Christmas Eve 2008
Isaiah 9:2-7; Ps. 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20
O God, you have caused this
holy night to shine with the brightness of the True Light.
That’s a line from a prayer
we heard earlier tonight.
And in the reading from the
prophet Isaiah we heard about the people walking around in great darkness and
then seeing a great light.
People who were yoked with a
great burden.
They were oppressed, they
were broken.
And a child is born to be a
light for them.
A child who will bring
endless peace.
Who will bring justice and
righteousness.
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God.
Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.
Years later, hundreds of
years later, Paul writes that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation
to all.
The grace of God, our blessed
hope, our savior.
The glory of our great
God…Jesus Christ.
He it is who gave himself for
us that he might redeem us from all iniquity.
And purify for himself a
people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
That’s what the hubbub is all
about.
This holy night is our
reminder of God’s great love.
About the grace of God
appearing in our world.
The True Light shining into
the deep darkness that we walk in.
The deep darkness from
thousands of years ago, from centuries ago, from yesterday.
Humankind has always been stumbling around in a
land of deep darkness.
Wars and threats of wars.
Famine and poverty and
illness.
Earthquakes and floods and
fires.
Injustice and unfairness.
Murder and stealing and
suffering.
Like
But in reality our lives are
not in our control.
Things happen, life happens.
It’s no wonder that we need
to be reminded that the grace of God has appeared.
It’s as if life is conspiring
to hide that truth from us.
It may feel like God’s grace
is hiding from us as we try to find peace and joy and truth and love in our
lives.
Don’t we wish that we could see
something like those shepherds did?
Just going about our business
and then the angels and the singing and the glory of the Lord shining around
them.
Wouldn’t that be amazing?
The shepherds were minding
their own business when out of the blue they get a road map to the birthplace
of their Messiah.
It seems like it would make
things so much easier.
If we’re looking for Jesus…trying
to make sense of the whole God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son thing…
Wouldn’t it be nice to have
an angel drop in?
To hear a heavenly host
praising God and giving directions on how to find Jesus?
Why does it seem like God was
so clear about things like that to the people in the Bible?
A guiding star, a voice from
heaven, a clear description of a baby lying in a manger.
Go see your savior wrapped in
bands of cloth over in
And now we look and look and
look for signs and directions.
But where is Jesus?
Have you found him?
The grace of God has appeared
in this world for us to see and hear.
But we need some help knowing
where to look because we tend to look to ourselves for the answers.
If an angel of the Lord were
to appear to us right this very minute what would she say?
Where would she tell us to go
to find Jesus?
We can’t get on plane and go to
And even if we could we know
Jesus wouldn’t be lying in a manger there now.
I think the angel would tell
us to close our mouths, open our eyes, and listen with hearts.
The angel might tell us to
loosen our grip on what we think we are entitled to in this life.
To have money and things and
opportunities…those things are fine.
But when we grip them too tightly
we lose track of Jesus.
The things of this life aren’t
meant to be gripped because they don’t last.
I was pretty young when that
became clear to me for the first time.
I was 23 years old, the
mother of two young boys, when my first husband drove out to
It was not at all what I had
planned for, anticipated, or ever thought would be the course of my life.
I had gripped tightly a
vision of a life long marriage and family.
When David died I realized that
life could change completely in an instant no matter what my plans or ideas
might be.
I’d like to say that my faith
was instantly deepened and that I turned to Jesus for my strength.
But what really happened was
that I got scared and angry that God had not kept my life safe.
I decided to cast a new
vision for my life and to grip that even more tightly.
And I literally said to
God…if you want me you’ll have to chase me down.
I can’t tell you an exact
moment that I realized my mistake.
But somehow over the course
of about 10 years…
I began to realize that God
had actually chased me down.
That Jesus was with me.
I realized that what had happened
in my life was more complicated than my old idea of it being God’s job to keep
me safe.
Life happens, people make
choices that affect us, things just happen.
God does not keep us safe
from life.
Instead God makes a way for
us to be saved.
The grace of God did appear
as a baby in a manger.
And salvation appeared with
that baby.
And God will chase us down,
will find us.
And God is giving us a road
map to find Jesus.
We just keep looking in other
places.
We keep trying other things.
If we say that we want to
find Jesus we need to ask ourselves if we are willing to put Jesus first in our
lives.
Are we willing to say to God
that there is a problem that we cannot fix.
A problem that we need God to
fix?
Or are we gripping tightly
the idea that we can make everything OK if we just keep working at it.
Are you tired of trying yet?
I got tired of trying.
And every now and then I have
to be reminded of that.
Close your mouth, open your
eyes and listen with your heart to what this night is telling you.
Stop making excuses, loosen
your grip on the plans you have for your life.
Listen with your heart to
what this night is telling us.
Jesus is here with us.
The one who brings true
justice, endless peace, blessed hope.
Jesus, the light that shines
on the deep darkness of our lives and brings us salvation.
This night can be the star
that guides you, can be the light that leads you.
God is showing us the
way…it’s not a secret.
God so loves us that God came
to us as a baby.
To live among us, to die for
us, to save us.
To conquer death and to bring
us true justice and righteousness and hope.
Kneel with me at the manger
and let this holy night open up your heart.
The grace of God has appeared
for us.
A baby, a child born of great
love and mercy
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father.
Prince of Peace…Jesus our
Savior.
Thank you Jesus for chasing
us with your great love.
Jesus is looking for us…Jesus
is looking for you.
I live my life to say this
one thing…
Thank you Jesus, thank you
Jesus.