Preaching (and not) on Christmas Eve—a Reprise

And now for the sixth consecutive year, I have not had to prepare to lead Christmas Eve worship and preach. Click on the Christmas Tree to read about some things I experienced and learned about those happy but fraught occasions.

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What If God Loves You?: a Short Sermon for Christmas Eve - with Reference to Isa 9:2-7, Titus 2:11-14 and Luke 2:1-20

The Christmas Eve Homily at StB in 2011.

What if God loves you? 

What if Caesar Augustus issuing that census decree which sent Joseph and Mary off on the road to Bethlehem, expecting a child, and the baby being born and wrapped and placed in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn really is part of a divine plot to show you that the Father Himself loves you? Just that. What if that really set the angel and the glory of the LORD off and scared the shepherds out of their wits? What if there really was then, and is tonight, a great company of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace to everyone on whom His favour rests?

What if God’s favour rests on you tonight.   

No, really; what if God loves you? 

What if when Isaiah wrote the words in our first reading 2,700 years ago, not only did God already have Jesus—the child born, the son given, the great light—in mind, but also you and me; to light up the dark places in our souls and lives tonight? 

What if God loves you? 

What if the grace of God that brings salvation has really appeared to all people? What if the salvation bringer really is Jesus? What if He really is a Saviour sent to save you and me? What if Jesus really is making a glorious appearance here in the Scriptures, the bread and the wine tonight, newborn baby no longer, but our Mighty God and Saviour, who gave himself for you and me to redeem us from all wickedness done by, or to, us and to purify us for himself and make us his own.

What if God loves you? 

What if he loves your kids? How can you make sure they get that? 

"Rejoice," wrote Isaiah. Celebrate. Have fun. Kids are attracted to genuine joy and fun. Set them a Christmas-spirited example by saying “No” to godless living and the sinful, indulgent pleasures Paul wrote about in our reading from Titus. Live self-controlled, upright and godly lives, eager to do what is good. Kids respond to goodness. They’ll see the God who loves them in it. Hurry, like the shepherds, to find where Jesus is and go there (you got it right tonight). Come often, and bring your kids with you, make sure they hear the story, over and over again (you know how they love to have stores repeated—try and skip a page), amaze them with the good news that God really does love them. Like Mary, treasure these events and what they mean and take them home and ponder them in your hearts with your kids. Like the shepherds, go home glorifying and praising God for all the things you are hearing and seeing this night and all that you will enjoy together over the next few days.

Because, if this is all true, it changes everything. It can no longer be just Christmas that’s magic. Life gets re-enchanted. Angels, glory and heavenly hosts, blessed hope, amazing grace, and Jesus himself—Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, the Christ—will light up your lives and the lives of your children like a Christmas tree. Batteries are included.  

What if God loves you? 

Gene+

Preaching on Christmas Eve

This year, for the first Christmas Eve in twenty-four, I'm not preparing an homily for worship. As the years I was preparing one went on I remember wondering to myself, with varying degrees of anxiety, what on earth I could possibly say that would be new and fresh and engaging about the same story from the same readings to a church full of exhausted parents wrangling kids and relatives or were there out of sufferance for mum's or granny's sake. And how could I reach the people I saw in the pews only once a year (or twice if they were full C and E's) and for whom I secretly harboured the hope that that year I would finally nail them with the brilliant and incontrovertible observation that would finally cause the light of incandescent, church-going faith to come on?

The Year I Dried

One year, at St Francis, Airdrie, I dried. I stepped into the pulpit, looked at my notes, found that I had somehow, with my own hand, written them in a strange language which made no sense at all to my fevered Christmas Evish eyes. I'm not sure whether that was the year when the acolyte fainted, full-length, like a felled Christmas tree, beside the altar because of too much inhaling of the blue fog of experimental incense that hung over us all. No matter, after she had been removed (if that was, indeed, the same year), there I stood, struck dumb before the waiting, expectant, albeit writhing throng. No-more-shopping-days-left, no more time to prepare and, alas, no more coherent synapses twinkling in my sugar-plummed mind. Desperate, I stammered something out about how could I possibly add anything useful to what we had already heard in the Scriptures and the worship so far and stumbled back to the table to continue with the Eucharist. The rest of the service was a blur as I imagined a delegation from the Vestry petitioning the Bishop to have me moved on to some ministry far removed from having anything to do with people and important events such as Christmas Eve. But then, after the service, no one seemed to have noticed my public homiletic nakedness, some even thought it was profound. Sigh.

