Christmas Eve - 2024

Jesse Tink

Christmas Eve • Sermon • Submitted 4 months ago • Presented 4 months ago

0 ratings

· 1 view

Notes

Transcript

Welcome & No Matter

Hey—let me say this to you, and let me hear you say it back (even through the screen):

MERRY. CHRISTMAS! (Merry Christmas.)

One more time:

Merry Christmas! (Merry Christmas.)

So glad that you’re joining us at Prairie Lakes for Christmas Eve. So glad.

Hey—I’m not sure about everything that had to happen in order for you to just… get here. Maybe it was as simple as hopping in the car and going to church like you do most Sundays. But maybe it was way more complicated than that… and you still can’t quite believe that you said “yes” to an invite to church and now you’re sitting where you are.

But listen:

No matter who you are or where you’ve been…

No matter how long it’s been since you’ve been to church…

No matter what you’ve done or what’s been done to you:

You’re right where you need to be, and right where you oughtta be.

Because God is in charge, he’s good, he loves you, and he’s got you.

So:

Relax. Take a deep breath. If you got your kids with you, don’t worry about them making noise or being disruptive. That’s what kids do.

Don’t worry about what you’re wearing or if you’re “doing it right.”

Just stay open. God might have something for you today.

Here Because Something Happened

Alright. As we get going here in this part of our service, I’d like to ask you all a question. Here it is:

START TV SLIDE

Why are you here?

END TV SLIDE

Why are you here?

Some of you are like, “I’m asking myself that same question right now. Why am I here?”

Not in like a deep, philosophical, “why am I here on this earth” sense. More like in the here, now, in this moment:

Why are you…

Here? Attending this service?

Could be because you want to be.

Could be because mom or grandma told you that’s what you were doing.

Could be because that’s just what people do on Christmas Eve.

And any or all of those might be true for you.

But there is one reason you’re here that is true—not just for you, but for all of us, no matter what our individual reasons are.

There’s one reason that all of us are here for a Christmas Eve service. And that reason is this:

START TV SLIDE

Why are you here?

Something happened.

END TV SLIDE

Each of might be here for a host of different reasons—but there’s one reason that is true for all of us:

Something. Happened.

And it didn’t happen to us just today.

In fact, it didn’t happen to any of us.

But it did happen. And because it happened, all of us are here at a Christmas Eve service. Today.

Exegesis: Luke 1:1-4

Here’s what happened:

START TV SLIDE

Luke 1:1–4 “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

END TV SLIDE

That’s from the gospel of Luke. How he opens his account of what happened for his friend, Theophilus.

Luke was a doctor who traveled with a missionary and church planter named Paul across much of the known world around 2,000 years ago.

But in a lot of ways, Luke is like you and me:

He wasn’t around for what happened. But he heard about it.

And we don’t know exactly how, but Luke came to believe something that literally and eternally changed the course of his life.

So he ends up joining Paul on his travels. And as he did, Luke got to know some of the people who were there for what happened. They were there. They were eyewitnesses.

And Luke is a doctor—so he’s used to taking notes. Copious notes. (Probably horrible handwriting… but nonetheless…)

Something happened. People witnessed it. And they told their friends. And the news traveled. And then Luke heard about it. And then he wrote about it.

And that thing that happened—

That’s why you and I are here, right now, at a Christmas Eve service.

Before you and me are here because it’s tradition…

Or because it’s just what people do on Christmas Eve…

Or because someone invited you…

Before any of those reasons, you and me, we are here because something actually happened.

We’re doing Christmas Eve services because something happened in the real world that real people saw and testified to.

And the people they testified to testified to others.

And then a bunch of people wrote down what they saw and heard. Including Luke.

Exegesis: Luke 2:1-14

And so here’s what Luke says happened:

START TV SLIDE

Luke 2:1–2“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)

END TV SLIDE

Syria was the Roman province that the region of Judea, or modern-day Israel, was located in. That’d be a relevant detail for both Luke and the guy he was writing to. Kinda like saying “back when George W. was president” or “during Obama’s first term.” You and I would know about when that was. Luke’s saying: remember when Governor Q. was in charge? All of this happened kind of around that time.”

Verse 3:

START TV SLIDE

Luke 2:3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

END TV SLIDE

We’re used to a census being taken every 10 years—but we’re used to people traveling to us to take it. Or we get a piece of mail in our mailbox. Or we hop on our computers.

But Quirinius declared that everyone in Judea had to go back to their hometown in order to register for the census. They weren’t going to travel to you, you were going to travel to them. And census registration wasn’t just so that you could be counted; it was so that you could be taxed.

