It all takes so much effort - A Christmas Eve Sermon

Luke 2:1-20

Photo Credit: Rev. Andrea Allan Dec 2016

(If you'd rather see this preached live, here's the link)

As December looms we begin to feel the pressure build.  Here at the church there have been many choir rehearsals for the anthems and the beautiful Cantata, our Sunday School has spent every Sunday practicing their nativity play that we got to enjoy this morning. 

At home the pressure is building to decorate the house, shop for just the right gift for everyone you love, our calendars begin to fill quickly with countless get togethers with friends, work, and family, there’s the feeling that ones house should be clean and presentable for those who drop by or the parties you may be hosting, there is the hope to write out at least a few Christmas cards, and once the gifts are bought there’s the wrapping to work on, the line up at the post office to wait through, and then there’s the gatherings and meals to prep for and create on Christmas itself!  I don’t know about you, but as I recite this list I can feel my shoulders begins to hunch up with the anxiety it all causes!

Christmas takes a great effort!

Now, while Christmas takes a lot of effort for us, I wonder how much effort was involved in that first Christmas?

The first person we encounter in our Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke is the ruler of the land at the time, Emperor Augustus, Caesar of Rome.  Now I imagine ruling an entire land took a lot of effort, and so to make his job easier he decided to put forth a decree requiring everyone to travel across the land returning to their home towns for the census counting – kind of makes our Canadian Census look like a breeze eh? Even the long form!

Next, we meet Mary and Joseph in our Christmas story. They are just two of many people affected by the decree and consequently, even though Mary is extremely far along in her pregnancy, they must travel all the way from Nazareth down south to Bethlehem, a trip that would have taken a lot of effort over the at least 3 days of travel.  I don’t know about you, but I think Mary’s effort in this journey was huge!  I remember when I was 8 months pregnant I didn’t want to drive in the car for 20 minutes let alone 3 days!

Mary and Joseph expended great effort thanks to the obligations given to them from the ruler Caesar’s decree. 

The third person along in our Christmas story is not someone we necessarily meet, but someone we hear about because of the works he does.  The third person we meet is the Innkeeper.  As there are so many people traveling for the Census, the inn is now full and there is no room for Mary and Joseph. 

Our Innkeeper has a big decision ahead of him.  Christmas is full of decisions; do we let go of those petty fights and embrace one another in celebration? Do we accept the newcomer at the table, a new boyfriend or girlfriend perhaps? And what about that now empty seat at our Christmas meal – how will handle those we’ve lost over the past year? There are many decisions to make. 

On that first Christmas, our Innkeeper could have said sorry and washed his hands of this couple, but the innkeeper decided to have compassion with this tired and burdened couple.  So with a bit of effort he led the around back to the cave where the animals were kept so that they would at least have a safe place to stay away from the elements of the night.  It is in these lowly surroundings that the Son of God, our saviour Jesus Christ is born, wrapped in swaddling cloths and placed in the manger.  

Once the holy family is settled in for the remainder of the night, we finally come to our last set of players in the Christmas story, the Shepherds.   These shepherds are tending their sheep on a hillside not far from Bethlehem when they were terrified by an angel of God who came to bring “good news of great joy for all.”  Upon hearing this good news, the shepherds were amazed. This visit with one angel soon grew to a multitude of angels, a heavenly host that filled the night sky.  The shepherds are so overcome with abundant gratitude for the gift of God’s message to them, and so with great effort they leave their precious sheep and go with haste to miraculously find Mary, Joseph, and the newborn child Jesus in a cave behind the inn.  After seeing this child of whom the angels had foretold, they are again overcome with gratitude and with more great effort, as they head back to their sheep along the way, they share this incredible, good news with everyone they meet and spend the rest of their days glorifying and praising our God.

Christmas took a lot of effort for most of the players in our Christmas story, and Christmas takes a lot of effort from us each year.  Now if it takes such great effort, why do we do it? 

Is Christmas a burden that we pass off to someone else each year, just a Caesar passed off his work in the form a decree?

Or are we like Mary and Joseph who were obligated to travel to Bethlehem? Are we obligated to expend such energy of Christmas each year by family, by friends, and expectations by society as a whole? 

Is Christmas something that we choose to put a bit of effort into, enough to say we’ve done it, as the innkeeper chose to put a bit effort into helping Mary and Joseph?

Or perhaps, is Christmas something that we are so beyond amazed with, so thankful for, that we like the shepherds cannot help but put our whole selves into? Are we so grateful for the gift of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, the Mighty Counsellor, the hope for humankind, that we cannot help but expend all kinds of spiritual effort to go and meet our King Jesus year after year? Once we’ve had the privilege to encounter him, are we ready to head back into the world and take great effort to share this brilliant “good news of great joy for all?”

Joy to the world! The Lord is come.

Joy to the world, the Saviour reigns.

Let us continue to honour and celebrate as we sing together Joy to the World.