When I think back on Christmas memories, few things stick out in my mind more than the feeling of coming down the stairs on Christmas morning. I don’t know about all of you, but the “Santa’s helpers” at my home on Christmas Eve always did such a phenomenal job of arranging the presents just so. When I came down the stairs in my PJ’s on Christmas morning, I couldn’t help but be in awe of the beautiful, glowing Christmas tree surrounded by what seemed like an impossible amount of presents. This hidden work to make our living room beautiful on Christmas morning really paid off. My heart leaped seeing that gorgeous sight each Christmas.
A similar surge of the heart happens for me when I come into Church after our parish comes together to decorate. There are few more beautiful sights than the Church bursting with poinsettias and filled with the glow of Christmas trees, lights and candles. Even being part of the decorating process doesn’t diminish the sense of wonder when I stand back to admire the whole scene after it’s finished. I hope all of you had that same fullness of heart coming into the church, that sense of wonder at the beauty all around us today as we gather to celebrate Christ’s birth.
This work behind the scenes in which we prepared for this joyful celebration is important. Whether it be the work of “Santa’s helpers” on Christmas Eve lovingly arranging presents around the tree, the labor of love of an army of parishioners setting out nativity figurines and arranging flowers and trees in churches here and throughout the world, or the countless other behind the scenes work bringing beauty to workplaces and public spaces this time of year, all of it points to the core of why we celebrate: the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
The sense of wonder we experience in the midst of this beauty points us to the mysterious wonder of that first Christmas night. In the midst of a dark cave in Bethlehem, a young baby’s voice cried out in the night for His mother, that Baby in Whom, as the old Christmas carol tells us, “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight.” This is the wonder that we are called to enter into at Christmas, that wonder of God made man showing us His Sacred face for the very first time. That is cause for wonder and joy, the cause for singing, celebration, worship, adoration.
My favorite Christmas carol is Silent Night, written by Fr. Joseph Mohr, a Catholic priest, in Germany in the mid 1800’s. I’m struck by the words of one verse in particular:
Silent Night, Holy Night
Son of God, Love’s pure light
Radiant Beams from thy Holy Face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord at thy birth
Jesus, Lord at thy birth.
Tonight we gather in wonder amidst all of this beauty to celebrate the beauty that shone forth from that little Baby in the feeding trough about two millennia ago. That precious Baby’s face was beautiful beyond measure because His face was that of the Lord, the face in which humanity and Divinity were joined together in a wondrous way to bring salvation to each and every one of us. This feast is where we celebrate the Birth of the one who was destined to bring the human race back to the Father, the One whose love and self-gift would pay the price for all of our sins. The bursting forth of the radiance of His face was a pivot point in the history of the world, a moment where things permanently shifted for the good for all of us, because God has come down to save us. God the Son chose to take on the frailty of our flesh, to redeem it. And as there was hidden work to prepare the beauty we see before us, so the Father was at work down through the ages, preparing us for this awesome moment when His son would be born.
Long before the moment Jesus revealed His precious face to the world, Isaiah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, gave voice to what God the Father was preparing for:
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.
What is this great light? A Child!
For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
For generations, God the Father had been preparing for this Child, the Light of the World, sending hints through the prophets, building Jesus’ family tree using lots of unexpected people, but preparing His royal coming down through the line of David’s family. So much preparation occurred leading up to that night in Bethlehem all those years ago. Now as we celebrate the beauty of that night, God reminds us that His work didn’t stop there, it went on through all of Jesus’ life, through the Cross, to the Resurrection, Ascension and sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and it continues right here, right now. The great light of Jesus continues to shine through the Church to this day, shining in those darkest moments of our lives and giving Heavenly joy to the brightest moments, too. I pray that our hearts thrill at the wonder of this night, knowing that the Father prepared all of this for each one of us! He had you and me in mind as He unfolded His plan in hidden ways through the ages and then finally announced through the angels on that glorious night in Bethlehem. The angels proclaimed: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” You are one on whom God’s favor rests. He sent his Son for you!
Jesus is among us right now, working with His grace to continue His rule in each of our hearts. He desires to bring peace, joy, and gladness to each of us through the freedom from sin and death that He died and rose to bring us. So tonight, we praise Him and thank Him for taking on our flesh and being born as one of us. The same heart that beat in the manger in Bethlehem still beats for us now with Divine love at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, summoning us to respond to it with love. So, in the joy of the Holy Spirit, let us adore Christ the Lord tonight, marveling at all God the Father did in bringing about our salvation and continues to do for us today.
“Do not be afraid;
for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David
a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you:
you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger.”
“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
+ Father, thank you for your careful preparation for this joyful, wonderful day. Jesus, thank you for taking on our humanity in order to save us. Holy Spirit, inspire us with wonder today as we celebrate the birth of Christ, our Savior. We ask this in the name of Christ, our Lord, born this day. Amen. +