Some Things I Learned About Preaching on Christmas Eve

1. Tell them about Jesus.
2. It's not entirely up to me. See above…
3. Put it all on paper or on the iPad screen. Always write my Christmas Eve (and Easter) homily or sermon out. For me, the season is too fraught for attempts at extemporaneous cleverness. 
4. Keep it simple. Most people in the room, especially those with kids, are seriously distracted. 
5. Keep it short. See above…
6. Encouragement is better than guilt. That they are there at all is a wonder these days. Try and make them feel welcome—welcomed home.  
7. Tell them about Jesus.

Some Christmas Eve Attempts That Did Get Delivered 

I can't remember why I didn't post 2009 and 2010—maybe I didn't like them.

2007

(Not Really) A Sermon for Christmas Eve: What Would Jesus Say?

2008

A Sermon for Christmas Eve: with reference to Isaiah 62.6-12, Titus 3.4-7 and Luke 2.1-20

2011

What If God Loves You?: a Short Sermon for Christmas Eve - with Reference to Isa 9:2-7, Titus 2:11-14 and Luke 2:1-20

2012

Registration: a Christmas Eve Homily with reference to Luke 2:1-7

2013

Jesus and Why You and I Are Here Tonight: a Short Homily for Christmas Eve

Jesus and Why You and I Are Here Tonight: a Short Homily for Christmas Eve

Jesus brought us all here tonight. O, some of us might think we're here for other reasons, but if Jesus hadn't been written about and looked forward to for hundreds of years through all the Old Testament—if Jesus wasn't the hero and the point of every story in there, for example, Jesus is the salvation Isaiah wrote was on its way with reward and recompense in our first reading this evening (Isa 62.11); and when the time came (Lk 2.6), if Jesus hadn't been born a human baby, miraculously and supernaturally conceived in Mary, who was an actual virgin, I don't know what we'd all be doing tonight. If there had been no trip to Bethlehem, no inn, no shepherds and angels, no haste, no child lying in a manger, no miraculous joyful stories told, no amazement, no treasured and pondered words in a new mother's heart, no returning, glorifying and praising God because of the wonder of it all, and no Christmas—there would no trees at home, no seriously wound-up kids, no carols, no Santa Claus, either—the list doesn't stop there: no Easter, no Church, no salvation, no hope. Okay, maybe we'd have thought some other reason for the gifts and the turkey—Stanley Cup Day or Festivus, perhaps.

Jesus is the reason I'm here tonight—my twenty-third time as a priest. Jesus is The One through whom "the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared" (Titus 3.4) and made sense to me. One day the truth about Jesus was conceived in me and I was amazed that the good God and Father of my LORD Jesus Christ loved me—a rather full of myself, thirty something husband and father who made television programs for a living. If I, or any of you, are to be saved from the awful non-reversible effects and consequences of sin—our own and of others. If you and I are to be saved from death, Jesus is the only one who can do it for us. Jesus is the one who saved us (Titus 3.5). I also learned that Jesus saved me "not because of any works of righteousness that I had done, but according to his mercy (Titus 3.5). I couldn't earn it, be good enough to deserve it, be kind enough—all I could do was turn away from the sin and the self of which I was so full and turn to Jesus, The One who is the reason we're all here tonight. I started to treasure and ponder the words and the stories about Jesus and his miracles. I started to read the Bible and pray. I started going to church (following in the footsteps of Jude, my wife, who was already there) to learn more of Him, to worship Him, to pray to Him, to follow Him and try to live my life as if He were me. I'm not very good at that yet. But every day, especially in church on Sundays—any church, no matter what the music or the style—the goodness and loving kindness of God we heard about in Titus (Titus 3.4) helps me along. And the Holy Spirit which has been "poured out on me richly through Jesus" (Titus 3.6) empowers me to see things I can't see on my own, and to do things I wouldn't be able to do on my own. It hasn't always been easy, but it's been rich and good—something beyond mere happiness—joyful. It has set me deeper into life, anchored me. God's goodness, loving kindness and empowering Holy Spirit that Jesus brings to me are like spiritual winter tires (I know, guy image, but bear with me). As a result my traction is better, I am more sure footed, I am a lot less likely to spin out and off the road that leads me home to life eternal. I can relax and enjoy the ride.

