St. Margaret's Sermon Archive
Christmas Day - The Rev. Caron A. Gwynn - 12/25/2008
And the Word became flesh and lived among us… (NRSV, John 1:14)
Last night, I set up my crèche set. The crèche set is made out of banana leaves from a Caribbean Island and was very delicate. I reconstructed the manager scene with the Holy Family and animals to resemble a stable setting. The last piece I placed was baby Jesus in the manager. Mary and Joseph were protectively placed near the manager. I thought of the infinite magnitude of God’s love for humankind. A love that brought God closer to us as opposed to a love that is remote and untouchable.
Our traditional crèche scene or nativity scene is the symbol of the celebration of the miraculous birth of Jesus; the Holy Child born of the Virgin Mary whose adopted father was Joseph. Mary and Joseph were homeless and poor, wandering in Bethlehem. When we look at a crèche scene, we are reminded of the shepherds in Luke’s Gospel serving as witnesses to God incarnated in the person of baby Jesus in the manager. After an angel announces the birth to them, they decide to go see the miracle with their own eyes.
They found the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manager. God lovingly came to live among humankind to bring us the gifts of salvation and grace. Today is the feast of the Nativity of the Lord known as Christmas Day. It is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, Immanuel “God with us.” Additionally, today we celebrate the power and intimate action of the Word becoming flesh to bring hope and light to the world.
Our Christian faith places demands on us to strive to have enormous faith and trust in God even when God’s actions are in comprehendible to us. This can be a difficult task. I am sure Mary did not understand everything initially that was to happen to her and yet later through the years of watching her son grow her faith grew stronger in God’s presence.
God was present with the Israelites through the images of the cloud by day, the pillar of fire, David keeping the Arc of the covenant, the provision of the manna, and messages received through the Old Testament prophets.
However, the Israelites were not able to maintain their faith as strongly as they had when they knew the presence of God was with them. (copied and adapted from the Lectionary, Dec.2008, p.29, Vol. XX, No.1) God had to do something radical and new to demonstrate the sustained love for them and for us today. God found a new way to bond with the people so they could recognize his presence once again.
The presence of God coming to live among humankind is recounted from different points of view in the Gospels. We are aware of Luke’s version of the conception and birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary by the Spirit of God but not biologically by Joseph. Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus through his mother Mary’s lineage, as it was believed that Jesus was the son of Joseph. Luke ties Jesus lineage to son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God (Luke 3:23-38). Additionally, in Luke’s story includes the shepherds, the angels, and the stable. (adapted from Herschel Hobbs, The Illustrated Life of Jesus,Nashville, Tenn: Holman Bible Publishers, 2000,p.20).
Matthew uses Joseph’s lineage for the birth of Jesus. We know that Joseph is the adopted father of Jesus. However, Jewish law required Jesus’ lineage to be traced on the father’s side of the family because a line had to be established. Matthew begins his account with Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus covers fourteen generations from Abraham to David. It is during the Babylonian captivity that the Messianic hopes of the Israelites began to take shape in full force. The birth of Jesus, the son of God gave rise to the all hopes and desires of the people across the nations. ((adapted from Herschel Hobbs, The Illustrated Life of Jesus,Nashville, Tenn: Holman Bible Publishers, 2000,p.20). Thus, Mary became the blessed mother of all women, which she eloquently expresses in the Song of Mary, the Manificat.
We not only celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus who was God incarnate on Christmas but also the presence of the Word before creation. Apostle John shows us in his poetry that the Word existed before creation. For John, Jesus was present with God before creation. This means that Jesus existed with God even before Abraham walked the earth. For John, the beginning of the Jesus story, began to take shape before eternity and continues today. It continues because we know that God “created all things” in the world and God is in the world. John tells us that the Word becoming flesh in the person of Jesus gives us the power of becoming the children of God.
Christmas helps us to celebrate the faithful knowledge of God’s saving love and presence. Our faith heritage unites us to God from the creation story through the history of Israel to the incarnation, the birth of Holy Child, Jesus. (adapted from Homily Service, Taylor & Francis Group, Philadelphia: The Liturgical Conference, December 25, 2003, p.66)
We began our service today singing, ‘O Come All Ye Faithful.’ The Latin word for “come” means “be present.” Essentially our worship is empty void without the presence of God incarnate among us. (adapted from AHA December 25, 1997.p54). We have gathered - a community of the faithful remembering the scene of the crèche, the nativity - to stand firm in the faith that Christ is the final revelation of the one true God who lives among us always. The Gospel of John says, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and lived among us…’ (John 1:1, 14, NRSV). Our worship epitomizes the presence of God incarnate within us.
Let us pray:
Almighty God we pray that we keep each day like Christmas with our lives telling the story daily: the story of how we cared for the presence of Christ entrusted to us as God entrusted Joseph and Mary by caring for each other and for ourselves.
