Is Christmas Over?
This is the sermon I preached on 1/5/15 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text is John 1:10-18. Now, much of the excitement of Christmas is over. For some people, it was over as they picked up the wrapping paper from opened gifts and threw it out. For others, vacations are finished and grandkids are back to school. Today is the second Sunday after Christmas. The bell ringers for the Salvation Army are gone, and the special efforts to help the poor may not be mentioned as much as they were throughout Christmas. So, now everything is over for another year or is it? Is Christmas over? The church calendar says it is still Christmas until tomorrow, January 6, Epiphany, when we celebrate the coming of the wise men to Jesus. What happened at that first Christmas? What is still happening? “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” as our gospel declares. How does Jesus make God known? He came as one of us, among us. “It is God the only Son, Thi...