Lessons and Carols 2021

Babies change everything before they do anything; and this has never been more true than the day that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Before he uttered his first teaching, before his first sermon, before his first miracle, before he called his first disciple, before Jesus did anything - the mere fact that he was born changed everything.

Tonight we’ve heard the overarching story of Scripture. In his love, God created the world and everything in it, and as the pinnacle of that creative work, he made human beings and gave them the noble purpose of governing the earth according to his righteous and just ways. But humanity wanted to decide for themselves what was good and what was bad, and they turned their backs on God, the result of which is the world that we know today - a world burdened by the weight of human injustice, oppression, and sorrow.

But God did not give up on humanity. Instead, he pursued them like a loving parent does for their wayward child. He set into motion a plan to once-and-for all redeem humanity’s rebellious hearts and bring justice and righteousness to the earth once again.

Throughout the years, the hope for humanity coalesced around a single figure. A son. A servant. A king, who would usher in a new age of righteousness and justice for the whole world. A king who would once-for-all deal with the plague of sin that effected every human heart. When this figure arrived on the scene, the world would forever be changed.

The story of Scripture is clear: Jesus is that promised one. He has come to set all things right. And if that is true, then all of the promises of God are beginning to be fulfilled. The days of sin, death, disease, and dysfunction are all numbered, for the darkness of the world is fading away before the glorious light of Christ. As Isaiah said,

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

Or as St. John put it,

In Jesus was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

If Jesus is born, than the King has come. And if the King has come, that spells joy for the world. For as the song says, Christ has come to make the blessings of heaven flow as far as the curse of sin is found. No corner of the world will be left stained with sin, and no aspect of human life will remain broken. The King has come, therefore, all will be well and all will be right.

Babies change everything before they do anything; and this has never been more true than the day that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.