Christmas 2022

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying time with loved ones, eating lots of ham, drinking wine, and living the joy that continues since Joy was born for us this day. As great as it is to spend time with family, especially the family we do not always get to see, it can be tiring. So, since you are probably reading this as you are decompressing, I thought I would post the two great Christmas sermons, one from the east and one from the west. It is Christmas, and our liturgical calendar is meant to draw us out of the mundane and into the realm of the eternal. Instead of dwelling on transient issues, let us, at least for the next few days, remember the permanent things, and, taking them into our heart, live life anew.

Saint John Chrysostom

BEHOLD a new and wondrous mystery. My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of justice. And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed, He had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things yielded in obedience to God. This day He Who is, is Born; and He Who is, becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassability, remaining unchanged.

And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.

Since this heavenly birth cannot be described, neither does His coming amongst us in these days permit of too curious scrutiny. Though I know that a Virgin this day gave birth, and I believe that God was begotten before all time, yet the manner of this generation I have learned to venerate in silence and I accept that this is not to be probed too curiously with wordy speech. For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of Him who works.

What shall I say to you; what shall I tell you? I behold a Mother who has brought forth; I see a Child come to this light by birth. The manner of His conception I cannot comprehend.

Nature here rested, while the Will of God labored. O ineffable grace! The Only Begotten, Who is before all ages, Who cannot be touched or be perceived, Who is simple, without body, has now put on my body, that is visible and liable to corruption. For what reason? That coming amongst us he may teach us, and teaching, lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see. For since men believe that the eyes are more trustworthy than the ears, they doubt of that which they do not see, and so He has deigned to show Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt.

Christ, finding the holy body and soul of the Virgin, builds for Himself a living temple, and as He had willed, formed there a man from the Virgin; and, putting Him on, this day came forth; unashamed of the lowliness of our nature’. For it was to Him no lowering to put on what He Himself had made. Let that handiwork be forever glorified, which became the cloak of its own Creator. For as in the first creation of flesh, man could not be made before the clay had come into His hand, so neither could this corruptible body be glorified, until it had first become the garment of its Maker.

What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infants bands. But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness.

For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit, that He may save me.

Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been ‘in planted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels.

Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He became Flesh. He did not become God. He was God. Wherefore He became flesh, so that He Whom heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom all things arc nourished, may receive an infant’s food from His Virgin Mother. So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him. Since this day the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star.

To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost, we offer all praise, now and for ever. Amen.

Lancelot Andrewes

St. Matthew ii:1-2
Behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is He That is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the East, and are come to worship Him.

There be in these two verses two principal points; 1. The persons that arrived at Jerusalem, 2. and their errand. The errand is to worship Him. Their errand [is] our errand.  The main heads of their errands are 1. We have seen, the occasion; 2. and We have come to worship, the end of their coming. But I will take another course, to set forth these points:

[1] Their faith first: faith in that they never ask ‘Whether He be,’ but ‘Where He is born;’ for that born He is, that they stedfastly believe.

[2] Then their confessing of it; they were no sooner come, but they tell it out; confess Him and His birth to be the cause of their coming.

[3] [Then] the steps of their faith, their coming on such a journey, at such a time, with such speed.

[4] Fourthly, their diligent enquiring Him out.

[5] Last, when they had found Him, the end of their seeing, coming, seeking; to worship Him. Worship with Him with their bodies, worship Him with their goods; their worship and ours; the true worship of Christ.

The text is a ‘star’: Heaven and earth hold a correspondence. St. Peter calls faith ‘the day-star rising in our hearts (2 Pet 119)’ – we have now got us a star on earth for that in Heaven. Christ Himself [is] St. John's star, ‘The generation and root of David, the bright morning star, Christ’ (Rev 2216). Christ is ‘the bright morning star’ of that day which will have no night; the blessed vision of which day is the consummation of our hope and happiness for ever.  Of these three stars the first is gone (Mt 2), the third yet to come (Rev 22), the second only present (2 Pet 1). We to look to that, it must do us all good, and bring us to the third.

