Texts: Isaiah 9:2-7; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20
The time has finally come, my friends! The waiting is over! Our celebration has finally begun.
This night, my friends, changes everything!
This, tonight, is the meeting place of heaven and earth.Isaiah proclaimed the promise so long ago in the court of the great King of Israel:
For this, tonight, is the stable in which God keeps his appointment to meet his people.
Not many high folk are here now, not many holy; not many innocent children, not many worldly wise; not all familiar faces, not all frequent visitors.
But, if tonight only strangers met, that would be enough.
For Bethlehem was not the hub of the universe,
Nor was the stable a platform for famous folk.
In an out-of-the-way place which people never thought to visit –
There God kept and keeps his promise; there God sends his Son.
(Adapted from Cloth for the Cradle by Wild Goose Worship Group, 1997, p.83).
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light!” I know how it feels to walk in darkness. I know that all of us often feel like we are in lost in deep darkness.
But look! On them the light has shined. Look! On US the light has shined! To US the grace of God has appeared. The great Creator of all things visible and invisible, hidden from our sight, shrouded in mystery, the great God to whom we owe our existence – this One is revealed to us now. But not is a show of power, or a display of strength. But rather in the surprise vulnerability of a baby.
And now, the grace of God has appeared. Now the hidden God is revealed. Now we see the true nature of God. And it’s not at all as we would imagine.
Because of Jesus, born of Mary, born in Bethlehem, because of this One, you can stand up with confidence tonight knowing that God loves you.
The stark, surprising truth is that there is nothing at all in the entire world that you could do that would make God love you any less! And there is nothing at all that you could ever do to make God love you any more!
Because of this bizarre night 2000 years ago, because of this crazy birth, we know that we are completely and utterly loved. Every wart and pimple and failure and mistake, and yes, even your successes too! Just as you are – you are welcomed and accepted. Because of this One, born this holy night.
When we came in tonight, we sang the famous Christmas carol: “Hark! The herald angels sing.” I find the final verse of that great carol to pique my interest the most.
Mild he lays his glory by… Well, to be honest I am not too sure about this one. There’s nothing mild about being born! I’ve been there a number of times, and even by observation and through vicarious participation only, it is clear that giving birth can never be described as “mild”. Nor can the cataclysmic event of God becoming human ever be characterized as “mild”. By this birth, the whole world as we human beings know it was thrown into chaos. Everything has been turned upside down by this baby! Wild, dangerous, revolutionary, perhaps, but mild – never!
However, the rest of this famous verse is right on target: Born that we no more may die Born to raise us from the earth, Born to give us second birth
Because of what happened on this night so long ago, our lives are changed now forever!
And I know that you’ve heard the story a thousand times probably, and maybe you’ve brushed it aside as cute and quaint and sweet, but not very important to your “real life”. Because it is oh so familiar and trite now.
But tonight, each of us has another chance, another opportunity. George Elliot is reported to have said that “It is never too late to be the person that you’ve wanted to be.”
Well then maybe tonight, maybe this Christmas is our chance to open the door of our heart, to allow God to change us. Because Jesus became what we are, we can become what he is.
That’s what the love of God does inside of us. It changes us forever. And that, my friends, is cause for celebration. So, let the party begin! Amen.
CHILDREN’S HOMILY
Merry Christmas to all of you!
What do you want to be when you grow up?
You know that Jesus is God, and Jesus came into the world, God was born as a real baby for one reason. Why? So that when we grow up, we can be like God!
Do you know how amazing this is? That we can become like God?
But what does that mean? What does it mean to be like God? ASK.
Yes, it means to love everyone equally – the same. It means to never say things out of anger, never respond out of fear. It means to always be generous with everyone, for God is the one who sends rain and snow to the righteous and the unrighteous. It means to never try to hurt other people, never try to hurt the earth.
To be like God means to treat all living things with respect. God lives this way, and because of Jesus, when I grow up, I can be that way too. And when you grow up, you can be that way too!
This is amazing! We need to give thanks!
It’s not easy! It’s hard to be born! And it’s hard to be changed like this!
But this is God’s plan for our lives, and Jesus makes this possible.
This is what Christmas is all about! It’s not about giving presents or eating dinners together or parties. It’s about what God wants to do in our lives, and Jesus makes that possible.
Blessed are you, my friends! Blessed are you that you have the privilege of celebrating this amazing birthday! Jesus, born a child and yet the King of all Kings, the Chief of all Chiefs, the Lord of all Lords.
So tonight let us sing happy birthday to the Lord Jesus!
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