Sermon from Christmas Eve – December 24, 2024, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church – Buffalo, NY .
Sermon Video | 10:30pm Christmas Eve Festival Worship
Sermon Text | Luke 2:1-20
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Merry Christmas to you!
I pray that the time we have together feeds you, while encouraging and uplifting you. I pray that this time reassures each of us that Jesus has come to love us and lead us in ways that are life-giving to you and those around you.
So … how are you this Christmas Eve? Are you feeling “merry and bright”? Are you feeling “joy to the world”? What if you are one of the people experiencing sadness, grief, worry, fear, loneliness this night? What if your soul is heavy with concern for someone you love who is struggling? What if you are so consumed with guilt or regret that the idea of joy or hope seems just too far out of reach?
It may seem more natural to celebrate Christmas when your heart is light and your soul is ready for joy? What happens when you or someone you love feels that you’re just going through the motions and doing what you think people expect of you, but your heart really isn’t in it?
How’s this for the beginning of a joyful and inspiring Christmas message?!?
The joy, the peace, the hallelujah of Christmas comes not from striving for an ideal or ignoring what is real in your life. Instead, it comes from acknowledging before God the truth of what we’re experiencing and hearing God’s unwavering “I am with you.”
Our focus tonight is on the events that happened in that stable in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago. But is the expectation that we set aside everything else that’s going on in our lives? Should we pretend things that don’t match the expectation of the celebration of Christmas simply don’t exist?
Let’s remember that Jesus was born in a barn. So, do you think it was clean like a hospital? Do you think it smelled good? This was a real working barn with real barn animals that produce real barn animal smells and real barn animal … well … you know. So, no, it was not clean and certainly did not smell good. Further, the cattle that were lowing had tails that didn’t discern whether they were swatting a fly, a shepherd, Mary, Joseph, or the baby Jesus.
Did Jesus demand that the barn animals be trained and that everything in that stable be cleaned up – swept and dusted – or even disinfected – before he would be born there? Did Jesus demand that any fear, sadness, worry, or any other feelings that aren’t “Christmas-y” enough should be replaced with joy and excitement before he would be Emmanuel … God with them?
If you were to look in the stable that night, how would you describe what you saw? Would you see are harsh judge? An angry Jesus wagging his derisive finger? Would you hear the angry voice of Jesus shaming you? Or I wonder if instead you might you see a newborn baby … vulnerable … small … and not threatening? Might you see the delicate baby skin and round baby tummy? Might you see tiny human eyes looking around … not yet able to focus on much?
This is what God chose to do for us. God chose to come into what is messy rather than avoiding it – whether that’s being born in a barn or coming to us in what can sometimes be real messiness in our lives. As the book of Philippians records, God chose to empty himself and became as one of us.
You and I are invited … welcomed … to come to the manger … AS … WE … ARE. And this is where we encounter a love that catches us off-guard. This is not just a proclamation that I make to you as a pastor one time each year. Instead, this is a proclamation that I invite you to join whether on Christmas Eve or any other time of year: look at someone near you (or reach out to someone by phone or text) and remind them … God is with you. Jesus loves you as you are.
On Christmas, we encounter the love of God who empties himself and becomes as one of us … God who welcomes us saying “Come to me all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest”. And in this love and reality, you and I find that we can experience the joy and peace and beauty of Christmas right alongside all of the other emotions at work within us.
Everyone eventually left the manger that night. You and I don’t remain in the glow of the Christmas season for very long. Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the magi left the manger forever touched by the love of Jesus who is Emmanuel (God with us). As you and I prepare for a New Year and all that it has in store for us, we, too, are forever touched by the love of Jesus who loves us as we are. How can we carry the light and the love of Jesus into all of our relationships, our work, our play so that others not only hear but feel and know this good news.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Epicurious Lutheran 
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