Christmas Message

Christmas: A God-Talk

Rev. Y. T. Vinayaraj

(Christmas message given at the Chicago Mar Thoma Church on 24^Th Dec.2011)

 

“The angel said to the shepherds: “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a savior, who is the messiah, the lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12)

Christmas is all about the epiphany of God. God becomes human does not mean God is equal to human. Rather, it means God makes Himself more understandable to humanity through Jesus Christ. Christmas is an experience of God who discloses himself to the creation.  It is not the colorful Christmas trees, blinking stars, sweet melodies that make the Christmas meaningful; but it is the epiphany of God or our experience of God that makes Christmas significant and relevant. Christmas is nothing but a God-talk.

Let me highlight three aspects of the epiphany of God in Christmas. 

The Coming God

According to the Greek thoughts God resides on the lofty mountains of heaven. on the contrary, the liberal ideologies taught us that God is on the street. Christmas keeps us in the hope of this ever coming God. Open up our limited spaces, rooms, homes and lives to receive him who promises us to visit us again with his glory and majesty!

God is neither on the lofty mountains of heaven nor on the streets, rather He is a coming God.

In Christmas we see a  coming God who brings the joy of redemption in our worldly life which is shadowed with desperation, hopelessness and death. 

The Gift of God     

Christmas brings us a precious Gift of this ever coming God. It is nothing but, the priceless Gift of Jesus Christ.  Angel said to the shepherds that a child was born for you in the city of David. The sign is nothing but the child wrapped with clothes and lying in a manger. It is through this child the ever coming God is going to be an ever staying God –the Emmanuel.      

Christmas is all about the precious Gift-the Gift of salvation-the Gift of hope-the Gift of Jesus Christ which human cannot repay it. You cannot pay it back because it is so valuable.  Are we really recognizing the value of this Christmas Gift?

Of course, in Christmas there is a promise of a free Gift to all. whoever may be you are; you may be a shepherd or a wise man or a father who finds difficulty to mend the family or a mother who risks her life for the benefit of many …come… there is a Gift for you..the gift of salvation. At the same time Christmas makes us obligatory and humble because, we are receiving an irrepayable Gift!  Do not forget you are always indebted to God!

The vulnerability of human  

In fact the Christmas reminds us our indebtedness to God Almighty. How do we repay the Gift?  What did the shepherds do? The Bible says they returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Worship is the responds to this priceless Gift. Nikos Kazantzakis in his novel on Francis Augustine entitled "God's Pauper" defines worship as the prayer of a pauper who has nothing to repay the Gift.  

How did the wise men respond? They recognized the vulnerability of human knowledge that causes the death of the innocent children. They listened to the secret word of God and changed the route. Christmas is the time that we recognize we are God's pauper. we are debtors before God. 

Christmas is a time for worship to acknowledge the Gift of ever coming God –the Gift of Jesus Christ-the Gift of salvation and we recognize our unworthiness-indebtedness before God. 

May God help us to understand the true meaning of Christmas. I wish you all a meaningful Christmas and New Year!

Amen.