Homily Two on the Nativity of Christ
By St. John of Kronstadt
By St. John of Kronstadt
"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy
which will be to all people. For there is born to you
this day in the city of David a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10–11).
I greet you, beloved brethren, with the ineffable gift of love and mercy of God to us sinners - with the appearance of the Son of God on earth, who came down from heaven by the all-good will of God our Father for the sake of salvation, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. Christ was born - glorify Him; Christ came from heaven - greet Him; Christ is on earth - ascend. Thus, Christ is on earth, and you from the earth ascend in your thoughts and hearts to heaven; for Christ came for us, to raise us from earth to heaven, to the eternal abodes of paradise. For this reason the God on high descended to earth, that He might raise us to heaven, our Holy Mother the Church tells us. Sing with joy, people, the Nativity of Christ the Savior. But that our joy may be more sublime, clearer and stronger, let us reflect, brethren, on the greatness of Him who was born of the Virgin; and to this we will add how we can worthily meet Him.
Who then is this Child, whom the Most Holy Virgin Mary holds in her most pure arms? It is God, the very Being, who brought everything from non-existence into existence, who by His power upholds all creation and by His providence builds the world. This is the highest Artist, who, having created all visible creation from the four elements, composed the annual cycle of the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. This is the Creator and God of spirits and of all flesh; all the intelligent angelic powers tremble before Him; the sun sings to Him, the moon glorifies Him; the stars are inherent in Him; the light listens to Him; the abysses of water, and air, and the abyss of hell tremble at Him; all sources of water work for Him. He stretched out the heavens; He founded the earth; He enclosed the sea with sand; He adorned the earth with flowers; He makes all grains of bread and all the fruits of the earth to grow; He poured out the air for the breathing of creatures; He forms infants in the wombs of their mothers; He is the Nourisher of every creature! The angelic powers serve Him; the archangelic hosts worship Him out of fear of His unapproachable glory, the many-eyed Cherubim and six-winged Seraphim, standing and flying around His throne, cover their faces... This indescribable God, beginningless and unspeakable, has now come to us on earth, having taken the form of a slave. A wondrous miracle! God took the nature of a human slave and became completely like us, except for sin.
Why such condescension, such extreme humiliation? For our salvation, (the Church answers). We were perishing under the dark power of the devil, we sat in fear and the shadow of death; we were held in the bonds of hades... And now the most merciful Master, who created us at first in His own image and likeness, not tolerating to see how the devil torments the human race by its separation from God, the darkening of its mind and heart, attachment to earthly things, various sins and iniquities and the delusion of idolatry, - came sovereignly to deliver us from the work of the enemy.
O, our most merciful Lord! For our salvation, You were born in a cave and laid in a manger, we, Your unworthy servants, glorify Your saving providence for us, and we worship Your Most Pure Mother in the flesh, who served such an awesome mystery.
But how should we, brethren, use for our salvation such a supreme gift of love and mercy to us from the Heavenly Father? How should we worthily receive the Son of God?
And what do children do when their parents bring them some precious, beautiful, and shining gift? They throw away their former toys and cling with all their hearts to this precious and beautiful gift, counting as nothing their former favorite things. What does a merchant do when he is looking for good pearls and finds one precious pearl? He goes and sells all that he has and buys it. So, beloved brethren, should we also act: in Bethlehem, in the cave, lies the only begotten Son of God, who took upon Himself human flesh and became incarnate for our salvation; there lies our precious pearl - Christ. As children leave their former amusements at the sight of a new and precious gift, so let us try to leave our attachments to earthly things, which are peculiar only to foolish children, and with all our hearts cling to God, the Source of life. As a merchant, seeking good pearls and having found one pearl of great price, goes and sells all that he has and buys it: so let us exchange all earthly goods for one precious pearl – Christ (Matt. 13:45). Let us, with the Apostle, count everything as rubbish (Phil. 3:8), that we may acquire Christ and have Him dwell in our hearts. The gift is priceless: it is worth exchanging the whole world for it; for, having acquired Christ, we acquire eternal life and eternal blessedness; but having lost Him, we lose everything: we shall not see eternal life, and the wrath of God will abide upon us forever and ever.
And so, brethren, set your mind on things above, and not on things on the earth. Christ is on earth: lift up your thoughts and hearts to the heavens, and do not cling to earthly things, do not serve the lusts of the flesh. Otherwise, woe to us for our negligence about salvation. The more means of salvation have been given to us, the more will be exacted from us for our negligence about salvation, for our unwillingness to use these means. How will we escape the wrath of God? Oh, how many are negligent about salvation, to the great sorrow of Holy Mother Church! How many are perishing in their will, who reject the Savior and by their deeds count as nothing His descent to earth, His life on earth, His teaching, His miracles, His sufferings and death for us. The proud and those following their arrogant mind count as nothing His descent to earth, considering in the blindness of their proud mind and heart His coming unnecessary; unbelievers - they regard His coming as nothing; those who are devoted with all their hearts only to earthly things, the money-loving, the envious, the feuding, the drunkards - they regard His descent to earth as nothing; all incorrigible and unrepentant sinners - they regard His coming as nothing. But woe to those who trample the Son of God with their lack of faith and unbelief and passion for earthly things: they will be devoured by the eternal fire of Gehenna; all unbelievers will have their portion in the lake burning with fire and brimstone (Rev. 21:8).
Behold, I see you now in all things as pious and celebrating the Nativity of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. Oh, if only all would truly celebrate! Oh, if only all would spend the coming feast in abstinence, purity, godly contemplation, in works of mercy, and not in drunkenness, carnal impurity, not in idle talk, in empty deeds and lewdness, not in gluttony and other various sins! Brethren, it is time for us to celebrate the feast wisely, piously, and not foolishly, not in any kind of impiety, not in a pagan manner.
May the Lord protect us all on this feast from every sinful deed. May our feast be pleasing to the Savior, so that the born Infant Christ may appear as our Savior through faith in Him, through our repentance and through our good deeds. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
