The Real Work Of Christmas

Behold! Unto us a child is born . . . “and His Name shall be called Emmanuel which means, God is with us.”

Good morning, and welcome on this glorious Christmas day! May God be with us!

At Christmas, all roads lead home. The filled planes, packed trains, overflowing buses, all speak eloquently of a single destination: home. Despite the crowding, the crushing, the delays, the confusion, we clutch our bright packages and beam our anticipation. We are like birds driven by an instinct we only faintly understand — the hunger to be with our own people.

There must be some deep psychological reason why we turn so instinctively toward home at this special time. Perhaps we are acting out the ancient story of a man and a woman and a Coming child, plodding along with their donkey toward their destination. It was necessary for Joseph, the earthly father, to go home to be taxed. Each male had to return to the city of…