Homily Four on the Sunday Before the Nativity of Christ (St. John of Kronstadt)

 

Homily Four on the Sunday Before the Nativity of Christ

By St. John of Kronstadt

"And she shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus: 

for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21)

Beloved brethren, the world-saving feast of the Nativity of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh approaches. The Holy Church has already been pre-celebrating this wondrous mystery for several days — in Her daily services and in spiritual hymns. In them, the Church reminds us of our birth from God, of the loss of our adoption as sons through sin, of its return through repentance, of our mutual spiritual kinship, and of the spirit of love and mutual assistance. But, lest we celebrate this great feast of God's boundless love for us and His extreme condescension in a purely carnal manner, but rather spiritually, let us discuss for a moment why God became man, remaining God, and what does God's incarnation require of us? 

Having posed these two questions, I answer the first in accordance with the words of the Archangel to Joseph, the betrothed of the Most Holy Virgin: for this cause God became man, that He might "save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). That is why He is called Jesus, which means Savior. Thus, for our salvation, the Lord came down to earth and became man to restore in us the fallen image of God; the Son of God became the Son of man in order to make us sons of God from children of wrath and eternal destruction, as the Holy Apostle John the Theologian says, that we may be called and be children of God (1 John 3:1); man becomes God, that He may make Adam a god. O, ineffable love of God! O, unspeakable mercies of the Lord! And He, the most good, did this: He deified humanity in His chosen ones, cleansed them from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, sanctified them, glorified them, raised them from corruption to eternal life, and deemed them worthy of the blessed standing before the terrible throne of His glory. He deified you and me, brethren; He regenerated us with water and the Holy Spirit, sanctified us, adopted us as His own sons, gave us the promise of eternal life and eternal blessings that surpass all description, all imagination, and as an assurance, as a pledge of future blessings, He gave us even here, in our hearts, the Holy Spirit: "God sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out: Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6), says the Apostle. He feeds us with His flesh and blood, this pledge of immortality, for the Lord says: "He who eats My Flesh, and drinks My Blood, has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:54). 

Therefore, my brethren, the feast of the Nativity of Christ reminds us of our birth from God, of our adoption as sons to God, of our deliverance from sin and the promise to live for God, and not for sin, not for flesh and blood only, not for the world that lies in wickedness (1 John 5:19), not for this world's corruption, but for the incorruptible inheritance of heaven (1 Peter 1:4). So, you who are preparing to celebrate the Nativity of Christ, ask yourselves: is that spiritual birth from God, which we all received in baptism, intact within you? Do you always cherish your adoption as sons of God, the holiness of the Spirit, which you received in baptism? Have you drawn near to God through faith and love, as His beloved children? Have you loved one another, as befits children of God? Have you hated sin, all-ugly, all-wicked, all-destructive? Have you loved truth, every virtue? Have you loved the incorruptible, eternal life prepared in the land of incorruptibility, to which He who has now come to our corruptible earth calls us all? These are the questions we must ask ourselves now and resolve not only with our minds, but especially with our hearts and our very deeds. 

And in general, we must not allow ourselves to either celebrate or see off any Christian feast without deeply reflecting on its essence and purpose, and our obligation to it; that is, we must know the Christian meaning of every feast. Then every feast will be soul-saving for us. Otherwise, the enemy of our salvation will rob us, and God's feast will be transformed into a feast of flesh and blood, a feast of lawlessness, as often happens. 

Having resolved the first question: why did God become man, we have come to the answer of the second: what does the incarnation of the Son of God require of us? It demands that we remember and sacredly honor our own birth from God, and, if it has been defiled and suppressed by our sins, that we restore it through the tearful bath of repentance; that we restore and renew the fallen image of God within us, or the broken union of grace, truth, and holiness with God. The incarnation of the Son of God demands from us especially mutual love, humility, mutual assistance, and mutual service. For how can we not love one another, seeing such love from God for us? How can we not humble ourselves, seeing such humility, such voluntary abasement of the Son of God for our sake? How can we not serve one another in every way, when the Son of God Himself came to serve us and to give His life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28)?

Let us, brethren, prepare gifts for the newborn King, like the Magi, and instead of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, let us bring Him faith, hope, and love. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.