Luke Birth Narrative
Introduction
Christmas Eve… this night is something special. Family traditions carried out with purposeful intentionality. Gleeful excitement of children who will “find it hard to sleep tonight.” But beyond the obvious, tonight’s “something special” transcends the usual “something special.” Christmas Eve’s something special brings with it that feeling of “all is calm…all is bright.”
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Ever since I was a boy Christmas Eve was something special because this night, this eve, and the day to follow, was filled with “Christmastime! excitement that made it hard to sleep. But now I know the something special transcends to a deeper level, because tonight all the Advent preparations of instilling in our hearts and spirts hope, peace, joy, and love come together in a way that makes what is usually intangible almost tangible.
That particular Christmas carol we’ve sung hundreds of times strikes a chord in our souls in a manner it doesn’t on any other eve.
A meal we share with family on this eve becomes exponentially more meaningful.
A scene from our favorite Christmas movie resonates more deeply—“Merry Christmas Mr. Potter!”
A line of scripture we’ve heard since we were the gleeful, excited child on Christmas Eve—All of it becomes a something special on this eve, and throughout the day to come, because the Advent of hope, peace, joy, and love comes to life in the birth of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, who comes again to remind us, with him: all is calm, all is bright… glorious streams from heaven afar…radiant beams from thy holy face… with the dawn of redeeming grace—all of it making for us to truly sleep in heavenly peace—freeing us from the fears that are usually intangible but become tangible.
Move 1
On that first Christmas Eve, though eventually filled with hope, peace, joy, and love, it was first filled with fear. Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds—even King Herod if we had invited him to join us—all of them were filled with fear. And understandably so.
No doubt Mary was filled with fear. A teenage girl, giving birth in a stable.
Joseph, staying with Mary despite the scandal her pregnancy caused. Not to mention having to travel a long distance late in Mary’s pregnancy, arrive where they were supposed to be, to do what they were supposed to do, only to hear, “Sorry. We can’t help you with what you need.”
The shepherds were filled with fear—they were “terrified”, says Luke. Terrified because the unimaginable and unthinkable unfolding right in front of them.
And what is the godly response to all this fear? “Do not be afraid.” You don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to fear because even though what’s happening is scary… terrifying… making you afraid— you’re about to be shown a path through the fear that will take you to a place where all is calm and all is bright—a place where fear is replaced with the hope, peace, joy, and love of Jesus Christ our Savior.
Move 2
We are at the end of the season of Advent and the Christmas season is about to begin. Of course for most people the season of Advent is just “Christmastime!” And “Christmastime!” starts weeks before Thanksgiving, and then promptly ends on December 26th. But whatever you call it, however you embrace it, the season is, as the song says, “the most wonderful time of the year.” And it’s pretty great, right?
Yet for as much joy (and hope, peace, and love too) “Christmastime!” brings, our regular, everyday fear is still always looming. Fear of what is. Fear of what could be. Fear of what will be. Fear of situations beyond our control. Fear that even though we’ve done what we’re supposed to do, gotten to where we are supposed to be, we’re still left with “Sorry. We can’t help you.”
Throw in a bit of grief and a measure of sadness, and soon “the most wonderful time of the year” becomes not so wonderful. I mean, me and the Elders of the church had to send out a special notification regarding procedures for coming to in-person worship services tonight because of the ongoing, relentless, maddening specter of Covid-19—now with a new, and even more infections variant.
Put all of it together and “Christmastime!” becomes this insane paradox of both “the most wonderful time of the year” and a time of exasperating fear—colliding into a soulful mixed bag of “hopes and fears of all the years.”
So how are we to manage such a paradox? Well, we could spend a great deal of time and energy trying to deny or hide from the not so wonderfulness—deal with it like we deal with that crazy uncle who comes around at holidays: an annoying intrusion we try to avoid making eye contact with. (Maybe for some of you it’s not an uncle but rather a mother-in-law—but for me it’s definitely that crazy uncle.)
Or…instead of trying to hide or avoid the soulful mixed bag of hopes and fears paradox, we could, like everyone in the Christmas story, let ourselves discover there is a way through. And that way through is found when we get Jesus.
Move 3
A mother of three children had a particular fear. She feared that because of all the gifts, candy, parties, Santa movies and characters—the trappings of “Christmastime!”—that her children would miss discovering the true meaning of Christmas.
She feared this possibility, so instead of just trying to avoid all the “Christmastime!” trappings, she came up with a simple, yet unique way to help her children discover the true meaning of Christmas.
