Imagine then how I felt when I ran across the "First Christmas sermon" which was delivered in 386 AD (1,600 years ago!!). It was written and preached by St. John Chrysostom. It is both relevant and beautiful...spend some time with it (after all, it's still the Christmas season)...
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.
I grew up in an era that thought "old" things were just that...old. There was no reason to spend time looking back. Everything great and good would be in the future. Oh how wrong!
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