Christmas Eve – December 24, 2025; May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard. Amen.
This is the most wonderful time of the year, or so we are told by Johnny Mathis and others. It really is though, even if the turkey didn’t thaw out in time, the kids are hyped up on sugar and dreams of Santa Claus, and the in-laws are about to send you to a therapist’s couch. Yet sometimes when we think about Christmas, we get caught up in the Hallmark version of it – the lights, the carols, the cookies, and the gifts, that when we hear the story of that first Christmas, whether here at church or from Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas, it seems so far away from who we are that we lose sight of what it means for us. But the thing is, this story isn’t as foreign to our lived reality as we sometimes make it – and that knowledge helps us to see something we need to know now.
The author of Luke, from where Linus and we get the birth story we usually hear on Christmas Eve, sets the scene for us in the midst of human history – it was when a certain ruler was in charge and had commanded a census of “all the world.” Now, just for context, things were difficult in those days – they were indeed a people who walked in darkness (though the prophet Isaiah was speaking about an earlier time). The empire’s taxes were hard, and most labored for their own food. Poverty was crushing most of the people, while a small elite profited off of them and lived lavishly. And there was political unrest caused by an appointed ruler, Herod, a larger than life sort, who the people viewed with suspicion because of his ties to the empire. This is the setting into which God chooses to enter, and there is a lot we can all resonate with in it to be sure – but more on that later.
Back to the story itself – this census moves Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a journey of nearly 100 miles (with no trains, planes, or automobiles to get them there). It also likely meant a lot of others were making similar journeys, so as the song goes – there may be No Place Like Home for the holidays, but the traffic really is terrific! And then there is the problem of trying to find places to stay along the way. I have to wonder if Joseph and Mary made their place in Nazareth an Air B&B, given all the folks traveling in the opposite direction.
At any rate, all that travel must sound familiar to a lot of folks today who stood in long TSA lines, navigated bumper to bumper traffic, or was trying to figure out where to put everybody who made it home for the holidays. Add to all of that is the fact that Mary is very pregnant! Lordy – that’s gotta be a tough trip.
So, back to our Holy Family – they get to Bethlehem, and there is “no room for them in the inn.” Now, that may mean Joe forgot to make reservations (you know that meant a big argument later – right?). But it wasn’t like they had to go to a barn somewhere on the property. Likely, because other guests already took over the host family’s guest rooms, it was sort of like telling them they had to sleep on the old lumpy sofa in the unfinished basement.
Homes in those days had a lower level where animals were brought in for the night and in cold weather. That is where the host family had to send Mary and Joseph. If you can imagine that for a moment – it means the house was filled with people – all there for the census taking one supposes. That is a made for Hallmark crazy time moment for sure, that many of you here likely know far too well.
And for this couple, who already had a lot going on, sleeping among the animals may have been the most peaceful part of their days – a respite from upstairs where perhaps Joe’s crazy Uncle Roy was getting into it with Grandma Lucy, who had a bit too much eggnog. At least the animals aren’t likely to break out into a fight over politics. From the animals point of view though, this was a nightmare.
I mean, first this couple comes down, takes over two of their beds of hay, and dang it – then they have a baby (what a noisy mess) and worse – they put that little human on their food in their manger – yuk! The animals were probably like – What the heck! And as for the birth, you know that was crazy time at the OK Corral.
Women upstairs likely came down to help, making things a bit crowded; and birth scenes, even for the virtuous like Mary, are typically not quiet events, despite what the hymn says. Giving birth then, and even today is joyous and noisy. Sadly, it is also dangerous – for both the mother and the child. And after all that – shepherds arrive to tell them that angels appeared in the sky and confirming what the angel had said to Mary at the beginning of this journey. No wonder she pondered it all in her heart – before nodding off for a much needed nap.
What a wild family story this probably became over the years, right? I mean, can you imagine on the 10th Christmas, somebody saying – Hey Joe and Mary, remember that crazy year of the census? And them saying back “Lordy what a time that was” as Joe grabs another eggnog and Mary chases Jesus and his siblings away from the presents.
Seriously though – that was the Luke story. Filled with very human stress, joy, and a bit of craziness – and all wrapped up in love. The Matthew story was much less chaotic, but far more dangerous. Mary was pregnant, but she and Joseph were engaged, not married – which in those days, and in some parts of the world today – means danger for Mary and her unborn child. In a dream, Joseph is told by an angel not to discard her, but to marry her as planned.
