Nativity of Christ
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On this feast we celebrate the singular and most important act in the history of all creation. The Timeless One has entered time. He Who made all things from nothing has put on our material nature.
We cannot understand anything regarding the nature of God, and for that reason the Holy Fathers describe God in terms of what is called negative theology. Throughout creation there are living beings, but our God is Beyond Being. God created all things from nothing and there is no direct analogy between the uncreated God and His creation.
Our God is uncircumscribable, that is, He cannot be contained. He is Ineffable, that is, we cannot put into words an adequate description of God. He is Incomprehensible, that is, the nature of God is beyond human knowledge. We cannot attain unto the unattainable God. We are partakers of life, He is the Ultimate and original Source of life. And so, what we celebrate today is beyond words. Pre-eternal God the Word has put on flesh for our sake.
In the Vespers of the Eve of the Feast of the Nativity we hear the hymn:
Thou wast born secretly in the cave, but Heaven spake through a star and proclaimed Thee unto all, O Saviour. And it brought to Thee the Magi, who worshipped Thee with faith. Have mercy on them and on us.
We encounter during these days the great mystery of our Savior's Incarnation, the mystery hidden from before the ages that now has been made manifest in these latter times. We celebrate the birth of Emmanuel, God with us, our God Who became Man in order to unite mankind unto Himself.
As it is written in the Gospel of Saint John, "He came unto His own, but they received Him not."
That is, our Savior, the Way, the Truth and the Life, came to instruct us in true doctrine that would show us the way that leads to life. He is the Incarnation of God knowledge. Without our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, we cannot come to God knowledge. He came unto His own people, the Jews, and for the most part they receive Him not. Because of His Incarnation, He is present in every generation, through the Church, and for the most part, people receive him not.
These mysteries and the relationship of Christ and His Church to the world bring to mind the term "an open secret." Our Savior was born and the world changed. Today many dispute Christian doctrine, but anyone with an open mind and any honesty whatsoever must admit that our Lord Jesus Christ was a historical person.
There are those who claim that He was simply a philosopher, but His words in the Gospel, "Before Abraham was, I Am," and also, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life," testify to the fact that He is much more. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the source of life and these words refute the arguments and claims of those who desire to reduce the person of our Savior to a mere man.
We worship the God-Man made manifest to the world. The Gospel of the God of co-suffering love is what has been made manifest today. And ultimately the mystery of our Savior's appearance and His self-sacrificing love astonished those who could comprehend its message. Yet, Saint Paul declared that this message of salvation was
". . . unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1Cor 1:24-25)
"The Mighty One has become small for us, as Saint John Chrysostom said, "Hearing these things, arise, and surmise nothing low: but even because of this very thing most of all you should marvel, that being Son of the Unoriginate God, and His true Son, He suffered Himself to be called also Son of David, that He might make you the Son of God."
This is the reason for our Savior's incarnation. As Saint Athanasios the Great stated, "God became man, that man might become god" and this is according to grace.
We come to spiritual knowledge from the teachings of our Savior, but our knowledge is not limited to doctrine because our knowledge also consists of communion with Christ. I think that one can say that this is one of the many reasons that today at the liturgy for the feast of the Nativity we chant "All ye that in Christ have been baptized, Christ have ye put on, Alleluia" where we normally chant the Thrice Holy Hymn. This is how we come to know Christ, by putting Him on in Holy Baptism and through our partaking of the Eucharist.
Our knowledge of the things of God and communion with God begins with the birth of our Savior and for this reason we hear the angelic song of "Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men."
This young Child, the God-Man, Whose Nativity we celebrate today came to change the world and to free us of the influence of the evil one and He does this by changing our hearts and minds. The feast of the Nativity becomes significant only if we strive to put on Christ, if we strive to make Him present in our daily lives. We make Him present by our efforts to prayerfully seek His will. Salvation comes on His terms, not ours. Freedom from the slavery of sin comes when one submits to the will of God.
The greatest manifestation of the Incarnation of God the Word is the Church itself and the saints who have shone forth in the Church. Christ is made manifest in every generation in those who strive to imitate Him, in those who take up their cross and followed Him in a life of co-suffering love.
The Christians of old converted the world because they loved God and their fellow men and were able to forgive their enemies. It is written concerning the Christians in Alexandria that there were zealots who were persecuted by the pagans, yet when the plague infected many, and the former persecutors took sick and were abandoned by their relatives, these same Christians tended their former persecutors in their sickness.
It was the mercy of the Christians that converted the Mediterranean world.
God the Word became the God-Man in order to change our mode of existence. Make this your meditation on this day and may your families be filled with the love of God and may His incarnation be made manifest in the life of each and every one of you.
Amen.