May the Lord God grant that my words are acceptable to Him, and useful to His people. Amen.
“O ineffable grace!” St. John Chrysostom exclaims in his first Christmas Day sermon, “The Only Begotten, who is before all ages, who cannot be touched or be perceived, who is simple, without body, has now put on my body, that is visible and liable to corruption. For what reason? That coming amongst us he may teach us, and teaching, lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see. For since men believe that the eyes are more trustworthy than the ears, they doubt of that which they do not see, and so He has deigned to show Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt.
“The Ancient of Days has become an infant. He who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He who cannot be touched now lies subject to the hands of men. He who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infant’s bands. For this he assumed my body, that I may become capable of His word; taking our flesh, He gives us His spirit; and so, He bestowing and we receiving, He prepares us for the treasure of Life. He takes our flesh, to sanctify us; He gives us His spirit, that He may save us.
Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven, on every side all things commingle: this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness spreads on every side, and a heavenly way of life has been implanted on the earth.”
A good friend of mine got married just a week ago, and already he is learning something about a whole new way of life. For most of their relationship, he and his new wife have lived in different states. Their first adventure as a married couple is the drive from her hometown in Pennsylvania to his school in Texas, where they’ll set up their household and begin the dwelling process. The beginning of married life is complicated enough without the steep learning curve of changing suddenly from “usually far apart” to “continuously in each other’s space,” so I pray for patience and grace on this new family. Everything from their alarm-clock settings and TV-watching preferences to budgets and household responsibilities have to be negotiated, and nothing will remain exactly the same as either person experienced it in single life. The newly married begin to make claims on each other—this is how we will spend our time and our money, these are the people who are now important to both of us, these are our Christmas traditions, these are the dorm-room tchtotchkes that no longer have a place in our home. Beyond the immediate boundaries of their own relationship, establishing a marriage demands recognition by the community surrounding the couple that the entire world is a little bit different now. The post office must recognize new residents at a new address; the government must register a new person with a new name; insurance policies acquire new beneficiaries.
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” John’s Gospel proclaims. Histories and storybooks are filled with distant gods and far-off deities. In ancient legends gods walked the earth disguised as human beings, testing and challenging us. But Jesus was something different. Jesus moved in with us. From the beginning the Christian church has had to grapple with the mystery of the Incarnation. We declare it in creeds, defend it in doctrines, and celebrate it in the Eucharist. How could God become human? Why would He want to in the first place? And what does it mean for us that He did?
Christ is born, and through him God makes claims on us whose world is suddenly filled with his presence. Jesus moves in, and the world is suddenly different. Living with Jesus, power is made perfect, not in domination, but in weakness. The peacemakers are blessed and the meek inherit the earth. In Jesus’ world, God’s business is with sinners, not the righteous; God’s blessing is on the poor and downtrodden, not the rich and powerful. In the new family Jesus has established, the one who would be greatest among you will be the servant of all. In this way of life that emanates from this child in the manger, glory comes not from conquest, but from Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross.
The phrase of Chrysostom’s that most stands out in my mind is this: “For this he assumed my body, that I may become capable of His word.” The gift of Jesus’ dwelling with us is given so that we might continue pressing God’s claims on the world around us, so that we might learn to participate in the renewal of all things. As Father Andrew preached on Christmas Eve, when Christians say “God,” we mean “Jesus.” In the Incarnation, God takes a step from the vague and spiritual to the specific and embodied. In Jesus, God declares that what humankind needs is not merely a spiritual guide or a moral example, but a Savior, and it is to Christ’s saving work that we are called to be witnesses.
The best advice I can offer to my newly-married friends is not to expect perfect peace and harmony. Sharing a household is more than redistributing closet space and dividing up daily chores. It is coming to terms with a new way of life, a new way of knowing and being known. To my fellow Christians I offer the same thought: the Christ child may appear to be a peaceful houseguest lying here in a manger, but his arrival brings us a new name and new priorities, which will forever mark us as odd and ill-fitting in our everyday world, since we now belong to a kingdom revealed in God’s radical, sacrificial relationship with His creation. “To those who believe, he gave power to become the children of God.” Welcome to the human family, baby Jesus. But welcome even more to the eternal family, all who believe in Him. Amen.
