"EMMANUEL" Christmas Midnight 2024

24. December 2024
Christmas Midnight
Matthew 1:21-23

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” (Mt 1:21–23).

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Every year, it’s the same. Every year at this time, I have to find words to say to you. Some years, the words come in pieces, like bubbles floating along in the breeze. They’re fragile and temporary, so you must appreciate them before they burst and disappear forever. The words come in chunks in other years, like falling debris that crushes me. At other times, there are no words at all. Nothing comes to me. 

I pray God gives me words. Then I wait. Sometimes, the words come in a flood, but at other times, there’s not a drop. So I pray, and I pray, and I pray, and I hope God listens to my prayers. But the times when there are no words, when there’s just silence and waiting, I wonder: I hope God hears my prayers. I hope there’s a God there listening to my prayers. I hope there’s a God because the silence and the waiting are starting to get to me, causing my thoughts to speed up and travel in a loop, causing me to get nervous that maybe I’ve got this all wrong. God doesn’t listen to my prayers. I’m on my own to come up with the right words to say to you tonight.

And that’s the worst place to be, alone in your thoughts, spinning in place, wondering, Why do I pray? What do I expect? Which way do I go? Who can I trust to point me in the right direction? What do I do when I get there? And that’s really why we’re here tonight. We’re here because we fear the silence and the waiting. So we get together, and we sing, and we pray, and we listen, and we share a moment with each other. And for just a moment, on this most special of all days, for just a moment, we’re not alone anymore. The silence is filled with words, and the waiting is over.

But that’s nothing unique to us. Everyone, everywhere, since the moment after the fruit was eaten in Eden, has feared the silence when God doesn’t seem to hear or care about us. Everyone, everywhere, since the moment after the fruit was eaten in Eden, worries that God doesn’t seem to listen or answer our prayers. Okay. Now what? What do we do? Where do we go for the right words to point us in the right direction so we know what’s happening? 

Jesus’ disciple, Peter, said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” See, that’s what we need. We need words like that, big words that answer big questions. We need words that answer the big questions that bother us, confuse us, and scare us. We need something more than, “I’m sure it will be alright eventually.” Or, “That’s just how life goes.” Or, “We have to make the best of a bad situation.” Or something trite like, “We just have to let go and let God.”

We need words, but they need to be specific words. We don’t need more excuses or trite euphemisms. And that’s why we’re here tonight. We’re here listening for the right words that answer the big question: Does God listen to us? Does he even care? What should I do about this silence and waiting that weighs heavy upon me?

The simple answer, the easy answer, and the big answer is Emmanuel. That’s what we do with the silence and the waiting. We listen and hope for the word, Emmanuel. Emmanuel means: God is with us. More than that, God is with those with whom he’s well-pleased. God loves more than anything to be with the people who delight him. And those people are anyone who says, “Lord, have mercy on me.” Anyone who needs mercy, anyone who needs plain ol’ kindness, anyone who needs God to say, I’m with you, you don’t have to wait anymore; He’s got you covered. These are the words I was sent to cover you with tonight: He is with you because He is Emmanuel. 

That’s why we’re here tonight. We came to hear Emmanuel, God is with us. But not just tonight. We need the same words, the same Emmanuel every moment of every hour of every day of our life because Emmanuel is life. God with us means constant, continuous life in the faithful, loving-kindness of Emmanuel. 

So tonight the words that answer the silence and the waiting are simple and easy. Even a little child can say them: Unto us, a child is born. Emmanuel is his name. He is God who is with us, but you can call him Jesus. He doesn’t stand on formality. 

Unto us a child is born. Emmanuel is his name. He is born and lives, and dies, and lives again for us. He doesn’t do any of it for himself. He does it all for us so we never have to wonder and worry whether God listens to us, whether he is with us at all, and whether he cares about any of us. Does he listen? Does he care? Does God hear our prayers?

The answer to all of these questions is the same: Emmanuel. God is with us. He is with us and comes closer to us than our next breath. Our God comes in the flesh, dressed in faithful, loving-kindness. He comes with words that bless, that forgive, that create a new life; a new husband and wife life, a new child and parent life, a new home life, a new church life.

That doesn’t mean you then live a life free from the same old worry, the same old fears, the same wondering and waiting. But, a new life erupts out of all of this to reveal the new you in relationship with the God who is with you. This God hears your sighs and cares for your needs. He is with you in the midst of the chaos and violence and the deafening silence coming from all the people who don’t want to listen, all the people who don’t want to be told, “God is with you.” And the people who don’t want to hear the silence-shattering, wonderful news that makes a new person from the old worried and waiting you: 

Unto us a Child is born. Unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This is what you came here tonight to hear.

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin