In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one true God. Amen.
CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM!
As the Christians all over the world celebrate the Nativity of Jesus Christ on this day, yesterday I shared with you the teaching of the church father, St. Gregory of Nazianzus on how to celebrate the festival in our daily lives. He did not exhort us to celebrate the festival with pomp and fashion as we see in our current daily life but to live a Christlike life.
As we celebrate the Nativity of Jesus Christ, I would like to take your attention to a special portion in the liturgy of the Indian Orthodox Church of the service of the Nativity. The service uses the palm leaves, fire and incense as the main focus of the Nativity service during the “Theejwala Shushroosha” (Service around the firepit).
Orthodox Christians have the tradition of bringing home the Palm leaves which are blessed on the Palm Sunday. These leaves are then placed in different corners of the home. The leaves, since they have been blessed, are believed to give our homes and the lives lived in the homes protection from the evil one. On Christmas day, we take these palm leaves, which have now become old, back to the Church to be burnt in the fire in the blessed service of the Fire “Theejwala Shushroosha”.
The fire of the service signifies the presence or God in this world. In the Christian teaching, we find that fire is a form in which God manifested Himself during the Old Testament period. In the Book of Exodus, we learn about God manifesting Himself in front of Moses in the form of a burning bush on Mount Horeb where Moses is directed to lead the people of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt and lead them to the promised land of Canaan.
In another instance, in the book of 1 Kings where we see the proof of a living God, Who accepts the sacrifice of Elijah as fire from heaven and consuming the sacrifice offered. It needs to be mentioned that the sacrifice placed by Elijah was soaking wet and the fire from heaven was a sign to the false prophets around him and telling them that Yahweh is the True God of Israel and not Baal whom the false prophets and kings were worshipping.
Before we proceed further, we need to understand few characteristics of fire. We know that fire destroys and consumes all things it comes in contact with. It is best to keep in mind the warning that God gave Moses when he asked to see God gave to face. But God says through the Prophet Zechariah that “He will test the people through the fire and will refine them like silver and test them like gold” (Zechariah 13:9). We can understand that the fiery God Whom we worship is not only a destructive force but also a purifying and refining force. If we come before this God unprepared, we would be destroyed, but God assures us that if we are His people, we will be refined as silver and gold and be refined to the purest form possible. On Christmas, we commemorate this same God, Who spoke through the inextinguishable fire coming down to earth and resided among men. The fire in the firepit signifies this living, breathing and fiery God, the light of the world that is born in our midst, without causing harm to the womb of Mother Mary where He resided for 9 months and was born as a small little babe.
So the palm leaves that have been placed in our homes since Palm Sunday, which have been protecting our homes for several months, are now taken back to the church. The leaves are used to lighting the fire in the pit. The fire which consumes the now dry leaves leaving behind ashes in its wake, symbolifies the same God Who was incarnated in the womb of Mother Mary and was born in the manger in Bethlehem. The congregation who have gathered around this bonfire, puts in the incense which have been given to them. The incense symbolises the gifts of incense, myrrh and frankincense the wise men presented to baby Jesus.
For Christians who are gathered around the bonfire, the incense signifies their own lives which are submitted before God as a prayerful offering and gift. Similarly, we place our life in the presence of God, such that all the purities of our life may be destroyed by the consuming fire of God but at the same time the purifying nature of God may refine our life such that it would become an acceptable offering unto God.
Every Christmas, we commemorate God coming to reside among His creation taking the same form as His creation. In the concluding prayers of the service, we are reminded through the words taken from the words of St. Athanasius written in “On the Incarnation”
Today, God has come to earth and man ascends to heaven. Christ God became man that we may become gods. The Son of God became the son of man so that the son of men can become sons of God.
On every Christmas we remember that God has destined us for glory, for Sainthood, for communion with Him for eternity. We are called to be co-heirs with Christ, the Father’s adopted sons.
On this day of Christmas, He Whose throne the six-winged Seraphim surround in worship, Whose face they cannot bear to see, appears to us in human flesh as a new-born babe and the angels themselves are filled with awe and fear and tremble. Because of this life-saving day, every human eye may now gaze on that face even as we see Him now through the holy icons, proclaiming the reality of His incarnation in the flesh.
This is our God Who has come to reside among us! See His unsurpassed love for us. The great wall that divided man from God through sin and disobedience has been destroyed by the babe Jesus in the womb. See His humility: the uncontainable God has willed to be contained in the Virgin’s womb for my sake, for your sake, for that of the whole world, for all who will believe in Him. He has become incarnate to fulfil His saving plan, to rescue us from ourselves, to give us true peace on earth – peace which surpasses all comprehension – the fruit of life with God, communion with Christ through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling and to the glory of God the Father.
As we go around giving gifts to our loved and fear ones and also seeking ways to give gifts to the less privileged children of the world and as we engage ourselves preparing wonderful food for all those who come knocking at our doors, let us ask this question of ourselves: What do we offer Christ this day for coming to reside among us?
Let us offer Christ clean minds and a pure heart through repentance. Let us offer Him a life of virtue instead of Myrrh. Let us offer our faith and love as we celebrate His holy Nativity. Let us receive Him inside ourselves in the Eucharist and in our hearts as the cave did of old, preparing Him room. May our hearts prepare Him room as well! For as Christ God did not reject the cave for His birth, neither will He reject the room of our soul, though it not be a fitting place for the Lord of Hosts. Yet, in love and humility, Christ comes to us, receives us, indwells us, heals us, feeds us, unites us further with Him and all those faithful who have come before us.
May the love of God reside among us during this season of His Nativity and all the days of our life.
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
Your brother in Christ Jesus
Jobin George
