Grace Lutheran Church Sermon Christmas Eve 11pm, 2006

The Rev. Evan Gaertner
Christmas Eve 11pm “The Time Came”
December 24, 2006 Luke 2:1-20

There are so many wonderful Christmas Traditions. How shaped has your Christmas Eve been by family traditions this year? Was it scripted what you would eat and where you would go?

I remember growing up and how the lights would be turned low. The Christmas music would be playing. We would have a big meal and then my brothers and I would have to do the dishes before we would open any presents. The dishes were done the fastest all year always on Christmas Eve. As soon as the dishes were done, with Christmas music playing we would gather in the living room around the tree. We would open the presents and then afterwards go to church for the candlelight service wearing our Christmas presents.

This year my family began what I hope becomes one our traditions. We hung a cloth advent calendar and each day we have put a cloth ornament up onto the tree and had a small devotion. The boys really enjoyed taking turns putting the ornaments up and Henry liked finding the page in the devotion book.

For some families another family tradition is watching or reading Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. The Grinch wants to stop Christmas to stop from coming. He goes into town and removes all of the traditional trappings of the season. He steals them and hauls them up to Mt. Crumpit. The Grinch thinks that if he takes away all of the things that the Whos use to celebrate he can stop the celebrating.

But what happens? The Grinch stands up on Mt. Crumpit and waits for the moaning and crying. He listens for their sounds of disappointment and bitterness. And from that Mountain he does hear the Whos. But he does not hear the sounds that he expected. The sound isn’t sad!

Every Who does in Whoville, the tall and the small, was singing! The Grinch could not steal Christmas. He could not stop Christmas from coming! It came! Somehow or other, it came just the same! And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?" "It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!" "It came without packages, boxes or bags!" And he puzzled and puzzled, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store." "Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!" (Thank you Kevin Jud from Immanuel, Hamilton, Ohio for the Grinch illustration)

Christmas time for us can be so defined by traditions that when those traditions are disrupted we can become very frustrated. Recently the Lutheran Witness, a magazine of the LCMS, included an article about a son who wrote home from Afghanistan to his parents on Christmas. Lance Cpl. Benjamin Simmons wrote, “Right now, its 0400 Christmas Day, and I am on post. But it’s still Christmas Eve back home and its only 1930, so you guys have a long Christmas to go.”

His mother had written him an email earlier on Christmas Eve, she had tried to be upbeat about his absence but clearly she was sad that he was away and missing the family traditions. His response continued with some mild scolding and strong words of encouragement. His words are an encouragement with loved ones far away from home this Christmas.

Lance Cpl. Simmons wrote, “It’s Christmas day. This holiday is for Jesus, not for me. It’s his birthday. There is more to Christmas than what we are used to. Sometimes we have to feel pain before we can be happy. If you remember that Christ felt he world’s pain for all of us, then me not being there is just a tiny bit of the pain he felt for us.”

Love came down at Christmas. As Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem. They anxiously looked for a place for the night, but there was no room for them in the inn. The town was busy with everyone who had returned for the Roman census. But the time came for Mary to give birth to her firstborn. Love came down at Christmas and love was not going to wait for us to prepare him room.

Certainly the Grinch and all those in Whoville found out that there is more to Christmas than all the traditions we hold so tightly onto. Love came down at Christmas. And whether we prepare him room or not the time has come for Jesus.

There are so many wonderful traditions. What if they disappeared? What if you couldn’t celebrate all the traditions? For the men and women fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, Christmas time cannot be the same. There might be a few decorations, but family is a long way away and there isn’t much peace on earth in Baghdad.

For women and men who are in our jails and prisons, for our teens and children in Juvenile Detention Centers, can they celebrate? Can you celebrate without all the tradition?

What is at the center? What is the main thing?

Tonight we give thanks that whether this world is ready or not Jesus has come, born of the Virgin Mary. He has come to bring us life and salvation. Rejoice! Again I say Rejoice! Not for the tree, the carols, the candy canes, the eggnog, the jingle bells, the family meal. Rejoice! Our savior has been born, Love came down upon us and has covered us with grace and truth.

Soli Deo Gloria

Grace Lutheran Church Sermons