The traveling, the inconvenience, the tax bill… there were were a lot of reasons that you’d remember that particular year.

Verse 4:

START TV SLIDE

Luke 2:4-7 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

END TV SLIDE

And that would’ve been the case everywhere during that time. Think about all the people that you grew up with | who have since moved away | having to come back to your town:

All of the hotels would be booked; people would be sleeping on the floors of whatever family members still lived around town; many probably wouldn’t have a place to sleep at all.

Verse 8:

START TV SLIDE

Luke 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

END TV SLIDE

Maybe you lived in Nazareth or Jerusalem or Damascus. You moved from your hometown to a bigger city. But if your hometown was Bethlehem, and you had to go back, the only game in town there was ag. You raised crops or you raised sheep and goats. And you’d have memories as a kid of helping out on the family farm, doing chores and chasing sheep. And as you got older and got to stay up later, you were charged with making sure nothing wild and dangerous came looking for a meal in the dark.

Most nights were probably pretty quiet.

But not this particular night.

On this particular night, here’s what happened. Verse 9:

START TV SLIDE

Luke 2:9–14 “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

END TV SLIDE

Jesus Happened

Quirinius, in accordance with Roman policy, demanded a census be taken in Judea. That happened.

Everyone in Judea had to travel back to their hometown to be counted. That happened.

Among those travelers was a young Jewish couple engaged to be married, Joseph and Mary. Mary gave birth pretty close to when they arrived in Bethlehem. That happened.

And none of those things are very hard to believe. You and I weren’t there to witness all of that; but lots of people did. All of that is just plain history.

And part of that history were shepherds.

Shepherds. Dads and sons, just doing what they did every single night. Shepherds who were used to gazing up at the night sky for hours on end.

These shepherds, who have no reason to lie, swore up and down that something happened that one night:

They said that the sky opened. And at first it was just one messenger who appeared. But eventually it was a whole army.

And their message was crystal clear:

There’s a baby who has just been born in town. He’s the Messiah. He’s the one God has promised. He’ll grow up. And he’ll do something that will save the world.

So leave your sheep and go find him. He’ll be the only baby that’s all wrapped up but in a feeding trough.

And so they did. And it was just as they were told.

You and I are here today at a Christmas Eve service,

Not because that’s just what churches have always done at this time of year.

The church didn’t invent Christmas. Christmas invented the church.

We are here because God sent his Son, born to Mary in the region of Syria, right around the time Caesar put Quirinius in charge.

We are here because…

START TV SLIDE

Why are you here?

Something happened.

Jesus happened.

END TV SLIDE

Whether you believe it or not. Jesus happened.

His birth. His life. His words. His works. His death. His resurrection. He is why we’re having this service.

We are responding to the God of heaven who came to earth.

Angels told the shepherds. Then they told some people. Then those people told Luke.

And today, Luke told you and me (and Theophilus; but he’s known for awhile now).

Challenge: You Follow Who You Believe

So…

So… what?

So what?

So that happened. Jesus happened. So what?

You know, we are so used to being bombarded with headlines and news and here’s what happened and did you see this or can you believe that…

But here’s what I know, even in the height of the information age, as 2023 closes. Here’s what I know:

START TV SLIDE

You follow who you believe in.

END TV SLIDE

Every single one of us follows who we believe in.

We’ve chosen a news source we trust and believe in. And we follow them. We tune in. We subscribe. We follow along.

We’ve got people at work that we take at their word and stay close to. We believe in their character or their perspective, and so we respond to their emails or do what they ask.

Some of us have trusted pastors or speakers or authors that we trust and believe in. We follow along with what they’ve written or preached or said.

And sure, on social media, we might follow a bunch of different people for different reasons—entertainment, family, because they’re a trainwreck, whatever—but even there, we’ve got sources that we’re following because we believe that their perspective is accurate and trustworthy.

We follow who we believe in.

Or, said differently:

START TV SLIDE

You follow who you believe in.

If you believe, then you will follow.

END TV SLIDE

The shepherds believed what the angels said that night. So they followed their instructions and went looking for that baby. The shepherds believed, so they followed.

Luke believed what Paul said about that baby—who grew up and lived up to what those angels said about him at his birth. Luke believed, so he followed.

The question for us today, at Christmastime, is this:

Do you believe what Luke wrote to you about Jesus?

Because if you do, just like the shepherds, and Luke, and a host of other people in the generations since, all the way up to now…