The Sanctuary

The Sanctuary Sermon for Christmas Eve 2025

“God’s, ‘Yes’”

Our text, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” Luke 2:10-12.

 

Look around. Look how many of us showed up tonight – family, friends, people you know, and maybe people you’ve never seen before. It’s like this every year.

 

Let’s be honest. Some of you are here tonight because you really want to be here. Some of you are here because someone else really wants you to be here. Some of you come because that’s just what you do and have always done on Christmas Eve. For some of you, this sanctuary holds many pleasant memories of Christmases past. Recollections of loved ones and families that worshipped together for years. While for some this sanctuary holds new possibilities and a new season of what God is doing in your life. And some of you come because you’ve got to go to church before you can open presents. Some of you believe the Christmas story is absolutely true, and others, well, maybe not so much. For some of you this is the threshold to the best day of the year. For others it is one of the most difficult times to enter. Some of you come with great anticipation and joy while others struggle to get through the season.

 

I say all this not as a critique, but with amazement and wonder. I’m not too concerned about whether, how often, or why we come to church. There’s something else that strikes me this evening. Every year I continue to be amazed at the power of the Christmas story to attract and call us to this place on this night.

 

We are all sorts of people in all sorts of circumstances. What’s that all about? What draws us here on this night?

 

This is what I think. I think we all come here wanting to know if the story is still true. Is Christmas still happening? Is it as real for you and me today as it was for the shepherds in their day?

 

Here’s the thing. Regardless of who you are, why you’re here, how often you come to church, what you believe or don’t believe, what has happened or not happened in your life, or what you have done or left undone,

 

Christmas is real. You can count on it. It’s still true, and it wants to happen or is still happening in your life. 

 

I have no intention of trying to explain Christmas tonight. I don’t know how, it just doesn’t make sense. The gift of Christmas cannot be explained or understood by logic, the rational mind, or various theologies and doctrines. But it can be experienced, and that’s what I want us to do tonight. I want us to experience Christmas.

 

So, we’re going to do this a little differently tonight. I’m going to ask you to do something. I’ll do it first and then I want you to do it. It may sound a little unusual, but I hope you’ll indulge me. I think it will make sense. You ready?

 

Did you see what I did? I touched someone and said, “Yes.” That’s all I want you to do. Turn to someone near you, touch them or give a fist bump and simply say, “Yes.” Do it. Pass a ‘Yes’ down the row. Don’t let there be anyone here who is not given a ‘Yes.’ Make sure everyone gets a ‘Yes.’ It doesn’t matter who you are, why you’re here, or what you believe or don’t believe, you get a ‘Yes.’ You get a ‘Yes,’ you get a ‘Yes,’ and you get a ‘Yes.’ Everyone get’s a ‘Yes’!

 

Do you know what just happened? You received what the shepherds received that night. You received and passed on the good news that the angel spoke. You just experienced the Christmas story. Admittedly, it’s not the usual story we tell or have been told. You see, ‘Yes’ is the story behind the story. Everyone in the first Christmas narrative said, ‘Yes’ to what God asked of them. Even the inn keeper sighed and said we have no room, but there’s a stable with a feeding trough out back.

 

This child we receive and celebrate tonight is the incarnation of God’s ‘Yes’ to you and me. This child is the embodiment of God’s ‘Yes’ to all people. This child will spend the rest of his life saying, “Yes.”

 

Yes to the poor, yes to the hungry, yes to the weeping, yes to the sinner, yes to the pure in heart, yes to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, yes to the peacemakers, yes to the outsiders, yes to the wedding couple who ran out of wine, yes to the lepers, yes to the prostitutes and tax collectors, yes to the 5000, yes to the demon possessed, yes to Lazarus, yes to the woman at the well, yes to blind Bartimaeus, yes to the hemorrhaging woman, yes to John the Baptist, yes to the centurion’s servant, yes to the widows, yes to the paralyzed man, yes to the sick and suffering, yes to Nicodemus, yes to Mary and Martha, yes to Peter, James, and John, yes to Judas, yes to Thomas, and yes to you and me.

 

Jesus is God’s ‘Yes’ to us and the world. Regardless of who you are, where you’re from, what you have done or left undone—sounds like a Backstreet Boys song. Anyway, no matter what is happening in your life today, you get a ‘Yes.’ There is no one who does not get a ‘Yes.’ You simply must receive it, open it, and believe it. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever shall believe in him would not perish, but have eternal life.” That ‘Yes’ is the gift of Christmas, and it is unconditional. It is pure gift. That ‘Yes’ comes to us as love, acceptance, forgiveness, presence. And God’s ‘Yes’ to you and me always comes without an if, a when, or a why. God’s ‘Yes,’ the Christmas gift, never comes wrapped in an economy of transaction. Let me explain what I mean by that.

 

We live in a world in which you pay for what you want. We’re expected to return the favor, pay off the debt, or reciprocate in some way. We write contracts to insure that the books will remain balanced. In short, you get what you pay for. That’s not God’s economy or God’s way.

 

God does not love if you are worthy of being loved. God loves unconditionally. God does not accept when you have proven yourself acceptable. God’s acceptance is unconditional. God does not forgive after you have changed your ways. God just forgives. God does not show up because you said your prayers or had enough faith. God’s presence is without conditions. He comes running. He’s a prodigal God.

 

There are no prerequisites to God’s ‘Yes.’ That’s the gift of this night; God’s unconditional ‘Yes.’

 

It’s sort of like the exchange with a grandson. He asked,

 

“Papa, why are you here?”

“Because I love you.”

“But why?”

“Because I just do.”

“But why?”

“It’s just what I do. I cannot not love you.”

 

The boy’s face lit up and he just smiled. He had heard his ‘Yes,’ his unconditional yes. He understood that there is no ‘why’ to his grandfather’s love. It just is.

 

And friends, that’s Christmas. That’s what the child lying in the manger brings us. That’s why we come here this night every year. We come to remember, to be reminded of, and to hear once again God’s never ending ‘Yes’ to us. That’s the song of Christmas. And it’s playing for every one of you tonight if you’ll receive it.

 

Can you hear it? “Yes, yes, yes.” It’s the Christmas song.

 

And that, the angel says, is “Good news of great joy for all the people.”

 

Merry Christmas. God bless us, everyone.

 

Amen.