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For many, Christmas has come and gone, but for we Anglicans who trace our religious heritage back to Merry ‘Ole England, we are celebrating the seventh day of the Twelve Days of Christmas. This is one of the benefits of being an Anglican in that unlike our other Protestant brothers and sisters who will soon be taking down their Christmas trees and stop listening to Christmas music; we are just getting started. Although most of us have already unwrapped our presents, we are continuing to celebrate the Joy of Christmas.
After waiting with great anticipation for four weeks to celebrate the birth of our Lord, while the rest of the world packs away the Christmas décor on New Year’s Day, we Anglicans keep playing our carols as we continue to be merry. These twelve days of feasting and celebrating are our expressions of joy for the birth of the Savior for all. The four weeks of waiting in Advent with anticipation are now filled with the excitement of the hope of the world becoming flesh and living among us. The Savior has been born and we cannot hold back from singing the carols and greeting one another with a hearty Merry Christmas!
Our hearts are filled to overflowing like the glee of children who delight in the ringing of bells and the wondrous sounds and smells of Christmas tide. Like little children, we allow ourselves a time to play and to rejoice with family and friends the coming of the Christ Child. And children we are. For through the birth of the Savior, we have become the children of God.
As we read from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.”
What an incredible gift we have been given. I-pods, TV’s, new cars, expensive jewelry, new clothes, any of these are very nice gifts and perhaps there are some folks here today who received one or more of these presents for Christmas. Yet, in comparison, the gift from God to become a child of God outshines all earthly gifts. Because this priceless gift from God is not a gift that will wear out or fade away, but a gift that will last forever. The gift of eternal life through Jesus the Christ is the gift of all gifts. For it is only through the birth, life and death of the Son of God that we can be adopted as sons and daughters of God.
How is this possible that the birth of one child changed the destiny for humanity? The gospel of John gives us insight through these powerful words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”
Jesus of Nazareth, who was born of Mary, is the incarnation of God’s Son. The Son of God and the Father God together with the Holy Spirit is God, the Three in One. The Son of God is the Logos or the Word of God who is the communicator of the very being of God. Through the spoken Word of God, all of creation came into existence and continues to bring forth life into the Universe.
As it is written in the gospel of John, “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” Jesus, the Word of God, is the source of life for only in Him can eternal life for all peoples be found. Only the Son of God, who is Life, can give life to us. Before the Word of God was spoken, there was great darkness, but the Word of God shattered the darkness with the Light of the Son of God. Even now, new stars are being born and new worlds are being created. Even now, the angels continue the singing of Alleluias and praises to God Almighty. For the creating of the Universe has not ended, but is in continual motion as the very Word of God continues to breathe life into new creations.
When this world became a fallen world through disobedience of God’s Word, the Lord could have shrugged and turned away. The Lord could have decided to not waste anymore of His precious time trying to restore a fallen creation that refused to accept His Word. Instead the Lord God Almighty created a plan to redeem the creatures who were created in His image. The crux of this plan was for the Creator of the Universe to enter this fallen world as a human being. Not as an adult or as a clone of Himself, but to enter the world through the womb of a virgin in the form of a human baby.
When the Virgin Mary spoke the words to the Angel Gabriel, God’s messenger, “Let it be with me according to your word,” the Word of God became incarnate within her womb. The Angel of God had told Mary, “And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High….” Then through the words of Mary’s response, “Let it be with me according to your word,” the life-giving power of the Word of God was released to become flesh and to live among us. In the words of the Apostle John, “We have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth….From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”
Because the Son of God has overcome the spiritual darkness of this world by being the Light of the World; even today, we too can become new creations through the power of the Word of God. Like Mary the Mother of God, all we need to do is to say to God, “Let it be with me according to your word,” and with those words release the Word of God to enter within us. The Word of God, God’s only Begotten Son, will transform us through His presence within us into Beings of Light. For through the Light of Christ we are enlightened to become bearers of Christ’s Light for the world.
In closing, I want to share with you a poem by Ann Weems from her book, Kneeling in Bethlehem.
“It is Not Over”
It is not over,
this birthing.
There are always newer skies,
into which
God can throw stars.
When we begin to think
that we can predict the Advent of God,
that we can box the Christ
in a stable in Bethlehem,
that’s just the time
that God will be born
in a place we can’t imagine and won’t believe.
Those who wait for God
watch with their hearts and not their eyes,
listening
always listening
for angel words.
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