I especially love the glory of the LORD that shines around us in radiant beams from the holy face of Jesus this holy night.  It never fails. Time after time I come to church, not just because it's my job, but because, like the shepherds, I want to hear again "this good news of great joy for all the people" (Lk 2.10) and "see this thing that has taken place, which the LORD has made know to us." (Lk 2.15) Like Joseph and Mary I want to make sure I'm registered in my home town—where Jesus was, is and will be forever. And that's where I hope you are tonight. Safely registered, having the found the child, amazed at what he means, treasuring and pondering the words about Jesus in your hearts, ready to return to your Christmas celebrations glorifying and praising God for all you have heard and seen, as it has been told to you (Lk 2.20).

If I'm honest I have to say I'd also really like you all to come back on Sunday to check and see if he's still here.

If you're not sure of your registration, or feel the need to confirm it, there are prayers to help inside the front cover of your bulletin.

Merry Christmas!

Registration: a Christmas Eve Homily with reference to Luke 2:1-7

Luke 2:1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 

A bit of a theme there. Did notice? Registered three times and registration once. 

Register: Noun—an official list or record, for example of births, marriages, and deaths, of shipping, or of historic places.

Joseph and Mary went home to Bethlehem to be officially recorded as being from there. We do something similar at Christmas, don’t we. Lots of people head home at this time of year. I heard on the radio that last Friday was Calgary Airport’s busiest day of the year. Much of that traffic was people heading home to be re-connected with their families—not officially, but emotionally and relationally. There’s often some history in it, too, we go home to repeat and enjoy the Christmas traditions of our family histories. Although it’s not an official registering, there is a real sense that we’re making sure that we’re being recorded as members of our families—part of the official history and register of marriages and births which are associated with them.  

⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

While they were there Jesus was born. Likewise, while we’re here at home with our families, Jesus’ birthday happens and we celebrate that by coming here. It’s like a spiritual registration. 

Register: Noun—an official list or record, for example of births, marriages, and deaths, of shipping, or of historic places.

Coming to worship on Christmas Eve is like allowing ourselves, or making sure, maybe for some of us, hoping, that we’re “registered”—on the official list or record, associated with 

• this most important birth of all time, the birth of Jesus, God with us, our Lord and Saviour
• the miraculous circumstances of his conception and the marriage or his parents, and
• his death on the cross to set us free from sin and death. 

Tonight we have an opportunity to “register” the fact that we believe this is real history, which took place in real historic places among real people. And not only that, we also have the opportunity to be registered as active and willing participants in the truth of it all and in the continuing history of Jesus who is risen from the dead, lives on in us his followers and in his Church. 

So, welcome home. For those of you who are visiting or are not here very often, it’s good to see you and have you join our Church family for this birthday celebration. I hope your praying our family creed and coming to The Lord’s Table with us tonight will be for you an act confirming your registration in the Kingdom of God. I hope the good news of Jesus will get under your skin anew and, if you live in The Hat, you’ll feel welcome to come and hang out with this family more often. If you’re from away—may you find and get yourself registered in a Church family there. 

