For the world, Christmas ended on midnight of December 26th.

In the Church, however at least where the liturgical calendar is still in use we still know that the twelve days of Christmas are more than a catchy carol; for the Church, Christmas ends today, January 5th. The world has been busy these last twelve days, putting away the tree and taking down the lights and finding room in the house for the presents; and so, I think, have we. But now that work is (hopefully) done, I think there is time enough on the last day of Christmas to take a few moments and reflect on the nature of the Yuletide season, and on the antithesis between the celebration of the birth of Christ and the secular meaning which the world has assigned to it. Please understand, I have nothing against that secular meaning in and of itself. I think there are few things more pleasant than stockings and ornaments and warm homes providing refuge against the cold, and I think the secular world has little better to offer than the goodwill and friendliness that it advocates every December, superficial and temporary though they often are. Moreover, Im a sentimental person, and I enjoy the sentimentalism that we as a country indulge in during these times, so long as we dont overdo it. But what we must consider is that all of the pomp and sentiment of the secular celebration of Christmas paints a picture. For the world, Christmas is a celebration of the warmth, the hope, and the generosity that are inherent in humanity. The peaceful, giving spirit of the holidays is presented as an ideal state which we can achieve simply by virtue of our common humanity. The season is held up as an almost utopian example of what society could be if only we would set aside our differences and band together or rather, what society would be if only we would act in accordance with the goodness within ourselves. Even Christ Himself, when He is mentioned in popular celebrations, is invoked merely as a symbol of the joy, hope, love, and fraternity that exists among men.

In fact, the whole secular idea of Christmas is constructed around the peace, goodwill toward men (Luke 2:14) without regard to the Gloria which precedes it or the ultimate meaning of the angelic praise. The qualities that it celebrates kindness, generosity toward the poor, an open heart are part of what we might call common decency; that is, part of the Law that God has written on the hearts of all men (Romans 2:14-15), and not of the divine revelation which was given specifically in Christ and, from Christ, to the apostles (Hebrews 1:1-2; John 20:21). To be sure, they are good qualities which we would all do well to imitate, but to celebrate them by themselves is humanist rather than Christian, and it does not touch on the true meaning of Christmas as the Church has known it. Quite the contrary, in fact. The joy of Christmas is not that the Christ-child has come as a banner and a call for good men to more fully realize their goodness. Instead, the joy of Christmas lies in the fulfillment of the words of Zechariah: That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fearbecause of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. (Luke 1:71-74, 7879) It is impossible to understand the coming of Christ without first understanding the situation described by the prophet. Just as Israel was a captive and a slave to Egypt and, later, to Babylon, so also all of humanity had been held captive to sin and death for thousands of years and needed to be saved by the Messiah (note that Matthew also, in his genealogy of Christ,

invites this comparison; Matthew 1:17, 21). We often use the title Redeemer in our praise of Jesus but do we know what that word means? A redeemer is one who delivers people out of captivity, or one who frees a slave. And we were slaves. Ever since the fall of our first parents, we were exiled by God from paradise and left to walk in darkness; condemned because of sin, doomed to suffer all the pangs of death, heirs of the promise of suffering and eternal separation from God, bound in chains to serve the very same evil for which we had been banished. All the qualities the world commends so highly the dignity of man, the indomitable human spirit, the goodnesses and mercies we (outwardly) delight in all these were as nothing in the eyes of God, rags tainted by sin, deserving and receiving His wrath rather than His praise. Those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Such were we. In our wretchedness we were stricken blind and left without a right relationship to the true God. We constructed gods and idols of our own making, both in stone and in the heart. We fought and warred and killed, spewing forth the poison of our hate on all our fellow men, friends and strangers alike. We built cities and raised armies and constructed temples, and in our supreme arrogance we thought that we had fulfilled the devils promise in the garden and had become like God. But we remained under judgment. The curse still took its toll. We labored in frustration and in hunger, we walked unsatisfied, wanting. Diseases struck us down, debauchery and tyranny reigned over all the earth. And at the end of our lost and lonely road stood the grim specter of death, waiting, calling, taking the great and the insignificant alike, ravaging creation with harsh, stern, unyielding justice. And it was justice. For above all else, our slavery to sin meant slavery to the Law; The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56). Gods Law was righteous and we were not. We could not escape its demands, for it was written on our hearts

and God confirmed its validity through many people and many signs, but neither could we hope to fulfill it. We were bound to its strict, just demands, bound to continue trying (and failing) to please God with an imperfect and sin-filled obedience, bound to all the curses which accompanied the breaking of the commandments (Deuteronomy 28:15-68; Genesis 3:17-19). This, of course, is Advent preaching, but I think it is necessary to repeat it in our culture, where its message even among Christians is often neglected. This is the backdrop against which we must understand Christmas. It is this world into which the Savior was born. He does not come to cultivate or encourage our native religious impulses or to spur us on to greater kindness or charity. No, the Prince of Peace comes to conquer. He comes to break the kingdom of sin, to satisfy the Law and abolish the curse of death; He comes, above all, to take Gods wrath upon Himself and secure the Fathers pardon for us rebels. And that is the joy of Christmas that Christ has come and has accomplished all of this, all that the Father sent Him to do. Satans power is broken, sin has been made right, death has had its sting removed, the Law cannot bind us any longer. The Heavenly King has pardoned us all, and through Jesus He has been reconciled to us, and calls us to leave the slavery of sin and be part of His Kingdom. That call goes out to all the world: Come out of her, my people; arise, be baptized, wash your sins away, and receive my name as my people (Revelation 18:4; Acts 22:16; Matthew 28:19). And for those who are baptized in His name, we must realize and delight in this simple fact: we are free. Free from the judgment, condemnation, and wrath of God; free from the fear of death and Hell; free from the power and dominion of Satan; free from the Law with its threats and terrors. Too many pastors in America preach as though Christians must continue trying to please God with their obedience, as though God will not approve of them if they dont conform

to the lifestyle of a good Christian. Christ did not come to make us slaves again. He did not come to bind us to a stricter code of ethics or a more rigorous set of moral precepts. Just the opposite! Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Romans 10:4). Because of Jesus, we are forever freed from the need to please God with our own good deeds or moral efforts, freed from the fear that we can never do enough to gain Gods favor. For that, at least, is true; we are unable, and always will be unable, to do enough righteous deeds to merit grace. Our old sinful nature will see to that. But because of Christ, we are free now to live and to act as those who already have Gods favor as a gift. We are free to love God and our neighbor, not because we are threatened, not because we are constrained or commanded, but because we desire to and because we have been given the grace of God in Christ. The Law, indeed, still condemns our sin and still convicts us whenever we forsake our liberty and return to our old master. But it does this, not so that we can try to make up for our transgressions by trying harder next time, but so that we can return to Christ and again take refuge in the perfect freedom which is ours through Baptism. This is the true meaning of the heavenly declaration at the first Christmas, so misappropriated by the world: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. The angels do not praise a subjective, man-centered peace that is created by our own efforts or that concerns our political divisions. Instead, the peace which the angels praise, the peace brought by Jesus Incarnation and His death, is peace between man and God. The Father has been reconciled to sinners. The old satanic foes have been stripped of their power. The exiles are pardoned and invited to return home, and God is even now calling a remnant to come out of Babylon. And all this through Jesus Christ, who came to earth as a man in order to make men free.

As Christmas comes to an end tonight, may this freedom bring us the peace which surpasses all human understanding, and may that peace guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And as a new year begins for the world, may we always remember the exhortation of the apostle: For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1).