12242020 – Luke 2. 1-20 Christmas Eve – 11:00 P.M. Candlelight
SO FAR, we have survived “a hellacious year” and it HAS BEEN “an exhaustive and strange one, at that.”
Different… “totally and completely different.”
A year filled with unprecedented changes…
“WE ARE HERE,” some of us, for the FIRST time, some— as an ANNUAL tradition, some as members of this particular church family.
Some CURIOUS, some FAITHFUL, some coming TO PRAISE and GIVE THANKS…some checking us out at home on Facebook LIVE…to see WHO IS HERE…snug and comfy in their jammies…
…Some HURTING and filled with PERSONAL PAIN and LOSS and others CELEBRATING, giddy with excitement, we are a mixed group this evening, but then, WE ALWAYS ARE.
Candles will be lit, the old familiar songs will be sung, memories will be created and held dear…and the Eucharist WILL BE celebrated.
And yes, people will be MISSED.
Their absence has left a vacuum.
Their passing has left holes…that CANNOT be filled.
EVEN AS a new born child is “missing and absent” from the manger-bed…“all-of-it” in the midst of” a CONTINUING surging GLOBAL PANDEMIC.
It is a strange year, and it HAS BEEN a distinct and an unusual one…ALL ALONG.
MOST OF US are eager for the NEW YEAR ahead.
Hopeful and yet, hesitant and weary…
But this, is CHRISTMAS 2020…and it is, WHAT IT IS.
Christmas…Eve soon to become Christmas Day…
A day like no other.
A holy day.
A day of peace and tranquility.
A day of celebration.
A day of remembering.
And a day of wide-eyed excitement.
The small little children being so OVER THE TOP and excited.
And for some, a day of RELIEF, it is here, and it is almost over.
THIS YEAR – that cannot slip away from us … fast enough.
But that is not why we are HERE.
We know all that stuff.
We are here, because of HIM.
HIM whose birth the angels sing…
We desire some of that NEWBORN HOPE…that NEWBORN EXCITEMENT…and the NEWBORN PURITY that a baby ushers into our world.
Ah, the PROSPECTS…
The HOPEFULNESS…
The OPEN-ENDED FUTURE…
HE CAME FOR ALL…
For EVERYONE.
NO EXCEPTIONS, sorry! (Not Sorry!)
For YOU.
For ME.
A SAVIOR…
And boy, can we use one, long about now…
OUR WORLD…all of it…the WHOLE of it, in need of a SAVIOR.
I think the Gospel proclaimed it: “For the grace of God that brings SALVATION has appeared to ALL PEOPLE.”
He comes…
Bringing SALVATION.
He comes…
Bringing HOPE.
He comes…
Bringing RENEWAL.
He comes…
Bringing RESTORATION to ALL people.
That’s what this HOLY NIGHT is all about…God’s GRACIOUS GIFT given to ALL people.
And it is a GIFT, you know…
A GIFT GIVEN FOR YOU…a gift given to you…
The gift of SALVATION…saving…
Salvation REVEALED.
SALVATION appearing among us…and for us.
But as we also know babies do NOT stay babies for long.
They grow up.
They grow up, too fast…too quickly…
From a lack of mobility to being totally MOBILE…
Rolling over, crawling, half steps, falling, getting up again, walking, running…and then, they are gone…out the door…
STRONG, INDEPENDENT and FREE.
That BABY grew up — to be “all about” RESTORING people “to LIFE.”
L’Chaim!
That BABY grew up to be ONE WHO HEALED.
Who offered WHOLENESS and COMPLETENESS.
He HELPED.
He FORGAVE.
He LISTENED.
He did not JUDGE.
He LOVED.
He RESTORED.
He reached out and TOUCHED.
He FED.
(Spiritually as well as physically)
That small, little, helpless baby – born in a stable – grew up to be THE ONE in whom and through whom SALVATION is given.
(Right about now) We NEED some of that NEWBORN HOPE…and newborn salvation…
L’ Chaim!
TO LIFE!
Some completeness, wholeness, peacefulness…
A little certainty in a very uncertain world.
This night we celebrate his COMING.
We CELEBRATE his birth.
We celebrate the GIFTS he brings…
We celebrate the HOPE that cannot be taken from us.
The TRUE Spirit of this night…
Is not found in CAROLS.
It is not found in CANDLELIGHT.
It is not found in the GIFTS under the tree…
The True Spirit of this night lies in your HEART.
You know this.
It dwells deep within you.
It always has.
JESUS was born.
The CHRIST is born.
LOVE prevails.
God is with US…no matter what…
And we are SAVED and made WHOLE by the grace of our God.
The God who COMES to us and for us.
The same God who has been walking BESIDE YOU and is WITH YOU always, even to the end of the age.
A year UNLIKE any other.
But the GLORY, THANKS and PRAISE belongs to God alone!
Amen.