“‘Tis Night Before Christmas - 2007"

Text: Luke 2:1-20

© December 24, 2007 by C. Edward Bowen at Crafton United Presbyterian Church.

‘Tis the night before Christmas

And all through the sky,

This is the evening

The heavenly angels fly.

It’s the time when the world rejoices

That December twenty-fourth is finally here,

As songs of joy ring out

And our hearts are filled with cheer.

So here we are tonight

In the year two thousand and seven,

Offering up our grateful praises

Of glory to God in heaven.

But as we come together

On this holy, sacred night,

We come with an expectation

That all should be perfect and right.

Between the holiday movies

And every special you ever saw,

We’re led to believe

That Christmas should have no flaw.

Consider poor old Charlie Brown

And his woeful little tree,

But by the time the show ends

There are songs of glee

Or when Jimmy Stewart gets panicked

In the film “It’s a Wonderful Life,”

He winds up being surrounded

By his friends and family and wife.

Even when Rudolph get excluded,

As the others make fun his nose,

At last there’s a happy ending,

Just like in all the Christmas shows.

The Whos down in Whoville

Get their presents returned,

And even Ebenezer Scrooge

Has some lesson he learned.

No matter what movie we rent,

No matter what channel we watch,

After a while,

Isn’t it all a little much?

Don’t get me wrong,

I’m not trying to be a downer,

But during this season,

You hardly ever see a frowner.

Every problem has been fixed,

All are happy and glad,

Every tear is wiped away,

And there is no one who is sad.

Or think of all the Christmas cards

That picture snow falling with a hush,

But when was the last time you got one

Featuring a painting of slush?

But isn’t that the world we live in,

Isn’t that the world that we face?

We might wish we were in Eden,

But that is not our dwelling place.

For we live in a world

Where things do not always turn out;

We live in a world

Where at times we’re tempted to doubt.

We live in a world

Where “some assembly” is required;

And by the time we get that darn gadget together

We’re frustrated and tired.

We hope and wish to be visited

By that man in the red furry suit,

But all too often on Christmas morning

We find nothing but a cake made out of fruit.

We live in a world where things

Don’t always turn out as they should,

Where bad things all too often happen,

And there seems to be a shortage of good

But even though that’s the world we inhabit,

Even though that’s the life that we know,

We don’t have to be discouraged

Or allow our spirits to sink low.

Because as we seek and search,

And amid the darkness desperately grope,

God gives us good news

That there is surely hope.

In the pages of the Bible

That is what Joseph and Mary found,

Discovering that God was indeed with them,

Even when by fears they were bound.

We need to remember

That they were just a young couple in love,

When suddenly their lives were shaken

By an angel sent from above.

The two probably just wanted

To be a typical husband and wife;

All Mary and Joseph asked for

Was a simple and happy life.

But all that changed

When the angel Gabriel came to their door,

And revealed the astonishing news

Of what God had in store:

“The child is going to be special,

He’ll be God’s very Son,

And the whole world will be amazed

At what the Lord has done.

He’ll be the Prince of Peace,

Glory will shine from his face,

He’ll show God’s unending love

To all the human race.

His Kingdom will have no end,

He’ll cure the sick and lame,

He’ll be the Savior of all,

And Jesus will be his name.”

But when Mary and Joseph heard

What the angel had to say,

At first they must have felt

A bit of fearful dismay.

All the plans they had

Were suddenly turned upside down;

So it’s entirely possible

The couple responded with a frown.

And after the angel departed

Their situation didn’t improve,

Because the order came from Rome

That all were required to move.

There was going to be a census –

That was the emperor’s decree;

Mary and Joseph didn’t want to go,

But there was no one to hear their plea.

So they packed up their belongings,

And left Nazareth behind,

But as they pressed onward

They had no idea what they’d find.

It was to Bethlehem they were headed,

The place where Joseph was from,

But as they plodded along,

They felt so very glum.

And things got no better

When to Bethlehem they came;

In fact the hardships they faced

Were more of the same.

The streets were so crowded,

There was no place for them to stay,

No bed for them to rest on,

Only a pile of hay.

And to make matters worse,

The time came for Mary the child to bear,

But they didn’t have any blankets or sheets,

No clothes for the baby to wear.

And so they laid the child

In a manger filled with hay;

The parents just looked at each other,

Not knowing what to say.

And as they sat in the dark

In that site so meager and bare,

Mary and Joseph couldn’t help but wonder

Did God really care?

Was that angel they had first seen

Nothing more than an illusion?

Were the words they had heard from him

Simply a grand delusion?

As they pondered their situation,

Suddenly they turned around,

For in the shadowy darkness

They had heard a sound.

They thought they heard footsteps,

It seemed like several or more,

And forward stepped shepherds,

All dirty and hungry and poor.

But when those visitors opened their mouths,

And their story began to tell,

Mary and Joseph started to realize

That all would be well.

The shepherds explained that they

Out in their fields had been,

When an angel appeared,

And announced the forgiveness of sin:

“To us this night

A Savior has been born;

A new age is breaking forth

With a bright and shining morn.

That is what the angel told us,

That is what the heavenly messenger said,

To go with haste into Bethlehem,

In search of a manger bed.

And so here we have come,

And with our own eyes have seen;

We have no choice but to believe

What it all must mean.”

And as the shepherds began

Back to their fields to wander,

Mary and Joseph took it all in,

And silently began to ponder.

And as they sat there

Amid the noisy cattle and sheep,

They looked at Jesus with loving eyes

As their hearts began to leap.

For as they looked at the infant,

As they gazed at their newborn baby boy,

A smile came to their faces,

And their hearts were filled with joy.

God had not abandoned them,

They suddenly came to see;

Instead everything had happened

As it was meant to be.

This birth, while quite unusual,

While quite strange in every way,

Was vivid and living proof

That God is never far away.

For even in the darkest times,

Even in the most trying hour,

God is always there for us

With his good and faithful power.

For God’s light shines in the darkness,

His radiance has no end,

And it’s for that very reason that Jesus

God decided to send.

And so just like Mary and Joseph,

That is a lesson we can also learn,

When our hearts within us become troubled,

And our spirits begin to yearn.

Things in this life often happen

In ways that we never expect,

And at times we feel helpless and lost,

As we stop to pause and reflect.

But as we look to God,

And offer our fervent prayer,

We suddenly come to discover

That we are always in God’s care.

The light that shone in Bethlehem,

Still shines on us today,

Filling the whole world

With its warm and tender ray.

So even when the shadows creep in,

Even when fears fill our heart,

We can trust without fail

That God will never depart.

For what happened in Bethlehem

Is by no means over and done;

Instead it’s a sacred story

That has only just begun.

So light the candles,

Let brightness fill this place;

Kneel beside the manger

And behold the child’s face.

See the glow beam forth,

Watch the darkness take to flight;

Look with your own eyes

Upon that heavenly sight.

Shout Alleluia,

Let the herald angels sing,

For Jesus Christ is born,

Our Savior and our King.

Come and see what God has done,

For this is a night to believe;

This is a night of wonder and awe,

For this is Christmas Eve.