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Everybody
Loves Christmas
December
24-25, 2005
Rev.
George Smiga
Luke
2:1-16
Everybody
loves Christmas. But the deepest joy of Christmas is reserved
to those who believe. Everyone loves Christmas, and what's
not to love? Above all other seasons, it is at this time that
we try to be our best selves. In this time, we try to appreciate
family and friends. In this time we try to give generously
to the poor. In this season, we try to be better people. In
this season we dare to dream that our relationships can be
healed, that our brokenness can be repaired. These are the
days in which we feed our yearning for a world at peace.
This
optimistic hope is captured beautifully by many of the modern
Christmas carols. “I'll Be Home for Christmas” reminds us
of the importance of family and the necessity for relationships
in our lives. “Christmas Is for Children” brings us into touch
with our own childhood memories of Christmas and motivates
us to build a world in which our children and grandchildren
might live in safety and grow to their potential. “The Little
Drummer Boy” reminds us that each of us has a gift, and if
we are willing to give our gift, to give the best that we
have, we can find love and acceptance. All of these beautiful
truths about relationships, about memory, about life are a
genuine part of Christmas. We do well to celebrate them.
But
there is a deeper joy in Christmas, a deeper truth that only
the eyes of faith can see. Since we are gathered here on this
Christmas night in this holy place, I certainly would be negligent
were I not to try to point out that deeper truth to you.
The
truth is this: Christmas is not so much about our love for
one another, but God's love for us. Christmas is not only
about our dreams for the future, but what God has promised
to do for us as our lives unfold. Christmas is not really
about the gift that we give to God, but the gift that God
has given to us. In other words, Christmas is about God's
action, God's initiative. It is celebrating the awesome truth
that God so loved the world that God chose to enter the world
and enter our lives. This God promises to walk with us leading
us to eternal life.
This
is the deeper joy of Christmas. But to see that joy requires
faith. There is a big difference between those who have faith
and those who do not. Those who are gifted with faith can
go deeper into Christmas. Now I certainly hope that all of
us gathered here this evening will be able to see the beauty
and the innocence in our children and in our grandchildren
throughout this holiday season. I hope we will be warmed by
their love in our lives. But those who have faith can go deeper.
For they can see in that innocence and beauty the sign of
a God who loves them so much as to give them the people in
their lives.
I
know that there are some here today who during the past year
have escaped a harmful situation, an addiction, a serious
illness, a broken relationship. I hope that anyone who has
escaped such harmful situations will be thankful that their
lives have gone in that direction. I trust they will look
forward to a positive new year. But those who have faith can
go deeper. They can see in their escape from harmful situations
a Savior, a God who has come into their life to lead them
from death to a new beginning.
I
know there are some here tonight have recently experienced
a loss, a loss from death or divorce or rejection. I hope
that they will find the strength to see what is still positive
in their lives, to claim the people who still love and support
them. But those who have faith can go deeper. For they will
know that they are not alone, that there is a God who loves
them enough to be with them, to heal the hurts they cannot
heal themselves, to walk with them in their pain.
Everybody
loves Christmas. What's not to love? But the eyes of faith
can see more. For the truth is that Christmas is really not
about us, but about God. It is not about what we do, but what
God has done and promises to do in our lives. So if you have
come here tonight with a faith which allows you to see God's
presence in your life, make sure you go deeper in this holy
season. Push beyond the joys and beauties that surround you
and see beneath them a God who loves you and who will never
stop loving you.
If
you have come here this evening without faith, or with a faith
that is weak, if you have come this evening because someone
in your family or a friend has brought you, or because of
tradition, or because of a faith you once had, then please
know that you are welcome here. If this liturgy can increase
or deepen your celebration, take it with all of our love.
But know as well that my prayer and the prayer of this community
is that you might come to know a deeper joy of Christmas,
a joy which is available to you. If you feel any stirring
in your heart, any desire for that deeper joy, then do not
worry about whatever doubts or whatever questions you may
have. Just keep your heart open. The good news that we celebrate
this night is that God is real and that God loves you. And
since God is real and God loves you, you do not need to find
the way to God—because God will find the way to you.
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