Christmas Eve, 7:30 Service
Merry Christmas to all of you gathered here on this wonderful evening, to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus! It’s Christmas Eve and we’re sitting in this beautifully decorated sanctuary, singing most of our treasured Christmas carols and once again hearing the words of THE Christmas story. Be honest with me, dear friends. Would it “be” Christmas” for you if you didn’t come to church? Would it “be” Christmas” for you if all we sang were songs like “Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph?” The very fact that we’re here tonight says it wouldn’t. There are things about Christmas that just can’t be changed. There are things about Christmas that just can’t be missed!
Think with me for a moment about things that we don’t want to miss at and about Christmas. I’m SURE that one thing we don’t want to miss at Christmas is FAMILY. Going over the river and through the woods to get together with family, to share a wonderful meal together and open presents around someone’s tree. With our culture being more nomadic than ever…..half our family is in San Diego….we have to work harder to make these family connections at Christmas because it’s something we don’t want to miss!
Ask any kid and they’ll tell you what they don’t want to miss: PRESENTS! Family is great….trees are pretty….but PRESENTS are the key, and the more the merrier, right?
Some people get excited about special PROGRAMS at Christmas time, watching little children dressed as sheep and sing their Christmas songs like we did this afternoon. For others it may be the massed chorus in the “Messiah Sing-Along.” Whatever the flavor, for some it’s programs that should not be missed.
Other people don’t want to miss the COOKIES and all the other GOODIES that are only made and served at Christmas time. What other time of year do we even see FRUITCAKE and drink EGGNOG, even if we have to miss meals for months afterwards!
For many other people, especially as we grow a little older, it’s the FEELING of Christmas. The smell of the tree, the carols on the radio, the decorations and the cards sent back and forth…..all these things bring that FEELING that makes Christmas so special. Lots of folks who have never set foot into a church will still set up the tree and give the gifts and appreciate the FEELING of Christmas!
There may be a number of other things that make Christmas special for you and your family, but tonight, of course, we’re focused on the STORY. Whether you’re just hearing it for the first time or the five thousandth, the STORY of Christmas never fails to amaze us. We’ve read it, in 3 parts tonight from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and it’s all there again: the birth of Jesus, the Angel choir, the shepherds coming to see Jesus and then going to tell everyone else!
There’s one small phrase that shows up several times in the Christmas story, a phrase that we need to hear over and over again. That phrase is “Don’t be afraid!” We live in a world where there is far too much fear: fear of financial problems, fear of war, fear of terrorism, fear of crime, fear of what’s around the corner…in so many ways. But one reading of the Christmas story and there are those words, 3 different times: Don’t be afraid!
The first time we hear this phrase is when the Angel Gabriel appears to the old priest Zechariah in the temple. The angel tells him: “Don’t be afraid, your prayers have been answered.” (Luke 1:13) Zechariah and his wife had been praying for a child….who would be John the Baptist, and God answered that prayer, but when we pull back the lens and look at the big picture, they had also been praying for the promised Savior to be born!
Wouldn’t we all like to know that our prayers are going to be heard….and answered? I think all of us would like God to send Gabriel to tell us that 2012 will be more prosperous than 2011 was, that our aches and pains will get better and our kids will be good from now on. Scripture assures us that God hears every single prayer of His people, and yes, sometimes our prayers are answered the way we want, but more often God is at work in giving us what we really need when we need it. Even in the Christmas story, the people of Israel wanted a military hero to run the Romans back to Italy. What they GOT was a tiny baby, God Himself in a manger, to die on a cross for their sins… and ours.
Christmas gives us the assurance that God will ALWAYS hear our prayers and give us what, from HIS divine perspective, we NEED. We don’t have to be afraid!
The second “don’t be afraid” comes when Gabriel shows up to visit Mary and give her some special news: she had “found favor” with God. It wasn’t that she was especially wonderful or perfect, there were thousands of young Jewish women who would have “fit the bill.” But God chose her because God loves to favor the unlikely, the innocent, the obscure, even the accident prone to do His very important work in this world. Like SO many people over the history of faith, Mary was offered an opportunity to do God’s will.
Christmas offers each one of us the opportunity to hear once again that WE have found favor with God. That’s why you are here tonight….God wants you to know that through Jesus, YOU are in His “good graces!” It’s not that we’re better than most; it’s not that we deserve it…it’s not something any of us can EARN…..God’s favor is the ultimate GIFT, better than any present awaiting us under the tree when we get home. It’s because His made us and He LOVES US. We call that gift “Grace” and it’s another reason why we don’t have to be afraid!
Can you remember the third “don’t be afraid” in the Christmas story? It’s when the angel shows up to share good news with the shepherds. In the grand scheme of 1st century life, the shepherds were the lowest of the low. They lived on the edge of society. They scraped by financially. They never knew what life had in store for them. Life for shepherds was what life is for many of us: filled with uncertainties and plenty of fears.
In the King James Bible their reaction is that they were “SORE AFRAID.” “Don’t be afraid,” says the angel. “I’ve got good news of great joy for everyone!” Notice the angel’s tone: Don’t be afraid, God is coming to save His people, you included!” Money may come and go, but God is still with us. Health may waver and even fail, but God is still with us. Our lives may be broken by sins and haunted by past mistakes, but God is still with us. We don’t have to be afraid.
This Christmas we may, or may not have time with our families.
This Christmas there may, or may not be piles of presents awaiting unwrapping.
This Christmas we may, or may not enjoy all the special programs and parties.
This Christmas we may, or may not enjoy plum pudding, cookies and chestnuts roasting on the open fire.
This Christmas we may, or may not get that “old time Christmas feeling.”
One thing I DO know….. through Christ, our newborn Savior, we never have to be afraid. God has come to be with us….and we with Him….forever.
Merry Christmas!
