St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
December 24, 2023
Christmas Eve
Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20
Christmas Reenactors
Merry Christmas!
Now, I admit to being biased, but I think that there is nothing better than Christmas here at St. Thomas’.
Of course, this doesn’t just happen.
Just like every year in the run-up to Christmas, it has been crunch time around here. But this year, because of the calendar – when the Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve are the same day – well, this year, crunch time has been more crunched than ever.
But, as usual, so many people have been incredibly generous and have worked so hard:
The parishioners who stuck around today’s 10:00 service and beautifully – and amazingly quickly - transformed our church from Advent to Christmas.
The choir members who were here singing Advent hymns this morning and are back with us to sing much-loved Christmas carols and hymns this afternoon.
The altar guild members who’ve been shining and washing and pressing like crazy.
Members of the church staff who designed and cranked out hundreds and hundreds of bulletins, who got our campus looking its best, and did a whole lot of other, mostly behind the scenes, prep work.
Thanks to all these wonderful people and the many others I haven’t mentioned – thanks to all of you who have brought your joy and excitement - it is yet another beautiful Christmas here at St. Thomas’.
Merry Christmas!
In just a few minutes, we will all get to experience the Christmas Tableau, presented by some of the children of our church.
Way better than any sermon, each year our kids make the old and familiar Christmas story new and fresh again.
On the one hand, each year the story is the same – each year there are children dressed as angels and as Mary and Joseph and shepherds and lambs and wise visitors from the East bearing gifts.
But, on other hand, well, you know how it is.
Just like all of us, just like life itself, kids can sometimes be…unpredictable.
So, if you were here last year, you may remember that one of our little lambs apparently decided he would rather be an airplane, happily circling the Nativity scene with outstretched arms.
Well, why not?
In a way, our children are kind of like historical reenactors – Christmas Reenactors - dressing up and acting out the holy events in Bethlehem, two thousand years ago.
And, all of us Christians – each in our own unique and sometimes unpredictable way – we are called to be Christmas reenactors, too.
Fortunately, costumes are not required – we don’t need to wear tinsel halos or fluffy wings – we don’t have to carry a shepherd’s crook – and we definitely don’t have to be a flying lamb.
Though, again, if that’s what you’re called to do, I say go for it!
In our own unique and sometimes unpredictable way, are all called to be Christmas Reenactors.
So, like the angels, we are meant to give glory to God.
Like the shepherds, we Christmas Reenactors are meant to look for God in unlikely places – especially among families like the Holy Family, swept up by world events, forced to travel far from home, seeking safety for their children.
Like the visitors from the East, we are meant to share our gifts.
Like Joseph, we Christmas Reenactors are called to stand by the people we love, even when we may not fully understand what’s going on with them, even when our loyalty may cost us a whole lot.
Like Mary, we Christmas Reenactors are called to carry Jesus into the world – into a world that is often cold and inhospitable – a world so hungry for love and peace.
And like the newborn Jesus, we Christmas Reenactors are called to accept our vulnerability, placing our hope in the God who never lets go of us, and placing our trust in the many people all around us who are kind and brave and generous.
So, I admit my bias, but I can’t imagine anything more beautiful than Christmas at St. Thomas’.
Thanks to the hard work of so many – thanks to your joy and excitement – it is Christmas once again.
And thanks to our children, we are reminded that we are all meant to be Christmas Reenactors, sharing God’s love, like the angels and the shepherds and the wise men, like Joseph and Mary, and like Jesus, our newborn Savior, Messiah, and Lord.
Merry Christmas to you all.
Amen.
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