WEBVTT

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Today's the day which we, anybody that's got

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a pulpit, is going to say things like that probably.

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To look back at 2020 and wring our hands. There

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are plenty of examples of difficulties, but that's

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not what I'm going to do. Yes, I'm sad in some

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ways, but that can't... overshadow, it can't

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eclipse the joy of the day. I remember when I

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first came to Santa Rosa as choir director, Christmas

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1985 it would have been, I'd been preparing since

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October. And the choir, just building a choir,

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there was not really a choir at the time. We

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practiced, we practiced, we practiced. Much more

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than these dear women had to practice because

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they've got it already under their belt. We got

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to Christmas Eve service and there was one person

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in the congregation. And that person wasn't even

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Orthodox. They were just visiting from out of

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town. So while this is sad that we can't all

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be gathering together because of course our faith

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is about the assembly and gathering the fellowship,

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that's much sadder. So let's... let's put things

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in perspective. I recently read an article about

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a woman and her family that drove 750 miles back

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in August of 2017 to get the best view of the

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total eclipse of the sun. They went from Pennsylvania

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to St. Louis. And when the eclipse happened,

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the family was in a park in St. Louis. The woman

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the wife, the mother of the family, wrote this.

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She said that the world darkened, the stars peaked

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in the sky, people cheered, the last sliver of

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sun vanished, and for a moment there was a diamond

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ring in the sky, a black hole ringed with white

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fire. An elderly black woman, threw up her hands

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and said, praise be to Jesus. Praise be to Jesus,

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she cried. She said, thank you, Lord, for letting

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us see this. You didn't have to do this, she

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said. You didn't have to make it so beautiful.

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The wonder and amazement there in the natural

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beauty, that phenomenon, rare as it might be.

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Imagine, brothers and sisters, that night in

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Bethlehem. Imagine the wonder, the joy, the divine

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fear. Not at a symphony playing carols, but the

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angels, the multitude of them singing, and the

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humble God in a feeding trough. The creator of

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all things. the one who managed that eclipse

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for the joy of those people and the wonder and

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praise of that elderly black woman, in a feeding

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trough as a sign of that which was to come, that

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now it's not a feeding trough, it's an altar,

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and he feeds us. Simple hill country people.

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Imagine the angels singing. The awe of the Magi

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from Persia bringing their gifts. So first, Christmas.

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There's wonder. There's joy, even in sorrow.

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There's worship. Here, for us, in this place,

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this today is Bethlehem. This altar. is the cave.

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Listen to the hymn that we heard recently. Because

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this is the source of the joy, what this hymn

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tells us. Without this, then what is it? It's

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a commercial miracle of our society and a wonderful

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Victorian celebration. But no, listen to these

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words. The Virgin Mary's womb, is a spiritual

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paradise planted with the divine fruit. If we

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eat of it, we shall live forever and not die

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like Adam. Christ comes to restore the image

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which he made in the beginning. Christ comes

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to restore the image in us, covered and disfigured.

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and sinful. He comes to restore the image which

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he made in the beginning. Could it be that we

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hear those words about immortality, eating and

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living forever, and God's image being restored

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in us, shined and enlivened and raised up? Could

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it be we let those words quietly pass us by?

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Perhaps momentarily, maybe, puzzled, By why we

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don't encounter the same depth of wonder and

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joy as that hymn writer did. That the shepherds

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knew. That the magi experienced. That the saints

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before us knew. That those who wrote the Christmas

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carols knew. That the folk songwriters knew.

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It's not empty hyperbole. It's not exaggeration.

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Let me say. Those words stand about, those words,

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Christ comes to restore the image which he made

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in the beginning, those words stand in judgment

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against us. Not judgment to condemn us, but to

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set us right, to inspire us, to truly believe

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that Jesus Christ, the one born of the Virgin

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in Bethlehem, is truly God. Become man. And we

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are joined together with him. And as St. Paul

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put it in Galatians, you are now children of

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God. And the Holy Spirit has been poured into

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your heart. In the Holy Spirit, every soul is

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quickened and made radiant. And through cleansing

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is made radiant and bright. Nothing can dilute

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or reduce the power of God to save us or his

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presence, his rescue mission for this world.

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Nothing in the year 2020. No personal sorrows.

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The joy remains in the sorrow. Nothing in 1914,

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nothing in 1917, nothing in the ghettos in Poland

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in 1939, nothing in the civil rights marches

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in the early 60s and late 50s or whenever can

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eliminate God from this world now. He is here.

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The crucifixion couldn't get rid of him. Herod

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couldn't get rid of him. Don't banish the Lord.

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Don't eclipse him from your heart. by sin or

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forgetfulness or sorrow or frustration or anxiety.

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God didn't send someone to tell us something.

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That happened in the Old Testament. He himself

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came to call upon us and save us. Woe to the

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one who thinks he can craft a life free of tribulation

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and sorrow. conflict, troubles, and suffering.

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It will be the case that we encounter those things

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in this life, but not in the next life. The joy

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and the wonder and the amazement cannot be something

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just found in our senses, but has to be something

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within us. The Holy Spirit has been given to

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us in our hearts, says St. Paul. And we are children

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of God, crying upon him, Abba, Father. So now,

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as I said, the manger of Bethlehem has multiplied

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across the world into thousands and thousands

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of altars. And the infant Jesus in swaddling

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clothes awaits us now in a new and radically

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incredible way. a humble way also, the holy mysteries

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of the Eucharist. So we may be recipients of

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that joy and wonder and that humility, knowing

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that Christ is God and he is with us to save

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us from death, to save us from sin, to bring

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us to the Father. I will not try to convey this

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joy to you with my words. It is inexpressible

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by any words, says St. Theophanes the recluse.

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He says, the work that was accomplished by the

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Lord who is born touches each one of us. Those

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who enter into communion with him receive from

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him freedom, healing, peace. They possess all

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of this and taste of its sweetness. There is

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no reason to say rejoice. to those who experience

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this within themselves, for they cannot help

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but rejoice. But to those who do not experience

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this, why say rejoice? They cannot rejoice. No

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matter how many times you say rejoice at your

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deliverance to one bound hand and foot, he will

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not rejoice. Whence can the joy of healing come

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to one who is covered with wounds of sin? How

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can one who is threatened by the thunder of God's

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wrath breathe freely? There is deliverance. You

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say to that person, go to the infant wrapped

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in swaddling clothes in the manger, the humble

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manger, says St. Theophon, and seek deliverance

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from him. From all the evils that encompass you,

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for this infant is Jesus Christ our God, the

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Savior of the world. Christ is born.