The evening services of Christmas Eve mark the beginning of the Church’s celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord. The season continues after December 25 over a period traditionally known as the twelve days of Christmas or Christmastide.

This season includes a number of lesser festivals: The festival of St. Stephen, the first martyr, occurs on December 26. St. John, apostle and evangelist, is remembered on December 27. The death of the babies in Bethlehem (Matthew 2) is observed on December 28 as the Festival of the Holy Innocents. The circumcision and naming of Jesus on the eighth day after His birth (Luke 2:21) is celebrated on January 1.

The liturgical color for Christmas and Christmas tide is white.

The Propers for The Nativity of Our Lord

Christmas Eve

O God, You make us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Grant that as we joyfully receive Him as our Redeemer, we may with sure confidence behold Him when He comes to be our Judge; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L05)

Isaiah 7:10-14
Psalm 110:1-4 (v. 2a)
1 John 4:7-16
Matthew 1:18-25

Christmas Midnight

O God, You make this most holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light. Grant that as we have known the mysteries of that Light on earth we may also come to the fullness of His joys in heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L06)

Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96:1-13 (v. 2)
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14, 15-20

Christmas Dawn

Most merciful God, You gave Your eternal Word to become incarnate of the pure Virgin. Grant Your people grace to put away fleshly lusts, that they may be ready for Your visitation; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L07)

Micah 5:2-5a
Psalm 80:1-7 (v. 7)
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:1-14, 15-20

Christmas Day

Almighty God, grant that the birth of Your only-begotten Son in the flesh may set us free from the bondage of sin; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L08)

Exodus 40:17-21, 34-38
Psalm 2:1-12 (v. 7)
Titus 3:4-7
John 1:1-14, 15-18

The Propers for the Sundays after Christmas

First Sunday after Christmas

O God, our Maker and Redeemer, You wonderfully created us and in the incarnation of Your Son yet more wondrously restored our human nature. Grant that we may ever be alive in Him who made Himself to be like us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L09)

Isaiah 11:1-5 or 2 Samuel 7:1-16
Psalm 89:1-8 (v. 8 )
Galatians 4:1-7
Luke 2:22-32, 33-40

Second Sunday after Christmas

Almighty God, You have poured into our hearts the true Light of Your incarnate Word. Grant that this Light may shine forth in our lives; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L10)

Genesis 46:1-7
Psalm 77:11-20 (v. 13)
1 Peter 4:12-19
Matthew 2:13-2

The missing king is Balthasar, an African, and he was replaced by a white sheet hanging from a pole, possibly a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan, police said. The nativity scene was outside a Lutheran church in Holbrook on the east end of Long Island.

It is the second time the figure has been stolen. Church members crafted a new one.

“When it was taken two years ago we figured it was just taken,” the Rev. William Bloom, pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church, told Newsday. “But now it seems that someone has a problem.”

Police are trying to determine if the theft of the figure is related to vandalism of a menorah, the Jewish eight-branched candlestick of Hanukkah, at a shopping center.

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(Christmas Eve)

St. Luke 2: 1-20

“…the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (St. Luke 2: 1-20)

It’s a boy!

Mary had a baby!

It’s a boy!

Can you imagine Joseph’s joy?

I shall always remember the great joy God gave me each time I became a father. You have seen it too, haven’t you? You grandparents have gotten that phone call “It’s a baby, it’s a boy! Everyone is doing fine!”

We have added so much decoration and glitter and fuss and bother to Christmas that the basic story easily gets lost.

It’s a boy!

While Mary and Joseph knew this Son was special, at the same time they celebrated: It’s a boy! Mother and Baby are doing fine! When God blesses us with the miracle of birth, there are generally three things we want to know:

First: Is it a boy or a girl?

Second: How is the mother doing?

Third: Is the baby healthy?

St. Luke answers these basic questions concerning Jesus’ birth in our text. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, he did his homework before he wrote his Gospel. Many people believe that Luke talked directly to Mary and had her direct testimony

First question: Is it a boy or a girl?

“[Mary} gave birth to her firstborn, a son. "

It’s a boy! More than that, he is her first child.

Firstborn sons are important in Jewish families. We remember that the firstborn sons in Egyptian families died when Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt. After that, all the firstborn sons of Israel belonged to God, but they could be bought back through the sacrifice of a lamb at the temple. A firstborn son received an inheritance twice that of any of his brothers.

It’s a boy! A firstborn son!

Second question: How is the mother doing?

"[Mary] wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger. “

Mother Mary is doing fine. She is up on her feet. The same night she received visitors, the shepherds. Luke tells us that after the shepherds left, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (2:19). A woman in pain doesn’t concern herself with singing angels and smelly shepherds.

