A Christmas Eve Message - 2022

A Christmas Eve Message – 2022

On behalf of your parsonage family, I want to say it is an honor to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

This is our 5th Christmas with you and I hope for many more. But, this isn’t a night about me, or our family. It really isn’t even a night about you.

Tonight is about Jesus. Yes, we enjoy the tinsel and toys, we enjoy family and friends, we enjoy the sights and sounds of the season, but what this night is really about is Jesus and the story of his birth.

Each of the Gospel writers give us a different glimpse of the incarnation.

Matthew tells us the story of his birth, making sure we understand the historic Jewish lineage of Jesus’ parents and the arrival of the Maji from the East when Jesus was a toddler.

Mark doesn’t even mention the birth of Jesus, instead he begins the story with John the Baptist and Jesus baptism.

Luke goes into great detail to develop the story of Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. He shares the miraculous nature of the birth of our Lord and tells the stories of the angels appearing to the shepherds who gather to worship Jesus.

Then, there was John. John doesn’t tell us the story of the birth, instead he reminds us that Jesus was present at the creation of the world. John tells us that Jesus is the Logos, the Word, the Object, the Message of God. John tells us in verse 14 that this Word, this Object, this Message of God became flesh and dwelt among us.

God became human and made his home with us.

God became one of us and took up residence here.

God moved into our neighborhood, where he could walk with us and talk with us.

I don’t want you to miss the meaning of that word we translate in each of these ways. The Greek word used here is [σκηνόω] skēnoō and it carries with it the meaning of pitching a tent or laying out a tabernacle.

Why is that important? Because God was changing everything. At that time, the people believed that the Temple was the dwelling place of God. If you wanted to come to God, you had to go to Jerusalem, you had to go to the Temple.

But God was breaking through in a new way. Jesus was coming, Emmanuel – God with us. God wasn’t coming to be isolated in the Temple, no. The birth of Jesus reminds us that God is mobile, God moves with us. As we move, God moves with us. We don’t leave God when we move from one church to another, or from one community to another, or from one family to another. God has pitched his tent with us, and when we break camp, Jesus breaks camp with us and goes with us. Because of this night, Emmanuel – God is with us.

Three decades ago, Amy Grant released a song. Some of you may remember the original version by David Foster & Linda Thompson or the newer Kelly Clarkson version, but I remember Amy Grant’s version of:

My Grown Up Christmas List.

It begins as though she is talking to Santa again, reminding him of the time she sat on his knee as a child asking for all the childhood fantasy toys, but quickly shifts to her need for help now and though she is no longer a child, she can still dream.

Amy goes on to add the following verse to the song,

“As children we believed; The grandest sight to see

Was something lovely wrapped beneath our tree.

Well, Heaven surely knows; That packages and bows

Can never heal a hurting human soul.

So here's my lifelong wish

My grown-up Christmas list

Not for myself, but for a world in need

No more lives torn apart

Then wars would never start

And time would heal all hearts

And everyone would have a friend

And right would always win

And love would never end

I want to ask you, what is on your Grown-Up Christmas List?

This season we have been talking about “All I Want for Christmas is Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.” Here in the Sanctuary, we have talked about the women of our faith, great women of the Bible, who have represented hope, peace, joy, and love to us.

Maybe one of these is on your wish list, your grown-up Christmas list. Maybe you want the peace of God that surpasses all understanding to blanket this world like a soft winter snow.

Maybe you want a renewed hope for the life God has called you to.

Maybe you long for unspeakable joy, the joy that comes from living in relationship with Jesus.

Maybe Love is all you need for Christmas this year.

I pray that these are some of the top items on your grown-up Christmas list.

I want you to know. I want you to take this time before we sing Silent Night and light our candles, to think about what it is that you want most for Christmas… not more stuff… but something more.

God became flesh and lived among us, God became one of us. Tonight, we celebrate the fact that Jesus was born some 2000 years ago, but Jesus wasn’t just the 6 lb 8 oz Baby Jesus. Jesus came and lived a sinless life, taught us how to live and to love, gave his life for you and me by dying a criminal’s death, then, three days later rose from the dead – defeating sin and death once and for all.

God became flesh and dwelt among us for more than us just wanting more stuff. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that he came so that we can have life – abundantly.

Christmas is about God coming into our lives in a new way, so that we can have the life we were created for.

Christmas is about God becoming one of us so that we can see the life we were created to live.

Christmas is about God being with us.

So, what is on your Grown-Up Christmas List?

Maybe it is knowing God more fully in your life.

Maybe it’s feeling God’s presence with you as you grieve the loss of a loved one.

Maybe it’s experiencing and sharing the love of God.

Maybe it is seeing God’s moving in your family.

Maybe it’s something else, something you haven’t told anyone...

Whatever you are going through this season, you do not go through it alone. God is with you.

This season reminds us that Jesus was, is, and ever will be our Lord and Savior…Emmanuel –

Merry Christmas.

May we pray.

“Holy God, as we look upon the light of the Christ candle, may we remember that you are with us. As we light our candles from the Christ Candle, may we remember that you are not ours to keep. As we light our neighbor’s candle, may we remember that the hope, peace, joy, and love you bring into our lives is ours to share with a world in need.

Come Holy Spirit, Come Almighty Father, Come Lord Jesus – fill the hearts of your faithful anew this night.

Amen”

Light the candles.