St. Luke calleth faith the ‘door’; at this door let us enter. They that ask ‘where hath he been born?’ take for granted that born He is. Herein is the third article of the Christian Creed.  And what they believe they of Him? Out of their own words here; 1. first that born He is and so Man He is, His human nature. 2. And as His nature, so His office in ‘he is born King’. They believe that too. 3. But ‘Of the Jews’ may seem to be a bar; for then, what have they to do with ‘the King of the Jews?’ They be Gentiles, no relation to Him at all; what do they seeking or worshipping Him? But weigh it well, and it is no bar. For this they seem to believe: He is ‘the King of the Jews,’ as ‘the Gentiles [are] to adore Him.’ And though born in Jewry, yet Whose birth concerned them though Gentiles, though born far off in the ‘mountains of the east.’ They to have some benefit by Him and His birth, and for that to do Him worship.

They were no sooner come, but they spake of it so freely, to so many, as it came to Herod's ear and troubled him that any King of the Jews should be worshipped beside himself. So then their faith is no bosom-faith, kept to themselves without saying anything of it to anybody. No. ‘They believed, and therefore they spake’ (Ps 11610). And though they came from the East, those parts to whom and their King the Jews had long time been captives and underlings, they were not ashamed to tell, that One of the Jews' race they came to seek; and to seek Him to the end ‘to worship Him.’ So neither afraid of Herod, nor ashamed of Christ; but professed their errand, and cared not who knew it.

We have seen His star –we can well conceive that; any that will but look up, may see a star. But how could they see that it was His? Either that it belonged to any, or that He it was it belonged to. This passeth all perspective; no astronomy could shew them this. This birth was above nature. No trigon, triplicity, exaltation could bring it forth. The star should not have been His, but He the star's, if it had gone that way. Now with us there be but two [lights]; 1. Evening, 2. Morning. Evening, ‘the owl- light’ of our reason or skill, is too dim to see by. It must be as Esay calls it, the ‘morning-light,’ the light of God's law must certify them of the ‘His’ of it.

In the Law, there we find it in the twenty-fourth of Numbers. One of their own Prophets that came ‘from the mountains of the East,’ was ravished in spirit, ‘fell in a trance, had his eyes opened,’ and saw the ‘His’ many an hundred years before it rose. Saw that He should be ‘the bright morning-Star,’ and so might well have a star to represent Him. Saw ‘a sceptre in Israel,’ which is ‘King of the Jews.’ A Prophet's eye might discern this; never a Chaldean of them all could take it with his astrolabe.  Balaam's eyes were opened to see it, and he helped to open their eyes by leaving behind him this prophecy.  Both the star and the prophecy are but overflowing light.  Besides these there must be a light within the eye; else, we know, nothing will be seen. And that must come from Him, and the enlightening of His Spirit. Take this for a rule; no knowing of the star, without Him That inspired it. He sending the light of His Spirit within into their minds, they then saw clearly, this the star, now the time, He the Child who this day was born.  The light of the star in their eyes, ‘the word of prophecy’ in their ears, the beam of His Spirit in their hearts; these three made up a full ‘we have seen.’

Now to their coming.  All this while we have been at saying and seeing; now we shall come to doing, see them do somewhat upon it. For they sat not still, gazing on the star. Their seeing made them come, come a great journey. ‘Come’ is soon said, but a short word; but many a wide and weary step they made before they could come to say lo, here ‘we are come,’ and at our journey's end. We [must] consider,

1. The distance of the place they came from. It was not hard by as the shepherds—but a step to Bethlehem over the fields; this was riding many a hundred miles.
2. The way that they came, through deserts, all the way waste and desolate.
3. Tt was exceeding dangerous, through the midst of thieves and cut-throats.
4. Last we consider the time of their coming, the season of the year. It was no summer progress. A cold coming they had of it at this time of the year, just the worst time of the year to take a journey, and specially a long journey. The ways deep, the weather sharp, the days short, the sun farthest off, in ‘the very dead of winter.’  And these difficulties they overcame, of a wearisome, dangerous, unseasonable journey; and for all this they came. It was with them; ‘they saw,’ and ‘they came;’ no sooner saw, but they set out presently. So as upon the first appearing of the star, they knew it was Balaam's star; it called them away, they made ready straight to begin their journey.

