Christmas Eve, December 25, 2007 - All Gospels
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, Creator of the universe and author of life on this planet we call earth, we gather in your presence this holy night to lift our hearts in praise and devotion to you for the birth of your Son, Jesus the Christ. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, grant us humble hearts, that we might come to see, cradled in the Gospels, your gift of redeeming grace. Enable us to grow in faith, and to embrace others with the love you have shown us. This we ask, in Jesus name. Amen.
Tonight, we again gather, on this holy eve,
To celebrate in faith, what we’ve come to believe,
That in this child, to whom Mary came to give birth,
God’s promised Messiah, made his advent to earth.
So let us all pause, to ponder this great event,
And seek to discern, what the Gospel writers meant,
As they sought to describe, our Lord’s incarnation,
When God’s Son came to the earth, for our salvation.
For there is a progression, of thought taking place,
As the authors of the Gospels, came to embrace,
The difficult challenge, of giving description,
To the birth of God’s Son, which defies ascription.
For we must acknowledge, as we worship this night,
That our minds are as dim, as the soft candlelight,
To understand the gift, of God’s redeeming grace,
Much less describe, how he entered, our human race.
Yet each of the Gospels, in the story they told,
Proclaim that in Jesus, God’s presence we behold,
As they came to perceive, in the life he did live,
His divine ability, our sins, to forgive.
So tonight, let’s follow, this progression of thought,
That each of the Gospels, to our insight has brought,
A growth in faith, to help us gain deeper insight,
Into the mystery, we celebrate, this night.
In the first Gospel written, Mark chose to ignore,
Christ’s birth all together, and that which came before,
His baptism by John, shown to inaugurate,
The ministry to which, his life, he’d dedicate.
Still, at our Lord’s baptism, Mark came to exclaim,
Through a heavenly voice, that did clearly proclaim,
That Jesus was God’s Son, in whom he took delight,
Thus bringing his divine, incarnation to light.
And as our Lord’s ministry, began to unfold,
As Mark recorded in faith, for us to behold,
We are led, through those events, to come to believe,
That in Christ Jesus, God’s presence, we can perceive.
For as Mark’s Gospel ends, with Christ’s crucifixion,
A centurion, e’en comes to the conviction,
That this person, that he, had nailed to a tree,
Was truly God’s Son, who from our sin, sets us free,
The next Gospel written, addresses Jesus’ birth,
To help us understand, our Lord’s advent to earth,
As God’s plan to redeem, Abraham’s progeny,
By recording Christ’s human, genealogy.
For Matthew asserts, ‘twas through God’s ordination,
Revealed through the ages, for human salvation,
That Jesus’ incarnation, was deemed to take place,
At this time in history, to reveal God’s grace.
Yet ‘tis Matthew’s point, in tracing Jesus’ birthright,
That we might, in faith, come to expand our insight,
That through this child’s life, death and resurrection,
A new people would be formed, through God’s election.
For Matthew was convinced, faith in Christ would replace,
Abraham’s ancestral tree, by all who embrace,
The redeeming grace of God, that Jesus would give,
Through his death on the cross, the world’s sins to forgive.
Though Christ was a descendent, of Israel’s past,
Matthew knew the prophecy, which Isaiah cast,
That a new order of life, we’d come to behold,
Through the child of a virgin, long ago, foretold.
And So Matthew was the first Gospel, which proclaimed,
That our Lord’s incarnation, might well be explained,
Through the prophecy, that a virgin would conceive,
As the means by which, God’s presence we might receive.
The next Gospel written, is the one read tonight,
Luke’s Christmas message, which carries on the insight,
That Matthew first proposed, about the virgin birth,
As the means of our Lord’s, incarnation to earth.
But Luke has a penchant, for providing detail,
That his readers might come, through his book to avail,
Themselves of the orderliness, he did discern,
In the prophecy of Scripture, he came to learn.
Thus, Luke’s Gospel begins, with another advent,
That before our Lord’s birth, someone else would be sent,
To prepare the way, our human hearts to receive,
The coming of God’s Son, the prophets did perceive.
Thus he envisions, that the birth of John took place,
According to God’s scheme, of his redeeming grace,
In order that the people, might come to behold,
That God predestined this event, from days of old.
Then moving to our Lord’s birth, Luke came to describe,
A new census was ordered, that Rome might ascribe,
Taxes from all, who lived in their occupied land,
At the town of their origin, was the demand.
Thus Mary and Joseph, a journey had to make,
In order that they, might, in the census partake,
From their hometown of Nazareth, in Galilee,
To Bethlehem, birthplace, of Joseph’s family tree.
And though Mary, at full term, the trip did survive,
The night they reached Bethlehem, her son did arrive,
Thus again fulfilling an ancient prophecy,
From Bethlehem, Christ would be born, in history.
So again, Luke would have us, behold this event,
Of the miracle of our Lord’s, earthly advent,
According to the prophet’s, predestination,
To bring to fruition, God’s promised salvation.
Thus, to this point, the synoptic Gospels agree,
That in this child of Mary, we can come to see,
The very presence of God, for us to behold,
As the promised Messiah, the prophets foretold.
But the last Gospel written, actually perceived,
God’s plan for salvation, e’en before, was conceived,
Back in the beginning, the time of creation,
As God’s Son was involved, in the earth’s formation.
For John was a theologian, who brought to light,
Through his Gospel, that we, might come to the insight,
That the gift of God’s grace, existed long before,
His earthly incarnation, we’ve come to adore.
Thus John expresses, with a deep veneration,
That God’s Word, which took part, in the earth’s foundation,
Became flesh and dwelt among us, full of God’s grace,
That through faith, God’s salvation, the world might embrace.
Thus John distanced his Gospel, from Israel’s past,
Asking his readers, to consider the contrast,
That though God’s law, through Moses, the world did obtain,
Through the Word become flesh, ‘tis God’s grace we attain.
And e’en though John’s Gospel, chooses not to describe,
The means by which, God’s incarnate Word, did arrive,
On this planet we call earth, he’d have us believe,
A new covenant with the world, Christ did conceive.
For in Christ’s ministry, death and resurrection,
God was at work, providing a new direction,
For the world to approach him, in relationship,
Through the grace of God’s Son, whom we’ve come to worship.
For John, as did Paul, who before him realized,
That in Christ, one did not need, to be circumcised,
Nor embrace the past, of Israel’s history,
In order from our sins, that Christ could set us free.
Yes, there was, a progression of thought that took place,
As the authors of the Gospels, came to embrace,
How to describe, our Lord’s incarnation to earth,
To ponder tonight, as we celebrate his birth.
For through each of the Gospels, we can truly learn,
And from their unique perspective, come to discern,
That our Lord’s incarnation, defies description,
E’en beyond that, of Israel’s premonition.
But regardless of how, each Gospel chose to tell,
Of Christ’s incarnation, God truly came to dwell,
Among his people, that in him we might behold,
God’s redeeming grace, which, through Jesus did unfold.
For as we all gather, in this dim candlelight,
Who among us can add, to these Gospels’ insight,
E’en though we have, the advantage of history,
To explain in more detail, this great mystery?
For I have come, throughout my own years, to embrace,
The unmerited gift, of God’s redeeming grace,
Revealed in this child, who, from heaven did descend,
To be beyond my grasp, to fully comprehend.
And yet it is my wish, that we all might rejoice,
And embrace this child, to whom the Gospels gave voice,
As God’s Son, who, through his earthly incarnation,
Has brought to each of us, eternal salvation.
Amen.
