Christmas Eve

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

--Luke 1:26-28 (N I V )

 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

--Luke 1:29-33 (N I V )

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”   The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible for God.”

--Luke 1:34-37 (N I V )

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

--Luke 1:38 (N I V )

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

--Luke 2:19 (N I V )

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

--Luke 2:51-52 (N I V )

God. O infant-God. Heaven’s fairest child. Conceived by the union of divine grace with our disgrace. Sleep well.

Sleep well. Bask in the coolness of this night bright with diamonds.

Sleep well, for the heat of anger simmers nearby.

Enjoy the silence of the crib, for the noise of confusion rumbles in your future. Savor the sweet safety of my arms, for a day is soon coming when I cannot protect you.

Rest well, tiny hands. For though you belong to a king, you will touch no satin, own no gold. You will grasp no pen, guide no brush. No, your tiny hands are reserved for works more precious—

--to touch a leper’s open wound,  to wipe a widow’s weary tear,  to claw the ground of Gethsemane—

Sleep deeply, tiny eyes. Sleep while you can. For soon the blurriness will clear and you will see the mess we have made of your world—

--You will see our nakedness, for we cannot hide.

You will see our selfishness, for we cannot give.

You will see our pain, for we cannot heal—

O eyes that will see hell’s darkest pit and witness her ugly prince .

Sleep, please sleep; sleep while you can.

Sleep well this Silent Night.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! Ant that is what we are!

--1 John 3:1 (N I V )