Nativity of the Lord - Christmas Eve - December 24, 2025

I imagine for many of us we felt how short the advent season was, really just the proximity of thanksgiving to this Christmas celebration. In fact, as our family has grown over the years, now I have 20 nieces and nephews. We've moved from like two very wonderful thanksgiving and Christmas meals to just doing like appetizers at Christmas, just like dragging ourselves into this final feast of the year. And so perhaps you feel sort of that burden, like of all the things that we have to do and maybe your family, your work, your life feels for a better word like a controlled chaos at best. I saw a post today online that I thought was pretty apt. Pray for me, I have to build a trampoline tonight. That's one of those decisions that feels good four months ago, but now we're regretting that. So we kind of have this desire, doing not, whenever we gather for these festive occasions, to sort of recreate that Norman Rockwell sort of sentiment. We want the Christmas that we see in movies and in culture. We want everything to be peaceful. Peace on earth and goodwill, 12-man kind. But we know the reality instead, it's about this time of year is flights getting canceled or presents that don't show up on time. One of the kids has a group or they all had a group and now they have the flu or the store ran out of crescent rolls and now we need to do something else because your toddler only eats crescent rolls. Perhaps you had an argument this morning or and or an argument on the way here. So the chaos sort of feels like it's seeping into these different avenues of our life and then very quickly and very promptly we have to get showered and changed. The hair is combed and we show up at 230 to try to grab a seat. And now you're like father that's two minutes already if your homie spent as a lead-in. Where is this going? I think being mindful of that is important because I think in the midst of the nostalgia and the sentiment and the beauty and the quiet of this evening, things that we see in our manger scene or on television or in culture, it really doesn't capture the reality of what that evening at Bethlehem was which was kind of a mess. It was kind of complicated. It was chaotic. They couldn't find room. Mary was due soon. There was all of this sort of obstacles that they had to overcome. And I think that's really what the church wants us to acknowledge. It's not the sentiment or the superficiality of the incarnation of Jesus Christ but the reality of its humanity. And that's really what we come to celebrate this evening is a God who loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son who took on our humanity not in some facsimile version but intricately in every way. In every way save sin, suffering and laughing and living and in every way inviting us towards this avenue of encounter with them. And so what does the angel announce to Joseph tonight in the midst of this mess? In the midst of Archeas that draws us nonetheless here, you are to name Him Jesus because He will save His people from their sins. Notice what the angel does not say. The angel does not say that Jesus was sent because He will make everything comfortable or because He'll fix your reputation or because He'll give you that perfect, peaceful, quiet Christmas, but Jesus was sent to save us from our sins. And that is what the name of Jesus means. God saves. And it's not a suggestion for us. It's not a sentiment. It's not anything more than a job description. It's for this reason that He has come and not for any other. And then our gospel gives us this second name. Quoting here the prophet Isaiah, they shall name Him Emanuel, which means God is with us. And I think holding these two names together, perhaps provide an interpretation for this evening, beyond the chaos and the mess. Jesus, God saves Emanuel, God with us. The reality that God does not save us from afar. He doesn't fix our mess remotely from this place in heaven. But He comes down into it. He enters into this mess. He becomes with us in the midst of our mess. And so even in His closeness, though, that we celebrate at Christmas, we still can find ourselves searching. And not like the shepherds or the magi who search for the Lord that they might adore and worship at His feet. But perhaps we find ourselves searching like Herod does. Because we fear losing control. And so in the midst of the chaos and the mess of our lives, perhaps we're holding on to something more. Perhaps we're searching for something more. Perhaps we're looking for salvation in something more. We're looking for more power, saying to ourselves, "If I just had more control or more influence or the right position, then everything would be right in my life." Or perhaps we're looking for salvation in what the world offers. In its pleasures. If I could just feel good or escape or numb the pain in my life, then everything would be satisfied. Or perhaps friends were looking for salvation in honor. I just wish others would see me or validate me or respect me. Or perhaps we're looking for salvation in wealth. I just had enough money, then everything would be fine. If I had enough security, if I had enough comfort, then everything would be fine. Because we think these things will save us. Friends, we think that these things are what we need. We think that these things are what will finally give us peace. Or maybe you're sitting here