Christmas Day December 25, 2019

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Christmas Day

John 1:1-18

December 25, 2018

“His Fullness”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

John 1:16, “And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”  Fullness. What is His Fullness that He gives to us?

You and I so often are feeling and thinking we’re lacking something. Missing something. We have a hard time feeling completely full and satisfied and content. Sometimes we feel flat out empty. And that’s the right feeling because we are lacking something. Something big. But Jesus is our whole fullness. Our completion. He gives us everything we need. When you’ve got Jesus, you lack nothing at all.

Let me start by asking you a kinda silly question. Why is Santa Claus always pictured very round? A very rotund man? Why is that? Why not a skinny Santa? A Santa with zero percent body fat? Why not? Well, I guess it’s all those cookies he eats on Christmas Eve, right? All that whole milk? Maybe folks should start putting out skim milk for him. Maybe some rice crackers.

No, Santa is round because he’s a full man. He’s full of all kinds of things. First of all, full of presents, of course. He has gifts for all the children in the entire world. So He’s full. He’s also full of joy. “Ho, Ho, Ho.” And to be that full we just automatically think Santa needs to be a big man. A well-proportioned man.

Now God is the real Santa, of course. A much better one than Santa because He has grace and not lumps of coal. But God is the true example of fullness. God is full of all good things. He doesn’t need elves or reindeer or chimneys or a sleigh. He simply says the Word and He creates. He’s full of everything! Think of the beginning. God, out of His great fullness, created light. And created sun and moon and stars. And created dry land and plants and animals. God said, “Let there be,” and there be’d. There was. Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof…”

Now if you’re picturing God in all His mighty fullness, then you’re ready to hear this verse about Jesus from Colossians 1:19, “For in Him [in Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” And this one from Colossians 2:9, “For in Him [in Jesus] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”

All the fullness of the complete God dwelt, on Christmas Eve, in an infant boy. Probably weighed somewhere around 7 to 8 pounds. Something like that. I didn’t catch Mary’s birth announcement on Facebook so I’m not sure of the exact length and weight. But 7 to 8 pounds! For the whole fullness and complete God! The God who once appeared in a burning bush is now cuddled and softly spoken to by His mother. The God whose voice thundered on Mt. Sinai now softly cries and coos in a manger. The God who is immortal is now united forever with us mortal creatures. Already in that manger his body is dying. In that baby boy, in those tiny fingers and tiny toes, all the fullness of God is dwelling. How can that happen in that small seven pounds?

Now here’s where this story gets really good. He did that—He filled His whole self into a baby boy born of Mary—to fix our human nature. To fill our human nature. To take what was empty in us and fill it to full again.

Don’t you often have that nagging feeling that something’s wrong? Something’s missing? Something’s not right with you? We just want to feel good and be at rest. Be at peace. But it’s always something. Your back hurts. Your head hurts. You’re tired. You’re anxious. Stressed. You’re angry about something you said. Something you did. You’re upset with a friend or family member about something. You’re not happy with your job. Not making just quite enough money as you think you should be. Not happy with your house. Want a bigger one. A different one. Frustrated with the state you live in. With taxes. Want a new President. A new Congress.

We want to be fully and perfectly human—fully and perfectly content and just as we should be—but we’re not. It’s St. Augustine who is usually credited with first describing the fact that we have a massive hole in our hearts. A hole that is the size and shape of God Himself. Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

Sadly, when we look into our hearts we don’t find the fullness of God and the fullness of humanity—we find the fullness of evil. All the worst sins and worst evils of the world are found also right here in my heart and in your heart. The evil thoughts and evil words we’re capable of sometimes scare us. They most certainly shame us.

But here in this manger on Christmas Day is one of us who isn’t filled with evil. Instead, He is the fullness of God. And He has come to fill you and me with His fullness. With grace upon grace. Not to fill your stocking with black coal. You’ve got enough of that already. Now earlier I read Colossians 2:9 but I didn’t finish the verse. “For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily…and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”

Paul is often praying through His letters that his readers would be filled. Santa, in all his rotund fullness, comes down the chimney to fill up your Christmas tree with presents. But Jesus, in all His fullness, comes down in His Word and Sacraments to fill you up with grace. Grace upon grace upon grace.

So Eph. 5:19, “be filled with the Spirit.” Eph. 3:19, “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Phil. 1:11, “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.” Col. 1:9, “asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” You see the point. Paul’s always praying that God’s people may be filled up to full with the things of God.

Today you might be planning on a big Christmas meal. Or maybe you’re doing a big meal a different day. At any rate, at a big Christmas meal we plan on filling up to the full. With what? God gives us animals and plants and they fill up our bellies. Turkey, ham, potatoes, vegetables, fruit, you name it. We eat and we’re satisfied and life is good and we’re full.

Well, Jesus is that other meal that makes you and I full. Completely full. He is absolutely everything we need. We look in that manger in Bethlehem and there’s the fullness of God. There’s everything to make us whole and complete and at rest.

So back, finally, to St. John and verse 16, “And from His fullness we’ve all received, grace upon grace.” Come up to the altar here today, to this big Christmas meal, and be filled to the full with the fullness of Jesus. With grace upon grace. Bring the fullness of your evil, the fullness of your sins, the fullness of your shame, the fullness of your sorrows, and leave them with this baby boy who grew up and suffered for all their fullness on the cross. And receive from Him grace upon grace. Eat the body and drink the blood of the fullness of God. Be filled.

Be filled with joy. Be filled with peace. Be filled with knowledge and understanding. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the fullness of God.

This is much bigger than Santa Claus with his big belly. And much bigger than any Christmas meal. The one who made heaven and earth from all His fullness, comes in this seven pound child to fill you with His fullness and bring you to the fullness of His heavenly kingdom. Be filled.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.