Christmas Eve, 2022
Nativity of Our Lord I
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
Lakeland, FL
Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20
Grace to you and peace from God and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
My dear ones in Christ – Merry Christmas! It has finally come – this day long anticipated, long planned for. This evening, one of the longest of the year. A dark and cold night. From our homes here in Lakeland, from homes in distant places as we visit family and friends. We come.
We come to hear the story and we come to sing the carols. We come to see the beauty of this holy place. We come to see the glow of the candles. We come.
Oh, it all sounds so idyllic, doesn’t it? And, if truth be told, don’t we expect Christmas to be ideal? Isn’t that one of those annoying thoughts bumbling around in our minds and spirits over these days of Advent. Getting the perfect gift that will be cherished for years. Having the perfect decorations. A menu that soon will be featured on the Food Network. Finding the perfect ensemble—the right blend of black and red, of satin and velvet, a dressiness in which we seldom indulge. The mistletoe hung “just so” and the special crystal and china carefully placed on a linen tablecloth.
Now, please understand – if you DID find that perfect gift and you ARE delighted with the decorations of your home. And if your Christmas Dinner IS a culinary perfection. That all is wonderful. And I am grateful for the pleasure this will bring you and yours.
Yet, if we are honest, we will acknowledge that either for us or someone we love or someone we know, this Christmas holds a myriad of feelings that may range from sadness to grief to worry to anxiety – as some may be dealing with the loss of a loved one; worry over job security; there may bills unpaid and not enough funds in the checking account to cover them. And I could go on and on about the various challenges and perils we may be facing. But, truth be told, you don’t need me to do so because you know them well.
Yet, here we are on this darkening evening. We come –and sing the carols and light the candles and hear the story – a story that changed the world forever.
I was thinking about those gathered around that newborn. There was the teenage mother and the baby’s stepfather – who had traveled from distant places. There was the owner of the home in which lodging was found – a native of Bethlehem. There were shepherds from the field – shepherds, outcasts of the time, among the lowest on the rungs of society’s ladder. And then later there were those three from the East who traveled a route to a place of which they did not know the ending. And then the animals – tradition tells us that there were camels and cows and sheep and doves. They all had come. What a motley crew. In today’s language, we might say that it was “diverse.” They too had come from various places, various circumstances, various lands. They too came as this story unfolded.
At the heart of this story is not the ideal, not the idyllic, not even the candles. And the heart of this story is that God – who IS the ideal – entered into OUR story. God came to us – to those of us who are heavy laden with uncertainty, worry, grief and despair. AND to those of us for whom things are going along pretty well right now AND to those of us who may be wondering what the future may hold.
And God comes to places that we can only imagine. To the Ukrainians who are huddling even now underground in bomb shelters. At this moment, it is midnight on Xmas Eve in Kyiv and we can imagine that they are gathered together worshipping, hearing the story again and singing the Carol we have come to hear in a new way. And God comes to them.
To the people who have made a tortuous journey from dangerous lands and are now waiting, waiting, for entry to a place of hope, to a land of promise. Gathered together, seeking warmth and comfort in extreme weather. Remembering the journey of Joseph and Mary and Jesus who fled danger to go to a place of safety. God comes to them.
To the people in Iran, the women and girls in Iran, who are suffering beyond what we can fathom. Even those whose faith is different from ours. God comes to them.
God is an indiscriminate love of people. Into the huma story, the God of the Universe came as a weak and vulnerable baby, born not into a family of comfort and privilege and ease but into an ordinary one of simple means. And he lived and grew and taught and touched and healed and was arrested and executed and died and then was raised. And once again, the world was changed forever.
This is Jesus who has come to us as we have come together on this night of nights. This is Jesus who comes to us in our messiness. This is Jesus who comes to our world that is dark with hate and division. This is Jesus who comes. He comes. God in flesh among us.
Yes, my friends we have come to this place this evening to gather around the warmth we experience as we hear the story, sing the carols, see the glow of the candlelight – and we leave here to bear the truth of the good news of Jesus to a world that needs it so. Because Jesus changed things forever. Thanks be to God!
