Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2024
Above is audio of the sermon pulled from the video and amplified.
Below is transcript pulled from the video and formatted by artificial intelligence. There may be inconsistencies or errors.
I'm going to admit something that not many preachers admit, especially on big festive days like today. Are you ready for it? Okay, here it goes. I don't have anything new to say. I don't have anything novel or no special insight into Luke chapter 2. I'm sorry to disappoint you and I understand if you want to collect your things and head home now. Why even show up, right?
Well, tonight of all nights, I don't think that you came here because you wanted to hear something new. Christmas Eve is not about finding something new, but instead to remember that we've heard countless times before. And yet still have it be true to be powerful, be that gospel, good news that we need. We come again to hear that same story because it is in that story that God's presence is made real for us. It's the comfort of the familiar things that bring us back year after year, the music and the candles, the photo ops by the tree.
And that story, though, that story is grounded in the ordinary rhythms and events of our lives. Because if you were going to imagine that God would show up to set the world right, how would it look? Probably not like this. Hey, bud. An announcement to shepherds? I mean, an angel does bring the good news. And that's kind of neat. He tells us that there will be a sign. The sign is a pillar fire. The heavens parting. Grand gestures that shocked the world. Nope. And said, this will be a sign for you. You will find a child, wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.
And we're left pondering this humble sign. And as we do so, the night sky explodes with light. It's a multitude of heavenly hosts. Now, this is the kind of power that we expect from God. But this army of angels hasn't come to wage war or to blurt out commands. They come to sing praise. Glory to God in the highest heaven on earth, peace among those whom he favors. Even that grand display of angels points us that there's something different about God. God's power isn't about domination or force. It's about peace, joy, the glory of God. The heavenly hosts remind us that the power of God is seen not with swords or with thrones, but in a baby lying in a manger.
It's a baby, not the grand entrance that we'd expect. But maybe that's the point. God doesn't choose to remain distant or unreachable. God steps into our world in a way that is deeply familiar, even comforting. A newborn, a mother, a quiet stable. Those are the things of the everyday, regular, normal, and yet profound when we stop to think about it. God chooses to come into our ordinary, into our life, into our world. God doesn't work apart from us, but among us in ways that we can see, we can touch, we can understand. In a way that makes God accessible, close, real.
On Christmas, we might long for something special, something new, something extraordinary. But this story reminds us that what is ordinary isn't lacking God. Because that is exactly where God shows up. And because of God, our ordinary is transformed.
And this year, your Christmas may feel ordinary. They may feel chaotic. Or maybe both at the same time, ordinarily chaotic. And maybe life right now for you is overflowing with joy, or maybe it's marked with loss or uncertainty. But either way, this story reminds us that the God shows up in the ordinary, in the chaos, in the moments that aren't new or extraordinary at all. The same God who entered into the world in Bethlehem is the God who still meets us now here in our ordinary. The God who is faithful then is still faithful now, working to bestow grace and love in ways that we might not expect.
The sacraments of baptism and communion are another way that God reminds us that God chooses to meet us where we are, using the ordinary to do the extraordinary. Through water, bread, wine, Christ breaks into our lives and embodying the same promise the angels made to lowly shepherds that night. Do not be afraid. This is good news of great joy for you and for all people.
We gather here on Christmas Eve surrounded by the familiar and we are reminded that God shows up. And because God has shown up before, we can trust that God will show up again. Maybe not in ways that we'd expect, maybe not in flashes of power or moments of grandeur, but in the ordinary. In the people, the carols, the traditions, the message for tonight, in the manger, in the meal in our world, in our lives, in our homes, in our routines, in our familiarities, even our struggles. Because God shows up, the ordinary is transformed into something extraordinary.
So tonight, may God have the familiar comfort you. May God let the ordinary things in your life surprise you in new ways. And may God have the remarkable good news of Christmas, or remind you of how loved you are in Jesus Christ our Lord. Merry Christmas.