The Greatest Gift of All

John 1:1-14

Christmas Day / December 25, 2011

It seems like this year we’ve been overwhelmed with Christmas specials, each touting the true meaning of Christmas. Most point to family and love as the true meaning of Christmas, completely missing the reason for the season. One of my favorite Christmas specials is still “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” I love it when Charlie Brown, in frustration, asks: “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” And Linus responds: “Sure Charlie Brown I can tell you what Christmas is all about.” And Linus walks out on stage and begins:

“⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  ⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. ¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (King James Version, Luke 2:8-14.)

Then Linus walks off stage and says, “That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.” That’s what Christmas is all about.

I love the Christmas story that Linus told from Luke’s gospel, with its angels and pastoral images and poetry. Luke’s gospel also tells the story of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary announcing that she will bear a son and name him Jesus, and Mary sings the beautiful Magnificat in response. Then Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem to be registered, and Mary gives birth to her firstborn son in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. Angels visit the shepherds in the fields announcing the birth of a Savior and the shepherds go to Bethlehem to see the babe. And we hear the angels praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward all.”

And we look at our creche and see the angel and shepherds and sheep surrounding Mary and Joseph and the baby. Of course, we then add the Christmas story as told in Matthew’s gospel, including the wise men who followed a star, bringing gifts from the East for the king of the Jews. And we add camels to our creche, and a donkey and a cow and sheep for good measure.

And I wonder if we haven’t lost sight of the reason for the season in the midst of shepherds and wise men and angels and animals. As Linus said, Christmas is all about the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger.

Today we read the Christmas story in John’s gospel – a story that is so different from Luke’s and Matthew’s stories. It lacks all the particularity of place and people. We don’t hear about Mary and Joseph or angels and shepherds or wise men following stars. There is no mention of Bethlehem or mangers, no comment about kings and a census. As a matter of fact there are no details of the birth at all.

Instead John’s gospel takes a huge step back and looks at the story on a cosmic level. “In the beginning,” way back when the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This babe in the manger was present in the beginning. And, in the beginning the Word spoke, saying, “Let there be light.” And there was light. “All things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being.” This Word is the creative power of God through whom all things were created. And the Word is God.

This same Word “was in the world... yet the world did not know him.” He came to his own people through the Law given at Mount Sinai. He came to his own people through kings and prophets and priests. And the people did not accept him.  The Word spoke powerfully through the written words of Scripture and still the people did not believe. The people did not understand.

So “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” The Word who was in the beginning with God – the Word who is God – chose to take on flesh and become human and live among us. The One through whom all things came into being became like us – flesh and bones. The One whose life was the light of all people shone into the darkness of our lives, scattering the darkness through his teachings and his witness. The One who has spoken to us through the Law and prophets took on flesh – revealing the glory of God in Jesus Christ.

Do you hear the incredible confidence in this passage? The absolute assurance that something truly extraordinary happened? God, the one true God, God the Word, became human. God the Son, though he was in the form of God, emptied himself, being born in human likeness so that we might receive grace upon grace. In him the fullness of God dwells, revealing the mystery and the beauty and the power of our faith.

The God we failed to recognize in creation, although all things came into being through him, took on flesh that we might see him.  The God who spoke to us through the Law and prophets, calling us to repent and return to God, came down to reveal the heart of God to us, guiding us to repentance and new life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

God chose to come and live among us in the flesh so that we might be saved. And “to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood [or of the flesh]... but of God.” God became human so that we might be like God – children of God, born of God. God became human so that we might have life and have it abundantly.

The story of Christmas in John’s gospel returns our focus to where it should be on this Christmas morning. It isn’t the angels and the shepherds and the wise men who make this day different from any other day. It is the baby lying in the manger – fully human and fully God – who is the greatest gift of all. Thanks be to God for this extraordinary gift!