“The Two Sides of Christmas”
Luke 2:15-20

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Christmas Eve—December 24, 2020

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

In the wonderful movie “Driving Miss Daisy” there’s a scene where Miss Daisy is disgusted as she and Hoak pull up the driveway of her son and daughter-in-law’s house, which is elaborately decorated for Christmas.  On the inside also, everything is Christmas.  What bothers the very proper Miss Daisy is the hypocrisy of it all.  For, she and her family are of a different faith.  They do not believe that Christmas celebrates the birth of the Savior, and Miss Daisy doesn’t think they should pretend that they do.

People from other countries who visit the United States around Christmastime are utterly astounded.  Nowhere else in the world will you see anything like it.  Every year the television show “The Great Christmas Light Fight” showcases people who decorate their otherwise ordinary homes with millions of lights. There’s actually a man in Arkansas whose over-the-top display was overloading the circuits and tripping off power for the whole neighborhood, so the electric company had to put in a special line just for his decorations.  We take Christmas very seriously.  Or, do we?

Visitors from other countries look at all this Christmas fanfare in amazement and assume that we Americans must be very religious, and specifically we must be very devoted to Jesus Christ.  But, you and I know that many of the elaborately decorated homes are like that of Miss Daisy’s children.  The glitz on the outside isn’t necessarily matched by faith on the inside.

The question is: What about you?  Your home is probably like mine, decorated to the max.  You love singing all the old Christmas carols.  You’re here this evening to commemorate Christmas Eve with a traditional candlelight service.  Tonight or tomorrow you’ll exchange gifts in honor of the occasion.  Maybe despite COVID you’re still having a family gathering to celebrate.  But, to celebrate what?  You take Christmas very seriously.  Or, do you?  Is the glitz on the outside matched by faith on the inside?

In the Christmas story, the Shepherds and the Virgin Mary are examples for us of “The Two Sides of Christmas”: OUTWARD CELEBRATION, and INWARD CONTEMPLATION.

“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, ‘Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.’  And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. . .  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen.”

The shepherds are an example for us of the OUTWARD CELEBRATION of Christmas.  The shepherds are so excited because the angel has told them the Good News the whole world has been waiting for: the Messiah has come, the Savior is born.  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. . .  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

That is why the shepherds came with haste to see Jesus, why they glorified and praised God, why they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.  And, whether we realize it or not, that is also the reason for all OUR outward celebration of Christmas.  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  God forgives you all your sins because his own Son came down to earth and was made man, was crucified for you, died and was buried, and on the third day he rose again from the dead, and he will give to you and all who believe in him eternal life.  THAT is the real message, the real meaning behind all our outward celebration of Christmas.

“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”  The Virgin Mary is an example for us of the other side of Christmas, INWARD CONTEMPLATION.  It’s not enough for you to decorate and celebrate.  It’s not enough for you to sing carols and exchange gifts.  Along with your OUTWARD CELEBRATION, like the shepherds, also have in your heart INWARD CONTEMPLATION, like the Virgin Mary.

For, the Christmas story is not just a quaint old fable on which our culture happens to base our Winter festival customs.  The Christmas story is a personal message—still as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago—a personal message of Good News, from God to you.  “For unto YOU is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord,” Christ, YOUR Lord. 

Many years ago our three year-old daughter Sarah was singing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and she put it this way: “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners ‘recon-SMILED.’”  That’s actually a pretty good definition of the word “reconciled”: “recon-SMILED.”  Because, on account of Christ, God your heavenly Father does not EVER look upon you with an angry scowl, but he always SMILES upon you with love and forgiveness.  As Paul says in Colossians, through Christ you are now “holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”  “God and sinners ‘recon-SMILED.’”

Put your faith and hope and trust in the Babe of Bethlehem whose birth you celebrate, for he is the Son of God, born into the world for your salvation.  Through him YOU are now “recon-smiled” with God.  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

So, celebrate “The Two Sides of Christmas.”  OUTWARD CELEBRATION, like the shepherds: “And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. . .  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen.”  And INWARD CONTEMPLATION, like the Virgin Mary: “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” 

Match the glitz of Christmas on the OUTSIDE with faith in Christ on the INSIDE; outward celebration AND inward contemplation; “The Two Sides of Christmas.”

Amen.