Dear People of God in The Episcopal Church:
Among the Christmas Gospels, Luke is surely the crowd pleaser. Nearly our entire visual vocabulary of Christmas—the manger, the shepherds, the angels—comes from the second chapter of Luke. Thanks to Luke, we all know the answer to the trivia question, “Who was Quirinius?”
But if you go to church on Christmas morning, or if your congregation’s custom is to read a last Gospel on Christmas Eve, you will hear the beginning of the Gospel of John, which includes other words we all know: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” Christmas does not truly begin for me until I hear those words.
While Luke paints us a picture of a noisy and chaotic birth, in John we encounter the powerfully quiet mystery of the Incarnation. John brings us the astonishing truth that God lived among us as a person, “full of grace and truth,” ready to share the pain and sorrow of being human.
Especially this year, our hurting and divided world is desperate for the Incarnation. We live, as have many generations before us, in a time of fear, division, and instability. The Enemy has turned us against one another, sometimes in our own families and communities. The land of Jesus’ birth is torn apart by violence and tremendous suffering, and across the globe, we have hardened our hearts against the strangers among us. All too often, we hear voices that claim the mantle of Christianity calling most loudly for exclusion and conquest.
As Episcopalians, we must resist the urge to retreat from this broken world. Instead, we have been called to model our life together on a different vision of God’s kingdom. Contrary to the world’s expectations, we have bound ourselves together in a global community, following the Risen Christ together despite our differences. We know that death, suffering, and enmity are not the last word, and we proclaim it every time we gather at God’s table.
At Christmas, we can make our unity a witness to the world. Every day, in congregations and communities across our church, you are feeding the hungry, binding up the brokenhearted, caring for the vulnerable, and transforming lives through the power of the gospel. We can also proclaim God’s presence by giving to our church’s historic ministries that are working to alleviate suffering at home and abroad:
- Episcopal Migration Ministries, which is working to resettle refugees and create welcoming communities for migrants in the face of fear.
- American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which brings hope and healing to vulnerable families across the Holy Land.
- Episcopal Relief & Development, which advances lasting change in communities affected by injustice, poverty, disaster, and climate change.
Most of all, we can commit our lives to creating a world that is more just and more loving, in which the grace and truth that came down to us at Christmas is kindled all year long. Especially this year, as we begin our ministry together, I am grateful to be working toward this vision with you.
May God bless you and all those you love this Christmas and always.
The Rt. Rev. Sean W. Rowe
Presiding Bishop