If you are someone who is still wondering and have not yet decided to believe in and follow Jesus, it’s especially good to see you, too. We’re glad you’re here. I hope you will find the prayers inside the cover of your bulletin helpful, and that you will decide to be registered in the Book of Life tonight or sometime soon and that you, too, will feel welcomed and appreciated enough to join the family of God. 

For those of you who are here every Sunday. I’m glad to see you all. What a blessing you are to Jude and I. What a great family of Jesus followers. We love you. 

Merry Christmas one and all. God bless us everyone. 

Pusillani Mouse, the Shepherds and the Angels: a Christmas Eve Story by Hezekiah—Church Mouse and Righteous Rodent

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  

And whenever there were shepherds and sheep by night, there were also mice. Isn’t that right Hezekiah? Why? O, right! Because when shepherds worked at night, they always took lunch and part of that lunch was always lots of smelly, tasty goat cheese! Hmmm!! And not only that, but also lots of bread crumbs! Cheese and crumbs, a mouse’s favourite! While shepherds watched their flock, the mice watched their lunch bags. Right Hezekiah?

But Hezekiah wants me to tell you about this one night a long, long time ago, when something happened which has been told through mouse history ever since. Who told you, Hezekiah? — Your grandmother, Fay Mouse? What happened? — Well, one of those nights, long, long ago there was a mouse name Pusillani. Pusillani? — Pusillani Mouse. Pusillani was a very timid fellow. He was always as quiet as a…mouse. And all of a sudden that night when he was just about to relieve a shepherd of some of his crumbs and goat cheese, there was a bright light that shone in the sky which was so bright that Pusillani found himself totally exposed. Paw outstretched, jaws open to take an enormouse mouthful of goat cheese, tail curling in pleasure. (Pause) And then what happened? — He felt like he was in the beam of a search light (well, he would have if search lights had been invented yet). Anyway, it was really scary so he just froze waiting for a big hairy shepherd’s foot to stomp him. He closed his eyes.

And? 

Nothing happened. (Hez looks up)

He opened his eyes and looked up, way up. The nearest shepherd was frozen, too,  and he was also looking up away from Pusillani! 

What Pusillani didn’t realize is that 

An angel of the Lord was standing before them, and the glory of the Lord was shining around them, and they were terrified. 

Wow! So it was the glory of The Lord! And just as Pusillani was about to go “Phew!” and finish his mouthful. He suddenly noticed the hughest and ugliest (to him) thing he’d ever seen. (Hez looks at me) It probably looked a bit like me? It was ugly because it looked a bit like one of the shepherds, only shinier, and with wings. Pusillani didn’t like the wings thing. Things with wings could swoop down and eat mice like me, he thought. What Pusillani didn’t know was that he was looking at an angel. 

But the angel said to them, 

What, what did the angel say, Hezekiah?

“Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda, gong show din!!”

That doesn’t sound right! That’s what it sounded like to Pusillani. He couldn’t speak Aramaic. But it was really loud and he had wings! Suddenly Pusillani’s appetite went away. He wasn’t hungry any more. He just wanted to go home.

Of course, we all know now that what the angel was saying to the shepherds was: 

“Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. 

Poor Pusillani. He missed that it was good news, right? If he’d understood, he would have realized he was in no danger, it was just about a baby, human, and therefore a bit ugly, with swaddling clothes, for heaven’s sake, and he wouldn’t have felt so frightened. 

Aw! That’s too bad.

And then it got worse! The Bible says, 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 

There it was again! “Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda, gong show din!!” even louder and set to music! Pusillani was so frightened that, not only had his appetite disappeared, but he needed to go the bathroom really badly. 

Hezekiah! I’m not sure we need to be talking about that in church. 

He held his back knees together really tightly and gritted his teeth. 

We all know now that what Pusillani was hearing was 

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!

But, to him, it sounded like the end of the world. Just when he thought he couldn’t hold it anymore everything went dark again. Silence. Then what happened?

One of the sheep said, “Bah!” Another said, “Humbug.” The shepherds started talking to each other. 

“Blah, blah, blah,” they said, “Yadda, yadda, yadda, gong show din!!”