Mother Mary is doing fine. It’s a boy. And Mary cared for him.

Third question: Is the baby healthy?

“[Mary] wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger.”

The word that Luke the physician uses for “gave birth” is a technical word which implies the live birth of a healthy child. Had baby Jesus been sick, Mary would not have put him in a feedbox. Mary would have cradled him in her arms and rocked him and prayed over him and kept him warm with her own body. Had he been sickly, Joseph would have gone for help.

Baby Jesus is doing just fine. Thank you for asking.

Jesus’ heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to answer the first three questions we ask at every birth: It’s a boy. Mother Mary is doing fine. Baby Jesus is healthy.

So what? What does this have to do with us? Millions of healthy firstborn sons have been born to healthy women. Why do we make so much fuss over this one birth nearly 2,000 years ago?

LET’S LOOK AT THOSE ANSWERS AGAIN.

First: It’s a boy!

A human baby boy! We call this evening the first service of the Nativity of Our Lord. The Word became flesh. God himself became a human being. He is one of us!

Consider just what that means. When Coach Neumeyer, wants to send a new player into the game, he looks to the St. Luke bench. He does not send a Trinity Warrior or St. John Eagle into the game to play for the Mustangs. It is the same way with God the Father.

When he needed a substitute to die for our sins, he sent neither a dog nor a horse, nor did he send an angel. He sent a human like us. Jesus could pay for our sins because he was born a human being.

It’s a boy!

You and I needed someone to substitute for us.

Just look at what we have done to Christmas. Do we worship the Lord of Bethlehem? Or do we worship at Lord and Taylor, Sears and L. S. Ayres? Is our Christmas full of the Holy Spirit, who came to us in our Baptism? Or is it mostly some undefined and nebulous “spirit of Christmas’? Is you heart full of angel songs, or does your Christmas cheer come out of a box or a bottle? Do we hear sweet voices of children singing “Mary had a baby”? Or are homes full of the sounds of Nintendo, Sega and Play Station?

O Lord forgive us our Christmases! We need a substitute to pay the price of our corrupted Christmases. And we have a substitute worthy and willing to come for us. It’s a Boy!

Second: Mother Mary is doing fine.

Jesus was born into a human family. Like you, Jesus had a mother, brothers and sisters, and a step-father –Joseph. He knows from firsthand experience what it is to have parents who do not completely understand him. He knows from firsthand experience what it is to have squabbling brothers and sisters. He knows from first hand experience what it is to have siblings whodoubted him and who deserted him when he was hurting. Mother Mary had to be healthy to give Jesus a normal human family. She and Joseph were there to teach him basic Jewish family values. Mother Mary is doing fine.

We are blessed because Mary was blessed. Jesus was born to die for us. A sword pierced Mary’s heart when Jesus died on the cross. Jesus also was born to live for us. Jesus lived a perfect life for you in a family much like yours.

In order for his death in your place to mean anything, he had to live a perfect life for you. Jesus lived perfectly for you in the face of the same temptations that come to you. Mother Mary was part of God’s plan to make possible Jesus’ perfect life for you. Mother Mary is doing fine. Thank you for asking.

Third: Baby Jesus is healthy.

He had to be healthy. Look at what he faced as he grew up:

• less than two years after his birth, he and his parents became nighttime political fugitives.

• The Gaza Strip is not a healthy place for travelers today. The Gaza Strip was not safe for the fleeing holy family either.

• Life as the son of a carpenter in the hills of Nazareth was as hard life.

• He served a preaching and teaching ministry on the road.

• He organized a traveling seminary for 12 men.

All this hard work.

Then his body and spirit bore the mockery of the crowds, the agony in the garden, the beatings, the scourging, the thorns, the cross. Only a strong healthy body could carry all of this, and the sins of the world.

Baby Jesus is healthy. He grew up to be a strong and healthy man He lived perfectly for you He died perfectly for you. His Father in heaven said. “This is my Son! I delight in him!” It is as though the Father were saying. “It’s a boy! I am so proud of what he is doing. I shall raise him from the death he did not deserve!”

Now Jesus sits on the throne in heaven with a resurrected and perfect body. Soon you and I also shall stand before him with perfect bodies. Our sins forgiven. Our Christmases forgiven. Jesus is still a human. He still knows the troubles you have. He knows you and speaks on your behalf before the Father. He can do this because he has been here. He has lived among us.

It’s a boy!

Today, part of our world says, “Ho,! Ho! Ho!” Another part of the world says: “Bah! Humbug!” You and I have a different message to share: “Look! Look! Look, it’s a boy!”

Amen.

Adapted from a sermon series, Concordia Pulpit Resources