Reflections on Christmas Eve sermon

Our Christmas Eve service has Lessons and Carols with a live nativity scene (Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus -- the last baby born in the congregation and his/her parents) and a brief meditation.  I do not have any formal sermon notes, but here is a brief summary of what I preached.

I began by sharing the worship experience at a chapel base of one of our members who is deployed in Afghanistan. They have an Advent wreath with the purple candles on the outer edge, but they do not light the candles.  I noted that the point of the candles, whether lit or unlit, is to symbolize themes related to Advent.  This year the themes were:  hope, peace, joy, and love.

I then invited everyone to reflect not only on what the candles symbolized, but how those themes played out in their own lives.  For example, the Hope candles reminds us that Christ is the hope fo the world.  But what hopes do we bring with us?  Hope for a better 2012?  Hope for good medical tests and treatments?  Hope 2012 is another good year because 2011 has been pretty good.

The Peace candle reminds us that the one born in Bethlehem is the Prince of Peace.  But we arrive longing for peace.  Peace in the world, particularly those with loved ones who are deployed and in harm's way.  Peace in our personal lives because we are tired of the turmoil in our lives.

The Joy candle symbolizes that Christ bring joy to the world, just like the carol we sing.  But, we also arrive yearning for joy.  Not the fleeting smile or laugh that disguises our pain, but the joy that resides deeply in us

The Love candle reminds us that the coming of Christ was an expression of God's love for us.  But, we also arrive with feeling of love or longing for love. For some, we are here with family and friends, or we have had chances to gather with loved ones, and we celebrate that love. For others of us, we are longing to be loved. or we are remembering those loved ones who have died in the past months or years and are not able to be with us.  Or we are reminded of broken relationships.

I then shifted back to the story of worshiping in Afghanistan by noting that the Advent wreath in that chapel does not have a Christ candle to light.  No symbol of the light of Christ.  Our member noted that if felt sort of weird to not have the Christ candle.  She asked the question: "Don't we need the Christ candle to make all the other things the candles represent possible?"

So I declared that the story we tell and the truth we proclaim tonight is that when God sent Christ into the world, Christ did not arrive as a symbol, but God in flesh.  God had heard the longing for hope, the cries for peace, the deisre to know joy and yearning to be loved and God had answered by coming in Christ.    We can dare to be a people of hope,    

I finished by noting that it does not matter whether we light candles or do not light candles, whether we have a Christ candle or not.  What matters is that God has acted.  Christ has arrived to live among us.  Amen.