New Birth
Luke 2:1-20
December 24, Christmas Eve, 5, 8, 11 p.m.

This is the time of the year when some of the highlights are children's Christmas pageants and plays. For one little girl, it was the first time she had been in the Christmas play. She was given the part of an angel. The director of the program explained that at the appropriate time, she would walk down the center aisle to the front of the sanctuary. The excited little girl asked, "Do you want me to walk or fly?" As we share in these Christmas Eve celebrations, many people could have posed the same question, "Do you want me to walk or fly?"

There is something about the wonder and mystery of the Christmas story that makes our hearts soar. Some of you may remember the words of Peter Marshall: He said, "When Christmas doesn't make your heart swell up until it nearly bursts… When Christmas doesn't fill your eyes with tears and make you all soft and warm inside… Then you will know that something inside of you has died."

It is my hope and prayer for all of us that if something like that has happened to us, that God will fill us with a new spirit of life and joy. This Advent and Christmas season has been especially meaningful for our community of faith at Beargrass. We will have a bountiful feast of wonderful worship services, meaningful opportunities for mission, and festive fellowship with our church family. The theme for our worship services has been "All Things New." We have been reading and reflecting on several scripture lessons from the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke. The messages have focused on significant themes within these texts: new hope, new peace, new joy, and new love. This morning we celebrated God's gift of new light in Jesus and had one moving and memorable morning worship service. We gave thanks to God for the many sacred memories and experiences we have shared. Then we processed to this new sanctuary and entered the gates with thanksgiving and praise and majestic music that made our spirits soar!

Tonight, we gather again for one of the most beautiful services of the year, our Christmas Eve candlelight and communion services. And we give thanks to God for the gift of "new birth."

IN A SENSE, WE HAVE ACCEPTED GOD'S INVITATION TO A BIRTHDAY PARTY. You may have heard the story about a young couple who took her three-year-old daughter to church for the first time. It's always a challenging move to take a child from the nursery to a worship service! The church was having their Christmas Eve candlelight service. The church lights were lowered. Then the members of the choir came down the aisle, carrying lighted candles. All was reverent and still and peaceful. That is, until this three-year-old girl noticed the candles. In her mind, candles meant one thing. So she started singing out in a loud voice. Can you guess what she sang? "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!" Her parents were terribly embarrassed. But then the congregation began to sing along with her. The quiet, reverent moment quickly became an opportunity to celebrate. The worship service became a wonderful birthday party.

Sometimes children can teach us a lot about the wonder and joy of Christmas. A young boy was showing his Christmas presents to his grandmother. She asked, "Did you get lots of good toys this year? Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?" He looked around and thought for a moment. He said, "No, Grammie-but that's OK. It wasn't MY birthday anyway!" Friends, welcome to the birthday celebration!

OF COURSE, WE KNOW THAT NOT EVERYONE WHO CELEBRATES CHRISTMAS RECOGNIZES THAT JESUS HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT. Some folks simply choose to ignore it. Many of you have an annual tradition of seeing Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Do you remember that fascinating scene? The "Ghost of Christmas Past" has just paid a very discomforting visit to Ebenezer Scrooge. Clearly the old miser is shaken by the entire ordeal. But when he awakes from his sleep, does he take the message to heart? No, he simply dismisses it by saying: "Bah, humbug! It wasn't real-just a little indigestion." Just like there was no room in the inn for Jesus and his parents, there was no room in Scrooge's heart for something new. Of course, others will try to avoid any references at all to anything religious during this time of the year.

I chuckled at some comments in an article by Dave Barry. He wrote, "To avoid offending anybody, the school dropped religion altogether and started singing about the weather. At my son's school, they now hold the winter program in February and sing increasingly non-memorable songs such as "Winter Wonderland," "Frosty the Snowman" and-this is a real song-"Suzy Snowflake." This is even stranger because we live in Miami. A visitor from another planet would assume that the children belonged to the 'Church of Meteorology.'" For other folks, this time of the year is simply a time to have extravagant parties and exchange expensive gifts. For some retailers, the season begins with what is now called "Black Friday." "Black Friday" is the day after Thanksgiving, when folks flock to the stores and transform the red ink on business balance sheets to black. Or, some may celebrate, but forget to invite the guest of honor.

Two women, dressed in their finest, were having lunch together in a very exclusive restaurant. A friend noticed them and came over to their table to greet them. She asked, "It's great to see you! What's the special occasion?" One woman said, "We're having a birthday party for our baby-he's two-years-old today." The friend asked, "But where is your baby?" The child's mother answered, "Oh, I dropped him off at my mother's house. He makes such a mess of things at restaurants. She's taking care of him until our little party is over." Can you imagine? Having a birthday celebration for a child who wasn't even welcome at his own party? And yet, sometimes that happens with the Christmas season. We get so caught up in the fun and festivities, the programs and the parties, the entertainment and the excitement-that we forget….

BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT IT IS RISKY TO REMEMBER-BECAUSE IF WE REMEMBER, IF WE OPEN OUR HEARTS AND LIVES TO THIS NEW BIRTH, GOD MAY SURPRISE US! As he reflects on some of these passages in Luke 1 and 2, well-respected preacher and theologian, Peter Gomes, says, "It is not an easy thing to be confronted with a message from God. We pray that God will hear our prayers and draw near to us. We pray with ease, and some of us with frequency. But perhaps we pray with such ease and relative frequency because we do not expect any response? Good and faithful people have gotten along quite well enough with God where God ought to be. The trouble begins when God begins to have more than the usual distant commerce with us."

And he is absolutely correct! This new birth may turn our lives and the world upside down! Just as it did for Mary and Joseph and all who have accepted God's invitation. I appreciate the way Vernon Broyles "reframes" the message of Christmas and the birth of Jesus. He says, "The message of Christmas is not so much about charity. It is not about feeling guilty for being comfortable. It is about change. It is about ordering our lives differently, whether anyone else does or not. It is about reflecting in our own lifestyles and in our own choices, the Word of God who is incarnate in Jesus.

And it just might be… It just might be that if we are able to make those changes in our own lives, others might know more about who he really was-and is-than from anything we say." Friends, this sacred season comes along once each year to remind us that "Love Came Down At Christmas." This sacred season comes along each year to remind us that the greatest gifts of all are gifts that money cannot buy. These graceful gifts include hope, peace, joy, love, light, and new life. And even now, God is reaching out to us with open arms… Hoping that we will hold this baby…in our hands and hearts… Hoping that we will receive this gift of New Birth.