Christmas Eve: Not According to Plan
What God Plans and What God Promises May Never Be Frustrated
Luke 2:1-20
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Fri. December 24, 2020
Christmas was not going to plan. The river had flooded and damaged the organ. If they were going to celebrate midnight mass on Christmas Eve, they would need to find another instrument and use all new music. But what did they have for the guitar? They would have to be creative. The priest, Joseph Mohr, met with his organist and local schoolmaster Franz Xaver Gruber that day. Not too long ago Father Joseph had written a nifty little poem about the birth of Christ and wondered if his organist could put it to music and play it on the guitar. The nifty little poem was called Stille Nacht. And we know it as Silent Night.
We do not know how that midnight mass was received. It was, after all, not the ordinary Christmas eve service. But we do know that an organ builder became enamored with the little carol, and from there it became a hit. Now what was once a hastily assembled tune is a dearly beloved carol and fixture in all Christmas eve services. And to think no one would have ever heard of Silent Night were it not for a flooded church, and a last minute emergency. When things don’t go according to our plans, it doesn’t mean things aren’t going according to God’s plan.
Let’s not forget that the first Christmas did not go to plan either. Mary was already with child when word came that the world was to be registered. They were required to go to Joseph’s ancestral home for the registration: Bethlehem. The journey would have been over 100 miles long, and would have taken four or five days. That is not an insignificant hardship. Joseph would have taken many days off from his work, and Mary knew she could be giving birth on the way. It is nothing either of them would have planned to do, but it was something they had to do.
To make matters worse, when they had made it to Bethlehem they had no place to say. While it was Joseph’s ancestral home it would seem Joseph did not have family left there. Or, if he did have family they didn’t see fit to prioritize the young couple. They searched the town for some place to stay, but there was no room for them anywhere. Finally one individual took pity on the couple and offered his barn. And so that is where they spent the night, a smelly barn with holy the animals to keep them warm. There, in a barn, hardly the most sanitary of conditions, Mary gave birth to Jesus. God was born in a stable. And he who the heavens cannot contain was wrapped in cloth, and laid in a manger.
Certainly no one planned it this way. Doubtful Joseph wanted to make the journey. Doubtful Mary wanted to give birth in a barn. And yet, it had to be this way. By traveling to Bethlehem Mary and Joseph fulfilled the prophecy of Micah “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)
And it is not like Mary and Joseph were without blessing. God made sure they were safe through all of this. They did not need to fear bandits or disease, for God watched over them. God also blessed them by sending the angels to announce good news. Mary and Joseph were not alone that night. But they were visited by the shepherds, and heard their words of comfort, “We saw the angels light up the sky like it was the day” we might have heard them say, “And they told us, “Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”
Regardless of human plans, regardless of human failings, regardless of the chances and circumstances of this life, God’s plan was fulfilled. On this day is born to us a savior. Christ. The Lord.
As in that cold December night in Bethlehem, or as in that cold and wet December night in Austria, we too face a Christmas that has not gone according to plan. We have not been able to hold our concerts, or our parties. It is a Christmas unlike any other. But we ought to take comfort in knowing that the first Christmas was not anything that went according to plan. And the greatest blessings in life are, perhaps, not those that we have planned. But the greatest blessings in life are those things that God has willed.
On Christmas we know what God wills for us. God wills for us hope, in being born for us in Jesus Christ. God wills for us peace, announcing peace by the song of the angels. God wills for us love, as the example of Christ’s life shows. The infant would grow into a man, a man who preached the Kingdom of God and showed God’s reign with his deeds of love and mercy. And God wills for us salvation, a salvation he won on the wood of the Cross.
What matters this night is that we remember God’s will for us, and God’s promises for us. Whatever we may plan may be frustrated by human error or the chances of this life. But what God plans and what God promises may never be frustrated. It will not be frustrated by flooding of a Church. It will not be frustrated by the decree of an Emperor. It will not be frustrated by no room in the inn. And it will not be frustrated by the judgment of prelates or the wood of a cross. So God’s promises for us are certainly not frustrated tonight. But tonight, even tonight, we may know his hope, peace, love, and salvation.