Christmas Sermon: Three Affirmations
in Celebrating Christmas
(International English Congregation in Kolding)
December 24, 2009
13.30 Kristkirken
Luke 2:1-14
Isaiah 9: 1-6
Good afternoon. I understand that this Christmas Eve worship service in English has been going on for more than 10 years in this church with Kamalesh Biswas who died a month ago. When the Rev. Leif Nielsen called me by phone if I would be willing to give the sermon for today, I said yes without hesitation. It is because I want to celebrate Christmas with you and partly because I want to celebrate the life of Kamalesh.
Out of the texts read to us and from the other gospel narratives, reporting on the story of the birth of Jesus, I would like to make three affirmations for our reflection today.
The first is, life is precious that it has to be celebrated. It is not a subject for debate if life is precious or not. We all affirm that life is so precious, so important. And the act of celebrating is a natural part of our human nature, that we have the capacity to rejoice and be happy over things, events and situations that surprise and satisfy us and we mark our happiness and rejoicing by celebrating. The act of celebration is something, which all peoples of different races and cultures do. The Danes are very good at celebrating –baptism, confirmation. Round birthdays, wedding anniversaries and many other occasions giving the chance to rejoice and be happy. We also celebrate even over sad situations or events, which make us, mark the day by commemorating, and remembering. And on this particular day, we celebrate Christmas by different traditions - giving gifts, singing around Christmas tree, or cooking good food, giving time for the ones we love.
We know life is precious and we know how to celebrate it, but it is the Christmas story that tells us the reason, why life is so precious that it has to be celebrated. God sent his son to our world. God in his loving mercy has given us a gift , Jesus, whom the prophet Isaiah prophesied as Wonderful Counselor, the Migthy God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. and further in other narratives he is called the Saviour ,the Light of the World (bringing justice and righteousness.) Our life is so precious that we are made to receive the great gift of God`s love, Jesus..
We must have been very busy visiting many shops to do our last shopping to give presents to our loved ones in the family or in the circle of our friends. We may have been busy cooking and making the house so clean and nice but I affirm that the celebration of Christmas year in and year out, calls us to remember the greatest gift that God has been given to us, in God’s own affirmation that we are so precious in his own sight, that he gave us not a present that is wrapped by papers but a present in the living person of Jesus who was born, who lived, died and resurrrected, and for that, we have every reason to rejoice and celebrate as people with joy and hope.
Our coming together this afternoon as a community of faith, in spite of the snow storm, affirms that recognition of that greatest gift we have received from God, Jesus, the Lord, in him and through him the preciousness of our life is being revealed.
The second affirmation I want to point out, is that Life is threatened and it has to be protected. If we look at the historical background surrounding the birth of Jesus, we learn that people in that part in history were under the foreign control of the Roman authorities. The local people were longing after a restorer, a deliverer that could deliver them from oppression. They were looking for a Messiah, the Anointed One. If we further look at the texts in----we learned that there was a census done. Josef and Mary had to force themselves to travel to make their registration, a kind of control, which was forced upon them. And in Matthew we read Herod wanted to get rid of the newly born child, Jesus. He was consumed with jealousy. That’s why he wanted very much the three kings to report to him if ever they could find the newborn child, for secretly he designed to kill Jesus.What does it mean for us today. The social, political and historical background surrounding the birth of Jesus is actually speaking of the reality of life that is in constant threats.
Our life is the threatened by disease that can cripple us from doing what we have been used to doing. Our life can be threatened by natural calamities, sweeping out lives of people by the thousands at a wink of an eye. Our life can be threatened by accidents or by man’s inhumanity to man, removing the joy and jubilation in our hearts.
The Christmas story presents the reality of our life. There is gloom and darkness in our world. The coming of Jesus as light of the world is set in the context of that darkness in the world we live in. Our life is threatened by hatred in the human heart. We don’t have to travel far away. We only need to sit down and open the screen of our TV and see how much human hatred has worked out for the destruction of lives, of communities and properties. Our life is threatened by greed. We don’t have to go much deeper into the economic crises that has hit us globally, leading to the collapse of some giant banks and business enterprises, but we only need to see our own situation how many of us here may even wonder if after this Christmas or during our celebration of the new year, we may still be able to keep our job. Or how many of us have lost our jobs or businesses already? Our life is threatened by much insecurity. And yet God in his loving mercy sent us Jesus, the Light of the world, the Immanuel.
Our life is threatened by long years of human neglect. The world climate conference that recently took place in Copenhagen attended by world leaders and interested parties shows us the impending peril in our world, the scientists in our time tell us, there is not much time to waste, our planet is in danger. (if ever we continue to live neglecting our planet, neglecting our environment. )Our life is threatened and God in his loving mercy sent Jesus the light of the world, Jesus, the Emmanuel, which means that in these periods of darkness, insecurity and pain and even in seeming hopelessness God is with us.
