December 25, 2022, Rev. Justin Cheng

I speak to you in the name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

For most of us, the time after Christmas Day is the time to finally rest. We have spent the past few weeks getting ready, buying presents, decorating our homes, and preparing and cooking dinners. We have been busy in the Church as well, getting ready for our services both yesterday and today. And so the time after Christmas Day is quite understandably a time to rest and relaxation.And yes, rest we should, to rest our bodies and our souls.

But in this time of rest, we might also consider reflecting. Reflecting and pondering on the Incarnation, the coming of God as the holy child of Bethlehem. The coming of God who shares our complete humanity, who shares our struggles, our joys, our tears, and our laughter.

For Christmas is more than our happy perfect pictures, whether it is the picture of the peaceful Holy Family at the stable surrounded by adoring shepherds or wise men or the pictures we often send to relatives after Christmas, of a smiling, happy family around an immaculate dinner table. Christmas is about God entering the sad and stressful parts of life as well as the happy parts of our life.

After that moment of perfect bliss in Bethlehem when Mary laid her son in a manager, comes the reality of human life. We do not know how long after the first Christmas, but according to Matthew’s gospel, Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus will then have to make a journey to Egypt to escape the wrath of a murderous King Herod threatened by this potential new king. And even without this incident, Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus will experience the usual stresses of ordinary life, of trying to find enough food to eat, of trying to build a home for themselves. We too, will return to the usual stresses of our ordinary lives, we will return to worrying about paying the bills, we will return to worrying about the future and what that might bring. We do know that for those celebrating Christmas in Ukraine, in Syria, and other parts of the world, the birth of Jesus will not mean at least magically, that war, conflict and natural and human disaster disappear tomorrow. As much as Christmas is magical in one sense, it is not magical in the sense that it will make all our problems and stresses disappear tomorrow.

But what it does mean is that God will go with us when we return to ordinary life, starting tomorrow. It means that we are not alone, in much the same way, that Mary and Joseph are not alone when the adoring shepherds and wise men leave the stable, when the star and angels disappear, they are not alone for God is with them.

God is with us, when we put up the Christmas decorations earlier this month, to shine light in the growing days of darkness. And God is with us when we put down the Christmas decorations in a few days or weeks as we enter January and return to all the challenges we face. God is with us, on these few days when we sing Christmas Carols with all our heart and soul, and God is with us on these few days when we can barely sing a word of praise. In our joy, God celebrates with us, in our sadness, God wipes our tears and comforts us. In all these things, God is with us, Emmanuel.

One of my favourite Christmas carols is ‘Do You Hear What I hear.’ Many of you may know it, the first couple of verses talk about the people coming to worship the Holy Child in Bethlehem. But the last line of the Carol is “He will bring us goodness and light.” The Child that the people are eager to encounter, is the child who will bring goodness and light, who will be with us in those times of trial and tribulation, who will bring healing, strength, grace, and peace. Christmas is about reminding and celebrating the truth that we are not alone, that the Holy Child of Bethlehem is with us, guiding us, sustaining us, equipping us and sending us out to proclaim in our lives, the wonders and joys of his love.

When the decorations are taken down, when the Christmas music is no longer being played on the radio, when Christmas becomes a distant memory away as we enter further into the new year, one thing remains and one thing abides, the Holy Child of Bethlehem, God incarnate, is with us, always and everyday even to the end of time. And in that sense, we celebrate the miracle of Christmas everyday of the year. Thanks be to God. Amen.