Sermon Dec 28th 2025
... as idyllic as it sounds, Christmas as a family celebration rarely lives up to our hopes and expectations...
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In the popular imagination, Christmas is a family celebration, a joyous tradition rooted in the family, or so we have been told from our earliest years. We try with all our might to make our Christmas celebrations warm and affectionate, a true family affair. The children come home, we visit our relatives, and we exchange gifts to ensure everyone in the family receives something. But as idyllic as it sounds, Christmas as a family celebration rarely lives up to our hopes and expectations.
The Illusion of the Family Christmas
Despite our best efforts, the concept of the extended family is becoming less recognizable in our society. The central hub of the family just does not hold us together as it once did. There are family alienations, unsettled disputes, hurt feelings, old grudges, and broken promises. We live with them all year, but they become more painful during the holiday season. I find myself pretending to relive the Christmas experiences of my childhood, but those past days cannot be relived. As a family affair, Christmas rarely meets the hopes and expectations we tie to it.
A New Understanding of Family
One reason Christmas often fails to meet expectations as a family celebration is that many people feel they have no family—widowed or divorced individuals, orphans, single individuals, and others. Whether by choice or circumstance, many of us have little or nothing in the way of family. So, if Christmas is merely a family affair, where does that leave those without family? While there are indeed beautiful family celebrations, the true message of Christmas transcends the nuclear family.
God's Family: The Core of Christmas
The message of Christmas is about the creation of a new family with the advent of God's love in human form. This is a family held together, not by tradition or blood, but animated by God's limitless grace. It is a family that death and separation cannot destroy—God's family into which we have been adopted through baptism.
The Power to Become God's Children
I've experienced helplessness before, like the time I was at the steering wheel of a car that hit ice and veered off the road. It's that same sort of powerlessness we often feel in our personal and family lives. We are powerless before the death of a loved one, broken marriages, illnesses, and more. In such moments, the Evangelist John provides hope. The gift of Christmas is the power to become God's children amid our helplessness.
Embracing Our New Family
The tragedy of the weeks after Christmas is the realization that our families may not be the joyous gatherings we wish for. But the good news is that we are embraced within a new family, blessed with the power to become members through God's kindness. This is the family that truly matters, the one on which we can depend.
Conclusion: An Invitation to God's Family
This Christmas season, God invites us to become part of that family. It's the family that offers us healing, grace, and unconditional love—a gift beyond compare. Thanks be to God for this profound and sustaining family.