Christmas Eve 2011

I love the Christmas Eve service. It is probably my favorite of all of our liturgies in the church. It didn't always used to be that way. When I was six years old, I was tapped to be Joseph at my church's Christmas pageant. Now keep in mind that I had told my mother that I would have rather been a shepherd or a Wiseman because they didn't have near as many lines to memorize. But I was told that I had served my time as those roles and it was time to step up and play the role of Joseph. The fact that our Christmas Eve service was at 9:00 at night, and being full from Christmas dinner with my family, and being exhausted from the anticipation of Christmas being the next day didn't help my mood either, so I dressed up to be the earthly father of our Lord and Savior a little, shall we say, on edge.

The first part of the pageant went smoothly. I marched up the center aisle with the young girl playing Mary carrying the baby Jesus just the way we had practiced. The innkeeper told us there was no room in the inn and I sat down by the manger. The star rose and the angels took their place. That's when things started to go badly. I was tired and ready to be done. I just barely made it through the wise men presenting their gifts to the Holy Family. I decided that this would be a good time to lie down. My mom and dad frantically tried to signal me to sit back up. My mom swears to this day that I saw her, but chose to ignore her pleas. And then it was time for the shepherds to appear, and that's when I had had enough. I picked up the doll that was playing the role of the Messiah and I threw it in the congregation. I just brought the baby Jesus to the people. My mother and father were mortified. They dragged me to the back of the church, and to their credit, calmly told me that I had better get back up to the manger and finish out the pageant in an appropriate manner. And miracle of miracles, I made it through the rest of the pageant without any incidents, Christmas carols included.

Tonight we gather to celebrate a true miracle. The baby in the manger is no other than Emmanuel, "God with us." God has chosen to become human with all our frailties and weakness.

The light of the star over Bethlehem guided the shepherds and Wiseman to an even greater light, the light of Christ. The light of God has come to dwell with us, to transform us.

So what is our response to the Holy Miracle that we have come here to celebrate?

"Our response as faithful people to this new reality is to learn from Jesus, to emulate Jesus, to become bringers of God's light ourselves." We celebrate the gift that God has given us in Jesus when we become the light of Christ in the world; maybe not by throwing the baby Jesus at people, but rather by teaching, healing, loving one another; bringing those who have been in the darkness into the light. We take the light of Christ out into the world among the people. The work of Christmas begins tonight, but it never really ends.

In the Church, we celebrate Christmas for twelve days, ending with the Epiphany. Our challenge is to keep the faith and hope of the Christmas season alive throughout the year; through Epiphany and Lent, through Pentecost, and right on through until Christmas next year. Christmas is God's ever-continuing gift of his presence among His people, a gift that never ceases.

May our gift to ourselves and others be to keep the feelings of joy, hope, and goodwill in our hearts and in our lives throughout the year, bringing the light of Christ to those all around us. Amen and Merry Christmas.