And as we all begin to find our seats, please join me with our responsive call to Worship.
In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth, and the Earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night.
Come, let us worship God.
Our first lesson comes from the prophet Isaiah:
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. For unto us the child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Please stand as we sing our first Carol, ‘The First Noel.’
[Music] Keep [Music] the k [Music] Please be seated.
Our second lesson comes from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, beginning at verse 26:
And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
And the angel came in unto her and said, ‘Hail! Thou art highly favored; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.’
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, ‘Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and he shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.’
Then Mary said unto the angel, ‘How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?’
And the angel answered and said unto her, ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God, nothing shall be impossible.’
And Mary said, ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.’ And the angel departed from her.
Our next Carol is ‘Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel.’
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Our next lesson comes from Matthew chapter 1:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins.’
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophets, saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,’ which being interpreted is ‘God with us.’
Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him and took unto him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son; and he called his name Jesus.
Our next Carol is ‘Oh Come, All Ye Faithful.’
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We turn to Luke 2 for our next lesson:
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.
And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for him at the inn.
Our next Carol is ‘Away in the Manger.’
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Please pray with me.
Heavenly Father, God of the universe, creator of all, we gather together here on the eve of Christmas to remember and celebrate the miracle of the Incarnation, the night when you took on flesh, when you came to your creation to dwell among us as Emmanuel.
When you came, and you experienced all of our human frailties, that you suffered our pains and sorrows, that you experienced our joys and our blessings. We thank you for that most wondrous miracle, and we ask that you let the spirit of Christmas fill our hearts, that the memory of your Incarnation, of your life, that you became truly God and truly man, remind us that you are the one God that we can and should turn to, the only one who fully and completely understands all that we experience, all of our worries and our fears, who has seen our doubts.
We ask that you fill us with hope this Christmas season, that we look around us and see your face shining upon one another, that we remember you and see you in all the lights as they shine, that you are the light who shines in the darkness, that you drive that darkness away to give us peace, that you fill us up with faith and hope and love of you.
We ask that you help us to take that spirit and carry it with us all the days of the year, not just over December, but also in January through December again, that we get to live from remembering and teaching and showing others that you are the ever-living God.
We pray this in the name of Jesus, whose birth we celebrate now and who taught us to pray to you by praying:
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Our fifth lesson continues with Luke:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill toward men.’
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.’
And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Please stand as we sing our next Carol, ‘While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks.’
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Please be seated.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the ability to speak and sing and tell and hear this wondrous story of your birth. Let it be an encouragement to us, building us up in hope and faith in you as we remember your past and look forward to our future together with you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Now every winter holiday season, I cannot help but shudder and cringe whenever I hear Andy Williams sing ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.’ Because although I do appreciate the sentiment, it’s completely misplaced.
The first Christmas, which we’ve been hearing about, was an event filled with wonder, and it was an awe-inspiring event. So it stands to reason that our celebrations and remembrance of the Savior’s birth should also be a wonderful occasion.
But the wonder that Andy sings about and what our commercial culture promotes as the seasonal wonder have nothing to do with the true wonder of Christmas. Christmas is not wonderful because of jingle belling, or friends visiting, or parties and marshmallows, or ghost stories and memories of the past, or even mistletoeing—I don’t know how that’s a verb, but somehow they use it that way.
But even if those elements might help us to make the winter season feel special, they do not make Christmas wonderful. They’re unrelated and entirely unnecessary. Christmas is wonderful because the most unique and extraordinary event took place 2,000 years ago: the Incarnation of God the Son, the birth of Jesus Christ when the Creator entered into his creation, into time and space, taking on human flesh and dwelling among his chosen people.
That fact, above all else, is why Christmas is so wonderful. That fact is why the world is constantly trying to obscure the truth, to trivialize and distract us from the actual enormity and wonder of the Incarnation. That fact is what we risk losing and forgetting beneath all of the glitz and glamor that evangelizes a false gospel of commercialism to us, seeking to feed our selfish greed and foster dissatisfaction with all of our many blessings.
Yet that fact is precisely what we recover, protect, and preserve whenever we delve into the scriptures and maintain the highest view of who God is—the omnipotent and sovereign King over all—and a proper view of who we actually are: sinners in need of salvation, sinners in need of God’s mercy and grace, sinners that need Jesus.
And the wonder of Christmas happens when we encounter Jesus Christ, and we discover what he has done for us by grace and in love. Following the original act of creation itself, the Incarnation of God the Son is the most wondrous event in human history, and it will remain so until his return and glorious appearing on the day of the Lord.
So to help us preserve a proper perspective of God and ourselves, and to avoid considering the extraordinary as simply ordinary, we remember that in the Incarnation, the infinite entered the finite; the Majesty on High lowered himself; the strong chose to become weak; the full emptied himself; the rightful forswore his rights; and the richest became the poor.
Holding that perspective, we can envision the greatest extreme willingly choosing to reduce itself to the least extreme. Keeping our frame of reference in that perspective, we begin to be able to better understand the wonder felt and experienced by everyone involved in the Christmas story, but especially the shepherds.
Because on the night of Christmas, somewhere outside the little town of Bethlehem, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. These folks, they were just simply doing their job just like they did every other night. It was routine, it was business as usual, and nothing strange or unusual was expected.
But then their whole night and their whole lives were changed in an instant. The ordinary was replaced by the extraordinary as an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
A cloud of brilliant light appeared right in their midst—a holy cloud that inspired terror and reverence—a wonderful sight that had not been seen in Israel since the days of Solomon’s Temple. This was something they had never experienced before, nor was it something they ever expected to see.
