Lectionary Readings: Year A, Christmas III
Every time we have a Eucharist – a communion service – the Deacon and I hold up the elements, and I say, “The Gifts of God, for the people of God. Take them in remembrance that Christ died for you, and feed on him in your hearts, by faith, with understanding.”
“The Gifts of God.”
Today’s Gospel tells us all about the Word of God, which is Christ, the Messiah. “The Word was made flesh, and lived among us.” It is this – the coming in the flesh – that we celebrate at Christmas. We acknowledge that God came into this world, took on human form, and was born as a child among us. One who, through his actions – his suffering at the hands of many, his death on the cross, and ultimately, his resurrection from the dead – reconciled us to God and allowed us to stand in God’s presence.
That is the gift of God, for the people of God: new and abundant life for all those who believe; the power to become Children of God; and the ability to see the glory of God – “the glory as of a Father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”
On Christmas, we often like to give gifts to people, in order to show them how much we care for them. Sometimes these gifts are small, but meaningful. Sometimes these gifts are large and exorbitant. Sometimes the gift is something we don’t like, and we’re just happy to have something to re-gift to someone else. And sometimes, the gift is nothing at all – other than the simple words of “I love you.”
This birth of a baby boy in a manger, in a barn in Bethlehem is the beginning of God’s Word to us that says, “I love you.”
Now, I know that sometimes, we look at the gifts we have received at Christmas, and we really wish we had gotten something else. Probably everyone has had the experience of a grandparent or aunt or uncle giving them a gift based on how they remember them – you know, you get a doll or a toy car, even though you just graduated high school and are about to go to college. Or maybe you get a gift that is intended to help you pursue that one hobby of yours – that one hobby you quit doing almost ten years ago. Or maybe someone once saw the only giraffe toy you had, thought you must love giraffes, and now all you ever get are giraffe themed things, from figurines to pictures to even clothing with cutesy giraffe characters. And the more giraffe things you get, the more people think you love giraffes. We get those gifts because people have an understanding of us that maybe doesn’t quite align with where we are in life right now. And so we feel misunderstood.
And instead of seeing the intention of the gift behind it, we focus on the awkwardness of the gift itself. We focus on the fact that it isn’t quite what we wanted, that it doesn’t meet us where we are in our lives right now. And we look past the unspoken meaning behind the gift itself, which is, “I love you.” Instead, we focus on our own disappointment over not getting what we wanted. All because we misunderstand the intentions of the person giving the gift.
When it comes to the Gift of God, we might very well misunderstand what is going on, and so not understand the intention of the gift itself. Which is why, sometimes, people may ask us just exactly how the birth of a baby boy in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago can be a gift. How is this birth supposed to be a gift to someone like me, born over two thousand years later?
Just like when an aunt, uncle, or grandmother gives us a gift that’s just a little bit awkward – which we might take that they don’t seem to know us – we interpret the gift of God in the light of our own misunderstandings.
The purpose of Jesus’ death and resurrection is so that we can behold the glory of God: not just in some distant future, not just when we die – but here, in the present moment, in our very lives from day to day. Christ came into the world to give the gift of reconciliation with God. That was his mission in this world. To give people the opportunity to become Children of God. To rest in the presence of God Almighty. To see the events that are tearing up the world, and to not be afraid. To realize that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
This is the goal, the mission, and the purpose of Christ’s birth. It is the goal of that bouncing baby boy in the manger in Bethlehem. It is a gift of God, for the people of God.
It is how we interpret that gift that allows us to see the glory of God – “the glory as of a Father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”
The question on everyone’s mind is probably: “How exactly does the world see the glory of God?” Especially now, over two thousand years later, when the majority of us have not had the opportunity to meet this Son of God personally, and in the flesh. And when events in our own lives, and in the rest of the world, might seem far away from anything resembling a gift.
