Christmas Eve
December 24, 2024
Luke 3:1-20

The audio of this sermon is available here. The livestream of the worship service is available on the Trinity Episcopal Church YouTube channel.

Kids these days. I remember when I was kid and if I wanted to watch TV, I would actually have to get up, walk to the TV set, and change the channels. And we had three channels, four if we were lucky and PBS was working. Sure, you could watch sports, but only the local team. I was heartbroken when my family moved from L.A. to Dallas and I couldn’t watch the Dodgers anymore, I had to watch the Texas Rangers, ugh. When I was a kid and I wanted to watch cartoons, well, I had to wait for Saturday morning. Kids these days. They watch whatever they want, when they want. 

Of course, it’s me, too.

I have hundreds of channels to watch, and Netflix recommends shows that I would like. I can watch whatever baseball team I want, I can watch whatever sport I want from anywhere on planet Earth. Cartoons? We’ve got thousands of them.

Things used to be broadcast. That’s literally what that meant, “broad”-cast. Now, we pick and choose to suit ourselves. You see what this is doing, right? With so much “connection” at our fingertips, we are losing connection with each other. Because we don’t have things in common anymore. We don’t watch the same things. We don’t talk about the same things. We don’t even have to be in the same place with each other. And this is driving us apart.

I know it, because I hear from you. You work from home, but that means there is no chit-chat with your co-workers. Because you are taking care of your aging spouse, you don’t go out much, and you’re feeling alone. You even come to church, like you have tonight, and though the church is full you can feel lonely, isolated, like you don’t know a soul. The modern world has made us believe that we are connected, but in fact, we are lonelier than ever before. You are not alone in your loneliness. One in three Americans report feeling lonely and socially disconnected. That can amplify feelings of depression and anxiety. And it’s not just an emotional problem. Social disconnection and loneliness are also indicators for heart disease and strokes. That’s right, loneliness is bad for your health. This disconnection, this loneliness, it is real and it is dangerous.

Merry Christmas, I guess. 

But no, actually, Merry Christmas. Because this night is the answer to that heartache. 

Just think of that famous Christmas story we just read. No one is alone. They have traveled far, but Mary and Joseph have each other. The angels appear, a whole host of them. And the shepherds come charging in from the fields; they come as a group. They come to be with Mary and Joseph, to be with each other. All throughout his life, this is precisely what Jesus will be doing. He will be drawing people together. He calls disciples to follow him, and they become friends. He goes from town to town calling the crowds together to teach them. Even at the cross, as he dies for me and you, some of his friends and companions are there. It’s like his arms are stretched out wide, pulling us together. Even at his birth, at that manger, the Lord Jesus is drawing people together. As he has done tonight, with me and you. We are not alone. This is simply what God does.

This is the gift of Christmas. That God cares. The Lord God knows our isolation, our loneliness, and God is doing something about it. By grace, the Lord Jesus is born at Bethlehem; and by grace the Holy Spirit is born in our hearts so that we are not alone. The Lord Jesus overcomes death at Easter but it is tonight, on Christmas, that the Lord Jesus overcomes loneliness. God does not stay far off, away in the heavens, looking at us with distant pity. No, God acts. God has taken an interest in us, God sees our tears, God hears our cries, and God does something about it. God chooses to be born into this world so that we would know God, in flesh and blood. So that when we are alone, when we are facing that isolation, we don’t have to look up into heavens, searching for answer. No, we can look around. And we can see that the Lord God is among us, and that we have companions even in the darkest moments. 

Now, I don’t know whether you have family in town for Christmas, or whether you’re spending the holiday alone. I don’t know whether you came to church tonight with friends or if it’s just you. 

I don’t know whether you just came from a big family dinner or if you ate by yourself.

But this I do know, that in a few moments, we will gather at this holy table. This is the ultimate sign of how God calls us together. We share a meal. And no matter who you are, or where you came from, or if you’ve been in this church your whole life or if this is your first time, we all get the same food. It means that no one, no one has to eat Christmas dinner alone; tonight we are pushing back against all that loneliness and isolation. We are truly, actually, connected. You are welcome here, you are part of the family, you are a child of God, not by blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13). As Jesus always does, he calls us together, thank God. So that none of us would ever be alone. Now that is a very Merry Christmas.

Sources

Click to access surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf