Hi everyone,
Welcome to worship this evening for our Christmas Eve Candlelight service, December 24, 2024!
The bulletin for this service can be found here. This service will be different from what we’re used to, as we’ll have more hymns, more readings, and more candles. But you can use the bulletin to follow along as it’ll have the order and words of worship and the full sermon. Or you can just follow along with the words that will appear on your screen. The sermon is also included on this page below the worship video.
If you’d like a fuller worship experience online, you may dim the lights in whatever room you’re participating from, and have a lit candle in your space. You can also have an additional candle if you’d like to light one for the reading of the Gospel of the Incarnation and the singing of Silent Night. Just be sure that you are safe with the flames!
May the wonder of the shepherds, the faithfulness of Joseph, and the love of Mary be with you this night and always!
As your grace appears to us, O God, may we see the salvation that you give. May we hear your Word come to us, ponder the love of your Spirit, and welcome into our midst the light of Jesus, through whom we pray. Amen.
So, here we are again, Christmas. Some of you who have been attending our Christmas Eve services for a while now may recognise that opening sentence because apparently, I’ve started pretty much every Christmas Eve sermon I’ve ever preached with that or something similar. “Here we are again, Christmas.” I know that I’ve reused this a lot because in my sermon preparation for tonight, I went back to look at past sermons to get ideas on what to do or apparently not to do with this sermon. I look back at my past sermons when I prepare for a current one from time to time but not always, because it can be embarrassing to see some of the stuff I that I have written before. I sometimes cringe when I re-read and re-live some of those corny jokes that have escaped these lips. Sometimes when I look back, I shake my head at myself and wonder what on earth was I thinking when I said that. And this time around, well I wasn’t wrong. I was actually surprised at how many times I’ve used that opening on these Christmas Eve sermons, but the worst part was that I also noticed that I’ve repeated more than just that line before.
It wasn’t as bad as a word-for-word exact duplication from year to year. I’ve heard about some congregations that are able to lip sync their preacher’s sermons because they hear the same ones so often. So I wasn’t that bad, but I have repeated a lot of themes, examples, and even jokes. And I guess that’s somewhat understandable. I’m not giving myself an excuse or anything, but we do get the same exact text every Christmas, this story out of Luke, so it’s kind of hard to not repeat the same thing, or at least it is easy to inadvertently do so, because there is only so much “new” stuff we can get out of the same words. There are only so many ways to describe how miraculous the birth of Jesus is, how blessed Mary and those who were there are, and how God is with us throughout all circumstances.
So yeah, I’ve reused some of that material before. In sermons past, I’ve talked about things like the weather and how much we in the Lower Mainland always seem to hate it, especially if there’s snow on the ground which thank goodness we don’t have this year… yet. I’ve talked a few times about my history from before being ordained as a Lutheran pastor, how I worked in retail and how much of a nightmare the job would be during the holidays, and how glad I am to leave that “working-during-Christmas” life behind. And apparently more than once, I have talked about the lessons that we can learn from the classic Christmas movies, favourites like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Home Alone, and of course, Die Hards 1 and 2.
But it’s not all fun and games as I usually do bring it back to the typical Christmas lessons and message of God with us, God present in the world, and God appearing in the midst of the stress, the trouble, and the hardship that we experience. I often mention how our Christmas might not be as perfect as we had hoped, like maybe we don’t have the perfect gifts or decorations or apparently sermons, but that Christmas is perfect anyway because we’re together, we are included in this community, and that God blesses us regardless of how burnt our turkeys might be… I have talked about the history of Christmas, the meaning of Christmas, and how we probably should have exponentially more candles if we’re actually celebrating Jesus’ birthday. I’ve talked about the shepherds, angels, and even the donkeys. I’ve talked about seeing God, recognising God, and getting to know God… and blah blah blah.
Whoa hold up, did I just “blah blah blah” Christmas? Well, no, I “blah blah blah-ed” my Christmas sermons. These regular, run of the mill, very ordinary sermons. These repeated jokes, themes, and lessons. These sermons that just get tougher and tougher to write because every year it’s the same thing.
Same story. Same text out of Luke. Same old, same old.
I know, I know, you might be thinking that I’m just psyching myself out. Because really, what are the chances that any of you even remember what I said in last year’s sermon? How about last week’s for that matter? Or even how I started this sermon you’re listening to now?
Now, I should say that by telling you this, that I’m not trying to get you to feel sorry for me or anything like that. I’m not trying to get you all to have sympathy on this poor pastor that gives bad sermons that no one listens to. And I’m certainly not trying to make any of you feel bad for not retaining any of the things that I say and apparently re-say over and over.
Rather, I’m trying to point out that no matter how bad or boring or repetitive a sermon can be, that does not stop God from entering our lives, piercing our hearts, and showing us love. No matter how corny the examples or cringy the jokes are, God is still present here with us now. No matter who is or isn’t listening, God still appears in the form of a baby, bringing us hope, peace, joy, and love, and showed us just how much we mean to God as God’s people, welcomed into God’s kingdom and community forever.
That doesn’t mean that I’ll preach a bad sermon on purpose, but it does mean that the good news of God doesn’t depend on how good or bad a sermon might be. This doesn’t mean that this sermon will be any more or less forgettable for any of you, but it does mean that in spite of how it’s retained, God will not leave us but continue to hold us with arms of love. This certainly doesn’t mean that this sermon won’t accidentally be preached again word for word in the future, but it does mean that God’s Word made flesh, God’s love manifest in a human body, God with us as one of us will always be a remarkable and unforgettable event, turning the ordinary extraordinary and worthy of repeating anyway.
I mean, I wonder if the shepherds were banking on an unforgettable moment when they clocked in to watch their sheep that night. I wonder if Joseph thought, when he initially agreed to marry Mary, that his life would change the way it did. I wonder if Mary, before she had that vision of the angel telling her that she will be miraculously carrying the child of God, if she expected to have her firstborn in a barn, that the first to arrive at the reception of her baby be strangers, that her oh so very ordinary life would become extraordinary.
You see, this is the message and good news of Christmas. That God is with us in the ordinary and extraordinary moments. God is with us when we expect it or don’t, see it or not, recognise it or it goes unnoticed. God is with us throughout the mundane and the thrilling, the regular and the unusual, the repetitive and the unique moments that dart our lives.
So it’s ok if you might have heard parts of this sermon before, because God continues to be proclaimed anyway. If not through my words, then through this community that we are gathered with here tonight. If not through this community, then somehow in this world, in our lives, in our interactions and relationships with others, loved ones, and even strangers. God will be proclaimed, because God is with us. With us in Spirit, with us in love, with us as one of us, made possible through the mystery and miracle of the Incarnation that we remember, cherish, and like Mary, ponder this night.
In this Christmas season, let us actively look, see, and recognise God at work in the world. Let us seek out the ways in which God is present in and around our lives and the lives of others. Let us open our hearts to accept the good news of Christ that reveals to us all how God is with us, giving us hope, leading us to peace, granting us joy, and filling us with a steadfast love, even in the unexpected and ordinary ways.
May we then, as God’s people blessed with this revelation, share in the wonder of the shepherds, the faithfulness of Joseph, and the strength of Mary in our learning, our growing, and our recognition of God with us in the world. Thanks be to God. Amen.