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Christmas Day
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A Sermon by
The Rev. Canon Carl Turner
✛
Be born in us today.
It is often said the Anglicans reveal what they believe through their liturgy and music – the old adage is Lex orandi – Lex Credendi; loosely translated as, “The law of praying is the law of believing.” Thus, the great collects of the Book for Common Prayer which Archbishop Cranmer composed in the 16th century, drawing on ancient sources, are some of the gems of the Anglican tradition. There are several collects in our prayer book for Christmas – one particularly suitable for Midnight Mass, but today’s collect originates from the Gelasian Sacramentary – the second oldest surviving book of liturgical texts from the 8th century:
Almighty God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to
take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a
pure virgin: Grant that we, being regenerate and made thy
children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy
Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who
liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one
God, world without end. Amen.
It is a wonderful prayer – as our website states – “It says it all!” Here in this prayer in which we experience the three-fold nature of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we proclaim the centrality of the incarnation of Jesus Christ – true God and true man (only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him) born of the Virgin Mary, and the redemption of the world through the grace that flows from the cross of Christ by which we are ‘regenerate’ and made God’s children – in other words, born again.
As the hymn ‘O Little town of Bethlehem’ puts it – “O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray. Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.”
The preface to the Eucharistic Prayer strongly reinforces what is at the heart of the Christian Faith:
Because thou didst give Jesus Christ, thine only Son, to be
born for us; who, by the mighty power of the Holy Ghost,
was made very Man of the substance of the Virgin Mary his
mother; that we might be delivered from the bondage of sin,
and receive power to become thy children.
On this day more than ever, we can truly give thanks to God and praise him with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven.
For so long the people had walked in darkness but, instead of us having to earn our relationship with God, God came to us – searching for us and came among us in Jesus. In Jesus he experienced all that it is to be human – to draw us back to himself. Just when we thought we were lost and everything was hopeless, God came to us! No wonder we bow our heads in the creed when we remember the words of the incarnation. In the old days we would have gone down on our knees because of the breath-taking reality of the incarnation. Emmanuel – God with us.
Once we turn to God and accept Jesus as our Savior – God with us – then our lives are changed. Sure, we will have difficulties and we will have setbacks; yes, we will face disappointment and tragedy; but we will not do so alone, because God yearns to being us back to himself and that is at the heart of the creation – of God’s love for you and for me. It is sad that, at Christmas, some people will be alone or without homes or food or presents or families and, perhaps, we should think about that and even try and do something about that; but it is sadder to think of those times when I feel distant from God or, worse, think that he cannot possibly be interested in me.
The great spiritual writer, Henri Nouwen says,
“A part of us clings to our aloneness and does not allow God to touch us where we are most in pain. Often we hide from him precisely those places in ourselves where we feel guilty, ashamed, confused, and lost. Thus we do not give him a chance to be with us where we feel most alone.” [1]
If you came to any of our four services of lessons and carols you will have heard the first reading when Adam and Eve hid themselves in the garden and God had to search for them. They hid, in the dark shadows because they were naked and afraid – afraid of being exposed.
Well, my friends, God has done more than search – he has sent his Son into the world to take us by the hand and bring us into the light and joy of his presence.
Take his love with you today! Let this celebration be truly centred on him and his love for us – May it be a true Christ-mass – and make a difference not to the rest of our day but to the rest of our lives. As we leave this place and into a world that can seem frightening or bewildering, let us take the light and the joy of Jesus Christ with us. I had a lovely old parishioner in my old parish in the East end of London many years ago; Ada used to say to me “You know, Father, why is it that people go to church looking like they are going to the dentist…and they leave church, looking like they’ve been to the dentist!” My dear friends, as people rush down Fifth Avenue today many will be so preoccupied with their own worries that they will not experience the opportunity that they are passing by; let is not be so with us. When you leave this church I want you to go out and make a difference – even in the smallest way possible: Wish the people in the street a Happy Christmas; share a tiny little bit of what we have celebrated here today. Think about what God has done for you today so that people stop you in the street and say to you “What are you smiling about?”
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
_______________
[1] From “Gracias: A Latin American Journal,” p. 82.
