God on Earth, Humanity in Heaven: The Gift of Christmas
Dear First Pres SLO Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus, the one we’ve been waiting for—the one who came so that the world could see the face of God in person. Merry Christmas to you!
It’s good to feel the waiting and longing leave us, and to finally be able to celebrate! Every year, the challenge for us is to re-learn how to wait for the Christ-child, so we can feel that good news with joy and excitement. And now that time is here.
Christmas changes everything.
John Chrysostom was a leader in the church in the late 4th and early 5th centuries. (You can read about him here.) He wrote a wonderful expression of what Christmas means for all of us.
Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, 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 diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been planted on the earth, angels communicate with people without fear, and people now hold speech with angels. Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and people in heaven; on every side all things commingle. St. John Chrysostom, in about 400AD.
Isn’t that something? Evil is defeated, heaven is open to us, truth has replaced error, kindness is spreading, and we finally get to experience some of that “on earth as it is in heaven” that we pray about every Sunday. All of that—every bit of it—because of the birth of the baby Jesus.
Christmas changes everything.
As you move through your own gatherings and meals and traditions, take a moment to reflect on the words of John Chrysostom. See if you can find moments this year, even when there are wounds and distractions, to experience some of what Christmas offers to us.
That’s my prayer for you and the people you love. May it be so.
Merry Christmas to you all!
Pastor John