An Unlikely Christmas Sermon I Might Have Listened To...

Have you ever daydreamed through a Christian Christmas church service? I have daydreamed through many. Sometimes I daydream the sermon that I would like to be hearing instead of the one that is going on. The following fictional Christmas sermon is the result of one of those daydreams. This does not necessarily reflect what I believe. It is, however, a fictional perspective on Christmas that I would understand and respect.

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Good morning and Merry Christmas brothers and sisters. Here we are again. Right now... on this beautiful morning where we have gathered to celebrate together the birth of Jesus Christ.

Let’s begin today by taking a deep breath… and then releasing it very slowly. Let’s pause and notice the space we are sharing with each other right now…in this sacred moment.

Before our Christmas celebration begins I want to share with you some unusual questions I am asking myself this year. This year I am asking myself,

What if Jesus never really existed?

What if the entire story of Jesus is just a story?

What if the skeptics have been right all along and Jesus is just a myth?

I don’t know the answer for you but for me the answer to these questions is …

It would not make any difference.

I would experience the same joy that people have celebrated for centuries. I would celebrate because the significance of Jesus for me is not His physical presence 2000 years ago. The significance for me is the message that is communicated by God through the story of Jesus. The message remains relevant because it exists within each of us in this room right now. That message is about the power… the energy…the life force that is the essence of Jesus. It is the message of universal Love.

You see, I believe that the good news, the Gospel told through the story of Jesus, is that it is possible to know God by sharing love with each other. The good news is that deep within each of us is the universal longing and the potential to connect with each other through the force of love.

I believe that all we have to do to save ourselves from ignorance and suffering is to recognize and release the love energy, inspired by Jesus, that is waiting to manifest in our lives right now and in every other moment. When we recognize and release that love we are then connected to each other on a physical plane and connected to all others who have come before us or will come after us on a spiritual plane that some have called Heaven.

So, this Christmas I am observing that if Jesus never really existed it would not make any difference to me. I would still celebrate the message of Jesus that God has shared with us through the story of Jesus Christ. So let the party begin.