CHRISTMAS DAY – SERMON OUTLINE – DECEMBER 25, 2010
Hebrews 1:1-12; John 1:1-14
“…and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
I. Introduction: Anticipating the Glory of the Lord
a. St. John writes that on this Christmas Day “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” And that He was “full of grace and truth.” But what is this truth of Jesus? What is His gift of grace?
b. Saint Gregory of Nyssa once wrote that, long before the Incarnation, Moses went looking for it. He climbed up Mt. Sinai in search of God’s glory, epitomizing man’s ascent into His gracious fellowship.
c. And yet, as Moses found, he wasn’t quite ready to see it
i. From Exodus – when Moses reached the top of the mountain, He asked God to show Him His face, but God would not; Moses would have died
ii. All God would allow is for His glory to pass by, and at that, with Moses hidden behind the cleft of the rock and out of danger
iii. With that example, Gregory reminds us that the closer we get to God and His glory, we realize that there’s so much more of Him hidden from us and out of reach.
One might put it this way: ‘to seek God is to eternally delight in the infinite.’
iv. But, being made in His Image and likeness, God has made us to want it that way. Just imagine if we finally “figured God out.” How boring His everlasting Kingdom might become! What will make eternity all worth it is that perpetual mystery of His glory.
II. God’s Glory: From the Impersonal to the Personal
a. On our own, we can’t reach God’s glory
i. But the great truth of Jesus on this Christmas Day is that Christ came to reveal the wonder of what was hidden
ii. God wants us to come close: it can’t happen with us reaching out for where He is, so He condescends to meet us where we are
iii. That’s the joy of Christmas: even though we didn’t deserve it, God took the initiative
b. Christmas is all about God’s light that shone in the darkness.
i. Why else do we celebrate this Christmas day with candles on the Advent wreath?
ii. Why else do we remember the Gospel story of a stable overlooked by a shining star?
c. Jesus came to fulfill the prophecy that one day, “the whole world will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.”
d. Moses would finally get to see it, but first God just gave Him and Israel a foretaste. Back in the Old Testament, God began to reveal His glory to bless the children of Israel
i. In the book of Exodus, we find that guided the Israel with a pillar of fire to direct them on the right path, and even protect them from the Egyptians
ii. Later in Exodus—and in both Leviticus and Numbers—we find God’s glory filling the tabernacle to demonstrate His presence with His people.
1. His glory in this cloud proved that He was their heavenly God, over the Ark of the Covenant, the earth was His footstool
2. On one occasion, the glory was so overwhelming that Moses himself could not even enter the tabernacle
iii. And, of course, God’s cloud of glory perpetually stayed in the Holiest Place of Solomon’s temple, showing that Mt. Zion was His dwelling place.
iv. This glory is often called the “Shekinah,” literally meaning God’s “dwelling” or “settling.”
e. But as Christians celebrating the Babe in the manger, we know something is missing here.
i. Although awesome to behold, this Shekinah was not a personal presence
ii. God’s glory remained formless and inaccessible
iii. This is what Jesus changed by becoming Man on this Christmas Day: He made God’s glory personal to us in human form
f. St. John writes that His Disciples especially witnessed this in Christ’s Transfiguration
i. He recalls: “…and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.”
ii. On the mountain, John—along with Peter and James—saw the glory of Christ that remained otherwise veiled during His ministry
iii. God spoke from heaven, testifying that this was His Son to whom we should listen
It’s as if He was saying, ‘Yes, this is the Image of my glory.”
This is why Jesus once said to Philip: “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.”
As the writer of Hebrews explained this morning, Jesus is “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His Person.”
iv. That is our true light this Christmas. It’s so simple. It’s not very intimidating and oh so fragile, but how God chose to give us the light of His Son.
III. From Glory to Glory: Christ’s Future Glory and our Own
a. But, as always, Christmas is just the beginning.
i. One day, we look for Jesus to consummate the brightness of His glory.
ii. It won’t be contained to the quaintness of the stable, but will fill the whole earth
b. In fact, in Revelation, St. John once again sees Christ’s glory—and nothing else can stand up to it
i. St. John writes that when Jesus sits down on His throne in judgment, ‘earth and heaven just flee away’ His glory is so great
ii. And for us in the new Jerusalem, we don’t even need any else to lighten our city
St. John writes again: “the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”
iii. That little Child will brighten the whole universe as our Lord and God
c. But perhaps the greatest gift we can have this Christmas is knowing that if we will accept God’s gift of the Baby Jesus, He will in turn share His glory with us one day. We won’t just tremble at His glory, Jesus Himself tells that we will become part of it.
i. In St. Matthew’s Gospel, He promises that when ‘The Son of Man comes with His angels…then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
ii. Will we totally understand it? No. Will we totally possess it? Again, no.
iii. But we do know that Christ will transfigure us by it and we will become like God—
As Maximus the Confessor might say, ‘He penetrating us and we penetrating Him, forever intertwined in the ecstasy of God’s radiant holiness.’
iv. That is the great truth we find in Baby Jesus this Christmas. This is the blessing of His grace. AMEN.
