Christmas 2016

Christmas 2016
1. The re-enactment of the first Christmas, so masterfully performed by our children, reminds
us of the birth of Jesus much better than I could possibly do.
Gods initiatives to save us are called the History of Salvation. Every year at Christmas we
commemorate the fulfillment of the History of Salvation: God became a human being to free us from evil
and bring us peace.
The book of Genesis, in the story of creation, teaches us that God created human beings in his image.
He did not program Adam and Eve like computers. He did not create them as slaves. He made them
free, gave them control of nature, and asked for their cooperation.
But later in the story of the Garden of Eden, we learn that Adam and Eve refused to cooperate with God
and expressed their freedom by disobeying God. That disobedience alienated humanity from God,
brought evil into the world and the outcome was violence, wars, and the exploitation of nature.
God could have abandoned the ungrateful humans, but he did not: He stepped into human history,
selected Abraham, choose the people of Israel and sent them prophets to guide them.

2. On Christmas, we celebrate Gods ultimate act to save us and free us from evil: He came
down from heaven and joined the human race, by becoming a baby. Jesus was fully human
and fully divine.
The sin of the first human had been a sin of disobedience. Jesus fixed that by living a life of constant
obedience to God. He remained obedient to God and to the mission God had given him, even though he
knew that he was risking his life by standing up to misconceptions, injustices and lies.
He taught us by words and actions that God is love and that we please God by cooperating with him to
bring peace on earth, by respecting human being and nature, and by loving our neighbors as brothers
and sisters
The Christmas message is that God is with us and God wants us to live in peace.
Peace can not be achieve by imposing our will on everyone else, but by respecting the rights and dignity
of every human being, and by being good stewards of our environment.
It is not impossible to achieve peace and live in peace. Everything is possible as long as we have good
will, and are willing to cooperate with God. Merry Christmas!