Christmas Eve 2020
Dec 24, 2020
Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Luke 2:1-14(15-20)
I’d like to begin by asking you to join me in taking a moment of silence…a moment to breathe….and a moment to offer up a quiet word of thanksgiving….Joy to the world…the Lord is come…
Join me….breathing in, as you say these words to yourself…
Joy to the world….
And breathing out….the Lord is come….
Again…
Breathing in, as you ponder these words with your whole body…
Joy to the world….
And breathing out….the Lord is come….
Again…
Breathing in, as you pray these words from the depths of your heart and your soul…Joy to the world….
And breathing out….the Lord is come….
On this quiet, holy night…we pause to take a collective breath, we gather together to remember the God of love who has come so very near to us, who has been born for us, not just on this night we remember the birth, but in the hope and abiding faith, that this love is poured out for us, day after day, night after night….and for all our days to come…
We gather tonight to celebrate this good news proclaimed for all God’s beloved: Joy to the World, the Lord is come… Good news proclaimed, and fully welcomed, in the midst of some dark days and dark nights which we have all been journeying on for many months now… apart, but together…
Like many of you, I have been overwhelmed at times with all that has been happening in these past nine/ten months….there has been so much information we have had to take in, and sort through since the beginning of the pandemic…there has been so many changes to adapt to, so many new things to learn, so many frustrating challenges to figure out, so many twists and turns along the way…so many unknowns, losses, and heartaches, that have weighed so heavily upon all of us…yet for some people and their families, the losses and the effects of these pandemic times, has been much more personal and devasting to their lives, in ways that are known to us, and in many ways, unknown to us…
As I’ve reflected back over these past four weeks, in our season of advent…a time of waiting and preparing our hearts for this yearly remembrance of Christ’s birth… and waiting and preparing our hearts for his coming again… And I thought back over all that has happened since we last worshipped in our church building together…I was reminded of the word Breathe….
I realized that I don’t think I have stopped since March 15th, to take a full, deep, whole body, mind, heart and spirit breath as we are doing tonight….this night on which we pause to remember, the breath of God, the love of God, being born anew for every one of us …with the promises of giving us true life, and pure light to comfort us and guide us, and to fill our hearts, once again, with hope and peace and joy….
And I have a feeling that I am not alone in this….it often feels as if the whole world has been holding our breath for some time now….yet, somehow, finding a way to keep on, keeping on…and I truly believe that God surely has something to do with this….and I give thanks for the good news proclaimed tonight: Joy to the World….The Lord is come…
Not just once…2,000 years ago… but in the hope and abiding faith, that this love is poured out for us, day after day, night after night….and for all our days to come…
So, what a gift it is tonight, to hear once again, the beloved Christmas story, according to the gospel of Luke…
It was as if the whole world had been holding their breath...watching and waiting for a Savior to come…for the Messiah to come… for God to give them a sign that God loved them, cared for them, and had not forgotten them….had not turned his back on them or stopped listening to their hopes and their dreams and their prayers and their longings to be delivered from suffering and heartache….
God was listening, and transformed their tears of sorrow, into tears of joy…on this silent, holy night…on which the Savior they had been longing for…was born….A child wrapped in bands of cloth, lying in a manger was a sign from God, of hope fulfilled, in the one they had been watching for and waiting for….
On this holy night, perhaps it was as if time stood still for a moment, and all took a deep, collective breath…as Light pierced the darkness of their despair….as love filled the air all around them…as hope was re-ignited in their hearts…peace had come….joy had come….The shepherds and the angels and all who gathered with Mary and Joseph that night rejoiced…in awe of the glory of God’s holy light, who came among them…. Joy to the World…. the Lord is come….
Emmanuel…God is with us…not just tonight, on the yearly remembrance of Christ’s birth… but in the hope and abiding faith, that this love is poured out for us, day after day, night after night….and for all our days to come…
On this holy night for us, the music, the scriptures, the candles, the stories, the faces of the people on the zoom screens, the sounds of the people’s voices on the phone, and in the silence and in the listening…
All of this…has been a sign for us, that the very breath of God –has come so very near to us to tonight… reminding us to pause for a moment to receive the gift… and to breathe…
Breathe in the hope of God, breathe in the light, and the love, and the peace that surpasses all of our understanding…
And breathe in some joy for your celebrations this Christmas….
Breathe in….Joy to the World…
Breathe out…the Lord is come…
Hymn: Joy to the World…Virginia and Martha Pearson
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK