Festive Christ Mass, December 24, 2009

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Isaiah 52:7-10, Hebrews 1:1-12, John 1:1-14
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT

There is no time as rich in traditions, dreams, hopes and images than Christmas. It is a time we bring out our treasures both old and new. They help us tell our story of who we are, where we have come from and what we believe. They help us tell the story of Christmas in our own words, in the unique language of our family.

We tell this story tonight as we rehearse the story of our Savior's birth in hymns as well as Scriptures of prophecy and promise, hope and herald. We bask in this story on this beautiful evening of golden flickering flame with family, friends, and fellowship one with another.

I'm sorry, but what an outrageous story it is! Incredible! It is set in a small, poor country with a history of religious zealots known for outlandish prophecies, occupied by the greatest empire in the world. And here a baby is born to a teenager in a stable. Where shepherds are told by angels he is the "Son of God," the Messiah, God's anointed one. It is story of dreams and angels, and odd goings on in a poor and conquered land. Yet it is a story that continues to hold and enthrall us to this very minute.

St. John, however, bypasses all the details and familiar images of the nativity and sets this Messiah in a cosmic setting not in a stable. "In the beginning...." Sound familiar? This is how our whole story begins in Genesis: "In the beginning...." John wants to make sure we make the connection, that we get it.

Christ is before time and before creation; before the "big bang." Christ is the source of life, of all that "came into being." Christ is the light of all people: Those who believe in him and those who do not.

Christ is the light that the darkness cannot overcome; Not the darkness of Imperial Rome. Not the darkness of our rampant commercialism and capitalism.

Christ came and we did not know him. We did not know him then when he walked among us in the First Century. We do not know him now in our, post-modern, post-Christian age of the 21st Century.

Christ came to us and we rejected him and crucified him. We reject him now and crucify him on the crosses of commercialism, ego, sentimentality, nationalism, legalism and selfishness.

Yet, Christ continues to offer himself to us. He continues to give himself to us in spirit and love as well as in bread and wine. Christ continues to hold out the love of God to a broken and self-centered world.

Christ came and lived among us and we glimpsed his glory. As we glimpse his glory even now: in the sip of wine, in a sunset, in the eyes of a loved one, in the "ah-ha" of reading scripture or singing familiar hymn we hear again for the first time.

John calls us to see Christ neither in the stable nor even on the cross. John calls us to see Christ as a real presence to our preconceived notions of God and ourselves. He calls us to see Christ as the light and life of the world, the one who calls, invites, and loves us back to God. Christ who calls us back to God at all costs, even the cost of his own dignity and life.

The Word made flesh did not become a philosophy, a theory or a concept to be merely discussed, debated, pondered, or sung about. But the Word became flesh: a person - a real person - to be followed, enjoyed and loved. That is what we are about, or should be about, as Christians at Christmas and throughout the year.