GOD'S GRACE IS REVEALED
a sermon based on Titus 2:11-14
by Rev. Randy Quinn

            Well, here we are again.

            I don't know about you, but I cannot begin to count how many times I have gathered with other Christians like yourselves to hear the story told about Jesus being born.

            How many times have we heard it read at Christmas Eve Services?  How many times have we seen it re-enacted by the Children in Sunday School programs?  How many times have we sung the carols of Christmas and proclaimed the good news that Jesus Christ was born today?

            And while the story is the same, it never gets old, does it?  It still captures our imagination as we try to depict the scene in our own minds.  We see Mary and Joseph.  We hear the angels singing.  We may even catch a glimpse of the shepherds out in their fields before they dash off to Bethlehem to see what marvel God had wrought.

            And most of us will have set the story aside within the week as we begin to make preparations for the next holiday, the next event, the next party.  Many of us will be ushering in a New Year a week from tonight without giving a second thought to the baby whose birth we are celebrating tonight.

            Tragic on one hand, to be expected on the other.

            We like the distance that time has given us so that we are somewhat removed from the birth of Jesus.  We like it because it allows us the freedom to leave him in the Manger until next year.

            We really don't want to think about Jesus with a dirty diaper.  We really can't imagine Jesus as a two-year old.  We don't want to hear about his rebellious teenage years.

            We like the distance that keeps us from knowing too much about Jesus and we like the distance that keeps us from being too involved in his life.

            I suspect the story would be much harder to forget if it happened in our own lifetime.  Imagine what would happen if while I was talking a young girl ran in here and announced that her sister had just delivered a baby in the rest room.

            Now that would be exciting!

            Some would rush to the mother's side to see if she needed anything.  Others would rush to the baby and see if he was OK.  Others would begin looking for blankets or warm clothes for both mother and child.  Surely someone would begin looking for diapers for the poor infant!

            We would look at his little feet and comment on his cute little nose.  And we would find ways to care for this unexpected surprise, wouldn't we?

            And I suspect that every year we would look forward to the mother and her son coming and telling us how they are doing.  We may even have gifts for them each year.

            And then, all-too-soon, he would be a grown man.

            His birth in our church would be talked about as long as any of us are around and then another 20 or 30 years at least.

            We would all be changed by it.

            Sometimes babies do change us, don't they?

            I know that this past year has brought change to Ronda and I.  In April we became grandparents.  Now we have two grandchil­dren:  Kaylee and Keith.  We are not entirely sure of what it means to be grandparents yet, but we are learning.

            We have learned that it means we don't have to worry about Keith's dirty diapers.  That is a job for mom and dad, not grandma or me.  (Unless of course we WANT to change his diaper.)

            As Kaylee and Keith grow up, our role will change, I sus­pect.  We will become advisor and friend.  We will be there to listen without meddling.  We will be sought out for advise or just as a willing ear to talk.

            The births of Kaylee and Keith have changed us in ways that we don't yet know, but we do know that life is and will be different for us from now on.

            I would like to suggest to you that the birth of Jesus can also have that kind of impact on our lives if we open ourselves up to the grace of God.

            You see, Paul, in his epistle to Titus, understood that Jesus was the ultimate revelation of God's grace.  He wanted Titus to know that this same grace could be revealed through him (and us) if we recognized the grace in our lives and allowed it to be expressed in the way we live our lives.

            If we were to take Paul seriously, the birth of Jesus would be a life-changing event.  We would not only marvel at the gift of God who was born that night, but we would also become the gift of God to the world we know today!

            Between the years 280 and 343, there lived a man who under­stood this as well as anyone I know of.  He grew up in what is now Turkey and studied Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine.  He could articulate his faith as well as anyone.  He knew how to express his understanding of the incarnation in terms that scholars understood.

            But he is remembered, not for his words, but for his deeds.

            (Preachers read his story and are reminded that people remember what we do better than they remember what we say.)

            He became well known in his day when he was appointed as Bishop of Myra.  There he gained a reputation for being generous and for defending the innocent and the wronged in society. 

            His actions were so profound that the church later recog­nized him as a Saint!

            One of the stories that has been told about this Saint, took place while he was Bishop of Myra.  He heard about a man who was very poor and had finally decided to abandon his three daughters to a life of sin.  That night the bishop went by the man's house and flung a bag of gold into his window without being seen by anyone.

            Clearly, this Bishop understood what it meant to give in response to the gift that God had given to him!

            Of course the legend of Saint Nicholas has grown some since then, but it is based on the fact the Bishop Nicholas under­stood what it meant to be changed by the Christ child who was born on Christmas day.

            I believe that Christmas is a time when we see the grace of God revealed in Jesus.  But it is also a time to recognize the grace of God in our own lives and to allow it to be revealed through us as well.

            When we do this, the Christmas story is more than the telling of the birth of Jesus.  It becomes our story as well.  It is the story of God's grace revealed then and there as well as here and now.

            Let us celebrate the grace of God revealed this night.

            Let us live our lives in such a way that the grace of God may be revealed through us throughout the coming year.

            Amen.