(545) 16-January-2006 – The Rt. Revd Riah Abu El-Assal Christmas Sermon – Middle East
‘Glory to God in the highest, Peace on earth, Good-will among men’ – Christmas Greetings from the Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal
The Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal: Allow me first and foremost to wish you a most blessed Christmas and a peaceful 2006. May it be the year of the turning-point in relations world-wide, but in particular here in His Land, in the Land of the Holy One, whose birth in Bethlehem we remember and celebrate, whom we remember with thanks. For unto us, and unto the whole world, a child is born, who is the Prince of Peace, whose name shall always be ‘Immanuel’ – ‘God with us.’
Christmas is not a sermon from a pulpit, or a song from a chair. Christmas is a spiritual experience that awaits each and every one of us to have and to enjoy. It is not the memory of days gone by! It is not the event of yesterday! It is the event of today – day after day! It is the event of tomorrow and so long we have the new age that came with Jesus’ birth, so long we celebrate the new Genesis, when the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory.
Much has been written, and still is being written about Christmas. Thousands of sermons have been preached over the last two thousand years. The happenings of that wonderful miraculous birth are brought anew and alive. Neither the angels and the shepherds are missing. Nor the star -His star-, King Herod with the agenda to kill, and the wise men from the East with their agenda to come to worship and venerate and to honor with symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And what more the lack of space, not only in the inn, but also in the hearts of so many.
Though newly born and very dependent on His mother, His birth and His star turned the powerful Herod into an aggressive and blood-thirsty leader. Whereas Jesus’ mission was and is to bring life, new life, Herod came with a political platform that had on top of its agenda killing, assassinations, the demolition of homes, the destruction of lives and spreading of evil here and there.
The drama continues but the actors change. Now that Herod and his comrades failed to kill Him, the present Herods try to erase His name. ‘Let it be ‘happy season,’ let it be ‘happy holidays,’ but please stop greeting each other with ‘happy or merry Christmas,’ so they say!
Under the title ‘Down with the politically correct Puritans’ Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: ‘Politically correct zealots must not be allowed to destroy the true wonder of Christmas.’ The party that His Grace targeted was not of the old or new Puritans who argued then and now that Christmas was too human, but those who think that Christmas is too religious.
He goes on to point out that it is not the only thing that is being attacked. Christian images, symbols and words are also attacked. The question is raised: “What is it that is left, if “Christ” is removed from the “MASS”, from the word ‘Christmas?’ There can be no Christmas without Him, without all that points to Him, who is the way to God, and God’s way to us human beings. Any such attempt is doomed to failure. For every knee shall bow before Him and every tongue shall confess Him the Savior of the world. How? By allowing ourselves to be born again in the spirit, and by leading others to come and worship Him.
The mentioning of Jesus being the way reminds us of the ‘Road Map’ that has been in the news for a number of years. Some time back, I circulated a letter about it and summed it up by saying that: ‘It is a map without a road and a road without a map.’ This is because it is not based on Truth or Justice. It falls in what may be described as ‘wishful thinking.’ This is so because of the many ‘holes’ in it and the not-so-innocent intention to avoid the key issues of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
But what has ‘Christmas’ to do with the ‘Road Map?’ Certainly nothing except for the fact that whereas that ‘Road Map’ was and is a failure, God’s ‘Road Map’ proved a success for all who walked it. Christmas presents us and the world with a different map, where Jesus is not only the Way and the Road, but also the Truth and the Life.
This Christmas map begins by giving Glory to God, which in turn brings Peace, and peace will bring Security and Joy. And in it what was and is first came first, the rest follows.
-Glory to God comes first. The less we make Him first, the greater is our loss. Giving Him what is already His is our duty, for to Him be the glory now and for ever. Self-righteousness and glorifying oneself is never a gain! It proves to be a loss.
-Peace is the outcome of giving God the glory. And His peace, which passes our understanding, is sure to remain with us. ‘Let what may come.’ Again, peace is not only a topic for long speeches and sermons. It is a relationship from which all that caused for hostility, anger, enmity and conflict is no more. God’s peace comes to us through Jesus, His son, whose main and only mission was and is to reconcile us to God and God to us.
St. Paul summed it up beautifully, when saying: ‘In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself and entrusting us with the ministry of reconciliation.’ (II Cor. 5:19) This too is one way of celebrating Christmas, by being reconciled to God and enjoying His peace. Yes, but also to reconcile others with God and guarantee them His peace.
-Glory – Peace – Joy and Good – will. God’s ‘Road Map’ takes us through peace to enjoy Him as we see Him face to face. The shepherds were over-joyed when they saw Him. The disciples were over-joyed when they saw Him risen. So also all who would see Him. Yes; Joy to the world. The Lord has come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature and all of us sing.
Therefore, let us go and see that which the angels have told us, so that once we see, we go praising and glorifying God to whom be Glory now and for ever. Amen.
The Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem
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