Homily for Christmas Eve (Year A)
December 24, 2019
Holy Trinity, Tabor – 4:30 PM
Sacred Heart, EGF – 10:00 PM

Readings:        Isaiah 9:1-6     Psalm 96         Titus 2:11-14      Luke 2:1-14

Focus:              God gave his Son for us.
Function:         Receive the gift!

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What is it about Christmas?
What is there about Christmas night, in particular?

There is a spirit of joy. A spirit of love.  Of brotherhood.  Of family.
There is almost a sense of magic to this night.

It is a night of wonder and awe.
It is a night of forgiveness and tenderness, of warmth and light and grace.

What is it about Christmas?
What is it that captures our hearts?

Is it homes that are warm and lit amid the darkness and chill of winter?
Is it the aroma of Christmas Eve dinner wafting through the house?
Is it the presents wrapped and waiting under the tree while the kids wait in anticipation?

What is it about Christmas?

Perhaps it is the songs we sing.
Perhaps it is the family gathered.

Certainly, that is an important part of it.

And yet, still, there is something more.
There is something spiritual that is not easy to put into words.

What is it about Christmas?

…

In the beginning, before the creation of the world, there was nothing. Darkness.  Oblivion.

Then God spoke. He spoke his Word.

Let there be light.

And light shone out of the darkness. Creation sprung into being.  We know the story.  Adam and Eve were created and placed in the garden.  They walked in harmony and in friendship with God.  God loved them.  They loved God.

They walked in the light.

Then they were given a choice.

They chose darkness over the light. Sin entered the world, and with sin, death.

Down the ages, as the pages of history were written, mankind stumbled and groped in the darkness. Sin and division.  Unrest.  War.

The light within them was snuffed out. Or rather, it was all but snuffed out.  An ember of a promise remained; the promise of what God would do:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, between her offspring and yours. He will strike at your head while you strike at his heel…

The promise of a Messiah. The promise of a Savior.

Brothers and sisters:
What is it about Christmas that captures our hearts? It is this:
Tonight, God has fulfilled his promise!

The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light;
Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shown.

A star over a stable. Angels appearing to shepherds in the dark of night revealing the glory of God.

For tonight, a child is born to us, a son is given us!

Christ, the Light of the world.
Christ, the son of God and the son of Man.

Tonight the Son of God himself, the Light of the world,
pierces the darkness of our night
and gives us back what we lost through the sin of Adam and Eve;
through our own sin!

He gives us light and love!
He gives us hope and joy!
He gives us redemption – a second chance!

The glory of God enlightens our hearts tonight
even as it filled the night sky of the hill country of Bethlehem all those years ago!

The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light;
Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shown.

What is it about Christmas?

Tonight we see the light.

Tonight we glimpse the glory of God.
Tonight our hearts see it and sense it.
Tonight our hearts are captured by love:
the love of God for you and for me.

A love that would leave Heaven to be born on earth.

A love that would be born as a tiny child,
vulnerable and helpless,
so that we who are vulnerable and helpless to atone for our sins
might be reborn as children of light.

A love that would be born in order to die
so that we would not die in our sins
but would have the forgiveness of our sins
and be reborn to eternal life!

We celebrate tonight much more than the birth of a great man.
We celebrate tonight much more than the mystery of what it is to be a child.
We are celebrating that much more has happened here: 

The Word became flesh.
God has become one of us.

God is not remote, at a distance.
God is very close to us.

He seeks tonight to touch our hearts, to enter our hearts! [1]

Brothers and sisters,
let us allow the joy of this night to penetrate our souls!
Let the King of Glory in! Today is born our savior, Christ the Lord!

What is it about Christmas?
God gave his Son for us.

While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her first-born son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The light has come into the world.
Christ our Savior is born.
May we make room for him in our hearts.

May the mystery of this night open our eyes to let in the Light so that we might see!

May the mystery of this night open our hearts to let in the Light so that we might love one another has he has loved us.

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[1] Joseph Ratzinger, “The Blessing of Christmas”.