And we, what should we have done? With them it was but ‘see,’ ‘come’; with us it would have been but ‘we will come’ at most. Come such a journey at such a time? No; put it off to the spring of the year, till the days longer, and the ways fairer, and the weather warmer, till better travelling to Christ. Our Epiphany would sure have fallen in Easter week at the soonest.  To Christ we cannot travel, but weather and way and all must be fair. If not, no journey. As indeed, all our religion is rather seeing, a contemplation, than coming, a motion, or stirring to do ought.  But when we do it, we must be allowed leisure. Ever ‘we shall come’, never ‘we are coming.’ We love to make no great haste. Why should we? Christ is no wild-cat. If it be forty days hence, ye shall be sure to find His Mother and Him; she cannot be churched till then. The truth is, we conceit Him and His birth but slenderly. Best get us a new Christmas in September.

How shall we then do? It is neither in seeking nor finding; the cause of all is in the last words, ‘to worship Him.’ That is all in all, and without it all our seeing, coming, seeking and finding is to no purpose. The Scribes they could tell, and did tell where He was, but were never the nearer for it, for they worshipped Him not.  Herod said he would come too and worship Him. None of that worship! And at His death, the other Herod, he sought Him too; but that he and his soldiers might make themselves sport with Him. Such [is] the world's worship of Him for the most part.

But to worship Him the [Magi] come, and worship Him they will. Will they so? For full little know they, in what case they shall find Him: in a stable, in a manger, in a poor and pitiful plight, more like to be abhorred than adored? Here—as poor and unlikely a birth as could be, ever to prove a King. No sight to comfort them, nor a word for which they any wit the wiser; nothing worth their travel. Well, they will take Him as they find Him, and all this notwithstanding, worship Him for all that. The Star shall make amends for the manger.

These came from the mountains in the East; and came for no other end but only this –to worship; and when they had done that, home again.  Worth the while, worth our coming, if coming we do but that, but worship and nothing else. And so I would have men account of it.  We can worship God but three ways: we have but three things to worship Him withal. 1. The soul He hath inspired; 2. the body He hath ordained us; 3. and the worldly goods He hath vouchsafed to bless us withal. We to worship Him with all, seeing there is but one reason for all.  If He hath framed that body of yours and every member of it, let Him have the honour both of head and knee, and every member else.  If all come from Him, all to return to Him. If He send all, to be worshipped with all. And this in good sooth is but, as the Apostle calleth it, ‘reasonable service.’  If all our worship be inward only, with our hearts and not our hats as some fondly imagine, we give Him but one of three; we bid Him be content with that, He get no more but inward worship. Let us see whether and what you offer. With [the body], no less than with the soul God is to be worshipped. ‘Glorify God with your bodies, for they are God's,’ saith the Apostle. ‘Honour God with your substance, for He hath blessed your store,’ saith Solomon.

Christ was made poor to make us rich, and so ‘offering gifts’ comes very fit.  There now remains nothing but to include ourselves, and bear our part with them, and with the angels, and all who this day adored Him.  The Magi were Gentiles. So are we. We are to ‘go, and do likewise.’ We cannot say ‘we have seen His star’; the star is gone long since, not now to be seen. Yet I hope for all that, ‘we come to worship.’ [Let] the same day-star be risen in our hearts that was in theirs. For then it will bring us whither it brought them, to Christ.