Homily for the 1st Sunday after Christmas , 2021

Homily for Christmas 1, 2021

Fr. Tony Melton

Christ the King Anglican

In the very beginning, God created the world. And the world was bright and beautiful and perfect, like this orange here. And then he created the living things in the world, and they were bright and beautiful and perfect, like this orange. And then He created man and woman, humans like you, and they, too, were bright and beautiful and perfect, just like this…orange. Adam and Eve had a perfect heart, a heart that wanted good things, a heart that did not die, and was never sad, or mad, or bad. When you look at this orange think of that kind of heart, the heart that God made, a bright and beautiful and….perfect…heart.

Most of you know the story already. Adam and Eve sinned. They ate the forbidden fruit, and the whole world changed. Say, “What changed?” I’m so glad you asked. It is complicated, for sure. But one way to understand it is that their hearts began to rot, and shrivel, and shrink. In other words, they stopped being bright and beautiful and perfect. Now, their hearts became dark and ugly and wicked. And so the world became dark and ugly and wicked. So wicked, in fact, that God tried to wash it all away with a huge flood. This is Adam and Eve’s heart after they sinned, and this is the world after their hearts turned dark and ugly and wicked.

Do you like the orange that I’ve given you? It is not a nice orange. It is small and shriveled and squishy and rotten. Every time we sin, our heart gets a little more rotten, and everyone sins. Everyone’s heart is a little bit like that orange, some really rotten, some a little rotten.

There was little hope that anyone could have a heart again like this one: big and bright and beautiful and perfect. That is, until Jesus was born. You see, Jesus is the one that made the world in the beginning. Jesus is the one that made Adam and Eve. Jesus made their hearts, which were bright and beautiful and perfect. So, He became a baby. God became a baby. And inside that baby was not this heart, like you and I have. Jesus had this heart. A perfect heart.

I’m still learning all that this miracle means, but I can say this: Jesus was born to give you a new heart. He came to take away the small, shriveled, and rotting heart out of your chest and to give you a heart that is bright and beautiful and perfect.

But here is the deal, you can’t keep your heart and have the heart that Jesus gives. You have to make a trade. You have to give Jesus your small, shriveled, and rotting heart, and He will give you a bright and beautiful and perfect heart. It will take a long time for your heart to change from this to this, but the change starts right away. And, it means you can’t live for yourself and obey your old heart. You have to live for God and obey Him. That is what having a new heart means. For most of you, God has already started to turn your heart from this to this, because you have been baptized.

Aren’t you happy that Jesus was born? Are you thankful that God is remaking your heart and the world from this to this? So that you remember what God has done for you, and is doing in you even right now, I’d like to make a trade. It is like the trade that you make with God. You give Him your heart, your whole life, and He gives you His heart and His life. Would you like to make a trade?

For the adults:

Christmas is a time in the Church year where we think about the great exchange: “God become a son of man, so that the men might become sons of God.” When the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity became a human person, the entirety of mankind gained a brother. Those who love this new brother are adopted into the new family of God. They have God as their Father. They constitute a renewed humanity. Their love for Jesus their brother is the ticket for the change that occurs within their soul. They are made whole, and bright, and beautiful, and perfect.

I’ve sat in front of these Propers of ours all week, trying to comprehend what the Incarnation means. The Great Exchange of the Heart. Christ our Brother. Adopted as Sons and Daughters of God. But I also thought about what this means for us to do. And on this one I struggled in particular.

In short, I’m not sure the Incarnation bids us to do anything. God was born as a baby. Our status as adopted sons of the Father is contingent on our love for Jesus, our brother. So, I guess if there is an application, it is to love Jesus. During Christmas, things slow down. We are able to contemplate the gift that God has given us, and how much it cost Him. This great exchange was no simple transaction.

So the words that come to mind this week for me are cherish, give thanks, celebrate, rest. God has become a son of man that men might become sons of God. Alleluia. Alleluia.