Sermon - Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve
December 24, 2009
Luke 2:1-20

A Gift from Above

Sit back, relax, and ease your mind. Even if there are gifts yet to be wrapped; even if the turkey is yet to be pre¬pared for tomorrow's baking; even if there are a few more cards that you fully intend to get into the mail; for now, there is nothing that you can do about it. Depending upon how many things are left undone and your attitude toward them, at this point you are either trapped, or freed. You can't get to them and they can't get to you.

I think we undersell Christmas Eve services by continually speaking of them as a time to BE WITH family and friends. It may be that this services’ greatest draw is the opportunity to be AWAY; away from the hectic schedules we have been living; away from the endless preparations.

It was my in-laws who reminded me of this seldom acknowledged reason for Christmas Eve worship services. While they are usually in bed long before 11:00 pm, they pointed out how much they look forward to the late-night service. “It is just so peaceful,” Granna shared. A time for them to sit quietly and enjoy.

I had somewhat forgotten. I am grateful to them for helping me to remember.

Oh, I realize that the busyness isn't all bad. The activi¬ties occur because there are loved ones, families, friends who we want to be with, to remember. As hectic as the busyness may be, it is far better than the emptiness of a Christmas spent alone. Such experiences have their own toil; bring their own form of anxious¬ness.

From whichever you have departed this evening; this remains a wonderful time to relax, to enjoy, to receive. You might even want to close your eyes. I will have someone nudge you when it is time to return to the liturgy.

This season is a time to receive. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our giving that we forget the essential element of receiving. We take such pride in giving "just the right gift," that we fail to marvel at what is being handed to us. We need to remember that reason for this season is to receive. To receive God’s gift.

Maybe it is guilt. We have been so carefully taught that "it is more blessed to give than to receive," that we feel guilty for enjoying and so we cease to be good receivers.

Maybe it is embarrassment. We hastily pick-up and wrap the gifts we give only to embarrassed by the thought and thoughtfulness of that which is offered to us.

Perhaps it is in defense of our own self-sufficiency. We take such pride in being able to provide for ourselves that any acknowledgement of need leads to feelings of humiliation.

I don't know what it is, but something has made it difficult for us to be good receivers. We prefer to always be on the giving end; and not on the end that gets. And yet, receiv¬ing is the essential act of this season. Christians do not celebrate Christmas as a "time to give". We mark this day on our calen¬dars because it is a time to receive. We receive the gift of God’s Messiah. We receive the gift of God’s decision to make God’s home among us. We receive the babe in Bethlehem.

Maybe God knew that we had rather give than get, and that is why God choose to come as a little child. Then, at least for a little while, we could pretend that God needed us. We could believe, for a while, that without our giving care to that cute little bundle of joy all of this would have been impossible. But God didn't really need us to do anything. God just needed us, wanted us, and therefore offered to love us. God wanted us to have, and if the only way we could receive was for God to allow us to think that we were giving in return then so be it. God would stop at nothing.

In a manger, in Bethlehem, God gave us a gift. A gift beyond any other that could ever be given; a gift that is but the first installment of all that God has for us. Christmas is a time to celebrate and to remember ourselves as those who receive. We are the recipients of God's love.


(Pause)

Listen to that ... it is so quiet. Look around you ... there is contentment in every face. Glory to God in the highest, (for) on earth there is peace among those whom (God) favors. It is a peace given to us by God; it is the peace of being on the receiving end of God's grace.

Each time we gather a little more of this gift comes our way. It is such a wonderful gift that it softens our resolve to always be a giver. God's desire to give is so great that eventu¬ally we are all worn down - reeducated on the importance of receiving; strengthened so as to say "So what," if we aren't the best gift giver around; opened so that we can admit how needy we really are. This is what comes to us, in the silence, in the peace of this gathering.

Okay, time for those of you who took a nap to wake back up; we are about to resume the liturgy and you need to find you place in the bulletin; the gifts are still in the attic; the turkey needs to be washed; and that stack of cards is staring you down.

But as you return, glorify and praise God for all that you have heard and seen. For to you, this day, a Savior has been born. God has come into our world; God has come into your life and given you a wonderful gift. How swell it is to be on the receiving end of God's outpouring of love.

Amen.