Luke 2:1-20
December 24, 2025
Rev. Annie Watson, Holy Family Catholic Church
No matter the size of our feet, the Christmas story teaches us that God has walked in our sandals, after he grew up enough to walk. This is what makes us unique. Our faith teaches that God literally becomes flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, breathes in the air of the earth’s atmosphere, and lives an average lifespanfor that place and time, although he was murdered unjustly at the end.
This story is not a work of fiction; it is a real, historical event. As John’s gospel says, “The Word became flesh and lived among us.” If someone had walked around with a camera, therewould have been pictures, sandals and all.
I like this image of God walking in our sandals because sandals were everyday footwear in that time and place. They were dusty and ordinary, worn by real people in real places. To say God walks in our sandals is to say that God experiences what we experience, not from above but from within. God is not a spectator to human struggle but a participant in it.
The Christmas story is not just about a baby being born; it’s about God taking on flesh—hunger, fatigue, joy, pain, relationships, limitations. God doesn’t just understand humanity in theory but lives it. God is not aloof. God is empathetic to our needs.
This is a core teaching of our faith. God lives within a specific culture and historical moment. God suffers and dies through Jesus. Through Jesus, God embraces human fragility. (I suspect his sandals didn’t always fit perfectly either, and he probably suffered from that.)
We call this the “incarnation,” which means a deity embodied the flesh of a human being. “God is with us.” This is more than just divine presence, however; this is divine participation in human life. Most religions speak of gods visiting, appearing, or inspiring humans. Christianity claims something far more radical: God becomes one of us.
At the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, Jesus was declared “Truly God, Truly Man,” that is, Jesus was 100% divine and 100% human. Mathematicians might have a hard time with those numbers, but theologians are not bound by math formulas.They claim that in Jesus, God and humanity are united in one person without subtracting from his divinity or humanity.
No matter our math skills, Christmas is the story of Mary giving birth to God in the flesh. And when that baby grew up, he walked in our sandals. They touched the earth. They met us where we are: at work, in relationships, in our hopes and fears, and in our joys and sorrows.
How this happened is one of the great mysteries of our faith, but on a more practical level it serves as a model of ministry for you and me. Just as God “dwelt among us,” we too are encouraged to be present with others, to be in solidarity with others, to show humility in our humanity, and to engage with others through our respective cultures.
Through Jesus, God has walked in our sandals, and now we walk in Jesus’ sandals. And they are really big sandals to fill.
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