By St. John Chrysostom, December 25, 386, in Antioch<\/i><\/p>\n
\nI behold a new and wondrous mystery! My ears resound to the Shepherd’s
\nsong, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn.
\n\n<\/p>\n
The Angels sing!\n<\/p>\n
The Archangels blend their voices in harmony!\n<\/p>\n
The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise!\n<\/p>\n
The Seraphim exalt His glory!<\/p>\n
All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on
\nearth, and man in heaven. He who is above, now for our redemption
\ndwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.
\n<\/p>\n
Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the
\nsinging of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within
\nitself on every side the Sun of Justice. <\/p>\n
\nAnd ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For
\nHe willed, he had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things move
\nin obedience to God.<\/p>\n
This day He Who Is, is Born; and He Who Is becomes what He was not.
\nFor when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead
\nthat is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through
\nincrease became he God from man; but being the Word He became flesh,
\nHis nature, because of impassibility, remaining unchanged.<\/p>\n
And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King
\nthat has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor
\nArchangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor
\nPrincipalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come
\nforth from a spotless womb.<\/p>\n
Yet He has not forsaken His angels, nor left them deprived of His
\ncare, nor because of His Incarnation has he departed from the Godhead.<\/p>\n
And behold,<\/p>\n
\nKings have come, that they might adore the heavenly King of glory;
\nSoldiers, that they might serve the Leader of the Hosts of Heaven;
\nWomen, that they might adore Him Who was born of a woman so that He might change the pains of child-birth into joy;
Virgins,
\nto the Son of the Virgin, beholding with joy, that He Who is the Giver
\nof milk, Who has decreed that the fountains of the breast pour forth in
\nready streams, receives from a Virgin Mother the food of infancy;
\nInfants, that they may adore Him Who became a little child, so that out
\nof the mouth of infants and sucklings, He might perfect praise;
\nChildren, to the Child Who raised up martyrs through the rage of Herod;
\nMen, to Him Who became man, that He might heal the miseries of His servants;
\nShepherds, to the Good Shepherd Who has laid down His life for His sheep;
\nPriests, to Him Who has become a High Priest according to the order of Melchisedech;
\nServants, to Him Who took upon Himself the form of a servant that He might bless our servitude with the reward of freedom;
\nFishermen, to Him Who from amongst fishermen chose catchers of men;
\nPublicans, to Him Who from amongst them named a chosen Evangelist;
\nSinful women, to Him Who exposed His feet to the tears of the repentant;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nAnd that I may embrace them all together, all sinners have come, that
\nthey may look upon the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sins of the
\nworld.<\/p>\nSince therefore all rejoice, I too desire to rejoice. I too wish to
\nshare the choral dance, to celebrate the festival. But I take my part,
\nnot plucking the harp, not shaking the Thyrsian staff, not with the
\nmusic of pipes, nor holding a torch, but holding in my arms the cradle
\nof Christ. <\/p>\nFor this is all my hope, this my life, this my salvation,
\nthis my pipe, my harp. And bearing it I come, and having from its power
\nreceived the gift of speech, I too, with the angels, sing: <\/p>\nGlory to God
\nin the Highest; and with the shepherds:
and on earth peace to men of good will
\n<\/b><\/i> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By St. John Chrysostom, December 25, 386, in Antioch I behold a new and wondrous mystery! My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing! The Archangels blend their voices in harmony! The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise! The Seraphim exalt His glory!…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quote-of-the-week"],"yoast_head":"\n
The First Christmas Sermon Ever Preached - The New Christians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2008\/12\/the-first-christmas-sermon-eve.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The First Christmas Sermon Ever Preached - The New Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By St. John Chrysostom, December 25, 386, in Antioch I behold a new and wondrous mystery! My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing! The Archangels blend their voices in harmony! The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise! 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My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing! The Archangels blend their voices in harmony! The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise! 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