Fourth Sunday of Advent
This holiday season, there was one sales-pitch that got under my skin. It went something like this: “Get more Christmas this Christmas,” or as some even said, “Get more Christmas for less.” Some stores invited people to begin their shopping early and begin paying in installments so that when Christmas arrived they would have more Christmas. I hate, abhor, detest, despise, loathe statements like these. It is great sales pitch, but don’t call it Christmas. As it is, St. Nicholas has been stolen from us and gimmicked into the mascot of free market. And now “How the Grinch stole Christmas,” looks like a real possibility. I get this very bad sense that Christmas very soon will go the Santa way. Part of the blame lies on us. Many Christians have succumbed hook, line, and sinker to the lure of a bargain Christmas. But the reality is this – you cannot get more Christmas for less. Christmas is about God becoming one of us, God coming to dwell among us, God taking birth in every human heart. If Christmas must happen then we need more than a bargain.
For a moment let us turn our attention to today’s scripture. Both the first reading and the gospel reading tell us that the name of the child to be born of the virgin will be Emmanuel. Emmanuel means ‘God with us.” If God must be with us, if we must indeed experience Christmas, if we must indeed celebrate, then we have to settle down for more than a bargain. Today’s scripture suggests that the birth of Christ calls for certain things to happen in our lives. Let me focus on three things.
1. Christmas calls for fidelity. Today’s readings contrast fidelity and infidelity for us in the characters of Ahaz (first reading) and Joseph (gospel). As in any relationship, fidelity involves making decisions in favor of the person we are committed to. Let us talk first about Ahaz, King of Judah. Judah was being threatened by the Assyrians. Ahaz two options: trust God to protect the nation against his enemies or make a political alliance with smaller nations (the Syro-Ephramite Alliance) as a defense against the Assyrians. Isaiah’s advice was that Ahaz trust God unconditionally. Ahaz is unfaithful because he made crucial decisions in favor of a political alliance rather than the God he was committed to. Joseph, on the other hand, made a decision in favor of God. Even though it is hard to believe that woman could conceive a child without a man, Joseph chooses to be faithful to God. This is true also of Mary. When people are faithful to God in the same way the God is faithful to us, miracles happen. And thanks to Joseph and Mary’s fidelity to God, the world witnessed the greatest miracle of all – the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Two days before Christmas, the word of God is calling us to fidelity. It would not be a bad idea to evaluate our lives before Christmas to see if our important decisions have been in favor of God. If there must be Christmas in our hearts, our families and our church it will not be because we have struck good bargains. May there be Christmas in our hearts because we have been faithful to God like Joseph and Mary.
2. Christmas calls for righteousness. The gospel tells us about Joseph that he was righteous man. The best definition of righteousness is right relationship with God, with others and with our own selves. Joseph’s decision to divorce Mary quietly in order to spare her shame is a very telling decision. His righteousness before God prevented him from taking a pregnant woman as his wife. His decision to divorce Mary came from his regard for God’s Law. On the other hand, his decision to spare her the shame came from his own compassion. He did not have to do it this way, but he chose to spare her the shame. He acted out of compassion rather than his own hurt and anger. And this is righteousness – that in our relationships with God, self, and others we act not from anger, hurt envy, revenge or lust, but from compassion, justice, and genuine love. When we act in righteousness God finds a home in our midst. May our relationships be a place where God feels welcomed because we act in righteousness.
3. Christmas calls for holiness. The reason I am so upset at the sales-pitch I mentioned at the beginning is it robs Christmas of its divinity. When people say things like “get more Christmas for less,’ it cheapens something supremely holy to something grossly cheap. It robs the celebration of the birth of Jesus of its holiness. Paul, in today’s second reading is trying to convince the Romans that the grace they have received is a call to “belong to Jesus Christ.” They are “called to be holy.” These last days before Christmas, then, we are being invited to live holy lives. There is no better way to prepare for Christ than to strive for holiness. I am interested in this call to holiness for another reason. If we must stop Christmas from going to Santa way, then the only way to do it is to live in our lives the holiness of the Christ event.
In faithfulness and love, God is once again with us in this Eucharist. It will take plain and simple faith to believe that this bread and wine is indeed the real presence of Christ among us. If we can recognize Christ here, if we can find within ourselves the capacity to believe, then Christ will come to us like he came to Mary and Joseph. If we can be faithful, righteous, and holy, then Christ will be born in our hearts. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph