The Nativity of
the Lord (Christmas)
(Isaiah 9:1-3.5-6; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14)
The sign revealed more than it said. It was written with little Christmas lights
and positioned in front of a corner house.
“Happy Birthday, Jesus,” was the wording. Obviously, the homeowners wanted to counteract
the secularization of Christmas. But
perhaps they missed the point of the Christian feast.
Christmas celebrates much more than the birthday of Jesus
of Nazareth. Thinking of the feast in
this way domesticates Jesus. It makes
him seem like good old Uncle Bill whom we should honor with a dinner party. But the celebration should be much greater
than that. Christmas represents the
coming of the Savior. Christians have
been waiting not so much patiently as painfully for his arrival. In the Middle East they have been victimized
by Islamist brutality. In all parts they have been subjugated by pride, lust, and
greed – their own as much as others’.
Now the Lord is here to defeat these powers. More than a birthday party, the rejoicing
should be as great as the jubilation felt by Jewish inmates of Nazi
concentration camps as the Allied soldiers liberated them.
It is true that Jesus in today’s gospel is portrayed as
the child of a poor family. He lays in a
manger with only Mary and Joseph noticing.
But then the heavens open and angels reveal his true stature. He is “Christ and Lord.” God has come to earth to once and for all
establish His kingdom of justice and peace.
We must take care not to domesticate Jesus. We must not treat him like just another
member of the family whom we might ignore if we are tired or upset. We must not let ourselves say to him, “Nice
to see you, Jesus. Would you excuse
me? I don’t feel very well.”
Rather we should hunger to talk with him. We should strive to please him by everything
we say, do, and think. Now that he has
arrived, we should announce a grand jubilee.
This means that we ask pardon of those that we have offended and pray
for those who have hurt us. He is
here. A new age has begun. It is time for us to begin a new way of
life. Now and forevermore is the moment to
imitate his goodness.
