Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve in Wollaston 1998

Christmas has many faces, sparkling and shining everywhere, but also dark corners of disappointment, with myriad traditions. Families gather, and at the same time loneliness is all the more painful. Still, Christmas is the most celebrated event around the world. But Christmas, real Christmas, has but one focal point: THE GIFT.

To me, Christmas is a little like a great cathedral, like Westminster Abbey. So many things to see. A tourist's "must see" in London. Poets corner. Kings, greats and near greats, glorious soaring arches and beautiful windows. David Livingstone in the main aisle. But even though coronations and royal weddings and funerals get great publicity, and though most people would deny it, and it is denied by the way it is thought of and used, Westminster Abbey is first of all a house of worship. Worship. A meeting place with God.

[A few summers ago Helen and I were in the Abbey when the announcement was made for Evensong. Tourists were invited to become worshipers or at least to stop and be quiet or to leave. There was some grumbling, and many did leave. But then the service began and even though the setting was different from our home church God met with us.] The wonder is God meets with people in Westminster Abbey, but also in Rescue Missions, and in Baptist Churches and in high church prayers . . .IF we remember THE GIFT.

WHATEVER ELSE Christmas has brought to you this year, whether pure joy, or even pain; reunion or loneliness, GOD has come to bring YOU a priceless GIFT. With great love, at great cost to Himself, a very real and wonderful GIFT is yours, and mine. It is the Christmas Story, but that story is bigger than all the ideas of Christmas rolled into one. It is an invitation to belong to God's family. It is the assurance that your sins- all your sins- are forgiven. It is a new and wonderful Life that can make us new and beautiful from the inside out.

One tiny Baby! It seems so improbable! So impossible! That if God wanted to bring Light and Life to a world that He would begin with a Carpenter's wife-to-be, a Virgin Mother, and tiny Bethlehem in Judea, of all places. That tiny spark has never gone out. It has grown. It will fill all the universe with glory.

One simple prayer! It seems too simple! Impossible! That receiving God's GIFT can bring light and Life into a human heart.

"How silently, how silently
The wondrous Gift is giv'n.
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heav'n.
No ear may hear His coming
But in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive Him still
The dear Christ enters in."

Have You taken the time this Christmas Season to tell Jesus He is welcome in your life? Have you ever prayed a simple prayer accepting THE GIFT, and thanking God for sharing His life with you? Among all the shining and even sorrow of Christmas nothing is more important than God's GIFT. [I would not impose my will on any of you this evening, but there is a Prayer of Acceptance I would like for you to see, and if you will, for us to pray again together this evening. It is a Prayer of Acceptance of God's greatest GIFT. (It is found on page 347 in the Nazarene Hymnal, Sing to the Lord.)]

Dear Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is your only begotten Son,
and that He became a human being, shed his blood and died on the
cross to clean away my sin that was separating me from You. I believe
that He rose from the dead, physically, to give me new life. Lord
Jesus, I invite You to come into my heart. I accept You as my Savior
and Lord. I confess my sins, and ask You to wash them away. I believe
that You have come and are living in me right now. Thank You, Jesus.
Amen.

I certainly do not mean to trivialize conviction, godly sorrow for sins, repentance, and all that often comes with turning from sin to God. But I want to tell you this Christmas Eve, that if you mean that prayer we have prayed, and if you have asked Jesus into your heart then He is faithful to His Word to enter your life and bring His light. As you walk in that light you will find fellowship and cleansing and assurance.

Words of Invitation and Confession

You who do truly and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbors, and intend to lead a godly life, following the commandments of God, and walking in His holy ways; draw near with faith and give God praise [# 67 in Hymnal.] Please read responsively: (Pastor, read italics!)

We praise You, O God.
We acclaim You as Lord;
All creation worships You,
Father everlasting.
To You all angels, all the powers of heaven,
cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise.
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of the apostles praise You.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise You.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise You.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims You:
Father of majesty unbounded,
Your glorious, true, and only Son,
and the Holy Spirit, Advocate and Guide.
You, Christ, are the King of Glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When You became incarnate to set us free
You humbly accepted the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death,
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God's right hand in glory.
We believe that You will come to be our judge.
(All:) Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting.
Words of Institution (Let us continue in Prayer)
As Mary and Joseph went from Galilee to Bethlehem
and there found no room,
so Jesus went from Galilee to Jerusalem and was despised and rejected.
As in the poverty of a stable Jesus was born,
so by the baptism of his suffering, death and resurrection
you gave birth to your Church,
delivered us from slavery to sin and death,
and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
Your Word became flesh, born of woman, on that night long ago.
And, on the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread,
gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:
"Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
When the supper was over he took the cup,
gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:
"Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,
poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving
as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us,
as we rejoice in the mystery of our faith:
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,
and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
By your Spirit make us one with Christ,
one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world,
until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church,
all honor and glory is yours, Almighty God, now and forever.
And now with the confidence of the children of God, we are bold to pray
as Your Son has taught us:
Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the
glory forever. Amen

The Gifts of God for the People of God