And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not. Don’t be scared; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’
They pronounced something absolutely wondrous: the birth of the Savior, the Lord. But just as wondrous as what they said was who said what to whom. Angels proclaimed a divine message to shepherds. Angels are ministering spirits, the Lord’s heavenly servants, beings that work in worship in God’s presence, divine messengers sent from the King of the universe.
They announced the birth of Christ to shepherds out in Israel’s fields, rather than to the spiritual and political shepherds of Israel—the Pharisees, priests, and so forth—because those shepherds were the ones who had collectively led God’s people astray from his appointed and righteous paths.
And while shepherds were not actually the lowest of low on the first-century social ladder, they were still not socially equivalent with the angels, and the disparity in their relative social status adds another layer of wonder to this encounter.
Because messengers, ambassadors, or representatives from a king usually only met with other representatives of kings, or to the king to whom they were sent—not the common people. So, the Lord sending his angels to the shepherds was an example of God elevating the humble and humbling the proud.
And then suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.’
As wondrous as the news about Jesus was, as wondrous as who was telling whom about him is what Luke next describes.
I want you to imagine for a moment the clearest night sky that you can remember; imagine all the stars twinkling and the moon shining bright. Now imagine that all of the ambient electric light is removed, as well as the industrial atmospheric pollution.
What we should now be envisioning is close to the wonder and refulgent glory of the heaven that declare the glory of God and proclaim his handiwork. That they started their night off looking at, and even today it’s impossible for someone to look at the night sky and not feel a sense of awe and wonder. It’s impossible to not feel incredibly small and unimportant compared to the one that created the universe.
Now to your imagination, I want you to add the shining cloud of God’s glory with a whole host of angels singing God’s praises to your mental vision. How much more wonderful is the image in your mind now?
As wonderful as that is, how much more wonderful must the reality have been?
But even as wonderful as that glorious brilliance must have been, surely it was not the greatest wonder of all. That wonder was in their response. Because when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds—they believed the angel’s word and went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. These strangers—the shepherds—came and they inserted themselves into what was already an overwhelmingly stressful night. And they came and they found the sign that the angel had told them to look for.
They came and they brought tidings of good joy. They came and brought word of the angel’s prophecy about who the baby is. They came, and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
They came, and Mary treasured up all of these things in her heart, pondering them because of her own experiences with Gabriel and Elizabeth and Zechariah and even baby John.
Mary received and Mary believed the shepherd’s word and treasured it, and the shepherds—they sought and found the newborn Savior, and they wondered at the greatest, most important miracle which was right before their eyes.
The Lord, the omnipotent, sovereign Creator of the universe, was lying right there before them—God in flesh, a child as humble, lowly, and poor as a person could be. The Lord God in flesh was there—a happy and healthy baby boy wrapped up in swaddling clothes for warmth, just like any other newborn child would be.
The Lord God in flesh was resting in an animals’ feeding trough in a stable, rather than in a bed in a home—something which they might have even been able to provide for their own firstborn sons.
So, when we think about this story using the perspective of those extremes that we began with, what could be more wonderful and awe-inspiring than this? The Incarnation—God made flesh.
And finally, the shepherds returned to their field in their ordinary lives, but they did so glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard as had been told them because of their wondrous encounter with the divine.
And I can’t imagine that they returned to their lives unchanged, because no one can. And that’s the true miracle of Christmas—the miracle of the Incarnation and the miraculous transformation which every encounter with the Living God, with Jesus Christ, provokes within us, either bringing our hearts to life or hardening every life that Jesus touched and every life that Jesus touches today changes.
Because though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
And therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on Earth and under the Earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
When we encounter Jesus, when we are first confronted by the amazing wonder of the Incarnation—that the infinite God, who is Spirit, took on flesh entering the finite—that gives way to an even more glorious wonder that he did it, that he was born in order to live and die for us as our perfect substitute.
He did this so that our sins would be forgiven, washed away in the sacrifice of his blood. He did this so that we would be justified before the Father, clothed in his righteousness. He did this so that we would be united to him as his brothers and sisters by divine and sovereign adoption. He did this because God loves us and gave his Son, Jesus, to us and for us.
So, every life and heart that encounters Jesus is either lightened in joy and peace through faith and hope by accepting him as their Savior and Lord, or it’s hardened by their rejection of the truth and their willful disobedience to sin. Their response to him determines their benefits—the elect of faith and the rest reject him.
It is truly the wonder of grace that God saves any of us at all.
So, once you see the wonder of the Lord because of the Incarnation—once you know how wonderful the birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and enthronement of Christ is for you—then you will be transformed, and you will give God the glory.
And this is my sincere Christmas hope and wish, that you would do so with the joy and peace of Christ in your heart.
Once you see and know this, then you will know the real reason why Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Amen, and Merry Christmas.
Our next hymn is ‘Joy to the World.’
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Our final lesson comes from the first chapter of John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.
That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
As we come to our final Carol, I would ask that we all stand to sing ‘Silent Night.’
And as we light our candles, again, please tilt the unlit candle towards the lit.
[Music] Holy night, all is calm, all is bright, ‘Round yon virgin mother and child. Holy infant, so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace.
[Music] Silent night, holy night. Shepherds quake at the sight; Glories stream from heaven afar. Heavenly hosts sing, ‘Alleluia! Christ the Savior is born! Christ the Savior is born!’