Reflections for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day
Christmas Day I- Isaiah 9:2-7; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14
This is a special Christmas Eve/Christmas Day post, and we will send additional notes for the readings for next Sunday (December 26th) later on this evening.
These are notes for the Christmas Day I readings. There are three sets of readings in the lectionary assigned for Christmas Day for three different services/masses on that day. Today, many churches (especially Protestant churches) tend to hold services on Christmas Eve (the Christmas “vigil”) rather than (or in addition to) Christmas Day. The Christmas Eve service is technically considered the first service of Christmas Day (traditionally at midnight). This is why I have provided these readings as an option for either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
Note: this is just a short reflection on the text. If you are looking for something more in-depth, including research and illustrations, I invite you to become a paid subscriber.
Our Old Testament reading for Christmas Day (or Christmas Eve) comes from the prophet Isaiah ( 9:2-7).
Previously the people have been in a land of distress. They have been in exile. But, in the future, something else will happen: a new promised king will come to Israel.
In his poem, Isaiah engages various themes to make his proclamation. The first theme is light. Where there is light, there is joy. In verse 3, the poet speaks of two different kinds of joy. The first is the joy of the harvest. Before the harvest, there was anxiety…will it come? Will we have a famine? The second is the joy of warriors dividing their plunder. This is when you have something that you did not have before. You rejoice over it.
If we are lulled into sentimentalism by these declarations of light and joy, we are rudely awakened by verse 4, where Isaiah uses the language of the release of prisoners after a vicious military struggle.
The “yoke” and the “rod” both speak of oppression. Isaiah is perhaps referencing the oppression of the Assyrians, but also, on a deeper level, of all oppression. This new kingdom brings light, joy, and broken yokes!
In the middle of the texts for Christmas Day pops a short reflection from Paul on the importance of godly living (Titus 2:11-14). Do we want to think about godly living on Christmas Day? How can Paul’s encouragement to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, to live a life that is self-controlled, inform how we live on this particular day?
God’s grace does something. Grace changes you and me. For one thing, God’s grace leads to “self-control.” Paul likely has in mind the ability to refrain from behaviors like drunkenness and slander (vs. 3), theft (vs. 10), as well as many other vices. These things lead us away from who we have been created to be, and they will not last.
We live in light of this future hope. We do not await in fear. Often verses like this are used to tell people that they better shape up because Jesus is coming back. This creates shame when we, inevitably, fall short of God’s best for our lives.
We have been set free from wickedness! This freedom allows us to live in ways that are healing and restorative. Good works refer to ways of living which come about by grace and participate in God’s healing and restoring the world.
Our gospel passage (Luke 2:1-14) resonates in our cultural consciences, doesn’t it? We know this story. Yet, in our celebrations, we often miss the forest for the trees. This story is revolutionary.
Luke begins by telling us that Caesar Augustus is the emperor and that he is taking a census (vs. 1). Augustus ruled through oppression and violence. Any time someone acquires power through violence, true peace has not been achieved. Augustus’ “peace” came at the end of a sword. This is the backdrop of our story.
Then, we are told about this couple, Joseph and Mary. Joseph had relocated, and he is going home. The census provides the opportunity for a prophecy to be fulfilled, that Jesus would be born in the town of David.
And then we have Mary, who quickly goes from virgin pledged to be married, to expectant mother for an expectant world. Yes, her reputation was shattered. No, her poverty has not seemed to be relieved. And yet, she holds on to the fact that God has been faithful and will be faithful again.
We are also told about shepherds, a vocation which carried a lower societal reputation, but also great significance in the story of Israel.
The shepherds hear the good news from angels. Angels are one of those signs of heaven and earth coming together. They come “from elsewhere,” and they tell us of a different world, how things are going to be.
The sign to the shepherds is that they will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. The glorious has become commonplace. The majestic has become pragmatic.
Looks can be deceiving. If given a choice between the success of Augustus and the obscurity of our story, many of us would choose Augustus time and time again. It appears to be the better story, the bigger story, the flashier story, the more successful story.
When the stories of consumerism, hatred, violence, performance, and approval compete for our attention, we are stopped dead in our tracks by the Christmas story.
In Jesus, the world has changed. In a world where hope seems lost, hope has come. In a world where we see on the news anything but peace, peace has come. In a world where we are more divided than ever and hate is driven by fear, love has come. This is Good News of great joy for everyone.