Luke 2:1-20 Christmas Eve December 24 th, 2014 Grace and peace to you all from God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. During this time of year, people all over the world are celebrating a number of things. Jews are celebrating Hanukkah remembering when the Jewish leaders, the Maccabees, revolted and kicked the Greeks out from the Temple in Jerusalem that they had defiled. Some African- Americans, namely those from West African descent, celebrate a secular season called Kwanzaa where African culture and heritage is lifted up. Many countries throughout the world will celebrate what is called Boxing Day on December 26 th, a day where employers give their employees gifts. And, if you were or are a Seinfeld fan, that great American sitcom that was a show about nothing at all, you might remember that yesterday was Festivus, a fanciful secular holiday dreamed up by Seinfeld s chief writer Dan O Keefe. During this time of year, many Americans, many Yoopers, are celebrating a couple of holidays as well. Christians in America, Christians in the U.P., like Christians all over the world, are celebrating Christmas, the birth of the Savior of the world, the birth of the Man who is God clothed in human skin and bone, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth who would grow up, live a perfect life, be betrayed, die a traitors death, be buried in a tomb that was not his own (just like he was born in a home that was not his own), and finally rise from the dead that first Easter Sunday. The other main holiday people primarily in Europe and America, people in the U.P., are celebrating is called X-Mas. The question then I would have for all of you then would be this: What holiday to you celebrate? Do you celebrate Christmas or do you celebrate X-mas? You can try to do both, but chances are you do one really well and the other one not so well. It s as Jesus said elsewhere You cannot serve two masters. 1
Now, you might be asking: What s the difference? On the surface and to the untrained eye, there might not be that much difference, but when you look below the surface, the differences are enormous. But first, let s take a look at how these two celebrations are alike. For one, Christmas and X-mas just so happen to be celebrated on the same days December 24 th and 25 th. Another similarity is that Christmas and X-mas preparations begin weeks in advance of that actual occasion. And another similarity is that Christmas and X-mas both have a Lord, a God that is at the center of their celebrations. But that s pretty much where the similarities come to an end. Again I ask: Do you celebrate Christmas or X-mas? First we ll go through the X-mas checklist and then we ll go through the Christmas checklist to see which it is that you are celebrating this time of year. As many of you might know, preparation for the X-mas season begins quite early; usually in October. During this time of preparation, all sorts of useless odds and ends and other costly things are purchased and all for the sake of getting into the X-mas mood or the X-mas spirit. Buying things for decorating purposes, buying things that you might need just in case the stuff that you have now gets lost or broken after being in storage for the past year, basically things that show X-mas is important to you. Many hours are spent online shopping and looking for the lowest priced items during X-mas. Many hours are spent in the stores shopping and looking for toys, household goods, things for cars, things for garages, and so on. In a way, it s kind of like worship doing something over and over because it s routine, because that s just what you do to help pass the time. And the most important worship time preparing for X-mas is called Black Friday, though Thursday is just as important now because of all the things that are called deals that you just have to have. Also, during X-mas, there are also sacred stories read. Stories of 2
little people dressed in funny clothing. Stories of animals that can fly. Stories of snow people that walk and talk. Stories of a big man with a big beard that travels and gives things to children if they are good, and not giving things to children who aren t good. It sounds pretty judgmental, I know, but it s not. You see, there apparently are many, many, many more good children than bad children. At least I have never met what would qualify as a bad child since most children I come across have told me they received a number of gifts. A child who lives in poverty must be a bad child since they don t get anything or very, very few things or sometimes they get the old things that the good children were tired of playing with from the previous year. X-mas preparations also seem to be very, very stressful. I hear about people who celebrate this day and complain about all the money they have to spend because of all the money others are spending on them. I hear about people who go into debt in order to put on this appearance that they have it all and can give it all away. I ve heard about a god like that in the Bible Mammon. Or in modern language, greed and wealth. Mammon, remember, is not the Christian God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the Christian God. I hear about people who are worried of what others will think about the gifts they purchased for them will it be good enough? Will it be well received? Will it actually be used or just re-gifted the next year? It s a very, very stressful time and because it seems to be so stressful, it actually surprises me that more and more people every year are celebrating X-mas more than Christmas. Some families try to do both, but like I said, usually one celebration suffers because of the other. And from my experience it is Christmas that usually suffers because of X-mas, but not the other way around In contrast, let s look at the Christmas celebration and preparations that Christians make for Christmas. Like those who love X-mas, those who love Christmas celebrate it because of the 3
people they are around. The people they are around though are not fellow shoppers who they don t know, but people they see week after week, people who they know and people who know them. People who have seen their kids grow up. People who have been to their grandparents funeral. People who have been present during baptisms, weddings, Sunday school, and so on. For these Christians, being in worship with other Christians is so important. And when they worship together, they don t go to stores for that, but in buildings they call churches. While in worship, in a church, they also read what are considered sacred stories. During the Christmas season, passages from a book called the Bible are read, passages about the promised Savior who is to come and save the world from sin, death, and the power of the Devil. Stories about men called prophets who predicted, hundreds, thousands of years in advance the things that would happen in the 1 st Century Palestine. Stories about a woman named Mary who gave birth, yet was a Virgin. Stories of Mary s Son, Jesus, who Christians believe to be the Savior and no other; Jesus, who Christians believe to be both God and Man. The same Jesus who would grow up and die for the world, for the people that hated him so; who would grow up and die for the world, for people who are too busy to care about Him. These Christians who follow their Christ also do some peculiar things during other times of the year, but during the Christmas season one of the most important things they do is get together to remember the day the Savior was born. And this not only happens in churches, but also on car rides, in homes and Jesus the Savior, his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection is talked about as often as it can be because the Good News of Jesus is so good, so powerful so true, so unbelievably amazing. In the midst of a dark, dark world, the light of Jesus Christ shines. In the midst of a world full of hatred, indifference, and bigotry; in the midst of a world full of people who seek revenge, who seek power, who seek to 4
have more than everyone else; in the midst of world that has lost sight of what is important, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. On the surface this Jesus doesn t look too significant. Maybe that s why X-mas has gradually taken over Christmas. After all, he was born to an unwed teenage mother; born in the boondocks of Bethlehem; born in a world that would rather have no God at all than a God of love, mercy, peace, and forgiveness a God who will hold everyone accountable for what they have and have not done. This little child, Jesus so named because he will save people from their sins had no birthday party. The people of Bethlehem had no clue who Mary was carrying in her womb. And after he was born, no one came to check in on Mary, Joseph, and the little baby Jesus. No one visited him but lowly, mangy shepherds. But for some strange reason, the birth of this child is the dawn of a new era. Time is now measured according to when something happens before or after his birth. Perhaps that s why Mary treasured all these things in her heart she knew that God was up to something amazing. In the eyes of many, Jesus is nothing amazing at all but through the eyes of the faithful and faith-filled, Jesus is the one who changed them from being a Grinch or a Scrooge to being a tender mother or father, brother or sister, and so on. Through the eyes of the faithful and the faith-filled, Jesus is the one who saves us from the guilt and shame that haunts our memories. Through the eyes of the faithful and the faith-filled, Jesus is the one in whom we can have hope: Because he suffered so much during his life and that suffering brought redemption and salvation, we know that the suffering we go through isn t meaningless. Because through the eyes of the faithful and the faith-filled, Jesus is the person he claimed to be: The Son of God, the Son of Man, the Messiah, the Savior, the Prince of Peace, Immanuel, Christ the everlasting Lord. 5
So which holiday do you celebrate, which holiday does your family celebrate? X-mas or Christmas? The fact that you are here today shows that you want to celebrate Christmas, celebrate the birth and the life of the Savior Jesus Christ. But is your heart in it? That s what really matters is your heart in it? Because when your heart is all in for Jesus, that s when you can really, truly experience what Christmas means, what Christmas is all about. You can certainly be content with X-mas and all the shallowness that comes with it in a few weeks X- mas will all but be forgotten about until next year s mad dash. But if you want to experience the depth, the width, the height of what Christmas is all about, then Jesus Christ, like he was born in the manger, must be born in your hearts. And when he is born in your hearts through faith in his name, look out that s when the present of his presence will really start to transform and change everything about you, about your family, about your relationships with friend, family, and spouse. And when we let God have his way with us, that s when true peace, the peace that the angels sang about will happen. As a taste of things to come, we sing the words of those angels ELW #270, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Amen. 6