May we share the Christmas story by embracing the most vulnerable in our society and to each other risking ourselves to love and to be loved, even as God does in this blessed Son, born to bring us love and hope in the world for eternity. Amen. (adapted and copied from David Klutterman, in WTW selected sermons by Evangel, Feb.6, 1996)
Last night, I set up my crèche set. The crèche set is made out of banana leaves from a Caribbean Island and was very delicate. I reconstructed the manager scene with the Holy Family and animals to resemble a stable setting. The last piece I placed was baby Jesus in the manager. Mary and Joseph were protectively placed near the manager. I thought of the infinite magnitude of God’s love for humankind. A love that brought God closer to us as opposed to a love that is remote and untouchable.
Our traditional crèche scene or nativity scene is the symbol of the celebration of the miraculous birth of Jesus; the Holy Child born of the Virgin Mary whose adopted father was Joseph. Mary and Joseph were homeless and poor, wandering in Bethlehem. When we look at a crèche scene, we are reminded of the shepherds in Luke’s Gospel serving as witnesses to God incarnated in the person of baby Jesus in the manager. After an angel announces the birth to them, they decide to go see the miracle with their own eyes.
They found the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manager. God lovingly came to live among humankind to bring us the gifts of salvation and grace. Today is the feast of the Nativity of the Lord known as Christmas Day. It is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, Immanuel “God with us.” Additionally, today we celebrate the power and intimate action of the Word becoming flesh to bring hope and light to the world.
Our Christian faith places demands on us to strive to have enormous faith and trust in God even when God’s actions are in comprehendible to us. This can be a difficult task. I am sure Mary did not understand everything initially that was to happen to her and yet later through the years of watching her son grow her faith grew stronger in God’s presence.
God was present with the Israelites through the images of the cloud by day, the pillar of fire, David keeping the Arc of the covenant, the provision of the manna, and messages received through the Old Testament prophets.
However, the Israelites were not able to maintain their faith as strongly as they had when they knew the presence of God was with them. (copied and adapted from the Lectionary, Dec.2008, p.29, Vol. XX, No.1) God had to do something radical and new to demonstrate the sustained love for them and for us today. God found a new way to bond with the people so they could recognize his presence once again.
The presence of God coming to live among humankind is recounted from different points of view in the Gospels. We are aware of Luke’s version of the conception and birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary by the Spirit of God but not biologically by Joseph. Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus through his mother Mary’s lineage, as it was believed that Jesus was the son of Joseph. Luke ties Jesus lineage to son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God (Luke 3:23-38). Additionally, in Luke’s story includes the shepherds, the angels, and the stable. (adapted from Herschel Hobbs, The Illustrated Life of Jesus,Nashville, Tenn: Holman Bible Publishers, 2000,p.20).
Matthew uses Joseph’s lineage for the birth of Jesus. We know that Joseph is the adopted father of Jesus. However, Jewish law required Jesus’ lineage to be traced on the father’s side of the family because a line had to be established. Matthew begins his account with Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus covers fourteen generations from Abraham to David. It is during the Babylonian captivity that the Messianic hopes of the Israelites began to take shape in full force. The birth of Jesus, the son of God gave rise to the all hopes and desires of the people across the nations. ((adapted from Herschel Hobbs, The Illustrated Life of Jesus,Nashville, Tenn: Holman Bible Publishers, 2000,p.20). Thus, Mary became the blessed mother of all women, which she eloquently expresses in the Song of Mary, the Manificat.
We not only celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus who was God incarnate on Christmas but also the presence of the Word before creation. Apostle John shows us in his poetry that the Word existed before creation. For John, Jesus was present with God before creation. This means that Jesus existed with God even before Abraham walked the earth. For John, the beginning of the Jesus story, began to take shape before eternity and continues today. It continues because we know that God “created all things” in the world and God is in the world. John tells us that the Word becoming flesh in the person of Jesus gives us the power of becoming the children of God.
Christmas helps us to celebrate the faithful knowledge of God’s saving love and presence. Our faith heritage unites us to God from the creation story through the history of Israel to the incarnation, the birth of Holy Child, Jesus. (adapted from Homily Service, Taylor & Francis Group, Philadelphia: The Liturgical Conference, December 25, 2003, p.66)
We began our service today singing, ‘O Come All Ye Faithful.’ The Latin word for “come” means “be present.” Essentially our worship is empty void without the presence of God incarnate among us. (adapted from AHA December 25, 1997.p54). We have gathered - a community of the faithful remembering the scene of the crèche, the nativity - to stand firm in the faith that Christ is the final revelation of the one true God who lives among us always. The Gospel of John says, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and lived among us…’ (John 1:1, 14, NRSV). Our worship epitomizes the presence of God incarnate within us.
Let us pray:
Almighty God we pray that we keep each day like Christmas with our lives telling the story daily: the story of how we cared for the presence of Christ entrusted to us as God entrusted Joseph and Mary by caring for each other and for ourselves.
May we share the Christmas story by embracing the most vulnerable in our society and to each other risking ourselves to love and to be loved, even as God does in this blessed Son, born to bring us love and hope in the world for eternity. Amen. (adapted and copied from David Klutterman, in WTW selected sermons by Evangel, Feb.6, 1996)