[Sermon Hymn God Rest You Merry]
The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Those words from Saint John’s unfolding of the great mystery of the Incarnation are inscribed in Latin on the cornerstone of this building: Et Verbum Caro Factum Est. And those words, in any language, are the cornerstone of the Church: The Word was made flesh.
We may not fully understand the Incarnation while we are in this world but we believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Word of God, begotten of his Father before eternity, that He was present and active in the creation of the world and all that is. As John said, “without Him was not anything made that was made.”
And we believe that the Eternal Word of God took our human nature, and was born of a human mother, in a stable, about two thousand years ago. That He came into the world as you and I did, as a helpless baby. Who would have thought that seemingly insignificant child, born into a seemingly insignificant human family, in a remarkably undignified place, would be the Saviour of the World?
I can think of some guys who might have had an inkling. A mile and a half from the place of the birth is a site now called Shepherds’ Field. It was there, according to pious legend, that the birth was announced to lowly shepherd folk by an angel who said, “Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. [...] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
That’s the first and only time in history the birth of a child has been celebrated in such a way. And isn’t it divinely ironic that we see in scripture two very different pictures of that event. The humble setting of the stable and just across town the whole company of heaven celebrating with shepherds in a field.
There is some scholarship which suggests those shepherds, the first human beings outside of the Holy Family to know that the Messiah had arrived, were the keepers of the temple lambs. The lambs bred and raised to be spotless and perfect and for one purpose: to be sacrificed on Passover. And when we recall His sacrifice on Passover weekend 33 years after His birth, we refer to Jesus as our Paschal Lamb–our Passover sacrifice.
And He came to dwell among us to save you and me from our sins–both the sins we have committed and those we inherited from our first parents, Adam and Eve, who got thrown out of Eden for seeking to be like gods.
And here’s another divine irony: through the Incarnation and the Church founded through the teachings of Jesus Christ, the old longings of Adam and Eve are being fulfilled. We are becoming like God. That’s not heresy. Saint John said it. “as many as received him–that’s you and me–to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” Who is more like God than his sons?
Sometimes we traditionalists are criticized for our use of gendered language. Some are offended that in certain contexts we use the word “son” and not “daughter” or the more generic “child.” But words mean things. And we know that word “son” means something different than the word “daughter.” And the meaning becomes more distinct the farther back in time you look at the words. The son, in biblical times, was the heir. He stood to inherit his father’s wealth and property while his sister did not. She was expected to become a bride and share in her husband’s inheritance.
If you want gender equality, we now have it. Because of the Incarnation, because of what happened that first Christmas, every woman in this room has the power to become a son of God. And every man in this room–myself included–is eligible to become a bride of Christ.
Every one of us has the power to accept or reject the adoption. Every one of us has the power to accept or reject the marriage proposal. It comes down to that question which would be asked by the Christ Child later in His earthly life. The question He still asks us today, “who do you say that I am?”
CS Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, “You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.”
The Christian experience, and the Christmas story is particular, is fraught with paradox and irony. Through the Christ Child the sinful aspirations of Adam and Eve become sinlessly fulfilled. Through the Christ Child women become sons. Through the Christ Child men become brides. At the humble birth of the Christ Child the glorious multitude of the heavenly host gives an impromptu concert to a few lowly shepherds. And at the annual recollection of the birth of the Christ Child you and I fall at the feet of a tiny infant and call Him Lord and God.
The Eternal Word of God has become flesh. Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day. To save us. To save us. Oh tidings of comfort and joy. Amen.
