“Today is the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.” This is the last sentence of the proclamation of the birth of Christ I will say of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This sentence is a reminder that Jesus was born roughly 2000 years ago, but his nativity and his presence is now and will be forever. Jesus says, in the last verse of the book of Matthew, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Then he ascended into heaven. It might sound strange to say, “I am with you always” and then immediately leave and it is strange. If anyone else were to say it would not be true.
On Christmas Eve we celebrate the incarnation of Emmanuel, which means God with us and that means that God is always with us. When you were baptized you were given the Holy Spirit just as the apostles were during Pentecost. He came in a whirlwind for the disciples and now he comes to you in the waters of baptism, and he is gently guiding you toward the father and the son every day of your life.
Also in Matthew Chapter 28, Jesus gives his disciples a command to baptize the nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christ charged his disciples to spread the Gospel to all the nations and he did just that. That charge did not stop with them, it was passed down to us and now we are charged with the same commission they were. We might think that everyone has heard the gospel by this point, but that is not true. An increasing number of adults in the United States have never heard the gospel and now it is time to do the same mission that the disciples did. To proclaim to the world that God is with us now and forever. Every day is a celebration of the incarnation. Every day we celebrated God being with us. He was never not with us; he was always with us and today is the nativity of the lord Jesus Christ and he is with us until the end of the age.
Amen

Pastor Jim

Rev. James FitzGerald