We now know what they were really saying because the Bible explains what really happened: 

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, not “Blah, blah, yadda,” but “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 

Then, Pusillani Mouse couldn’t believe his eyes! They all ran off! The shepherds, that is.  Woh! He must of breathed a sigh of relief! 

And, guess what, he didn’t have to go to the bathroom any more. And not only that, the shepherds had left their lunch bags behind!!! 

While they were away. Pusillani had an enor-mouse feast of not just crumbs, but great big honking chunks of bread, with gobs of goat cheese on top. He ate himself to a stand still. It was the scariest and happiest night of his life. It was also the night that Jesus was born.

Wow! Thanks, Hezekiah. 

The story had been told in Mousedom ever since. There was even a song written about it. 

How does it go? Shall I sing it for them? 

While shepherds watched their flocks by night,

all seated on the ground,

A mouse lucked out when shepherds ran

Free goat’s cheese did abound. 

"Fear not," said Pusillani Mouse

The shepherds ran away.

Blah, blah, yadda, yadda, gong show, 

To Jesus where he lay.

What If God Loves You?: a Short Sermon for Christmas Eve - with Reference to Isa 9:2-7, Titus 2:11-14 and Luke 2:1-20

What if God loves you? 

What if Caesar Augustus issuing that census decree which sent Joseph and Mary off on the road to Bethlehem, expecting a child, and the baby being born and wrapped and placed in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn really is part of a divine plot to show you that the Father Himself loves you? Just that. What if that really set the angel and the glory of the LORD off and scared the shepherds out of their wits? What if there really was then, and is tonight, a great company of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace to everyone on whom His favour rests?

What if God’s favour rests on you tonight.   

No, really; what if God loves you? 

What if when Isaiah wrote the words in our first reading 2,700 years ago, not only did God already have Jesus—the child born, the son given, the great light—in mind, but also you and me; to light up the dark places in our souls and lives tonight? 

What if God loves you? 

What if the grace of God that brings salvation has really appeared to all people? What if the salvation bringer really is Jesus? What if He really is a Saviour sent to save you and me? What if Jesus really is making a glorious appearance here in the Scriptures, the bread and the wine tonight, newborn baby no longer, but our Mighty God and Saviour, who gave himself for you and me to redeem us from all wickedness done by, or to, us and to purify us for himself and make us his own.

What if God loves you? 

What if he loves your kids? How can you make sure they get that? 

"Rejoice," wrote Isaiah. Celebrate. Have fun. Kids are attracted to genuine joy and fun. Set them a Christmas-spirited example by saying “No” to godless living and the sinful, indulgent pleasures Paul wrote about in our reading from Titus. Live self-controlled, upright and godly lives, eager to do what is good. Kids respond to goodness. They’ll see the God who loves them in it. Hurry, like the shepherds, to find where Jesus is and go there (you got it right tonight). Come often, and bring your kids with you, make sure they hear the story, over and over again (you know how they love to have stores repeated—try and skip a page), amaze them with the good news that God really does love them. Like Mary, treasure these events and what they mean and take them home and ponder them in your hearts with your kids. Like the shepherds, go home glorifying and praising God for all the things you are hearing and seeing this night and all that you will enjoy together over the next few days.

Because, if this is all true, it changes everything. It can no longer be just Christmas that’s magic. Life gets re-enchanted. Angels, glory and heavenly hosts, blessed hope, amazing grace, and Jesus himself—Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, the Christ—will light up your lives and the lives of your children like a Christmas tree. Batteries are included.  

What if God loves you? 

A Sermon for Christmas Eve: with reference to Isaiah 62.6-12, Titus 3.4-7 and Luke 2.1-20

I was challenged by Father Joe's Two Kinds of Christmas Sermons over at the most excellent felix hominum. It's what put diapers in my mind which got into Hezekiah's mouserel in the post just before this one.

I'm not particularly good and laying out the whole plan of God's salvation in 10 minutes either, but I just can't seem to let it go by without at least putting the question somehow. Here's this evening's attempt.

