CHRIST IS BORN, GLORIFY HIM! Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth, be you exalted. Sing unto the Lord all the earth; and that I may join in one word, Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him Who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of our sins, with joy because of our hope. Christ of a Virgin; O you Matrons live as Virgins, that you may be Mothers of Christ. Who does not worship Him That is from the beginning? Who does not glorify Him That is the Last?
St. Gregory of Nazianzus
As Christians all over the world celebrate Christmas, we need to understand the importance of the festival. On this day, the darkness has been pushed aside and Light has come to reside in the midst of man, O clap your hands together all you people, because unto us a Child is born, and a Son is given unto us, Whose Government is upon His shoulder (for with the Cross it is raised up), and His Name is called The Angel of the Great Counsel of the Father. He Who is not carnal is Incarnate; the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.
On this day of the Incarnation of the Son of God, God was manifested to man by birth. On the one hand Being, and eternally Being, of the Eternal Being, above cause and word,for there was no word before The Word; and on the other hand for our sake also Becoming, that He Who gives us our being might also give us our Well-being, or rather might restore us by His Incarnation, when we had by wickedness fallen from f=our well-being.
This is what we celebrate today, the current festival, the Coming of God to Man, that we might go back to God – that by putting off the old man, we might put on the New; and that as we dies in Adam, so we might live in Christ, being born with Christ and crucified with Him and buried with Him and rise with Him. Due to His awesome Incarnation, I must also undergo this beautiful but painful conversion, and as painful as it would be the more blissful would the final product of the conversion be. Therefore, let us try and understand how to keep the Feast, not in the manner of the festivities we find in our socio-cultural life, but in a godly manner; not after the way of the world, but in a fashion above the world; not as our own but as belonging to Him Who is ours, or rather as our Master’s ; not as of weakness, but as of healing; not as of creation, but of re-creation.
Let us first try to understand what not to do, before we can understand how to celebrate the Feast in a godly manner. Let us not adorn our doors and porches, nor arrange dances, nor decorate the streets; let us not feast the eye, nor enchant the ear with music, nor enervate the nostrils with perfume, not prostitute the taste, nor indulge the touch, these roads are so prone to evil and are entrances to sin; let us not adorn ourselves in soft and flowing clothing, or with the glittering gems and gold jewelry, which are intended to belie the beauty of the image of God. Let us not engage in rioting and drunkenness. Let us not set up high tables flowing with food nor appraise the bouquet of wines, making tabernacles for the belly. Let us not strive to outdo each other in temperance – and this while others are hungry and in need, who are made of the same clay and in the same image of God.
Let us, whose Object of adoration is the living Word, if we must seek luxury in this world, let us seek it in the word, in the Divine Law, and in histories, especially such as the origin of this Feast, so that our luxury may be akin to and not far removed from Him Who has called us together. One thing connected with the Birth of Christ that should be hated is the murder of the infants by Herod. Or rather one must venerate the young saints, the Sacrifice of the same age as the newborn Christ, slain before the Offering of the New Victim.
If we find that He flees into Egypt, joyfully become a companion of His exile. It is a grand thing to share the exile of the persecuted Christ. If He tarries long in Egypt, call Him out of Egypt by a reverent worship of Him there. Let us travel without fault through every stage and faculty of the Life of Christ. Let us be purified; be circumcised; strip off the veil which has covered our eyes from our birth. After this, teach in the Temple of God, and drive out the sacrilegious traders in the Temple of God (our human body where the Spirit of God resides). Submit to be stones if need be, but be rest assured that unless God has called us back home, we would be able to escape through their midst, like Jesus.
If we are brought before Herod for questioning, let us not be quick to answer for the most part. He will respect our silence more than most people’s long speeches. If we are scourged, bear it with humility thinking of the scourges borne by Jesus on that fateful day. Taste gall for the taste’s sake; drink vinegar; seek to be spat upon; accept the blows and be crowned with thorns with the hardness of the godly life; put on the purple robe, take the reed in hand, and receive mock worship from those who mock at the truth; lastly, let us be crucified with Him, and share His death and burial gladly, so that we may rise with Him, and be glorified with Him and reign with Him. Look at and be looked at by the Great God, Who in Trinity is worshiped and glorified, and to Whom be the glory for ever. Amen.
Source: Taken from Oration 38: On the Birthday or Theophany of Jesus by St. Gregory of Nazianzus
Your brother in Christ Jesus
Jobin George
