CHRISTMAS DAY SERVICE
PREACHER: REVD SETH KISSI
READINGS: IS 9:2-7; TITUS 2:11-14; LK 2:1-14
We thank God that we can celebrate this Christmas with some joy and happiness and blissful expectations. Not everyone. Some are in mourning at this moment; and our hearts, thoughts and prayers must go to such people so that our God can hold and sustain them. Christmas has always been associated with love, joy and excitement; and rightly so because there is something about the season that makes us expectant and wanting to experience it over and over again. The event that occurred on that day- the birth of a saviour of the world - is an event that is supposed to bring us joy. When angels announced the good news to the shepherds they sang a song made up of just two lines: Glory be to God on high And on earth peace and goodwill to men When there is peace and the favour of God is upon us, God is glorified. Let us examine how this favour and peace translate into the experience of those who first heard it and of us who are celebrating the good news of Christmas. Two kinds of people were given the Christmas message; 1. Mary and 2. The shepherds Mary is isolated for the favour of God – a blissful and happy experience. She is highly favoured – the most favoured - among all women; the angel Gabriel told her. Her experience was that she was pregnant without a husband which in no doubt may have created a difficulty for her trying to explain her pregnancy to family members. To make matters ‘worst’ she delivered in a manger. But the child she delivered was not an ordinary child; he was different from all other children. The favour and grace of God were on him and he had wonderful abilities that the people in the temple could not come to terms with. They described him as mad. Luk 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. Mary was always aware that the favour of God was on her and so the Bible tells us Mary kept all these in her heart. At the cross of Jesus she might have asked herself so many questions. But the favour and grace of God enabled her to go through the pain of seeing her own son crucified – death in a most shameful and degrading way. Mary must be revered for what she went through and did for us. Sometimes the favour of God comes opening the door to all sorts of challenges and experiences including pain and shame; and Mary’s was no exception but the same grace that was to make her the mother of our saviour was sufficient to sustain her and to enable her go through the pain. In spite of the trials, temptation and pain it is worth it – to have the favour of God upon us. We must not give up. The grace of God is always available to give us strength to go through our trials. How does this favour of God translate into our experience as we celebrate Christmas in the 21st century? For many including the shepherds and Mary, the news of the birth of Christ was vague; even the disciples were not so sure; but to us the birth of Christ is great light. We no longer live in darkness. We have been redeemed by the saviour. We have hope of salvation. As we celebrate the birth of the saviour, we must be able to say that our hearts are filled with joy and peace because our encounter with the Saviour turned us from the path of death and the wrath of God to the path of redemption and hope of a salvation. Christ came so that our story of hopelessness and fear and anxiety about his second coming will disappear and give way to peace, joy, hope and blessed expectation of eternal life.
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