The Collect for Christmas Day

The Venerable Stephen Linkous

The“Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born this day of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.”

Christmas is not simply the story of a baby born long ago. It is the announcement that God’s new creation has begun. In Jesus, heaven and earth meet. The eternal Word takes on flesh, entering the world not as a distant deity but as one who shares our humanity. This is the great mystery of the Incarnation: God’s love story breaking into our world, God’s tender rescue unfolding in real time, in real history.

The collect reminds us that this is not just about Jesus’ birth—it is about ours. We are “born again,” adopted into God’s family, and invited to live as renewed people within God’s new creation.

Paul’s letters echo this truth: “You have received the Spirit of adoption, by which we cry, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15). Adoption is not a metaphor for sentimentality; it is the concrete reality of belonging. In Christ, we are given a new identity, a new family, and a new future.

Let that sink in: You are God’s adopted child.

This means that when you wake tomorrow morning, you wake as beloved. When you sit at the Christmas table, you belong to a family that stretches across time and eternity. Christmas is the celebration of that astonishing gift—that we are no longer defined by sin, fear, or death, but by God’s lavish love and grace made manifest in the Incarnation. What grace is this!

The prayer asks that we be “daily renewed by your Holy Spirit.” This is the heartbeat of Christian life. Renewal is not a one-off event but a continual rhythm. Just as the Spirit hovered over the waters at creation, so the Spirit hovers over our lives, reshaping us into Christ’s likeness. Each day is an opportunity to live as part of God’s new world, even while the old one still lingers.

I’ve been thinking about what this renewal looks like in the small corners of daily life, and I keep coming back to forgiveness. You know that moment—we’ve all had it—when you see the family member who wounded you across the Christmas dinner table and something in you has to choose. Will you nurse the grudge you’ve carried, or will you, by the Spirit’s power, release it? It’s not pretending the hurt didn’t happen. It’s discovering you have strength you didn’t know you possessed, a strength that flows from being forgiven yourself. In that choice, the old creation cracks open and something new breaks through.

And it’s not just forgiveness. It’s also courage where fear has paralyzed us. Hope where despair whispers that nothing will change. The Spirit equips us to live as signs of God’s kingdom in the midst of ordinary life.

Christmas, then, is not just a celebration —it is a commissioning. We are sent into the world as renewed children of God, strengthened by the Spirit, embodying the reality that Jesus’ birth has changed everything. Our lives are meant to be living doxologies, giving glory to Father, Son, and Spirit.

For me, being a living doxology means that when we forgive the unforgivable, we echo the mercy of Christmas. When we welcome the stranger, we become the inn that said yes. When we hold a candle at the Christmas Eve service and let its small light join with hundreds of others, we remember: each of us is a flame, and together we illuminate the darkness. When we sing carols with cracked voices and imperfect pitch, we join the angels’ chorus. When we gather around tables laden with food and share our plenty, we participate in the great feast God is preparing for all people.

The collect closes with praise, reminding us that renewal is not for our own sake alone but for God’s glory. To live as renewed children is to reflect the light of Christ into the shadows of the world.

Christmas is the dawn of new creation. In Jesus, God has acted decisively, and in the Spirit, God continues to act daily. The collect invites us to step into that story—not as passive observers but as active participants. We are adopted, renewed, strengthened, and sent.

That is the true gift of Christmas: not only that Christ was born, but that in him, we are reborn. 

Do something with me: Place your hand over your heart. Feel it beating—proof that God’s breath is in you still, that the Spirit hovers over your life even now. Speak this aloud or in the quiet of your heart:

“Father, thank you for adopting me. Spirit, renew me today. Jesus, help me live as one reborn. Amen.”

May we go together as children of light into this beautiful, broken