We are now in the period of Advent, when we anticipate Christmas. Preparing this sermon, I was reminded of a time many years ago when our children were young. Anna, Philip and Daniel had gone to bed on Christmas Eve, the presents had been put around the tree and Tamara and I had gone to bed. We were woken in the middle of the night by the noise of footsteps running down the stairs. Going downstairs, we found the lights on and Anna and Philip were rummaging through the presents.

Having sent them back to bed, I thought of a plan, just in case they decided to try again. I took the fuse out of the downstairs lights, so they would have no light. Surely, they wouldn’t want to go down in the dark. Satisfied that we would now get to sleep we went back to bed. How wrong I was, a little later we were woken again by footsteps running down the stairs. What I’d failed to take account of was that in their Christmas stockings they had been given small torches. I’ll leave the remainder of the story to your imagination.

Why this story? It is a story about anticipation, light and gifts.

We are in the time of Advent. We may have advent calendars, marking the passage of time as we journey towards and anticipate Christmas day. This gives us a sense of the approach of Christmas. If we are fasting, our anticipation of Christmas may also be heightened by that.
In the Gospel story we have heard today (Luke 18:35-43), the blind man who was sitting by the roadside begging clearly had heard something about who Jesus was.

If any one of us asked a blind beggar: What do you want me to do for you? he would most likely ask for money or food. When Jesus asked the blind man this question, he said Lord, let me see again. The blind man recognized Jesus as Lord, he knew he could give him back his sight. The nearest thing most of us come to experiencing being blind is being in the dark. We need light to be able to see.

Speaking of Christmas, of Christ coming into this world, Saint John’s Gospel says: The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world (John 1:9). We may not be blind, but it is nevertheless Christ who enlightens us in our minds, in the core of our being, if we turn to Him.

The Gospel book is an image of Christ, in the Gospels Christ is sometimes referred to as The Word. Saint John’s Gospel begins with: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Gospel book itself is placed on the Holy Table, which is the Throne of God. Before we read the Gospel book in church there is a prayer which is said silently by the priest, it speaks of light and illumination, the opening of the eyes of our mind, the prayer begins with these words:

O Master, who lovest mankind, make the pure light of thy divine knowledge shine in our hearts, and open the eyes of our mind to perceive the message of thy Gospel. And further on: For thou art the illumination of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God...

Through the Bible, The Word of God, read attentively and taken to heart, we are enlightened, we have the eyes of our mind opened, we meet Christ.

Tomorrow, Saint Porphyrios is commemorated, he expresses an infectious love for the Gospels, I will read a few of his words:

On the bench where I was doing my woodcarving, I also had the Holy Scriptures. I opened them and read. I had the Gospels and I read them...I read, worked and repeated the words in my head. I repeated the words of the Gospels innumerable times and I remember them even now. What I wanted was to have holy words in my head. I never tired of repeating them again and again. I loved the divine words; I sensed them vibrantly and fathomed them ever more deeply. I would repeat them insatiably all day long. Even if I repeated them every day, I never tired of them. (Wounded by Love: P.16).

At Christmas we give and receive gifts, they are an expression of our love for one another. The central gift of Christmas is the Gift of Jesus Christ, the one who, in the words of the Creed, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. In the Divine Liturgy, we address God the Father as the one: who hast so loved thy world, as to give thine only-begotten Son, that all who believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life. In the Divine Liturgy we receive Christ as Gift, Holy Communion is sometimes referred to as the Holy Gifts, it is God’s Gift of Himself to us. During the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Gifts are offered on the Holy Table, on the Throne of God.

So, Christ comes to us as Light, the one who opens our inner eyes, through the Word of God, through the Gospels, and as Gift, the Gift of himself in Holy Communion. What is our response? We respond by giving thanks. In receiving Christ in the Eucharist, we do so in Thanksgiving.

Gifts are something which are exchanged. We receive Christ as gift, what can we give in return? All we can offer him is ourselves, one another and all we are and the whole creation back to him, in thanksgiving, since all we have is given by him. The Word Eucharist means thanksgiving. We thank God for what he has done for us, remembering that all good things come from Him.

Thanksgiving is an important aspect of our prayer. Easy availability of material things can sometimes make it easy for us to take them for granted. Saint Paisios explained how at one time in his life where he was living, water was difficult to obtain, each drop of water was considered precious and he joyfully gave thanks for it. At another time there was an abundance of water, so much that people didn’t think anything of leaving a tap running, they took the water for granted and St Paisios felt himself doing the same. We should treasure and give thanks for all that God gives. Giving thanks to God helps us appreciate our life and all we have with a joyful heart, as being given by God.

We can all develop a thankful heart. One thing we might do as we go to bed each day is thank God for one thing he has given us during the day. So, as we anticipate Christmas, let us remember Christ, the light who enlightens the world, and in offering ourselves to him, let us receive him in thanksgiving.

Let us give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his mercy endures forever.

Amen