Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols
2010

Isaiah 9:2,6-7

These are the shortest and darkest days of the year. They remind us of the darkness of death which our sin has brought upon us. We walk in the valley of shadows under the curse, where there is much trouble and affliction; sometimes especially in the holiday season, we feel that dark burden all the more. But, “the people walking in darkness have seen a great Light.” As the lights glow around us, we are also reminded that the Light of the world has been born. The light scatters and destroys the darkness, and the darkness of death cannot overcome Christ who is the Light of life. He has come to redeem us.

“Unto us a Son is given.” Notice that the Father didn’t just send His Son, He gave His Son–as a gift, the first and Ultimate Christmas gift. His own beloved Son, His very heart belongs to us, given to bring us peace and restore us to Himself.

“And the government will be upon His shoulder.” On the tiny shoulders of this Christ-child, the heavy beam of a cross will eventually be placed. That is how this King establishes justice, by receiving the just punishment for the world’s sins in our place, that He might show us mercy. That is how He is the Prince of Peace. That is the zeal, the passion of the Lord, that He might have you as His own forever.

Isaiah 7:10-14

How often have we wanted to see a sign from God–something to prove His existence, something to show that He could hear us, that He was guiding things, that He was with us–something that would make it all seem more real. Too often the search for such signs is a symptom of unbelief, and our faithless hearts stray into all sorts of superstitious, inward-looking spirituality.

But here is a sign that God Himself has offered to us, the ultimate sign of who He is in His mercy. It is not the kind of sign we usually ask for–nothing flashy that shows off His almighty power in a way that is obvious to everyone. It is an almighty sign, but it requires faith to receive it: A virgin shall conceive. The Son of Mary is the very Son of God Himself, conceived by the Holy Spirit, with no earthly father.

Here is the sign you’ve been looking for. God is with you most concretely in Christ. That’s what Immanuel means–God with us. Here is the sign of how much He loves you, the lengths that He’ll go to in order to win you back and rescue you. He has literally become your blood brother to carry you through your blood and sweat and tears all the way through death to the resurrection. You couldn’t ask for a better sign of God’s loving kindness than that.

Micah 5:2-5a

Bethlehem is the city of David. You recall in the Old Testament account that David was an unlikely choice to be king. He was the youngest of eight brothers. When the prophet Samuel came to choose the next king, David’s father Jesse only had the seven older brothers appear. David was left outside to tend to the sheep. Yet God chose him to be anointed king. For the Lord said that He does not look at the outward appearance but at the heart.

Bethlehem itself was just a little rural village, of no major importance. Yet out of this humble place would come the one “whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting,” God the Son Himself. This is the way our God operates. With Him, the last are first, the humble are exalted, and the weak are made strong. For with Him, it is through the humility of the manger and the cross that life is given.

Remember this when you are feeling like just a number, of no special account in this world. Our God came precisely for the last and the lowly and the ordinary. He does not look at the outward appearance but at the heart which repents and trusts in Him. Like David of old, Jesus will shepherd you and feed you and sustain you, and you will abide in the strength and the majesty of the Lord.

Titus 2:11-14

Jesus Christ was born among us to redeem us from our sins. That means we are released from them, set free. This forgiveness of Christ, then, can never be seen as a license to go on sinning, as if we can just do whatever we want. Why would we want to go back to the very chains and shackles that Christ broke off of us by His appearing? That’s what sin is–it’s slavery, it’s bondage and addiction to our own passions.

We’ve been redeemed from all of that and given true freedom in Christ. In His taking on of our humanity, our humanity is restored. Christ is at work in us to make us truly free people, zealous for good works. In Him we are given to lead sober lives of faith and love, lives which bring honor to the grace of God that has been shown to us in His birth, even as we await His second coming.

1 John 4:7-16

God is love. Love is pure self-giving to another. That is what God is within Himself, as the three persons of the Trinity give of themselves to each other in perfect unity. In love God created the world, not because He needed anything, but because He desired to reach outside of Himself and give Himself and His gifts to us. And even when we fell into sin, He didn’t turn away from us, but continued to give Himself to us even more fully in the sending of His Son into the flesh as our Savior. “This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Jesus is God in the flesh; therefore He is also love in the flesh. To receive Him is to receive love. To live in Him is to live in love. Let us, then, love one another. For that is the life of God; that is the life of Christ extending through us to others and binding us together. We see God in Christ. And we see Christ in His love and the love of His members.

Matthew 1:18-25

The name “Jesus” is the same as the name “Joshua.” Just different ways of pronouncing it in different languages. You remember that in the Old Testament it was not Moses who led the people of Israel into the Promised Land; it was Joshua. Moses could only take them so far; he saw the Promised Land from a distance and died. Joshua was the one to take them in. So it is also for us. The Law of Moses, the commandments, can only take us so far. They are good, but they cannot save us; they cannot get us to heaven. For we fall short of what they demand. We need a Joshua to take us across the Jordan and into the land of rest.

That is why our Lord is given this name by the angel. For Jesus means, “the Lord saves.” He is the One who drives out our enemies before us and brings us not just to a land flowing with milk and honey but to the new creation. We are saved not by righteous deeds which we have done but by His righteous deeds, by His grace. We do not climb our way up to God. He comes all the way down to us, even into the womb of the blessed Virgin. He does it all, leading a holy life for us, dying and rising again to lead us to victory. “You shall call His name Jesus, Joshua, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Luke 2:1-7

During the reign of Caesar Augustus, the period of time began known as the “Pax Romana,” the Roman peace. It was a time when there was little conflict or war, a time of unity under his reign. But what Caesar established could only prefigure in the smallest of ways the “Pax Christi,” the Peace of Christ. For the Roman peace would fail; the Roman Empire would fall. The peace of Christ endures, His kingdom is the One that will never fall, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Caesar decreed that all the world should be enrolled. But that was only the people of his empire. However, in Christ all the world truly is enrolled and registered in His flesh. For He has taken all of humanity into Himself that He might restore our humanity. Jesus didn’t just become a man. He became man, so that He might stand before the Father in our place, as our representative, and fulfill the Law for us. Caesar registered everyone so that he might take taxes from them. But Christ enrolls us all in His birth in order to give us His divine life, so that we may be adopted as children of God by our baptism into Him. He was born in earthly poverty that we might share in His heavenly riches. He was wrapped in cloths that might be robed in His righteousness. He was rejected, with no room for Him in the inn, so that we would be accepted by the Father into our home above forever.

Luke 2:8-14

The glory of the Lord brought great fear to the shepherds. His light exposes the sin and the problems we’re so adept at hiding. But He did not come into the world to condemn the world. The angel says, “Do not be afraid.” Whatever it is that causes you to fear, to worry, to be anxious in this world, Jesus has overcome it and taken it away. “Do not be afraid.” Those words are for you. Take them to heart. For it is written, “There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Jesus didn’t just come for everyone else out there somewhere. He came to you. He came for you to rescue you from sin and death and the devil. Believe that. He is yours, your Savior. And you are His. You are safe. You are forgiven. You are right with God in Christ. Let us, then, with faith-filled hearts join with the angels in singing “Glory to the newborn King!”