In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
We are celebrating today the Birth of Jesus Christ. This Birth is not like any other Birth because Jesus Christ is not merely an ordinary human being. He is not a philosopher. He is not a social reformer. He is the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. There is a big difference between Him and any other great person who has ever been before or since, because He is both God and Man.
As we have heard, when the Archangel Gabriel came to the Mother of God and said that she would bear a Child, it was by the Holy Spirit that she conceived this Child and not by a human being. God took flesh. The Mother of God said “Yes” to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit came to her. God emptied Himself in His love for us. Even after 2,000 years, we do not understand His love very well.
For some reason we have difficulty accepting that He truly does love us, and that He is, in fact, with us. Human beings are always trying to limit Jesus Christ from being God and Man to being an ordinary human being, a nice person with nice ideas (and perhaps even a competent philosopher), but nothing more than that. If Jesus Christ were only that, there is no point in our being here today. Philosophers come and go. Their ideas come and go. They live. They die, and their ideas very often die with them. Jesus Christ is not a philosopher.
People tried to make Jesus Christ into a politician, and they tried to build kingdoms upon Him. That does not work, because Jesus Christ did not come to establish a kingdom on the earth. Why would He ? He is the King of the whole universe. We do not understand. People try to say that Jesus Christ is a social reformer because He cared about the poor. He cared about widows and orphans, and looked after them, yes. However, He is not a social reformer. Jesus Christ does not bring systems to us ; He brings love to us.
There are many people who are disillusioned with life and with faith, sometimes. We often hear (especially in North America) that people do not want to belong to an organised religion. I always say, and many others as well are saying : “Then come to the Orthodox Church because we are not organised. It looks as though we are organised and that there is a system, but it is not so”. Because Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, it is His love that operates the Church, that gives life to the Church. It is His love that makes everything happen in the Church. It is His love that saves us.
It does not matter if one might be a bishop or a patriarch. None of us can make things happen just the way we want because we think we are so good, and such good organisers. The Holy Spirit is much greater than any of us. The Holy Spirit guides the Church. Even bishops and patriarchs must be obedient to the Holy Spirit. They must be obedient to Jesus Christ, Himself.
Jesus Christ is born today. He puts flesh on His love. In order to prove to us His love, He empties Himself. He shows us by His life how you and I are supposed to live. It is leadership by example. He empties Himself for the care, for the love of other people. Emptying Himself in love, He gives Himself to you and to me. We come crying to Him all the time, asking Him for help, and He gives us help. Many times when we are not even thinking to ask for help from Him, He is giving us help. He is sending His angels to protect us in dangerous traffic, for instance. He is helping us to remember things that we would otherwise forget. He is sending people to us to encourage us when we are feeling depressed. We do not even remember to ask, and He still sends.
This is what we are giving thanks to God for today : the love of Jesus Christ, who emptied Himself, and still empties Himself in His humility, bringing life wherever He goes, bringing hope wherever He goes, bringing joy wherever He goes. This is what He gives to you and to me. He asks of you and of me that we share this love, this joy, this hope, and also this peace.
Canada is a difficult country in which to live as an Orthodox Christian. It is difficult in Canada. Nevertheless, Jesus Christ is our true hope. As we sang last night : “God is with us”. Jesus Christ is with us. If we keep our hearts directed to Him, if we keep asking Him to help us in everyday small things, if we ask for His blessing on everything that we are doing, He will continue to be with us. He will give us the strength that we need to persevere as Christians in this difficult country and in this difficult life. Because He is the Word of God, His Word is truth. He, Himself, is the Truth (see John 14:6). He says to you and to me at the end of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew : “‘I am with you always, even to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:20). He speaks the truth because He is the Truth. We can trust Him. It is important for us to turn to Him.
Let us lift up our hearts and rejoice today in the Birth of Jesus Christ, the Birth of Love. Let us glorify our Saviour, the embodiment of love, in the whole of our lives, and do as Saint Herman of Alaska teaches us to do. He says : “From this day forward, from this hour, from this minute, let us love God above all, and do His holy will”. In doing so, we will glorify the all-holy Trinity : Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages.