Christmas Eve Message

"The word of God said:

I will set you free.

I won't let you be anything but holy, good, and free.

The word spoke through the ages for all people...just like you and me."

The Word of God has brought each of us here tonight.

For whatever reason, in whatever way, you are here to welcome the Christ child once again.

To experience the word of God that is with us.

With the world.

With those in darkness.

With those who need light.

That is the grace and mystery of this evening.

That you are here to celebrate a baby born in a manger.

The Word of God has brought each of us here tonight.

For whatever reason, in whatever way, you are here to remember that Christ is born for you.

Yes, you.

Even on days when you feel alone or abandoned by God.

Even on those days when only lament comes to your lips.

The Word of God has brought each of us here tonight.

Perhaps with pressure from parents, or in memory of the candles and silent night.

Yes, the Word of God is with us and stirring in our souls.

 "The word of God said:

I will set you free.

I won't let you be anything but holy, good, and free.

The word spoke through the ages for all people...just like you and me."

There is a mystery tonight. That the word of God came to us in the form of a baby.

In a manger.

On the straw.

With sheep and cattle too.

The word of God came to us in the simplest and purest of ways - the innocence of a baby.

The word of God has the hearts of prophets who speak to the hearts of a troubled people

and the compassion to feed a hungry world.

The Word of God embedded in Mary's womb, the woman who knew that God would do mighty things for the lowly.

The Word of God known by John the Baptist who leapt in his mother's womb.

The Word of God has in his bones the commitment of a father who raised the child of God

And the audacity of a mother who said yes to the impossible.

The word of God grew up to be a man, The word of God, Jesus.

The word of God spoke through the ages for all people....just like you and me.

"The word of God said:

I will set you free.

I won't let you be anything but holy, good and free."

The word of God has the fearlessness of David who overturned the bullies of his day.

The word of God has the quiet spirit of Mary to sit at the feet of the hurting.

The word of God has the energetic fervor of Martha to make sure all are fed and cared for.

The word of God has the peace of the nameless woman to wash the feet of a hurting world.

The word of God has the hope of a hemorrhaging woman to reach out hands to stop pain and suffering.

The word of God has the persistence of the widow to never settle for anything less than wholeness.

The word of God spoke through the ages for all people...just like you and me.

"The word of God said:

I will set you free.

I won't let you be anything but holy, good and free."

The word of God comes to you and me.

The word of God comes in the form of broken pieces of stained glass to form a cross of hope.

The word of God comes in the form of an outstretched hand offering support.

The word of God comes in a meal for a new mother and a grieving family.

The word of God comes in the joy of a child rushing to peer into the manger.

The word of God comes in the welcome and love to all finding their identity.

The Word of God comes to give us a new name greater than anything we call ourselves, that of Child of God.

 For you see when the word of God came in a manger,

in the midst of dirt and cattle and among the straw,

the Word of God declared that nothing would be out of the reach of love and grace.

The Word of God is with us.

And even if we try, as we have in the past, God can never be kept out.

For the government tried to stop the Word.

On a cross, where death came and all power emptied.

And then three days later,

The Word could not even be contained by death.

The Word, Jesus, cannot be kept out.

The word of God invited itself into the world,

through a baby.

The Word of God is with us.

The word of God does not need an invitation or a welcome.

For even when the inn keepers and the world said, "We have no room."

The word of God came anyway, in a manger in a barn, to show us love that has no bounds.

"The word of God said:

I will set you free.

I won't let you be anything but holy, good, and free.

The word spoke through the ages for all people...just like you and me."

*Inspired by the book:  Jesus, the Word.  Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones