A Brief Christmas Mesage

This carrier at work asked me the other day, half-joking of course, if I would be giving a sermon on Saturday morning. As I thought about it some, i realized it wasn't a bad idea. While out delivering papers yesterday I came up with an idea of how to connect the Christmas story to newspaper carriers. I am not sure if it quite works but this afternoon I wrote out a brief message. It would probably last no longer than Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. I thought I would share it with you all.

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Today is Christmas! For most people it really isn’t all that different from any other day of the week. There is nothing magical that happens at midnight to set apart this holy day from any other. And for many of us here today, our Christmas Day begins merely as an extension of Christmas Eve. The thing of it is that was how the first Christmas started too.

We all know the story so well that we could repeat it to countless others, and yet, it think we all secretly love to hear it again, hoping to discover something new in the text. We know Mary and Joseph were on their way to a small town and that upon their arrival they couldn’t find a place to stay in the inn so they ended up sleeping in a stable. It was the middle of the night when Jesus was born. Somewhere between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Christ came into the world.

And the only people awake at that time of night were shepherds. They were nothing special. In fact, of all the people in the world to first receive the Gospel message, the Good News, it was lowly shepherds who were working through the night, away from their family and friends. It likely got rather cold during the night, and their vigil over their herds was one often unremarked upon. That was, unless something went wrong. And yet, it was to these shepherds that the angels first announced the birth of the baby Jesus. It wasn’t the King in Jerusalem, the Emperor in Rome, or the President in the White House who received the message first. It wasn’t the tax collectors and religious leaders of Israel or the CEOs of corporations who received the message first. It was a carpenter and his wife, a few solitary shepherds, night attendants at gas stations and newspaper carriers who first heard the Good News.

As we wait her this evening for the news of the day to arrive, we remember that as carriers we receive the news first. And our job is to get the news to others. As Christians our job is no different. In fact, most Christians could learn a thing from newspaper carriers about how to deliver the news. But the news we Christians need to pass on is not the news of the day. No. It is the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus. As Isaiah reminds us, a great light has been shed upon the people and that light is the Light of the World. That light is also the grace of God, our salvation. So as we go forth from this place this evening, bearing the news of the world, like Santa bears his gifts, we too bring Christ into the world. We deliver the Good News to all people, not just those customers who paid to receive it. We deliver the Good News in a fashion so that all can hear and understand, not just to a specific location. And we deliver the Good News simply and unadorned because there is no need for gift wraps.

As we all go forth from this place this Christmas Day let us remember that the Good News came first to those who kept vigil in the night. It came first to those who were not the powerful in the world. And that we too can be bearers of this Good News to others. Merry Christmas one and all.