“See, your Saviour comes!” trumpeted the prophet Isaiah. And so he has. What’s a Saviour? One who saves. Who needs saving? Someone who is in danger. In danger from what? Enemies, for one thing, says Isaiah in v8 of the OT reading. Eternal death for another, the opposite of the “eternal life” to which Paul refers at the end of the Titus passage.

That’s pretty negative for Christmas Eve some might say. But it’s the truth. Jesus wouldn’t have been necessary if humanity hadn’t been in serious trouble. Jesus himself experienced that trouble by being born into it. First there was Herod. Then there were the religious leaders of his day. Not to mention the cross. That’s pretty negative, too. But it’s part of the true story.

As we celebrate here tonight there are people sleeping in homeless shelters down the street. And there are families wondering from where their next meal is coming. I’m not saying this to try and spoil your Christmas, I’m just saying that as there was trouble, suffering and grief when Joseph, Mary, the angels and shepherds celebrated his birth then. There is trouble, suffering and grief as we celebrate it now.

That’s the dark side. What’s the bright side?

Paul states it clearly in our reading from his letter to Titus, in Jesus “the kindness and love of God…appeared.” That appearance, the one we celebrate tonight and for the next twelve days, saves us, if we choose to believe it, receive it and live it out. It saves us not because of the good things we’ve done, or because we deserve it, “but because of his mercy,” wrote Paul. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth,” should we have believed and been baptized, “and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” in other words, the regeneration and transformation that comes with a way of living which is aligned with what the birth we celebrate tonight represents. All of which was, “poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour.”

His birth is chronicled in some detail in our gospel reading by Luke, a trustworthy physician and a learned man. He calls it “good news of great joy…for all the people…a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” And, rather like the shepherds, each year we leave our places of work to find Mary and Joseph and the baby again, to see the thing that has happened.

It is an amazing story. Consider what we’ve heard about Jesus this evening:

1. Jesus has, indeed, come into the world


2. He represents the kindness and love of God


3. He saved us


4. He is Christ ( which means God’s anointed One)


5. He is Lord; that is, he is King of Kings, absolute Sovereign of the Universe. 

Tonight I want to encourage you to suspend any disbelief and decide to believe it all; the virgin birth, the cross, the resurrection, the whole nine yards. Let’s face it. You’re in trouble. I’m in trouble. And we can’t get ourselves out of the trouble we’re in. Jesus has. Jesus is able. Jesus will. All we have to do is believe that the message of this holy night is true and ask him to save us. And he will. 

(Not Really) A Sermon for Christmas Eve: What Would Jesus Say?

As I pondered what to say this evening I found myself wondering what Jesus would say to us if He were standing here in my place this evening.

Thanks for coming, I think He would say, I really appreciate you focussing on Me, and what I represent, for a little while. What I offer fills lives with joy and peace.

I'm so glad those of you with children have brought them so they can learn of Me. I am sad that fewer and fewer children have that opportunity these days. Thanks for bringing them and not leaving them to find out about Me by accident somehow.

I know some of you really didn't want to come tonight and that you're here to please someone else. Thanks for being generous and coming for their sake. That's a real Christmas present in itself and probably more meaningful to whoever you're here for than what you've put, or will be putting, under the tree. Your sacrifice to bless them also blesses me. It is an act of love. Loving one another is one of the key principles I came to demonstrate and to pass on to you. I command it, in fact. Keep it up.

I know some of you don't believe I am who the Bible says I am, that all this away-in-a-manger stuff is just legendary mumbo-jumbo. I want you to know I wish you no harm if that is the case. On the contrary, I know there's a ton of noise and interference out there which obscures who I am. The world offers some pretty alluring delights and pleasures that can keep you pre-occupied. Sometimes my church isn't much help, I'm sorry to say. Some of you have even been hurt or abused by church people. I'm truly sorry for that. I'd love for you to give me another chance by spending some time with me so I have the opportunity to heal those hurts.