Christmas Homily
Christmas Homily
By
Father David Noone
To
Rev Don Kimrey
If there is anything that truly symbolizes Christmas, other than the baby in the manger, its the Christmas gift..something all wrapped up in colorful Christmas paper, usually with a bow on top.like this box right here.
And the reason why this box is here is to remind me that I have a gift for you and the gift I have for you isnt something
electronic
or digital
or a toy
or a game
or a book
or something that you can wear
or eat
or something for your home or office
but its something that you need more than all those other things and I know that to be true for you because it is true for me.
And, the gift I have for you is words
twelve words
which Im going to call The Twelve Words of Christmas
and the words are these:
TODAY IS BORN FOR YOU A SAVIOR WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD.
Let me repeat them:
TODAY IS BORN FOR YOU A SAVIOR WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD.
And, those twelve words are the best Christmas gift you could or will ever receive.
This past October I officiated at a wedding in Raleigh, N.C. and one of the other invited guests was a retired Baptist minister by the name of Don Kimrey. Don and I connected in the parking lot after the ceremony and somehow the conversation got around to Christmas and he told me that he had been playing around with a new way of understanding the birth of Jesus, which we call the mystery of the Incarnation.
He began by talking about the atom and what happened when scientists learned how to split the atom.all the power and energy that had been released. a power that was first used to inflict more damage and death than had ever been inflicted in the entire history of the human race but how since then that energy has also been used in ways that have greatly benefited the human race.
But, my new minister friend said that he had begun thinking about the Incarnation as having been just the opposite of the splitting of the atom.
That rather than it being an explosion, it had been something more along the lines of an implosion.
That what really happened in the Incarnation was that the great God of the universe
the Creator of the heavens
the designer and maker of the earth
the One who formed the light
and created the darkness
took everything that he is
all his power
all his intelligence
all his wisdom
all his creative ability
all his healing energy
all his compassion
all his concern for us
all his LOVE
and his desire for us to be so much more than we are
and placed it or incarnated it in a single human person
and sent him to live among us
In other words, everything that God ever
was
is
or ever will be
and everything that God has to give us he put into one person, Jesus of Nazareth, whose birth in Bethlehem we celebrate tonight.
And what that means is that.
the truth about God
and everything you and I need to know about God
and about Gods love for us
and everything you and I need to know about ourselves
about life
about how we are to live and not live
about what makes us truly human or less than human
about where we have come from and
where we are going
everything we need to know can be found in Jesus.
This is not information that youre going to find anyplace else
youre not going to find it on anyones Facebook page
or by Googling
or by researching Wikipedia
and its why the angel used the word Savior to describe the birth of the baby in Bethlehem
Today is born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
And why did God give us this gift? The answer is simple.
The words on the left hand side of the banner that stands at the top of the driveway as you pull into church read: God so loved the world that he sent his son and that says it all. The birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus was a gift of pure loveGods love for us.and that gift demands a response.not out of a sense of obligation but out of sense of appreciation, which is why the right hand side of the banner reads, What gift will you give God this Christmas?
All throughout Advent Ive been asking you to think about what you might give God this Christmas and Ive used the Advent scriptures to suggest some gift giving possibilities. Hopefully youve been thinking and praying about this and are ready to give God your gift and heres how were going to do it.
In the bulletin you found little red and green strips of paper and there are pencils and pens in the pews.what Im going to ask you to do is write the nature of your gift on the back side of that strip.whatever it is that you want God to have from you..then lick the end with the glue on it so that it forms a circle. If you want, you can also link your paper with the person who came with you or with you family as you came as a family.and when youve all done that, Im going to ask the ushers to collect them and the folks who played
Isaiah, Gabriel, Mary, Joseph and the shepherd are going to put as many of them as they can on the Giving Tree and leave the rest at the base of the tree.
Im really grateful to my Baptist friend for helping me to think about the birth of Jesus in a new way. It has certainly enriched my celebration of Christmas this year..
This is what it means to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.to accept him as the one about whom the apostle John wrote:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God..and this Word became flesh and came and made his dwelling among us.and those who received him became the children of God.
Listen to this: On Christmas Eve 1906, 104 years ago tonight, a man by the name of Reginald Fassenden invented what came to be called the AM radio and made the first radio broadcast. Up until that night, all wireless communications were sent in Morse Code but on that night Reginald Fassenden made history by being the first to broadcast sound and the sound he chose to broadcast that night was the Christmas story. The very first words spoken over the radio were these, Today is born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And then, he picked up a violin and played O Holy Night.
O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
Today is born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. That was the gift Reginald Fassenden gave his listening audience that night 106 years ago and thats my gift to you tonight or I should say thats Gods gift to you gift to tonight, the same gift hes been offering those who have lived on this earth for over 2,000 years and, as the apostle John says, those who accepted his gift and have made it part of their lives have become his sons and daughters
To read more: www.godscomebackkids.com
by: marketer Dive Borneo, Dive Into A Paradise Of Breathtaking Underwater Life Diving In Kota Kinabalu: An Idyllic Holiday For Exciting Scuba Diving, Malaysia Is An Ideal Destination Use That Barbecue Rotisserie For Your Holiday Feast Make The Most Of Your Holiday Diving In Borneo Top Malaysia Diving Destinations Stress Around The Festive Season Finding 4wd & 4x4 Dealers In Australia South Africa World Cup stadiums Top Ten Christmas Presents – How To Get The Biggest Bang For Your Buck Something about the Big Holiday-Thanksgiving Day Live Christmas Tree Vs. Fake Christmas Tree Attention Franchisors and Franchisees: A Successful Franchise Shouldn't Require Extraordinary Performance