Christmas Eve 2020

The Wind whistled round the corner of the house, thunder rolled and rain slashed against the windows—not a night to be outside but rather to sit by the fire, thankful for the solid walls and roof overhead.

I could imagine Dr. Frankenstein’s creation being abroad on such a night. I was alone, my husband away and the nearest neighbor a quarter mile down the road. Alone, that is, except for Lassie, a shaggy, black and white border collie who lay with her head in my lap, her intelligent, brown eyes gazing up at me as if to say, don’t worry, we’ll be all right.

Lassie had arrived at our front door four years earlier by her design, not ours. Throughout the eighteen years she was with us, she proved time and time again to be a superb judge of character. We never knew if it was a result of her sense of smell or sound—or some sixth sense—but, whatever it was she definitely possessed a trait we humans lacked. On first meeting someone she would either wag the tip of her tail a couple of times to indicate that the visitor was acceptable or slightly curl her top lip which told you to wary. Always accurate, her gift was never more apparent than on this night.

The doorbell rag. I decided not to answer it. It rang again more insistently this time. Whoever was there was not going away. Still I hesitated. However on the fourth ring, with Lassie by my side, I finally answered the call.

My stomach lurched and my mouth went dry, for there, silhouetted by the porch light, stood the monster himself. Not as high as I imagined but equally menacing. A twisted body under a heavy overcoat, one shoulder hunched tighter then the other, and his head leaning slightly forward and to one side. Gnarled fingers at the end of a withered arm touched his cap.

“May I use your phone?” The voice came from somewhere back in his throat and, although the request was polite, his tone was rough.

I shrank back as he rummaged in his pocket and produced a piece of paper. Shuffling forward he handed it to me, I refused to take it. Believing he might try and force his way in, I looked at Lassie to see if she was ready to defend the homestead. Surprisingly, she sat by my side, the tip of her tail wagging.

You are out of your mind, Lassie, I thought. But there was no denying the sign and backed on past experience, I trusted her instincts.

Reluctantly, I bonded the stranger into the hallway and pointed to the phone. He thanked me as he picked the instrument. Unashamed \, I stood and listened to the conversation. From his comments, I learned he is van had broken down and he needed some to repair it. Lassie always shadowed anyone she mistrusted until they left the house. Tonight she paid no attention to our visitor. Instead, she trotted back into the living room and curled up by the fire.

Finishing his call, the man hitched up the collar of his overcoat and prepared to leave. As he turned to thank me, his lopsided shoulders seemed to sag and a thought of sympathy crept into my fear.

“Can I offer you a cup of tea?” The words were out before I could stop them. His eyes lit up. “That would be nice.” He went through to the kitchen. He sat while I put the kettle on. Bent over on the stool, he looked less menacing, but I still kept a wary eye on him.

By the time the tea had bread, I felt safe enough to draw up another stool. We sat in silence, facing each other across the table, cups of steaming tea in front of us....“Where are you from?” I finally asked, for the sake of conversation.

“Birmingham,” he continued, “but you’ve no need to worry, I know I look strange, but there is a reason.”...“I said nothing, and we continued to sip in silence. I let he would talk when he was ready, and he did.

“I wasn’t always like this,” he said. I sensed, rather than heard, at the catch in his voice. “But some years ago I had polio.”“Oh,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

“I was laid up for months. When I managed to walk again, I could t get a job. My crippled body put ever off. Eventually, I was hired as a delivery driver, and as you know from my phone call. my van broke down outside your house.”

He smile this crooked smile. “ I rally should be getting back so I’m there when the mechanic arrives.”......“Look,” I said. “There no need to sit outside in this weather. Why not leave a not in your van telling them where you are?”

He smiled again. “ I’ll do that.”......When he returned, we settled by the fire in the living room. “You know,” I said, “if it hadn’t been for Lassie here, I wouldn’t have let you in.” ......“Oh,” he said, bending forward to scratch her head. “Why?”

I went on to explain her uncanny ability to judge people, then added, “She ended you for what you really are, while only saw the outside.”......“Lucky for me she was around,” he said laughing.

After two hours and several more cups of tea, the doorbell rang again. A man wearing overalls under a hooded raincoat announced the vehicle was repaired.......Thanking me profusely, the stranger headed out into the night and a few minutes later the taillight of his van disappeared down the road. I never expect to see him again.

But on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, I answered the door to find the rainy-night stranger standing there. “For you,” he said, handing me a large box of chocolates, “for your kindness.” Then he placed a packet of dog treats in my other hand. “ And these are for Lassie my friend with the good instincts. Merry Christmas to you both.”

Every Christmas Eve until we moved five years later, he arrived with his box of chocolates and packet of dog treats...And every year he got the same warm welcome for our wise Lassie. The End

Christmas is about Jesus believing that there was something about humanity worth the effort….There was nothing about the way humanity looked that would indicate that it was worthy of being saved. War, selfishness, secular pursuit abounded and there was in fact atrocities being committed by people everywhere you looked.

However despite it all God still loves us…God promised us Messiah and because of the reliableness of the Fathers to fulfill the promise of salvation God has given us Jesus.

We have endured a lot this past year and in the midst of it we may be wondering if society is worth God’s trouble. Many of us may even be contemplating if God still believes in the goodness of humanity when we have witnessed so much ugliness…But the truth is God still believes in Humanity.

Jesus has come, he had ushered in the Kingdom of God as a baby…and Jesus reminds us that the best is yet to come.

Luke 2:1-20

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Communion: Transition: While we remember Christ’s birth as a little baby in a manger, we also remember the life this child will grow up to live and the ultimate sacrifice he will make for the whole world.

LIGHTING OF THE CHRIST CANDLE We journeyed through four weeks together of expecting the coming of Christ. Today we recognize and celebrate that coming. We rejoice in the Light who came, the one who is the fulfillment of hope, the bringer of peace, the creator of joy, and love itself. We illustrate the presence of Christ with us by lighting white candle, a symbol that light has come into the world and continues to come. Light shone in the darkness that night, and continues to shine today. May we sing and proclaim boldly, “Let earth receive her King!” as we remember that Christ has already come and as we look forward to the day that he will come again.

SCRIPTURE READING 1 John 4:7–21

7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19 We love each other because he loved us first.

20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.

SHARING LIGHT FROM THE CHRIST CANDLE : Tonight we remember that Christ entered the world as a gift of love for the whole world. He was our ultimate example of hope, peace, joy, and love. He is love. So, as we celebrate the amazing gift of love from Christ to us, we also look ahead to share it with the world; to love one another well.

The true gift of Christmas is that this light and this love are for the whole world. As we prepare to leave this place, returning to the hustle and bustle of Christmas, we remember that we are to be a light to the world. We are to love our families, our friends, our neighbors, and even our enemies—that they too may know of this great gift of light and love.

So we will light our candles from the Christ candle as a symbol of carrying the love and light of Christ into the world—a world filled with the beloved of God.

*Light candles while singing “Silent Night.” B roll during the singing of Silent Night?????

BENEDICTION Rejoice! The Lord has come and is coming again! Know fully that you are the beloved of God, and embrace fully the gift of Jesus this Christmas. Then go into a world that is longing for hope, peace, joy, and love, and shine your light among them, that they may know they are the beloved of God as well, and that the kingdom of God may come to earth as it is in heaven.