Sermon from Christmas Eve 2024 by the Rev. Dr. Tara W. Bulger

Matthew 1:18-23

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”

In Newton, Massachusetts, there lives a little girl near and dear to her neighborhood. Her name is Samantha, and when this story takes place, she is two years old. Samantha is bright and energetic and loves nothing more than chatting with everyone she meets.

Her dad, Raphael, describes her as super engaging. Her mom, Glenda, agrees and says her whole personality lights up when chatting with others.

Honestly, when she can't talk with someone, Samantha is pretty sad.

Samantha's neighbors would see her on a walk in the neighborhood or in her yard as they passed by, and she would run to chat with them, but it always ended in frustration. Samantha is deaf and communicates using sign language, and no one in her neighborhood knew how to sign.

One neighbor said, "I wanted to talk to her so badly, and I could see she was trying to communicate with me in sign language, but I just didn't understand." Another neighbor said, "I wanted to be her friend—ask her about her day—but I couldn't. It was frustrating."

Until Samantha's neighbors decided to do something about it. They loved Samantha, so they hired a sign language instructor. And everyone in the neighborhood—some forty-something of them—began meeting regularly to learn how to sign.

Their love for that little girl meant that they would do whatever they could to engage with her, communicate with her, and love her with actions and words.

Tonight, we celebrate the greatest gift we have ever been given. Tonight, we remember that out of God's great love for us, God put on flesh and came to be with us--communicating with us in the bodily presence of Jesus. No longer is God far off, guiding us with the Law and the Prophets; no, in Jesus, we have God with us. On this night, God begins speaking to us in a new way--in the language of bodily presence, in the language of salvation, in the language of the heart.

John's Gospel tells us that no one has ever seen God. But it is God, the only Son, who has made God known to us. God's love is made known in the flesh of a baby, in the actions of the man, and in the glory of the cross. Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, came to make God known.

In Matthew's Gospel, we are told Jesus' names. He is called Emmanuel because he is God with us. He is named Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. In the manger, we learn that God is with us and for us—for all humanity.

And we, who are known as Christians, greet this night with bone-deep gratitude for such a love as this. And we lay aside all else to worship and give our lives to him.

May we give all that we are to the child who makes God's love known. Amen.