Late on Christmas Eve this mom wrapped up, in a less than dazzling way, a particular gift, put her oldest child’s name on the package, and tucked the small, unassuming present deep under the tree, amongst all the others.
On Christmas morning the expected frenzy of gifts being torn open commenced, and soon piles of paper, bows, and cardboard and plastic packaging filled the floor. “Christmastime!” had reached its zenith.
When the frenzy had subsided, the small unassuming package, tucked deep under the tree, was finally found and handed to the person’s whose name was on the tag.
The size and wrapping gave indication it was likely to be something less than specular—probably some dreaded socks. But still, in a flash the little girl had the package opened—but its content were puzzling. After several moments of silent bewilderment, her mother asked, “Well, what did you get?”
It was then the girl’s puzzling bewilderment changed to excitement. Her eyes lit up and she jubilantly proclaimed “I got Jesus!”
Unbeknownst to anyone, the mom had removed baby Jesus from the family Nativity set, and presented him as a gift to her oldest child.
But the mother’s lesson didn’t end there. She then said to her daughter, “Now that you’ve got Jesus, what are you going to do with him?” And with that question, the little girl got it. She got it, because she stood up, walked through the chaotic, cluttered aftermath of the “Christmastime!” frenzy and handed Jesus to her little brother, who then proclaimed, “I got Jesus!” To which the mom asked, “Now that you’ve got Jesus, what are you going to do with him?” And the little boy walked through the chaotic, cluttered aftermath of the “Christmastime!” frenzy and handed Jesus to the youngest sibling…who proclaimed “I got Jesus!”
Every year since, in this family’s home, someone opens the last, unassuming gift, and with joy and excitement proclaims, “I got Jesus!” and together, they share Jesus with one another.
Conclusion
That’s a sweet story for sure—one just ripe for a preacher to preach on Christmas Eve. Maybe a little too ripe, but the point comes through nonetheless.
At “Christmastime!” Jesus comes in an unassuming way—amidst all the chaotic, cluttered frenzy of life—the good, the bad, the crazy, the annoying, the unpleasant, the maddening, the relentlessly exasperating, the fear…and tells us there is a way through all of it—and I will show you the way. Because of this eve, we don’t have to live in fear on any other eve.
We will still have to live with fear, and respond to it and work through it, but because of the something special that transcends the something special the getting through is assured.
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Christmas Eve is something special that transcends the something special because tonight the fear that is so pervasive on all the other eves is halted—its power over us diminished— because tonight we let ourselves believe again the Good News the angels proclaimed… “To you is born, this day, a Savior.” But I hope and pray each of you will take with you tonight and beyond “Christmastime!” that the something special that transcends the something special—being free from all our fears—can be so on all the other eves… not just Christmas Eve. And it can be so because tonight, we can all say, “I got Jesus.”
And when we get Jesus, and when we share Jesus, then the something special that transcends the something special will always show us, and others, the through anything we fear.
Merry Christmas. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, Christmas Eve, 2021
Holy God, on this Christmas Eve we are reminded of your angelic message to Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, to all who had been waiting and hoping and praying for the Prince of Peace… Do not be afraid.
And we are reminded the same angelic message to not be afraid is given to us as well, for tonight, on this special night that transcends all other special nights, we are given the greatest gift we will ever receive—the gift of the Prince of Peace, our Savior, who promises to always show us the way through even our deepest fears.
So we pray you help us receive again this gift of unconditional love and new life. Help us to know, every day, we got Jesus, and he will always show us the way through. Help us to receive Him into our hearts and spirits, so all that comes can be faced not with fear, but with faith.
But we pray too, that you will reveal to us opportunities to share Jesus with anyone who lives in fear. The lost, the homeless, the widow, the parentless, the partner-less trying to raise up children, those struggling to find breath due to illness, those imbued with financial struggles, the immigrant, those cast aside because of race or sexual orientation, the hungry, the poor, the naked.
Help us to see, truly see, all who need to hear too the angelic message, Do not be afraid so that your hope, peace, joy, love, and new life can guide all your children through their fears.
Loving God, deep in the night, when all the world had locked the doors on love and closed the shutters on hope, you pierced the darkness with light and a baby’s cry—and never again would we be left to find our way. Never again would we have to live in fear. For Christ, the Light of the World and of our lives, was born.
So may the angels sing again tonight; may the star shine and guide us; and may the Christ child affirm again that because of tonight there is always a faithful way through.
All this we pray in the name of Christ Jesus—Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Prince of Peace. Amen.