John 1:1-18; Christmas Eve

To grasp the very gift and meaning of Christmas, I often turn to this story that is really a parable by Soren Kierkegaard.

Once upon a time there lived in a great castle a king so powerful and wealthy he was adored and feared by all in his kingdom. Alas, in this kingdom, there lived a beautiful woman, a lowly maiden, with whom he was smitten. Knowing the wide gap between them, the king thought hard about what he would do to win the heart of this woman.

At first, he thought of going to her as he was, as king. However, he knew that if he went to her in all his kingly power and glory, with “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men,” she would instantly be his for the taking. She would be dazzled by his wealth and power, or she would be intimidated by the horses and men. She would say “yes” out of enchantment or she would not dare say “no” out of fear.

The king knew this and pondered deeply how love would ever work if love were not free or if love were driven by fear. Love that was merely enchanted was not love, and love that was afraid was also not love. 

And so he thought of another way. He would disguise himself as a beggar. Coming to her as a poor man, with all his kingliness hidden from her, he might be more sure of her love (if she ever came to love him back). If he pretended to be poor like her, he would know better if her love was true.

Then again, he thought, if he did just that, he wouldn’t be true to her and to himself. What kind of love would thrive in deception, what love would that be if it were based on a lie? 

As the king agonized over what he would do, he eventually came upon the one and only way he was ever going to win her heart. And that was for him to remove every manner of pretense and divest himself of all his kingly wealth and power. The only way was to leave the comfort of his castle so he could live and share the life of his beloved. To love her and to live with her happily ever after, he decided to disarm and let go of power.

Dear friends, the Christmas story is a love story. But it is more than just a fairytale a la Cinderella or some familiar telenovela. Tonight when we draw close to the Child in a manger, we glimpse our king and our God. We come to realize the radical and irreversible choice God has made to love us.

May it awaken our faith to see Emmanuel, God with us, becoming vulnerable as we are, taking on our flesh, our joys and tears, our dreams and pain, even our dying. May it calm our fears to hold this Child’s hand in our hand while we walk the darkness of our world. May it warm our love to feel the heart of God beating in ours. And may it quicken our hope to catch the breath of this infant in a manger, breathing new life into us once more.

Out of love, a king chooses to disarm and let go of power. As God has so loved us, so are we to love one another.

*delivered at The Cenacle, 24th December 2024

**image from the Internet