Christmas Eve (Luke 2)

 Slide 1: Candles

Tonight’s sermon is going to be a little different, because tonight, you all are going to help me. Throughout the sermon, I’m going to ask a bunch of questions, and I’m going to rely on you for the answers. Some of these questions are more suited to children, and some are more suited to adults, but anyone is welcome to answer.

The first question is an easy one:

How many candles are lit in our sanctuary? 

4 purple Advent candles, signifying hope, peace, joy, and love

1 white Christ candle, in honor of Christ’s birth

2 candles on the communion table, which we light every Sunday, and which remind us of the Spirit’s presence.

(Raise hands for this one): Have you ever caught yourself just staring at a candle flame? It’s so fascinating; so mesmerizing. The flames flow like water, they move like dancers, and the fire itself… It’s not matter; it’s not a solid, or a liquid, or a gas. It’s pure energy. Pure light. Giving a little heat on a cold night.

It is what the sun and the stars are made of. Energy and light.

How many candles would you have to light to equal the brightness of the sun?

200 billion trillion. Approximately. A number 28 digits long. (unroll streamer)

2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

How long would it take to count that many candles?

Millions of years…

How much would that many candles weigh?

More than 10 times what the earth weighs.

So… that’s how many candles equals the light of our sun. But the sun is just one star in our universe…

How many stars are there in the universe? 

200 billion trillion. Approximately.

And how many candles would you need to equal all the light in the universe?

200 billion trillion times 200 billion trillion (which means I’d need 200 billion trillion more streamers to show it!)

Slide 2: Anselm

I think I need to sit down. These kinds of numbers make my head hurt! 

There was once a famous theologian named Anselm. One of the things Anselm is famous for is his definition of God. Anselm said that God is “that than which nothing greater can be thought…”

What’s the greatest ( most wonderful) thing you can think of? 

Answers… “can anyone think of anything greater than that?”

Greater than all the stars in the universe is the idea that the God who created all those billions of stars loves me. 

Greater than all the stars in the universe is the idea that the God who created all those billions of stars chooses to be with us, to dwell among us.

And the birth of Jesus is a sign that God is with us, that God dwells among us, and that God loves us.

I can’t think of anything greater than that.

Slide 3: Shepherds

One night long ago, as we heard in the scripture, some shepherds were in the field at night, watching their sheep, protecting their sheep, keeping their sheep safe… and maybe they also looked up at the sky, at the stars, and wondered about some of these same things we’re wondering about tonight. Then, suddenly, an angel appeared to them. 

What did that angel look like? Generally, the Bible describes them as being rather fearsome looking, not at all cute like we often imagine. But I think that when it comes to angels, the writers of scripture used their imaginations just like we do..

And then there was a “multitude praising God.”

What was the “multitude” like? What did it sound like?

All this was God’s way of announcing the birth of Jesus. All this was God’s way of letting us know that the God of the universe is here with us. 

How do you know that “God is with you?” 

This is the most important question of all. 

Sometimes people feel that God is very far away. That God is ignoring them. People in the Bible felt that way sometimes. (Psalm 22). It’s OK to feel that way. And that’s why the Christmas story is so meaningful. Because even when we feel that way - especially when we feel that way - we receive a reminder, right when we need it, that God is with us.

When I consider the story of Jesus, it’s like gazing into the flame of a candle. I can’t explain it. It’s like it’s pure energy - energy in the form of an overwhelming love from God. I don’t know that every single detail of the story is literally true, but I know without a doubt that that divine love, that holy energy, is 100% true. And we see it in the story of a tiny baby born in a manger.

“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight” - that line from “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” we sang it last Sunday, and I’ve been thinking about it all week.  The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.  What are your hopes? What are your fears? It seems to me that we have both hopes and fears in abundance right now. 

What difference does it make to know that, in every hope, God is with you?

What difference does it make to know that, in every fear, God is with you?