Loving God, you have always shown up in unexpected places and through unexpected people.  May we always recognize you wherever you are found, and be filled with the gifts of faith, hope, and love, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            This year, once again, many people have had their hopes and dreams for Christmas shattered.  Whether it is traveling to see family, having a large family dinner, or even attending church on Christmas Eve, many have had rather large wrenches thrown into their plans.  Is this a reason to lament and complain, or is it an opportunity to discover what Christmas is all about?

         I have often wondered if Mary and Joseph had made any plans for the birth of their first child.  Had they been working with a midwife in Nazareth?  Did they have relatives who would be present for the birth and would help them out?  What did they think was going to happen, given that Mary was told that the child she was carrying is the Son of God and will reign forever on the throne of David?  Had they even thought about what would be an appropriate setting for the birth of such a holy child?

         Whatever it is that they were expecting, it probably didn’t involve being far from home and using a feedbox for a crib.  In fact, one has to wonder how much disappointment they were feeling before the shepherds showed up to see the baby.  When the shepherds come, it is a confirmation of what Mary had been told about this child.  They, too, had seen angels – a whole host of them – who had proclaimed that this baby is a Saviour, and the Messiah, and the Lord.  And, “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (Lk. 2:19).

         It was not as they had hoped or expected, but still, God showed up.  God showed up out in the fields in glory, giving good news to some of the most unlikely messengers.  God showed up through the shepherds, passing on the message to Mary and Joseph and to anybody else who would listen.  God showed up in the least of these – in a vulnerable peasant baby lying in a feedbox.

         One has to wonder how many times we have missed the presence of God in the midst of the flurry of activity and busy-ness that usually accompanies Christmas.  If God showed up out in the fields, would we notice?  If God showed up through some unlikely messengers, would we recognize God in their message?  If God showed up in the least of these – the tiniest, most helpless human being that we can think of – would we recognize Emmanuel – God is with us?  

         For many of us, it is our expectations surrounding Christmas that get the better of us.  If we’re expecting to see one particular thing under the tree on Christmas morning, and it’s not there, we’re likely to be sorely disappointed.  If we’re expecting to see everybody in our extended family, and then we can’t get together, that is bound to be disappointing.  If we’re expecting to be in a church full of people, and then only some show up or only some are allowed, that is bound to be disappointing.  I have to say it was one of the strangest Christmas Eve’s ever last year, to be leading the service in an almost empty sanctuary!  At least this year we can have some people!

         The challenge, then, is to focus on the God who has dared to come among us as a baby who will be totally dependent on Mary and Joseph for all the necessities of life.  This is how committed God is to sharing all that it means to be human (except sin), in order that we might share in God’s divinity and eternity.  God continues to be with us through Jesus, providing for us all of the necessities of life.

         May each of us be amazed this Christmas, as God shows up in unexpected places and in unexpected people, and may we, along with the shepherds, move from fear to joy at the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Christmas Eve (NL 4)                      Luke 2:1-20

December 24, 2021

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2021 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved