Christmas Eve
Year A
December 24, 2010
Isaiah 9:2-7
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20
It’s just moments before the start of the big game.
A championship is on the line.
It is the culmination of a long season of long practices, of hard fought victories, and hard work.
The whole season has come down to this.
The stands are packed with anxious, excited, energized fans.
The tension in the stadium is palpable.
The crowds are buzzing in anticipation.
The voice of the announcer breaks over the noise of the crowd:
“Let’s give it up for the home team!”
A wild cheer goes up from the excited fans as the team rushes out onto the field.
A shout filled with the hopeful anticipation of victory.
Of glory for the team and its faithful fans.
The team huddles on the sideline, rocking, chanting, their energy and eagerness for the game building and building.
They break the huddle with a yell and take their places…
The contest is about to begin.
On a quiet hillside outside of Bethlehem, shepherds wait.
Like all their people, they have been waiting a very long time. Waiting for God to act. Waiting for God to set things right.
Waiting for light to shine in the darkness of their world.
Five hundred years of waiting, to be exact.
Five hundred years since there was a Son of David upon the throne of Israel.
Five hundred years of conquest after conquest, of war and oppression, of struggle and difficult days.
And now, a voice breaks out in the heavens:
“The time has come! God is about to act!”
Good news!
Terrifyingly Good News!
And suddenly, a cheer breaks forth in the heavens.
A shout filled with the hopeful anticipation of victory!
Of glory for God and peace for the people of the earth.
A child has been born!
The contest is about to begin.
The great contest between good and evil.
Between oppression and justice.
Between judgment and mercy.
Between life and death.
Power against power. God against all that stands opposed to God in the world.
Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus is a story of contests and contrasts.
The power of the great Emperor Augustus is contrasted with the birth of a baby in a barn.
The Emperor was heralded as both “savior” and “lord” by his earthly subjects. The child is declared Savior and Lord by heaven itself.
The Emperor could demand a census for the purpose of taxation and conscription – two forms of the brutal oppression of the people by the Romans.
The child was born to bring peace and justice to a broken world.
And the angels rejoice.
The angels rejoice in hopeful anticipation of the victory that is hand.
That is the glory of this night as we gather, once again, to celebrate the birth of a baby in a barn.
To celebrate the coming of the one who was born to defeat all the powers of this world.
A baby who stands over and against all the darkness,
All the brokenness,
All the struggle,
All the death,
We must face as human beings.
Tonight we celebrate the birth of the child who came to liberate us from all that binds us, all that fills us with anxiety, all those things in our lives that crush hope and threaten to destroy our joy.
The great contest that began in that stable on a dark night in Bethlehem so long ago continues.
And we know that. We experience it daily in so many ways, don’t we?
And yet, we gather on this holy night to rejoice.
To praise God, because we know that, in spite of the very real struggles that surround us all the time, the victory of the Christ-child is assured.
Because we know that death, brokenness and the powers of evil cannot win the day. Will not win the day.
That is the promise of this night.
For, unlike the shepherds who heard the angel’s announcement, and ran to Bethlehem to see for themselves.
We know the rest of the story.
We know that the child grows up. He becomes the greatest teacher, preacher and healer the world has ever known. The very embodiment of God among us.
And then he dies for the sake of love.
A love that proves to be more powerful than death itself.
Because just three days after he dies, Jesus defeats death and rises alive from his tomb – demonstrating once and for all time that death cannot win, that evil cannot win, that the brokenness that so often touches our human lives will never, never, have the final word.
There is hope. Real hope for today and for tomorrow and for forever.
And that is worth celebrating. Isn’t it?
That is the true glory of this night.
That’s what it means to call this child Savior and Lord. That’s the real power contained in the small baby wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in the manger.
A power lauded by the angels.
Praised by the shepherds.
And available to us – right here, right now, and every day of our lives.
And so, the contest begins again, and continues still.
The contest for our very lives. For our hearts. For our souls.
Tonight we celebrate the birth of our champion.
I’m a fan. How about you?
If so, then, together, let us join the shepherds, the angels and people of faith from every time and every place in praising and glorifying our God,
Together, let’s raise up a cheer in hopeful anticipation of the victory that we know is ours.
Through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.