There’s an interesting Greek word that Jesus used when he set up the Eucharist, the Holy Communion, and which we recount in the words, “Do this in remembrance of me.” This word remembrance in Greek means more than just “to remember, to recall, to bring to mind.” Instead, it carries with it the meaning of re-living, re-creating, and re-joining in the history of this event as though it was happening again. We are supposed to not just remember these events, but we are to take this moment of the bread and wine and believe and understand that Christ not only became flesh and lived among us, but also that Christ continues to become flesh and live among us.
Continues to become flesh?
Didn’t we all read the stories about how Jesus was born, ministered to the world, was tortured, beaten, and hung on a cross? Didn’t we read the story of his death, and then his resurrection? And didn’t we see that he ascended into heaven right in front of his disciples?
How then can God continue to become human again and again?
When we teach children about the Eucharist – about Communion – we often talk about how this little wafer that they take in goes into their stomach, and through the miracle of digestion, gets broken down, and the nutrients get used to nourish their bodies. In a sense, Christ has become a part of them, through what they have taken in. And then, we ask the kids to imagine what happens when all the other kids do the same thing, and they take communion too. For some kids, it’s an “aha!” moment, and they realize that if Jesus has become a part of them, then Jesus has become a part of those other kids too. And when they have this “aha!” moment, we then ask them, “If Jesus is in these other people, how then should you treat them?” There is generally not one kid that doesn’t realize that “The gift of God for the people of God” has become a part of the other kids, and so they need to treat everyone else as part of God’s family – a gift from God.
This is the clarity of focus that is intended in the re-living of the Eucharist – the Communion. This is the intention of Christ saying, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The idea is that we are to re-live the entirety of Jesus’ life, from birth, to death on the cross, to his rising again in glory when we take the communion. And we are to realize that through this re-living of these events, and re-joining in Christ’s mission in the world, that God is becoming human again in us, over and over again.
Now, some of you may think, “I don’t think of Communion the same way you do.” And that’s fine. Remember that another name for the Church is the Body of Christ. That is, all of you who are here, worshipping, are members of the Body of Christ. And even if you don’t have the same view of Communion, you have probably heard the phrase, “Where two or three are gathered, I am with them.” That means that every time you gather with others who believe, you are being fed with spiritual food. When you pray together, when you study the bible together, when you have fellowship with other people, God is with you. And each time someone has a nugget of God’s Truth to share – a Truth that the Holy Spirit has revealed to them – and you accept it, then you have been fed with spiritual food. Because God’s Glory has been revealed to you through one of the other members of the Body of Christ.
Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, became human in that other person who shared these things with you. And by your receiving that word, that morsel of Truth, you too have become more like Christ.
It was a Gift of God, for the People of God.
Whether it be communion, or whether it be through study and fellowship, when the Holy Spirit has revealed the Truth to us, we become more like Christ, and for a brief moment, we see the Glory of God, the glory of the Father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
And it is also in this way that Christ becomes human – again and again. Because it is in these moments of grace that are afforded to each of us, that Christ is revealed to the world. And it is in these moments where the Holy Spirit reveals the Truth to us that Christ becomes flesh and blood – becomes human – within each of us.
This is really just another way of quoting St. Paul, who says:
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. – 2 Cor. 3:18
Christ, was born in a barn, laid in a manger, and lived among us so that we might come to know God, and be fully known by God. So that our lives could shine forth with the reflection of Christ. And that this reflection of Christ to the world might also be a gift to all God’s people. So that everyone might be given the opportunity to be reconciled to God, as we – each of us – live out this transformation of our spirit from one moment to the next.
That is communion. Community. A shared purpose and a shared future. And most importantly, a shared present.
If we are able to understand that the intention of the birth of this baby boy is an expression of God’s Word that says, “I Love You,” then we will be less likely to look upon the birth of this child as an awkward gift, from a distant family member. Instead, we will be able to join into the life of the community, re-living, and re-creating the history of God’s desire to be with us. And each of us, being transformed from glory to glory, will be a part of the Gift of God, for the people of God.
The gift that all started in a barn, in the town of Bethlehem, where God’s Word was made flesh, and lived among us.
[This sermon was delivered at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Wickenburg, AZ on December 24, 2025.]
