Advent Week Four: Christmas Eve

 

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.  Luke 2:20

The shepherds went back home forever changed.  I wonder if they returned to their normal life which no longer looked the way it did before they encountered and experienced the One who has eternal love dancing in his eyes.  Did they go back to the field where the angels had sung to them, but that holy hymn will forever hum in their hearts?  I wonder this because I wonder if tonight might cause a shepherd-like shift in my soul?  Can I return to normal life, especially after this year?

Tonight we tell the sacred story that is at the heart of this year.  The question every year is the same, how will tonight change everything?  Are you and I willing to let the truth of Emmanuel, God with us and for us stir your way of being?  Or will we force ourselves back to familiar patterns especially because everything has felt out-of-whack this year? 

We are on the threshold of the mystery and marvel of God’s grand entry into this world.  We are about to encounter the holy on a Christmas Eve unlike any in our lifetime.  Can you and I come with anticipation?  Will we come with expectation and open hearts to God’s presence moving in our midst?  Or do we just write this year’s Christmas Eve off as unusual and a story we will tell next year when we can return to our normal schedule Christmas celebration?

This night still changes everything.  This night, especially this year, has a different potency and power and possibility.  This night can still evoke our praise and glorifying God.  This is still a holy and silent night of God’s love entering our hearts, homes, and whole world.  Deep in my heart, I do believe, that God does arrive in our lives and gives us strength to sustain us every day.  I pray for each of you that you will find your inner-shepherd voice to sing out wherever you are. 

Jesus our Christ is born.

This changes everything.

This changes me.

Prayer: O come Thou Long expected Jesus, meet me in the hopes and fears, help me sing out with Hark! The herald angel choir that Your hope, peace, love and joy are more than words; this is the truth that is a light to our lives.  Amen.