"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made..." (The Gospel According to Saint John I.i-3 ESV) Christmas Day traditionally has had three masses associated with its proper celebration. The first, what we know as the "Midnight mass" was associated with the birth of Jesus- the gospel readings focused on the birth of Jesus.
The second mass is the "mass at the break of day", and this mass focuses on the visit of the shepherds...it is the story of the angels coming to the shepherds in the fields and announcing the birth of Jesus...and with the announcement, the shepherds go and see the baby Jesus.

In these two readings, we get the majority of our hymns and carols for the Christmas season.  They are wonderful, beautiful, moving stories that give us a very visual and heartfelt insight into the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

These are the readings from which most of our Christmas pageants come...for it is a story that calls us to retell it year after year...it is a story that we want our children to know.

The third mass of the day is a bit different than the first two...it focuses on the incarnation...it is the Gospel of John that we heard this morning.  The Gospel of John is not the sweet and moving story of the virgin Mary, her beloved spouse Joseph and the lowly infant Jesus, surrounded by the shepherds and beasts of the field.

Rather the gospel for this morning, John's Gospel, is a theological treatise on the Incarnation of the Logos, the Son of God- Jesus the Christ.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God..."

St. John wants us to know that Jesus was more than just a mere lowly infant born in a stable to humble parents.  St. John wants us to know that the Word of God, Jesus, is eternal.  

John wants us to know that there has never been a time when Jesus was not...and that the Son of God was there and active during the creation.  Above all, St. John wants us to know that Jesus is Divine, is God.  

This is a very cosmic look at the birth of Jesus...and it causes us to think on the lowly infant in a different light.  Instead of thinking of the cute infant...we are made to think about the fact that: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  We are made to think on the fact that God became human and walked among us.  

And this is a strange thought.  God Almighty, the Creator of the world, walking among us.  That God would take on human flesh and walk among His creation is an odd thought and one we must ponder with some difficulty.  

If you had to imagine what that might look like, God walking among us, what thoughts come to your mind?  

When I think about that image, fantastical things come to my mind...images that conjure up visions of grandeur, of magnificence.  One of the most impressive visions was created by C.S. Lewis, in his Chronicles of Narnia- where he imagined the Son of God as Aslan, the great and terrible Lion that struck fear into evil and caused good things to become great.

One thing about Lewis' vision was that everyone knew who Aslan was, and everyone and either feared or loved Aslan, the mighty Lion...but in this morning's Gospel, we are lead to understand the Incarnation of God in a different manner.  

John writes: "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world knew Him not."

So, as John tells it, no one seemed to notice...or no one paid attention...or at the least, the visions of C.S. Lewis and Aslan were not entirely accurate.
And this leads us to ask a question...why would the world know not when God becomes man and walks among us?

It seems as if this event would shake the world...would forever change the world in ways in which it would be impossible not to know that God had indeed walked among His creation.

But yet, the world knew Him not...

And while we could contemplate all the reasons the Incarnation of the Son of God would remain hidden or unknown to the world...one idea sticks out in my mind...

"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not..." perhaps it was not so much that this event was hidden or secret, as much as it is that it was not acknowledged- meaning, that even though this event was known...even though it was seen and understood...persons refused to stop and pay attention...people refused to change their lives and pay God homage.

And in our own day, is the same not true?  He is known not...because the world refuses to slow down...refuses not to be self-absorbed...refuses to make amendments and alter the course of life...the world will not receive Him because it does not want to receive Him.

We are a world that is self-absorbed with material goods...with individualism...with our own lives...many refuse to accept God because many are to concerned only with self interest and refuse to sacrifice them to God.

This is indeed an odd image to ponder.  God walking among us...and we not paying Him any attention.  

The image of God in the flesh, the God who created everything, walking in the midst of His creation and His creation in turn, ignoring His presence.

And while it might seem an odd vision...I think it is true.  People are often very quick to ignore things that require them to get out of the safety and concerns of their own little world...and God coming into our midst certainly qualifies as an event that would require us to pay attention to something outside of ourselves.

I think this is something we can all relate to in some way...for who of us has not seen something or someone in our lives that has asked of us that we lend a hand, help out, or befriend...and we in turn, lower our head, and try to ignore...try not to call attention to ourselves...try to avoid...who has not had the chance to be good, and ran away for fear of the cost?

So, God breaks into His world, and we put our heads down, try and ignore...try and pretend that He is not really here...that He is not really asking something of us...so we ignore God and go about our own little lives, paying attention only to ourselves.

So in that way, Christmas asks us not to do that...we get three different insights...the birth of Jesus, the visit of the Shepherds, and the treatise on the Incarnation of the Word of God.

These things call us to recognize that God has come amoung us...and that we in our turn must look outside our own world...that we must, if we are to live, must look at this event and pay attention...that we must dedicate ourselves to recognizing this God who walks among us...and in knowing God among us...we must put Him first.

So, this morning, let us lift up our heads...let us see the fact that God has indeed come among us...and let us not ignore, but tremble at the greatness of this event.