Twelfth Day of Christmas

Thanksgiving Mass - January 5, 2012

Joshua 1:1-9/Psalm 110/Hebrew 11:32-12:2/John 15:1-16

Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines, D. D.

Twelve days of Christmas.  For many, Christmas is only one day. “Can we not culminate the activity in one?”  In so assigning twelve days, God speaks through the symbols which He does in much of the Scriptures. At Christmas, God gave us all that He had.

Twelve is symbolic of completeness, of fullness.  We don’t see Christmas as full because our minds are still not really reflecting the greatness of God.  Christmas reflects the fullness of God’s commitment and His love to His people.  It causes us to be secure in Him because He has given everything. He has held back nothing.  In so doing, we, now, then reach out to others.

For twelve days, we had our ability to touch the lives of many people because that is what God did for us.  In that fulfillment, in that security, in that serenity and that joy, we want others to also know the greatness of God.

We come together this evening to thank God and to celebrate the fact that we have been able to touch the lives of people during these twelve days saying to many, “God loves you.  God has not forsaken you.  God will not leave you.”

This is the beauty of Christmas.  We may take down the lights; we may put away the decorations; but you can’t take away what He has done in your heart.  Christmas is not a season.  Christmas is life!

We gather to celebrate.  We are trying to give attention to the things of God that really belongs to them.  We are not just doing something to do it, but we are doing it because God has done everything for us.  We need to respond in fullness and in excellence unto Him.  Our gathering is to give Him the praise, the thanks, and the offering of our sacrifices unto Him for His glory and His grace in our lives.

Homily:

This is still Christmas, and yet, for many of us, we might think that the message that we would hear from the Scriptures doesn’t sound much like Christmas.  It is a proclamation of what Christmas is all about.  It tells us of the work of Christ in fulfilling of the will of the Father and bringing to us His kingdom.

It is a new life.  We are no longer bound with the sin, the death, and the sorrow; but are now given new hope.   A brilliant light came from a small star. It wasn’t small, but awesome. That light caused the wise men to come across the continent to come to Christ.  It was brilliant in its expression of something new.  Something great was happening.

In like manner, the Church today is supposed to be like that star.  We are to be a brilliant bright light to the world that we draw the world to the altar of God.  We bring the people, not the system, back to Him.  He promised Israel in the Old Testament, “I am taking you to a new land.  I am taking you out of the darkness of Egypt and I am taking you into the Promised Land.”   He told Joshua, “Be bold, be strong, and be courageous because I am leading you.”

Hebrew 11 tells us of how these men were strong in conquering and in overcoming the enemy.  Yes, they did not complete the task because it wasn’t ready to be completed yet, but they didn’t give up.  John 15 shares that we are a part of the tree of God. We are the branches and the branches are commissioned and equipped to bring forth fruit.

This is our task: bringing forth fruit.  We are to be His emissary.  We are to be His ambassadors.  We are to be His voice.  We are to be His hand and reach out to the world and change it for the glory of God.

The Church is actually the kingdom of God in the midst of the world around us.  We are to shine like that star that shines bright.  The brilliance of the star, the brilliance of the Church is supposed to speak to the world.  We are supposed to say to them, “We are different.  We are not bound by fear; we are not bound by impossibilities; but we can reach out.”

This is what Christmas encourages us to do because God has given to us His most precious gift, His Son.  What else could He give?  He has nothing more that He could bring to us.  What was the purpose of the giving?  It is to bring God’s people back to Him.  Our task, as He speaks to us in symbols, is the same:  bring the people back to the altar of God, to the throne of God.

In the Revelation of Jesus to John, we see the picture of heaven – the throne of heaven – where all the people are gathering around the throne.  All the people are coming to God.  This is our task. This is why He said to Joshua, “Be bold, be courageous. Don’t let things bother you.  Don’t let things pull you down.  Everything is not going to be perfect; it is true, but you are stronger than that. You are greater than that because God is with you.”

We find in Hebrew that some lost their lives, some were persecuted, some were beaten, but they did not give up the job.  They didn’t finish the job; they are waiting for us to complete the task! We have a job to do.

For twelve days, we have been reaching out to the communities around us.  Today, the last day, is the day when the priests go out and minister; and we did.  It was such an awesome thing to reach out and to touch someone else life.  Let them know that they are thought about and that somebody cares.  It speaks highly, but it says something which words can’t say.  Actions speak louder than words.

This is why the Church reaches out on the twelve days.  It isn’t just for us to open presents; it isn’t just for us to receive gifts; it isn’t just for us to sing songs.  It is not what it is all about.  It is taking the joy that we have, the fulfillment that we have, and being concerned and saying to others who have less, “God loves you.   I am here in His behalf.  I am here representing Him so that He can receive the glory.”

We are celebrating this evening.  We have done our job for this little part of the Season.  It is only a beginning; now, we can thank God.  We bring it as an offering for Him and we say to Him, “Father, as You gave, so we have given. We know that in giving, something is going to happen.”

This is not just a small celebration that we have.  I wanted all the clergy present because I want this something that says to God, “We feel how blessed we are, and we want you to know how thankful we are for what we have received and for what we have given.”

We gather this evening to thank Him, to praise Him, and to give honor to Him in joy and in praise.  How blessed we are to bring people to the new Promised Land – the kingdom of God.  We are of that Kingdom.  We reach out to others so that we can bring them to His altar, to His throne.

The picture of heaven is where the people come to the throne of God.  They gather around His throne.  We take the message to them.  Jesus says, “Go ye into the world and preach the gospel.”   Introduce them to the Kingdom.  Bring them to Him.

This is our task. This is the fulfillment of our responsibility.  We give Him the praise.  We give Him the glory.  We come to say, “Thank you, God!  Thank you for loving us! Thank you for allowing us to represent You to reach out and touch the lives of others!”