A sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas
December 28, 2025, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, AR
Readings: Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 147 or 147:13-21; Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7; John 1:1-18
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
We heard those words from Isaiah today. A portion of what scholars call Third Isaiah, these words are spoken to a people who have returned home at last. After years in exile in Babylon, with no living memory of Jerusalem their home, God has brought them safely back. The land they left is a shambles; there is much work to be done; it is far from a finished or refined place. And yet they rejoice in the Lord. They rejoice because God has saved them–God has brought them back to himself and covered them with his own righteousness.
While Isaiah is speaking to that particular people and place in the 530s BC, Isaiah also speaks to a further off and greater vision. Isaiah’s vision is not only about the people returning to Jerusalem; it is also about God coming down to his people in Jesus Christ, about our promised redemption through the Incarnation of his Son. Isaiah by faith sees another day when God will come among us, the Light of the World, to scatter the darkness of sin and death. God will come among us; and through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, God will heal us, redeem us, and claim us as his own forever.
This is what St. Paul says in today’s reading from Galatians. Paul writes, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.” And this promise is not just for some, but for all, for Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, young and old. God claims us as his own and makes us children and heirs. And this is only possible because of Jesus Christ.
What Christ did not assume, he cannot heal. St. Gregory of Nazanianzus, a 4th century father of the Church, taught that. In order for Christ to heal–that is to say, redeem–all things, he must take on all things, and even our flesh. Jesus had to be 100% human. But in order for real redemption and healing to happen, Jesus had to be 100% God. Jesus does not just come among us in solidarity, to say, “I see what you’re going through.” Jesus comes among us to heal and redeem us, to make us children and heirs through his life, death, and resurrection. To say, “Things are now different for you belong to me.” And that can happen–that does happen because Jesus Christ is 100% human and 100% God. Or, as St. John’s gospel said today, “The Word became flesh and dwelled among us.”
My friend: Through Christ, you have been made a child of God and heir of heaven. You have been claimed by the God of the Universe. God has come among us to heal and redeem you, and his Spirit has been sent into your heart, crying, “Abba, Father.”
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Hallelujah. And Merry 4th day of Christmas.
Storied Grace 