After the baby is born, a few wise people from the East come to their house (with very impractical and odd gifts). Then, Joseph has another dream where an angel tells him that King Herod is out to kill Jesus. So ,the Holy Family become refugees. They flee the danger in their homeland, cross over the border into Egypt, and stay there until Herod dies. Thankfully for most, this story in Matthew is not as familiar to their Christmas gatherings as the one in the Gospel of Luke. But it is to many in this country now, who fled from danger in their home countries, often with children and just the clothes on their backs, to come here for safety. To them, this flight to Egypt is very familiar.
So, if we really take in the story we celebrate tonight we may just find a place for ourselves in its familiarity. Sure, we don’t ride donkeys generally (although how cool would that be – well, except not from the donkey’s perspective, I suppose). We don’t trudge for miles on all dirt roads (even if in NJ it feels that way), have farm animals on the first floor of our house, or have to travel for our government census (they kinda frown on that). And we don’t typically see choirs of angels singing, have shepherds coming over with strange news, people bearing odd gifts knocking on our door, or an awe inspiring astrological phenomenon shining in the sky above (which I can guarantee meant that it was cloudy over New Jersey that first Christmas night, as it always is when there is something cool to see).
No, we don’t have any of that on our Christmas to do or see list, but then again, it is not those things that matter anyway. What makes this birth we celebrate so important to remember is the rest of it. God chose to enter into the world through relationships of love – the love of parents for their newborn child, of a young couple starting their life together, of family, friends, and neighbors gathering in likely too small a space but somehow making it work. This birth, that changed the world forever, begins among family relationships that are messy and wonderful all at the same time, and amid moments when we feel exhausted or lonely even in a crowd (as it must have felt for Mary, Joseph, or the shepherds sometimes).
It is in the mundane, the mess, the fear, the joy, the hurt, and the longing – the ever day ordinariness and sometimes craziness of human existence – that God comes – choosing to connect heaven and earth in the form of a vulnerable baby, born to world weary parents, in a humble setting, amid a chaotic family gathering, to a people who walked in darkness.
Today we too are a people who walk in darkness – the deep night of bigotry and hate, oppressive governmental leaders, marginalized people, poverty and loneliness, violence and war. And here’s the thing, we who live in a land of deep darkness, need to remember most of all this night – Jesus is being born now too, and we have a part to play in that birth.
Long ago, God chose Mary because God knew she had the courage to say Yes to that call, the faith to trust the Holy Spirit even when things got crazy, and the will to bring Jesus into a world in need. And God chooses us to do the same now.
You, and you, and you, all you-all, are not spectators this night.
You are a part of the story. The story that is happening now.
You are the one God now calls to bring the light of Christ’s love into the darkness.
You are the one that needs to trust the Holy Spirit amid the insanity of this time and place.
You may not see angels flying around in the sky, or shepherds knocking at your door in the middle of the night, but you are meant to be a part of this story nonetheless. You are meant to be Mary – bearers of Christ to those who walk in darkness. We all are.
And perhaps Mary’s need to ponder all of it in her heart makes a lot more sense to us now. It is a lot to think about – more than whether the tie you got for your dad was a good idea or not. Because while the gifts we give at Christmas will someday be put away and forgotten, this gift – to be Mary – to carry Christ’s light within us, give birth to his love for the sake of others, nurture him in the world – it is the gift of a lifetime – and the call we all have. And perhaps like her, we may be wondering:
Why me?
Why would God come into this crazy world at this time and place?
Will I be able to do what God is asking me to do, and will it really matter?
And when you need to ponder that, come here among your parish family, where you will be given what you need for your life journey, just as Mary was so long ago. Remember that when she became pregnant as the Archangel Gabriel told her, she traveled to her cousin Elizabeth, who affirmed her call. Here is where you too can take a moment from the busy-ness of the world to come among family and be affirmed about your life and in your call.
The story of Christmas – of the birth of Jesus – is our story – of God active in our lives and in the world. It reminds us that mystery and wonder abounds even in chaos, that healing and restoration come with humility and grace, that God’s great love appears in the most unexpected ways, and bursts into our ordinary lives to bring freedom and justice for the oppressed, and to proclaim for all to hear that everyone is a beloved child of God – no exceptions. And perhaps most especially, that God chooses us to help bring this all about.
God chooses us to be Mary – bearers of Christ into the world.
So let us all have a Mary Christmas!
M-A-R-Y and the other kind too.
For then we may one day truly see peace on earth, and good will for all.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
For the audio, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here (also available on Audible):
The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
December 24, 2025
Christmas Eve
1st Reading – Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
2nd Reading – Titus 2:11-14
Gospel – Luke 2:1-20