In the lowly manger, the simple shepherds, the three kings, and the simple couple, Joseph and Mary meet together. The angels sing the song of gladness “ Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.” Jesus is Emmanuel, which means, God is with us. God does not have to meet us in spectacular places but in the very simple places and daily situations in our life, like in the stable, we are confronted by the assurance of God’s presence as the angel announced. This is the message of Christmas. God is Emmanuel, God is with us even if things seem unbearable to bear. God is Emmanuel, giving us the greatest weapon of love instead of hatred and unforgiving heart. Life is threatened and has to be protected by God`s weapon of love in our hearts, enabling us to hope even if it is difficult to hope, enabling us to give, to share even if we don`t have much, to work in solidarity with others for the purpose of protecting life, our life, the life of others and even the life of our planet, even it is difficult. The message of Christmas is that life is threatened and life has to be protected. In committing ourselves in the task of protecting life, in doing our daily duties and wanting the ends meet, God is with us. God is Emmanuel.
The last affirmation I would like to point out is Life is a gift and has to be lived as a blessing.
One of the things that amazes the small children about the story of Christmas is the presence of the three kings, the three kings in the gospel of Matthew which simply described as kings with their names, Battazar, Melchior and Casper, guided by a star and searching for the newborn child and bearing on their hands the gifts for Jesus. What does it mean for us today.
When I was young, the first suicide incident happened in the fishing village in the Philippines where I was born. A man killed himself by drinking poison. As a little girl, it dawned upon me that when life would be so difficult, when problem or pain would be so unbearable, then I would just have an easy solution by ending my life. But then that idea radically changed when I heard the pastor in our church preaching, He said. Our life is a gift from God and what we can make out of our life, how we use our life is our gift to God. That statement radically changed my thinking. I was then very sure, that I should do my best to study, that not economic poverty or dictatorial regime in my country should be made hindrances to making use of my life, so that that it could be a blessing for others, a gift to God. In whatever circumstances we are in, life is a gift and to be lived, to be given back as a blessing. It is to be dressed like kings, bearing precious gifts, presents to God.
I want to wind up this reflection by sharing with you a poem I wrote just two hours after I received the news about the death of Kamalesh Biswas. I have decided to read it to you because Kamalesh is one who finds life in Jesus so precious that it has to be celebrated, who sees the fragility of life, that it has to be protected, who looks at the beauty of life as a gift that he has lived it out as a blessing to many.
A Tribute to Kamalesh Biswas
A man who brightens the day
with his smile and laughter.
A priest who visits the sick
and comforts the bereaved.
A leader who invites others
to actively participate
A pastor who calls the flock
to gather and dine around the table
with the Indian food he makes.
A husband who upholds his wife
in front of his friends and comrades.
A father who honours the land
by calling his two sons, Dan and Mark.
A counsellor who saves crumbling marriages
with his visits, prayers and friendship.
A pioneer that sees twenty four hours
so short a time to give life to his mission in life.
A world citizen that designs
programs for dialogue and tolerance
between Muslims and Christians
Buddhists and Hindus, monks,
priests and imams, bishops and laymen.
An organizer that arranges excursions
for Danes, refugees and immigrants
paving the way to better understanding
on Denmark’s historical and cultural sites.
A great friend in joy and sorrow
who never forgets to phone
by asking, “How are you” or affirming a job well done
Or never forgetting at the end to say a prayer
to assure God’s love and ever-dwelling company
.
Kamalesh Biswas,
You know it is never easy to
say goodbye to you.
Rest in peace
You live in our hearts and in the memories
of your loving, caring and serving humanity.
Conclusion:
We don’t have to be like Kamalesh, but in our own and simple way we can celebrate life because life is made precious by the God`s given gift to us, Jesus, our Lord. We can see and experience that life is threatened in all sides, and yet we are called not to be afraid, because God in Jesus is Emmanuel, God is with us even in our commitment in protecting our life, the life of others, and the life of our planet. Our life is a gift we need to give back as a form of blessing for ourselves, for our family and country and even those whom we do not know by face or name, and a blessing for our world. Let us celebrate Christmas with this message from the popular Christmas story.
Prayer: God, our father, thank you for allowing us to celebrate life together with those whom we love, our family and friends. Thanks that in marking the day we can come together as a community of faith. Receive our offering to you, our lives, and our simple lives. Make your presence real to us as we eat together and share our gifts, never forgetting Jesus as your greatest gift of love. We pray for those who face great uncertainty fear of the future because of bad health, poverty, war, natural calamities and other reasons. We pray that your birth will remind us of continuing presence as we rejoice and celebrate and even as we struggle to work out the difficulties in life. Thanks for your gift of life and thanks that you are with us. In Jesus name.
Apostolic Blessing: "The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.” Amen"