Many Christmas words cross between the sacred festival of Christ’s birth and more secular celebrations. Joy. Love. Hope. Peace. All of these seem quite acceptable to those who do not believe in all the religious stuff of Christmas.
Holy is not one of those words. It seems to be a churchy word, evoking thoughts of ancient ways, ornate, lofty, and gilded architecture. Devout piety.
But holiness is a tricky thing. It connotes being different and set apart. Not common or ordinary, but devoted to a perfect purpose. True holiness stands in stark contrast to human experience and, when it is confronted, it easily frightens and crushes the unprepared.
When he was called to be a prophet, Isaiah saw a heavenly vision of the throne of God surrounded by the angelic seraphim who were proclaiming the Lord’s holiness. That holiness made Isaiah’s sinfulness obvious. Woe is me! For I am lost he cried (Isaiah 6:5). Only when he was forgiven could he stand. Often in Scripture when the holy angels appear to people, they need to tell them not to fear. So they spoke to the shepherds on Christmas Eve: Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy… (Luke 2:10). Holiness is a tricky thing, indeed.
But things change at Christmas. The night of Jesus’ birth is not holy by itself, but because of the sanctifying presence of God. The gracious presence of God makes the common holy. It changes everything.
Newborn infants are precious, but not uncommon. Babies are born every day. But this one is unique. The child to be born of you will be called holy – the Son of God (Luke 1:35). The union of God and man in the person of Jesus Christ is perfectly holy. A poor stable became the throne of God as God was laid on straw, swaddled in cloth, attended by shepherds. A holy Temple. An ordinary night becomes a holy night.
The holy Son of God takes on human flesh so that we might be holy. Ordinary people become …a holy nation, a people for his own possession… God’s people (1 Peter 2:9, 10) because of what began on a silent, holy night.