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CHRISTMAS SEASON: A TIME FOR REFLECTION • Sermon by Mr. David Athisayaraj

Dearly Beloved in Christ, Let me start with a question. Why are we celebrating various seasons including Christmas in Christianity? The Church has recognized the power of meditation for millennia and built seasons of reflection into the liturgical year. We often think that seasons in the Christian Calendar are just traditions and orthodox beliefs. But in reality, seasons bring us to reflect upon ourselves. Seasons are God-given times to realize our lives. These seasons are really important to our spiritual and social well-being. The festivals or seasons are played a vital role in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. The seasons are times of reflection, often preceding great times of celebration. Reflection is a process of looking back on what has been done and pondering on it and learning lessons to move forward in the life. 

What is Reflection? Reflection is rewarding because it helps us to grow in our lives. British Poet, Edward Young said, “A soul without reflection is like a pile without inhabitant, to ruin runs.” And the great philosopher, Socrates also said “an unexamined life is not worth living”, this underlines the value of self-reflection.
As we are celebrating the Christmas season, it’s good to reflect on what our priorities are, and it is so important to shape our Christmas in the way that God wants. For today’s devotion, we are going to meditate on the theme CHRISTMAS SEASON: A TIME FOR REFLECTION based on John 1:14a “The Word became flesh and lived among us…” Let us meditate on this verse in two points.

First, Christmas Season: A Time for Reflection on the Vertical Relationship
The first part of John 1:14a says “The Word become flesh.” It represents the doctrine of the incarnation - that is, the vertical relationship of God. Christmas is a celebration of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The Christmas season is not a season of this world alone. This is a celebration of heaven and earth. Even though the date of Christmas is recognized by humans, the Christmas season is not of human-made. The Christmas season is by God and for God. The reason behind Christmas is Jesus Christ. Jesus emptied himself and came down to earth from heaven above. He made the vertical relationship between God and humans. Adam lost this relationship with God because of his sin. But now, through Jesus Christ, we could be reconciled with God, the Father. Every year, The Christmas season reminds us to reflect on how much we become closer to God and grow in the knowledge of God.

This season is intended to cause us to slow down, to reflect upon God’s work in our lives, and ruminate on the depth of our relationship with God. Reflecting on these things grounds our identity, it reminds us of who we are; it reorients our priorities, realigning them with God’s best for us; it allows us to slow down long enough to see God’s sovereign hand at work in our lives all year long; Seeing God actively at work, molding, and shaping and drawing us to Him, heightens our trust in Him, our reliance on Him, our awareness of His presence, and our ability to hear God’s voice. Let us examine ourselves. The Christmas season is a time of self-reflection. Are we really growing in the vertical relationship with God? Are we really drawing nearer to Him with faith and love? May this Christmas season help us to be closer to God.

Second, Christmas Season: A Time for Reflection on the Horizontal Relationship
The second part of John 1.14a says, “And lived among us.” It represents the concept of humanity of Jesus Christ- that is, his horizontal relationship with others. During Jesus’ life on the earth, He was not apart from this world; and he lived among human beings. He had no jealousy or shame to live with others. He was perfect in socializing with others. Many people seem to think of Christianity solely as their own personal relationship with God. They have their own fundamental ideas to justify them. No! No! The Scripture clearly affirms that the followers of Christ must follow his way to love others by words and deeds. We know that we make up the Body of Christ and that we are all connected to one another on this horizontal plane. Everything we do affects the rest of the parcels on that beam. When we sin, it affects our neighbor. When we are charitable and loving, it also affects our neighbors. Again, this relationship between persons is not passive, but active. Christians are called to live like Jesus Christ.

Jesus tells us to do things like feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit the imprisoned. He reminds us that, in doing these things for the least of our brothers and sisters, we are doing them for Him. We honor Jesus Christ by being in the right relationship with our neighbor and thereby strengthening our horizontal beam. While Christmas is a season of joy and celebration, it reminds us to grow in our healthy relationships with others. Christmas celebrations give a lot of chances to mingle with others in various ways such as worship services, carol rounds, choir, Christmas programs, charity works, special parties and etc. These celebrations help us to know each other well and to make good relationships with others. They give an open platform to share and exchange our belongings with one another with love and peace. Christianity is very much about loving God, but it is also very much about loving His people. The festivals or seasons have the power to bring unity among us. Are our hearts cleaned to love others? Are we really celebrating Christmas for others? Let this Christmas season bring a way to show our love for others through our lives.

To Conclude our meditation, let us look to the ✝️Cross✝️. Cross is the reason for the Christmas season. The two beams of wood in the Cross – one vertical and one horizontal. The vertical beam symbolizes our relationship with God while the horizontal beam represents our relationship with others. We need both to form a cross. We need both to be perfect Christians. Now let us think about ourselves. How is our vertical beam and horizontal beam? Christmas is right around the corner, and we are excited to start the holiday season. We really enjoy this special time of the year. We love visiting with family, singing Christmas carols, seeing the decorations, and witnessing the joy and excitement in the eyes of children. 

At the same time this season provides the opportunity for deep self-reflection over the past year which ought to provide guidance for the coming year. We have to examine our relationships with God and each other, while we also introspect on our personal growth and trials. Let us not take our liturgical seasons as human-made, but believe that they are God-given opportunities through his holy servants to reflect and celebrate for God’s glory and for the happiness of others. That broad-minded celebration should draw us closer to our Lord and Savior as we do things that will be pleasing in his sight. Let us all be a conduit of peace, joy, and happiness and live lives of sacrifice for the common good of all and for the glory of God.

I invite all of us to act on this simple but priceless message of reflection during this Christmas season, and I extend my hearty wishes to everyone - a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. God bless us all.

Acknowledgement 
Delivered by 
Mr. David Athisayaraj
On Dec 8, 2022
Serampore College 

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