I'm So Glad You're Here

This sermon was preached by Pastor Ted Carnahan for Christmas Eve, December 24, 2024 at the 4:00pm service.

Transcript

Grace, mercy, and peace be with all of you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

It's so good to see the church just as full on Christmas as it is every other weekend. I'm glad to have you all here!

A Love Letter to Christmas Eve Christians

I have something for you, though. Whether you've been here a lot or not here very often, I have something for you. If you'll allow me, it's a bit personal. I didn't write it, but it's how I feel. It's a love letter. It's a love letter to the Christmas Eve Christians. It was written by an Episcopal priest named Allison Cowgill, and I want to read it to you because it's really how I feel about you.

"To the ones who only came because you don't know what else to do tonight, because it's what you're supposed to do, because it's important to your mother, because it's habit. To the ones who only came for the music, for the pageantry, for the nostalgia. To the ones who have no idea why they came. To the ones who wish they were somewhere else: I am so glad to see you. You matter here. This is a night for joy and not for shame. I hope you feel that tonight.

You are here! This is so important. I am so glad to see you. This music is for you. This pageantry is for you. These evergreens and poinsettias are for you. We're all in our best clothes, and it's all for you. Because a baby was born for you, and I'm so glad you're here."

Welcome, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Infinite Importance of Christmas

I want to share with you, as an opening thought, one of my favorite theologians. You'll know him as the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, but he also was a Christian who wrote extensively in theology, and he said something that I think is quite important for us as we come to the moment of Christmas. C.S. Lewis wrote, "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, is of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important."

Today, we are here to celebrate something that is infinitely important:

• A child born in a manger, whom angels are proclaiming to be the Son of God.
• A child born in a manger who is the fulfillment of centuries of prophecy leading up to that moment.
• A child born in a manger who will become the most influential human being to ever live.

The Humble Birth of the Prince of Peace

This royal birth is either of infinite importance or no importance at all. Either it changes everything about everything, or it means nothing. It cannot be moderately important.

Because the birth of this child to ordinary Joe and Mary is something remarkable. If he really is God's Son, conceived of a virgin, there is something very strange about this boy. God is saying something strange and upside down and wonderful in the birth of such a Son.

That the King of the Universe, the Prince of Peace would be born in a feed trough, in a place that was little more than a cave, is not just an accident of history or circumstances. God could have been born in a palace. He could have been born to the wealthiest and most powerful people on earth. God could have put him into the lap of luxury. He could have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. God could have placed him into a family that would raise him so far above the realities of ordinary human suffering that he would never have to experience what that's really like.

But he didn't. And that's a choice God made.

God's Message to Us

He was born to ordinary Joe and Mary. He was announced by angels to shepherds, not the rich. He was rejected and hunted down by royalty, not celebrated. And living among us, he was convicted of a crime he didn't commit, was crucified by the oppressive Romans, and died. All because God chose to make a statement. He had something to say that he wanted you to hear.

His peace, the peace of God, is not for the proud, but for the humble.

His joy is for the ordinary, not the extraordinary.

He is a savior for all people who turn to him in hope.

And he tells us in the words of a prophet who was dead six centuries before his birth, exactly who and what he would be. He is to be called Emmanuel, which means "God with us."

The Gift of Christmas

When you wonder if God is really on your side, if he really cares, when you wonder if God can really love someone who has gone astray like you have, and like I have, when you wonder if God would ever welcome back someone who has treated him as only moderately important, I want you to think back to this night, right now, and see the gift in it.

"To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is the Messiah, the Lord." A baby has been born for you.

And by him, the hole in your hearts can be healed.

And in him, life finds its meaning and purpose.

And through him, we know that God has forgiven our sins.

And he welcomes us back again and again and again. And to his kingdom, this night, all of it is for you. "Because a baby was born for you. And I'm so glad you're here."

In Jesus' name, Amen.