The birth of Christ is God’s deepest intention to love. Jesus is the ‘yes’ to God’s love – reminding us that God is already here and now…always ready to be with us in our becoming something new. Christmas is a time for us to move out of darkness...by beginning to see with a new set of eyes the glory of the God that shines around us. See what I mean...

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Homily for Christmas Eve
Good evening – and Merry Christmas! It is good have you all here. For me, this is probably my favorite
liturgy of the year – for every Christmas Eve for the past 20 years my wife Teresa and I, and some
combination of our family, have come to this Christmas Children’s Liturgy. – So let me do a shout out to the
Children’s Choir under the direction of Carole Moore, Lauren Allen with accompaniment by Jo Ann
Sciaratta. Indeed, the years go by quickly as our first time at this liturgy was in 1999 and our youngest of
four sons, Jacob, was 8 years old and singing upstairs with the Children’s Choir… and this evening he leads
us in song as our cantor. But the reason this liturgy is so special to me is that the meaning of Christmas is
among us and around us – we just need to be open to it.
For it begins with the fact that you are all here! Some of you are here every week….some less often…some
of you are visiting…and some are of different faiths – but this is a time where none of that matters because
we come together as an extended family, as sons and daughters made in God’s image. For me, it carries
the same feeling when all my sons and their wives and grandchildren, who are scattered all over, come
together – yielding a feeling of wholeness – the same feeling when this church fills on Christmas Eve – so
indeed – it is good to have you here!
But the headliners of this liturgy, of course, are the children and their added presence of energy, and
excitement and awe and wonder. Didn’t they do an incredible job with the Christmas Pageant?! And with
so many kids here this evening, I want to ask for some help from them. So to all the kids – what day is it
tomorrow? Christmas! Whose birthday do we celebrate? Jesus! And who comes tonight while we are
sleeping? Santa! But only if you are? Good!
It never ceases to amaze me of how well our kids learn the words of that one Christmas song: “he is
making a list and checking it twice, going to see who is naughty and nice…so you better be good for
goodness sake.” And I guess for some parents reminding your younger children of these lyrics may help
keep some degree of control over the chaos in the days leading up to tonight…(well, maybe!) But the
challenge we all have is that as we get older we often transfer those lyrics onto our own spirituality and
build our image of God into one who kind looks and acts like Santa – sitting on a throne, arms crossed,
white beard and all and doling out love to only those who are good enough to have earned it.
Because for many of us, it is so much easier to believe in a God who loves with some degree of scarcity
versus a God whose love is feely given to each and every one of us. A God who loves us with pure
delight…just as we are.
For me, the closest thing that mirrors this depth of love is when one gazes upon their child or better yet –
their grandchild for the first time. Made in our image and likeness – the love we have for them – and that
they for us is reaffirmed with each mutual gaze – each embrace… and it is this love that needs to be
nurtured and fostered and shared.
That is why when we gather like this – here – this evening – we need to remind our younger generations of
how they are loved by us…but even more so – how they, and we, are all loved unconditionally by God. For
when we celebrate Christmas we are not just commemorating the birth of Jesus some 2,000 years ago but
we are remembering and celebrating the Christ that is forever being born in our human soul.

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But for that to happen we need to make room. For the biggest challenge we all have is rather than acting
like the shepherds in the field who travel far and wide to welcome Christ – at times we can be more like the
innkeeper who simply says there is no room…no room for love, no room one another, certainly no room for
those different from us and thus no room for God. And thus we lose the ability to see any light coming
forth from the darkness that may have overshadowed us this past year…darkness from hardships and
losses…darkness from broken relationships…even darkness coming forth from our own Church…leaving us,
at times, blinded to God’s presence.
But the answer is that God is always here, with us, walking along side us...not needing to be placated – just
yearning to be welcomed. That is why God took on human flesh through his son to remind us of God’s
unending love for us… God’s constant presence in our lives and the need for us to go forward to love each
other, especially those so different than us.
For the birth of Christ is God’s deepest intention to love. Jesus is the ‘yes’ to God’s love – reminding us that
God is already here and now…always ready to be with us in our becoming something new. Christmas is a
time for us to move out of darkness...by beginning to see with a new set of eyes the glory of the God that
shines around us. For a Christian is one who sees Christ in everything and everyone. Meister Eckhart once
said: “God is the beginning and if we are open to be united to God we become new again and again.”
So it is a blessing in so many ways to have you all here this evening...to be gathered as a community – and
extended family, celebrating the birth of God incarnate. But more importantly than just “being here” …it is
about how we will live differently when “leaving here” – living differently by being Church to one another,
about caring for those on the margins, about living the Gospel message that Christ came to share. For it is
all about being reconciled and reminded to the fact that we are all equally loved by God. For while the
birth of Jesus is a historical event, Christmas reminds us that Christ is ever present and the celebration of
his birth invites us to begin anew, where love is easier, hope is restored, mercy is poured out, compassion is
plentiful, where light shines through the darkness and peace is present.
This is why we come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ –
For the kingdom of God is here and now…A God who is ever present…A God who loves each person no
matter what…A God who walks with us…A God who never abandons us…A God who is with us today and
always…A God who is…Emmanuel
Merry Christmas!