thinking, "Father, I do have the Norman Rockwell Christmas plan." The crown roast is ready. My mother growing up, she would start making Christmas cookies in August. She would make the dough, label it, freeze it. And then in the weeks leading up to December, bake them all, store them in Tupperware, and then this platter would sort of miraculously appear. As I got older, I realized probably the resentment her friends had towards her. When she's like, "My cookies have been done since the summertime." We're holding on to these things. Honor, power, pleasure, or wealth, or maybe we're thinking, "My life isn't chaotic." Actually, my life is pretty good. As I reflect on this year, I had a good year. I have a good life. I'm healthy and wealthy and happy and connected and fulfilled. And friends, those things are beautiful. There's nothing wrong in striving for those things. But this can also become the obstacle to actually celebrating what Christmas denotes this evening. We can come to church tonight because it's just tradition. It's just what you do. It's what grandma wants. It's part of the nice life we've built. But we don't actually think that Jesus needs to save us. From what? Perhaps we're thinking, "Everything is pretty great. I don't need to be saved." And I think in that is the lie that we need to overcome this Christmas. Is whether our life is a chaotic mess, whether our life is beautifully peaceful, there's still that temptation to brush aside the announcement of the angel and to say instead, "I don't need a Savior. I don't need someone to save me from my sins. I'm happy to have Jesus just accompany through this life. I'm doing pretty well on my own." That's the thing that wealth and comfort and health can convince us of is that we don't need God. We don't need this great gift. You shall name Him Jesus because He will save us people from their sins. And so friends, in some sense, we really kind of have to begin this evening as our mass began by acknowledging our own sinfulness, just acknowledging our own brokenness, our own woundedness, the ways in which we can acknowledge that we are not creating a space for the Lord to save us, sort of pushing Him away as quickly as we can and keeping Him at arm's length. But just close enough so that if there is danger or should we fail or fall, we can reach out and grab Him. But this is not why the Lord comes to us. The Lord comes to us to save us from our sins, because the sin is not just bad things that we do. It's that condition that separates us from God. Sin is what makes us think that we can save ourselves. We can fix our own messes. We can build a life good enough that it doesn't need fixing at all. And both of these are the same lies. And both of these keep us from Jesus. Both of these keep us from Jesus. So instead, we have to think about where Jesus Christ was born. And we really beautifully romanticize the stable, do we not? And in reality, it was probably a cave, hune from limestone, in the rocky outgrowth outside of Bethlehem. That's what archaeologists would say today. We put on our Christmas cards, right? The soft light, the clean hay. But the reality is that this is a stable in a cave. And it's smelled of manure and sweat. When the stench would have been overpowering, there would have been flies. The animals that fed from the trough that our Lord was laid in would have coated it with their own saliva. It would have been caked with dirt. This is the place that our Lord enters into our lives. Not on some throne of majesty, but into poverty, obscurity, and chaos. He enters into the mess of our lives. And the mess that's hidden behind the comfort that we may be established for ourselves. That's the point of a manual, God with us. He's not waiting for our lives to get cleaned up. He's not waiting for our lives to be put into right order. He's waiting for us to say yes. And then there he is. Just as quickly as he arrived in that cave in Bethlehem, our Lord is there when we call upon his name. He comes to those of us, maybe you think we don't need him, who've built our palaces or our perfect Christmases. He comes to those of us who say, "I'm too much of a sinner, I'm too broken or wounded or chaotic." He comes for both of us brothers and sisters. And often we find ourselves with one foot in each of these camps in the course of our lives. And so tonight, friends, if your Christmas is a mess, Jesus is here. In this mess, a manual, God with us. If your Christmas is perfect or is going to be, as parents glare at their children right now, God is here too. And He's telling us that we need Him desperately because that perfection won't last. Before we know it, it will just be January, and we'll need Him then. If you're a family who fought in the car in the way to church, God is here for you. If you're a family that has it all together, God is here for you. Jesus is with us because we all need the same thing. We need a Savior. We need to be saved from our sins, that condition which separates us from God. We need to be saved from that thing that keeps us from giving our lives to Him. And so I just invite you this evening, as you enter into these festivities, to continue to come to Jesus as you are. In whatever mess you're in, in whatever palace you may have built, that's exactly where Jesus wants to meet us, friends. That's exactly why He's here. His name is Jesus, God saves. His name is a manual, God with us, right here, right now.