Christmas Eve 2022

December 24th 2022

Christmas is not a time for families, presents, wrapping paper and vacation. It is a time to recognize that there is hope beyond all human efforts.

Isaiah 9:6-7

Luke 2:8-14

Brothers and sisters, we are here today for one reason. And that reason, is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the King of all the Universe, whose royal robe drapes upon planets. He is the King whose crown carries suns, burning brightly in the darkness that He created, and who wears entire galaxies as rings upon His holy fingers.

He is the undying Monarch of all reality, who stands beyond the limits of time, and walks beside it as a man walks beside a raging river. Back and forth, along the banks of the river of time, Jesus Christ treads, observing the crystal clear waters, and His children struggling against the current.

For we all struggle and fight against the flow of time. We all, this very night, will lay our heads upon pillows soft, and think and dream of times long gone. We will imagine what the morning will bring, and if our Children and Grandchildren will see the love that is within our hearts through the gifts that we have given them. And when tomorrow is over, and again our pillows welcome our weary heads, again our thoughts will dance through time. They will lead us backwards, thinking over the events of the day, and they will lead us forward, imagining and planning for the events of tomorrow. We are, all of us, bound within the currents of the river of time, fighting with every breath and every stroke to swim with all of our might in such a way that we can create for our families a path through the wake of others who also swim within its waves. 

For we all know, and understand deep within our hearts, that the waves of time that crash against us, can beat and break us. And can just as easily carry us to the safety of a shore that can never crumble, despite the raging of the mightiest sea.

We can see some of these waves, far off, headed our way. We know, or at times refuse to acknowledge, the tidal waves of what this world will send our way. They will send joy, and they will send pain. They will carry happiness to us, and they will carry suffering as well. Riding atop the waves of time, trauma and ecstasy, romance and betrayal, and every emotion and experience of being alive, will come against us.

There will be times when the waves of suffering, merely graze us, slightly bobbing against our oars. But there will be other times when the white capped waves of tragedy snap and splinter the mast, tear the sails, and capsize our ship. Lost, adrift within a sea whose waves pull families in opposing directions, and whose icy depths await with open hands the bloated corpses of those who lose the battle.

For we all like sheep have gone astray. Every one of us, have made decisions we regret, and we simply hope that the current of time moves fast enough to help us forget them. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and the wages of our sin…is death. Regardless of if we may or may not have been helpless against the events of our life, we have still intentionally acted in ways that are sinful, and have created the very waves of hurt that we curse against as they pull us down. We…dipped our toes into the filthy waters of wickedness. We…stepped into the swamps of sin and the briny waters of lust, anger, fear, and selfishness. We…are deserving of the towering waves of wrath, stirred up by the mighty breath of God from heaven above.

But take heart brothers and sisters! For there is hope! There is hope beyond the shores of time, beyond the waves of suffering, and beyond the swirling tempests of despair. We do not have to suffer under the punishment that we deserve, for there is hope! This hope, is not found in a better ship or a better life or better behavior. It is not found in a stronger family or a stronger heart. It is not found in your strength or grit or determination. The only hope that sinners adrift upon the seas of time can look to, is He who was born under the unmoving star.

For though those shepherds from long ago thought the star was moving, it was not. It was stationary within the sky, and the entire planet they walked upon, the planet we now sit and live and teach our children to walk and love and fight, upon; travels on its preordained path, under the direct direction of Him who created it. 

Under the unmoving star, hope was born. Under the unmoving star, the King of stars, stepped into our World. Under the unmoving star, He who created stars, became a human. Became a child. Born of a virgin, the only hope for humanity came screaming and bloody into His Creation. Though He freely walked along the shores of the river of time, unaffected by it, He saw us entirely unable to save ourselves, and willingly chose to step down and wade into its waters. Deep in the soiled riverbed of sin and shame, He sank His holy feet…but remained unstained by the muck and mire. Though He was a human, He did not sin. Though He was tempted in every way that we are, He remained perfect and sinless. Though He became fully human, He remained fully God.

Jesus Christ, the God of the World and King of the Universe, became a human 2000yrs ago. But He did not do so, to save us from sadness or sickness, for both still crash upon those who believe. He did not put on human flesh, to prevent mortal suffering and shame, for both still infect His sons and daughters. But He became a human, and lived a sinless life, to accept the wrath of God on behalf of His children. To stand in the place where we should be standing. To be sunk beneath the black waves of His Fathers neon wrath, and be crushed beneath the raging currents of heaven…is the reason why Jesus Christ was born.

Screaming and bloody He was born into this world, so that silent and bloody He could leave it. 

For upon that cross, when the sins of His children were piled atop His holy body, pulling His holy blood through every whip-born opening of His holy skin…He suffered and died the death that His children deserved. Though they spat upon, He answered them not, Though they tore skin and muscle from bone and body, He didn't cry out. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

He took our sins, willingly drinking the cup of Wrath poured out for Him by His Father, so that we could drink in His righteousness. 

There is peace on Earth and goodwill toward men, because the God of all creation, Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords; Jesus Christ, son of Man and son of God; Jesus Christ, the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end; the sinless, timeless, changless, God of all reality, was born from a virgin, 2000yrs ago.

Jesus put on human flesh, lived a sinless life, was crucified on the cross for all who repent and believe in Him, died and descended into the grave for three days, and rose back to life.

Do you want hope, beyond the waves of sorrow that have been crashing against you for years, and will continue to do so for years to come? Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ.

Do you want peace, between you and the God you have offended? Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ.

Do you want your sins to be justly and rightly punished to their fullest extent? Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ.

Do you want to stand innocent before the all knowing, thrice holy, unchanging, Universe creating, God of existence? Repent of your sins and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.