (more…)
