On this holy night, Christians will be singing this beloved carol. If ever a hymn captured the depth, the wonder of Luke 2:1-14, I’d say this is the one. Four verses that many will come to know by heart—four verses that speak to the predicament, the person, the promise and the plea that are wrapped up in the story we celebrate this night.

On the day before Christmas Eve, how wonderful is it that the daily lectionary reminds us of the beautiful, inspiring, encouraging song of Mary! Mary’s visit to her cousin, Elizabeth, actually took place perhaps nine months before the birth of Jesus. Mary and Elizabeth had been visited by angels who announced that they would both give birth unexpectedly. But even after nine months has passed, and we stand at the threshold of the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Mary’s song still could not be more appropriate.

Jesus expresses great love and mercy for the very people who would soon be hurling accusations and insults at Him, spitting on Him and mocking Him. He laments profoundly that they refuse to be gathered under His protecting care.

In 2005, I hated Christmas. Of course, as a pastor I couldn’t really give outlet to my true feelings. What congregation wants to hear that their pastor hates Christmas? But I did. My wife and I had been waiting for two years to be selected as parents to a precious girl or boy through open adoption, the process where birth parents select the couple they want to serve as the baby’s parents. Advent, a season of waiting, seemed as if it would never end.

Only five more days left until Christmas Day. Do you still have presents to buy, packages to wrap, baking, decorating, hurrying and scurrying to do these last days before we celebrate our Savior’s birth?  I was talking to a seasoned kiosk vendor at one of the larger malls a while ago and he told me that he was encouraging the newer vendors in the long hallways not to despair if sales were slow the first few weeks of December. He smiled and told them they will make loads of money come the last week before Christmas when desperation sets in. I’m pretty sure he was referring to most of us as the time remaining for Christmas shopping quickly evaporates.

The question our Lord asks in verse 31 of this passage is haunting in our day and age. “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like” (ESV)? Meditate on that for a few minutes. Consider what Jesus was saying then and what He is saying to us now.

How often have things not gone according to plan for you? You want the events and direction of your life to go a certain way, but instead they turn out to go a different way. Not the way you had planned, and not the way you would have desired or preferred.

One of the most common comments pastors make when defending their decision not to address life issues from the pulpit is that “those are political issues.”  Politicians have legislated on abortion and physician-assisted suicide, so it has no place being discussed in the church, right?  But haven’t politicians legislated on divorce, polygamy, drunkenness, lying and any number of other issues?  Have pastors ever spoken about these things from the pulpit?  Do they discuss these things with friends?  Is it just because we’re “on the same side” as most politicians regarding polygamy, drunkenness, etc., that it’s OK to talk about in church?