Isaiah 9:2-7; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20

 

The Reverend Paul D. Allick, St. George’s Episcopal Church, December 24, 2009

 

 

In a few days, when all of our celebrating winds down we’re going to look at our receipts. How much did Christmas cost us? Did I spend too much? If you are as cheap as I am, you’ll be fine. If you love shopping and giving…maybe not so fine.

 

 

There are a lot of costs to Christmas. We give a lot of our wallets and of ourselves to make this all happen. We Americans are spending billions of dollars on Christmas. Our retail industry depends on this time of year to make their profits. There are other costs to Christmas. What about the stress? What about the running around getting things ready?

 

 

But the real question tonight is: What did Christmas cost God? Christmas cost God His very self. In becoming truly human, God sacrificed His divinity. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey wrote, “Christmas is as costly in self-giving as is Good Friday.”

 

 

God entering into the fullness of our humanity was as much a sacrifice as His dying on the cross. This is God’s self-emptying love for us: He fully participated in human life from birth to death. And the irony is that it is this very self-emptying that shows forth the divine power.

 

 

Archbishop Ramsey: “His selfhood is so laid down, that His power and authority center in His humiliation.” In Christ God humbled Himself to become human. This isn’t a groveling humility; it is a humility that is grounded in giving to the other.

 

 

 

 

 

And if it isn’t amazing enough that God gave Himself to us in this way, think about how He went about it. God could have entered humanity in a much easier and more dignified way. He could have entered through a royal or priestly family. Been raised by the best nurses, taught by the best tutors, grown up respected and revered for his family name. He could have entered his ministry as a great sage whom everyone believed and listened to. He could have become a great priestly king.

 

 

But He didn’t. There would have been no real human story there. There would have been no struggle, no cross. It would have been uneventful; we wouldn’t have noticed.

 

 

God entered into the human experience at the deepest levels. He joined us in our struggles, in our everyday experiences. He chose an unknown family; an unwed mother. He chose a family that had to hit the road to get counted in the census. A family that wasn’t prestigious enough to get an hotel reservation or special room set aside. He was born in a manger among animals and their straw and dung. And even the message of His arrival did not go to the powerful or influential. It went to the dregs of humanity: the shepherds. Who is going to believe them?

 

 

These are the things we ponder tonight. The cost of Christmas for God. When the crazy shepherds arrive to tell everyone that they have seen angels out in the fields most folks probably thought they were drunk. Mary didn’t. She knew something was going on; this child was from God for a purpose. It didn’t all make sense to her yet. She needed to live through this experience with this son to understand it all.

 

 

She did what we are now called to do with this message: she treasured it and pondered it. God has come into humanity. What this means and what it will mean will take our whole lives to appreciate.

 

 

What a gift God has given us. What can we ever do to thank Him?

 

 

St. Paul writing to Titus gives us some ideas. Paul says that the grace of God has appeared to train us to renounce impiety and worldly passions.

 

 

 

We renounce our impiety by regularly worshipping God. We renounce our worldly passions by getting out of the vicious cycle of self-gratification and learning to gratify God with our praise and devotion.

 

 

Our thanksgiving is rooted in letting go. We let go of all that holds us down in this earthly life: our bills, our busy schedules and our hurts and sorrows. Let them go and turn back to God.

 

 

This is what Christmas costs us: our own self-giving to God; our own humility grounded in giving to the other.

 

 

I invite you this year to count all of the costs of Christmas. As you review the money and time you have spent, take some time to count your spiritual receipts. Where is my relationship with God? How am I pondering this God who humbled Himself so completely? This God who walks through this earthly life with me? This God who knows the pain and the joy of my existence? How much has it cost me to thank God for this astonishing gift?