John Seleden’s
FOR THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY
Sermon 185
(1) That day is called the birthday of the Lord on which the
Wisdom of God manifested Himself as a speechless Child and the
Word of God wordlessly uttered the sound of a human voice. His
divinity, although hidden, was revealed by heavenly witness to
the Magi and was announced to the shepherds by angelic voices.
With yearly ceremony, therefore, we celebrate this day which saw
the fulfillment of the prophecy: 'Truth is sprung out of the
earth: and justice hath looked down from heaven.'[1]
Truth, eternally existing in the bosom of the Father, has sprung
from the earth so that He might exist also in the bosom of a
mother. Truth, holding the world in place, has sprung from the
earth so that He might be carried in the hands of a woman.
Truth, incorruptibly nourishing the happiness of the angels, has
sprung from the earth in order to be fed by human milk. Truth,
whom the heavens cannot contain, has sprung from the earth so
that He might be placed in a manger. For whose benefit did such
unparalleled greatness come in such lowliness? Certainly for no
personal advantage, but definitely for our great good, if only
we believe. Arouse yourself, O man; for you God has become man.
'Awake, sleeper, and arise from among the dead, and Christ will
enlighten thee.'[2]
For you, I repeat, God has become man. If He had not thus been
born in time, you would have been dead for all eternity. Never
would you have been freed from sinful flesh, if He had not taken
upon Himself the likeness of sinful flesh. Everlasting misery
would have engulfed you, if He had not taken this merciful form.
You would not have been restored to life, had He not submitted
to your death; you would have fallen, had He not succored you;
you would have perished, had He not come.
(2) Let us joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and
redemption. Let us celebrate the festal day on which the great
and timeless One came from the great and timeless day to this
brief span of our day. He has become for us ... justice, and
sanctification, and redemption; so that, just as it is written,
"Let him who takes pride, take pride in the Lord." '[3]
For, so that we might not resemble the proud Jews who, 'ignorant
of the justice of God and seeking to establish their own, have
not submitted to the justice of God/[4]
when the Psalmist had said: Truth Is sprung out of the earth/ he
quickly added: 'and justice hath looked down from heaven/[5]
He did this lest mortal frailty, arrogating this justice to
itself, should call these blessings its own, and lest man should
reject the justice of God in his belief that he is justified,
that is, made just through his own efforts. Truth Is sprung out
of the earth because Christ who said: 'I am the truth'[6]
was born of a virgin; and 'justice hath looked down from heaven'
because, by believing in Him who was so born, man has been
justified not by his own efforts but by God. Truth is sprung out
of the earth' because 'the Word was made flesh/ and 'justice
hath looked down from heaven' because 'every good and perfect
gift is from above.'[7]
Truth is sprung out of the earth/ that is, His flesh was taken
from Mary; and 'justice hath looked down from heaven' because no
one can receive anything unless it Is given to him from heaven.'[8]
(3) 'Having been justified therefore by faith, let us have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also
have access by faith unto that grace in which we stand and exult
in the hope of the glory ... of God.'[9]
With these few words, which you recognize as those of the
Apostle, it gives me pleasure, my brethren, to mingle a few
passages of the psalm [which we are considering] and to find
that they agree in sentiment. 'Having been justified by faith,
let us have peace with God' because 'justice and peace have
kissed'; 'through our Lord Jesus Christ' because 'truth is
sprung out of the earth'; 'through whom we also have access by
faith unto that grace in which we stand, and exult in the hope
of the glory of God' he does not say of our glory/ but 'of the
glory of God' because justice has not proceeded from us but
'hath looked down from heaven.'[10]
Therefore, 'let him who takes pride, take pride in the Lord'[11]
not in himself. Hence, when the Lord whose birthday we are
celebrating today was born of the Virgin, the announcement of
the angelic choir was made in the words: 'Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace among men of good will.'[12]
How can peace exist on earth unless it be because 'truth is
sprung out of the earth,' that is, because Christ has been born
in the flesh? Moreover, 'He Himself is our peace, he it is who
has made both one'[13]
so that we might become men of good will, bound together by the
pleasing fetters of unity. Let us rejoice, then, in this grace
so that our glory may be the testimony of our conscience[14]
wherein we glory not in ourselves but in the Lord. Hence the
Psalmist [in speaking of the Lord] has said: 'My glory and the
lifter up of my head.'[15]
For what greater grace of God could have shone upon us than
that, having an only-begotten Son, God should make Him the Son
of Man, and thus, in turn, make the son of man the Son of God?
Examine it as a benefit, as an inducement, as a token of
justice, and see whether you find anything but a gratuitous gift
of God.
[1]
Ps. 84.12.
[2]
Eph. 5.14
[3]
1 Cor. 1.30,31.
[4]
Rom. 10.3.
[5]
Ps. 84,12.
[6]
John 14.6.
[7]
John 1.14; James 1.17.
[8]
John 3.27.
[9]
Cf, Rom. 5.1,2. The text as quoted omits the word
filiorurn of the
Vulgate, and thus is closer to the Greek.
[10]
Ps. 84.11,12.
[11]
1. Cor. 1.30,31.
[12]
Luke 2.14.
[13]
Eph. 2,14.
[14]
Cf. 2 Cor. 1.12.
[15]
Ps. 3.4.
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Adoration of the Shepherds
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