Christmas Eve Sermon Text: "Signs, Songs, and Scents of Christmas"

Good evening and Merry Christmas! In the glow of the birth of Jesus Christ, Light of the World, we see flickering candles, we hear jubilant carols, we smell the aroma of fresh-baked cookies and pine-scented greenery. But these sights, songs, and scents aren't just festive; they point us to deeper wonder of Emmanuel—God with us.

Let’s start with SIGNS and a little trivia game.

Luke 2:12, which we just heard, recounts the angels’ message to the shepherds: "This will be a sign to you: (And do you remember what the sign was for the shepherd?)  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." The simplicity of this sign—a baby in a barn—reveals the humility and accessibility of God's gift to the world. Jesus did not come with royal pomp but in a manner demonstrating that he wants to get involved in our everyday lives.

OK. What was the sign for the Magi? Right, the star. These wise men (Matthew 2.1-12) following the Bethlehem star to find the newborn king remind us that God's signs often call us to journey, to seek, and to trust in the Lord throughout our lives.

Here at Christ Our Shepherd, many of us treasure the gift of humor, even a little dad humor or half-baked humor.

So, for fun, let’s take a look at some other signs you might see out in your travels.

• I’m in the fitness protection program, I’ve been hiding from exercise.
• National Sarcasm Society—like we need your support.
• Procrastinators Anonymous Meeting—postponed indefinitely.

Billboard signs, signs instructing the quarterback which play to run, road signs telling us how fast to drive or where to turn.  But like the shepherds and magi, don’t we seek signs directing us hope?  Reliable signs, maybe a little more substantial than the Zodiac, leading to a meaningful life, where God would have us go.   Baby Jesus grows to provide these signs.  Bread and wine as he feeds us around a table where ALL are invited and can celebrate.  A towel as he kneels down to wash the feet of his disciples as a sign unfolding what leadership is about.

But if tonight we remember the wood of the manger, we also remember the wood of Jesus’ cross.

The cross.  The symbol of Roman torture which our Christian mothers and fathers in faith surprisingly choose as the key sign of Jesus’ gift of life to us.   One could argue crosses are the equivalent of electric chairs a few decades ago.  How bizarre it would be if we wore electric chair icons on our necklaces or hung them in our hallways.  But early Christians decided the cross emphasized the extent of love Jesus was willing to show the world.  Perhaps, some religions could feature a referee blowing a whistle, stressing their belief that God is trying to catch us breaking commands and not living up to expectation.  Some religions might choose a fence, stressing their passion over who is in and who is out.   Or a rule book, thinking the more rules we follow the more God will love us.  Or a bed, stressing that IF there is somehow a god who created us, he’s asleep at the wheel because he’s just not showing up.

Instead, the early Christians chose a cross.  A sign that just as Emmanuel was willing to be born for us that he was willing to die for us too.

After Christmas gift-giving, the credit card bill comes, right? And somebody’s got to pay.

We believe Jesus paid our bill on the cross.  So, in our baptism, we live debt free, joyfully.  Jesus followers are no longer burdened worrying about what we must DO (d-o), but are freed for joyful response about what the grace-filled newborn Savior has DONE (d-o-n-e) for us.

The vertical of the cross tells us we’re free and connected to a God of love.  The horizontal of the cross tells us we have the opportunity to enjoy and serve those around us.

COS is Everywhere

Over Thanksgiving, we visited our daughter Morgan in Colorado Springs.  (COS is everywhere out there.   Show signs) And even this beautiful town is not immune from folks needing to ask for help.  So, as we talked to one man looking for donations at a red light, the SIGN this fellow held certainly preached to me that day.  “Choose hope.”  This homeless man reminded me of Jesus teaching:  If you find yourself feeding the hungry, or clothing those who need warmth, or welcoming the stranger (and there are many forms of strange in the human family, right?  You and me, included), then it’s a SIGN, Jesus says, that you worship me and you’re on the right path for a purposeful life.   Let’s indeed, “choose hope” that new life, purpose, and connection is born afresh tonight.

Well, how about SONGS?

The Christmas season is filled with music, and rightly so! In Luke 2:13–14, the shepherds witness a heavenly choir proclaiming, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

Earlier in Luke’s Gospel, Mary sings her Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55) in response to the news that she will bear the Savior. She exclaims, "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

Later in Luke’s gospel, on Palm Sunday as Jesus enters Jerusalem, a great throng of people start singing out, welcoming Jesus:   “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven.”  The Pharisees get angry and order Jesus to quiet the crowd. Jesus responds, “If these people were silent, the stones themselves would cry out (or we might say, start singing).

Speaking of stones, how about the Rolling Stones still singing?

A group of COS guys saw them in Atlanta two years ago and we thought that was the final show, but I heard they’re coming out again this summer, 81-year-old Mick Jagger running around on stage faster than a 21-year-old.   But if you’ve got great tunes, compelling lyrics, and passion, you can sing a long time!  Taylor Swift’s Eras tours lasted almost 2 whole years, 21 countries across 5 continents.  But if you’ve got great tunes, compelling lyrics and passion, you can sing a long time.   And friends, Christians have been singing a long, long time about what it means that Jesus is born for us!

Do you remember the folk song, “If I had a hammer”?  The singer realizes she’s been given some gifts.  Maybe Christmas gifts, I don’t know.  She’s got a hammer, so she’ll hammer out justice, as Jesus did.  She’s got a bell, so she’ll ring out freedom, because Jesus did.  She’s got a voice to sing about love, like Jesus did.  Friends, we’ve been invited, along with the shepherds and angels, to join in the world’s greatest song—sung by the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, as we remind ourselves in communion each week--with the most compelling lyrics and message, capable of sharing so much passion and hope. A message, a concert, an event that connects people even more deeply than Stones or Swift, believe it or not.  May you find hope in hearing the song of the Lord, and may you add your unique voice to the chorus, which will make it all the more sweet!

Before we leave Jesus raising the possibility of stones singing out glory to God, I want to thank all of you who helped refresh our sanctuary in preparation of our 50^th Anniversary.

We’re delighted that as we stand here declaring Jesus’ transforming love for us, we do so standing upon a chancel including stones from Bethlehem, the Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem and even tile stones that were part of the castle church where Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses.   We’re glad that the Sign of the Cross in our new flooring not only welcomes worshipers at our two diagonal doors.  But the 5 crosses on this side and the 2 on the other, remind us of the 5 loaves and two fish, and how this is the place where Jesus multiplies love and feeds us, just as he did for the first 5,000 followers.   Some churches have stained glass windows of the 12 apostles.  Well, I call each of these LED panels the 12 apostles, because 12 monitors come together to make an array that proclaims Christ through art, images and text alike.   With new microphones hanging and a music space with more flexibility, we’re ready to sing the new old song of the Lord.   Other twists and turns, like a new altar and font—some still to come in 2025—for which we’re thankful.  It’s been a good year refreshing the stones of the sanctuaries, whether Notre Dame in Paris or COS in Peachtree City.   

Friends, let’s conclude with a third and final aspect of our Christmas celebrations, SCENTS.

The scents of Christmas—pine trees, gingerbread, cinnamon, and candles—make this season special and trigger fond memories of the past.

What was the scent of the barn or stable where Jesus was born?  Growing up on the south side of Chicago, how striking did I find the aromas of a farm when we visited—the cows, the hay, the manure.  Could the babe Jesus sniff the perfume and spices of the magi’s frankincense and myrrh?  As Joseph taught Jesus the trade of carpentry, what aromas wafted while crafting lumber and hewing stone? What scents percolated Jesus’ nose when catching and cleaning fish with his disciples in Galilee?  What was the smell of the bread that he broke on the night in which he was betrayed, sharing the Lord’s supper and giving us the symbol of his broken but blessing-filled body?

But more powerful than any of these aromatic scents of Jesus’ life is the S-E-N-T sent of Jesus’ mission.

As Martin Luther taught, how invigorating to hear that while Jesus came for the whole creation, certainly, he simultaneously was SENT and came for YOU.  For you, tonight and your tomorrows.

And thus, one of the great gifts of Christmas is the good news, that we are SENT too.  Just as the angels sent the magi and shepherds, so too we are each sent to be part of Jesus’ good news for as many people as possible.   In 2 Corinthians 2:15, The Message version, St. Paul writes this, "For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those (who are finding life).”  In Galatians, too, we learn that Jesus-followers are sent into their lives to bear the fruits of the Spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And boy, in today’s world of anxiety, loneliness, and division, for people to breathe and experience all of those behaviors, what an exquisite fragrance your life will be, in Jesus’ name.

In a moment we’re going to sing, Go Tell It on a Mountain. Because, yes, each of you is SENT.

Consider how Howard Thurman puts it, in his poem, The Work of Christmas, shared by one of our council members at our meeting last week:   “When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among others, to make music in the heart.”

Indeed.

So, friends, this Christmas Eve, I invite you to experience the nativity story with open senses and an open heart:

• Look for the signs of God's presence and guidance, just as the shepherds and wise men did.
• Sing songs of praise with the angels and with Mary, letting the joy of Christ's birth fill your soul.
• Offer your life as a fragrant act of grateful graceful worship, bringing glory to God and sharing Christ’s love with the world. A fruitful scent which is sent to others.

Merry Christmas, for YOU and for all people, in the name of our newborn king, Amen.