Luke 2:1-20
Christmas Eve, December 24, 2025, 6:00 PM
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, Oakland, CA.
On this holiest of nights, we welcome you on Christmas Eve! Pastors like me sometimes joke about “Christmas and Easter Christians” because we say that they only come at these times of the year. You won’t get that attitude from me or from this church! You are especially welcome because you have made a greater effort to be here tonight!
We have all come to hear the Christmas story again, to hear the Voices of Lakeshore sing, to hear the bell ringers ring, to sing for ourselves the favorite carols, and to light a candle. We have nostalgically transported ourselves to a time of sentimental memories of Christmas past.
You remember all the lights in the sanctuary to get away from the PG&E light bills that get harder to pay every month. You remember the high-hanging red banners to get away from the high medical bills from a test you took just last week. You remember the peaceful calm here to escape the neighborhood violence reported in yesterday’s news. You remember the friendly faces and warm hand shakes to escape the loneliness of having lost family and friends this past year.
We are all welcome here and as the Psalmist says, “O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.” (96:1) Tonight, we sing a new song to the Lord.
Christmas Then and Now
The Luke lesson includes many of the stories of Christmas that we remember. While the birth of Jesus is over two-thousands years ago, it is as real to us today as you and I are real to each other.
Luke begins by telling us that the wonders of this night take place during the reign of Caesar Augustus. Caesar was praised as the great king of peace. He was known as Pax Augusta to mean to bring an end to war. But we know that Augustus waged many wars in his reign.
Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of the true king that no earthly king will ever achieve. The true king of peace brings peace on earth as well as peace to all of us who have broken hearts. We pray for peace in the Middle East, in Ukraine, in many places that our minds haven’t taken noticed of.
The birth of Jesus heralds the angels to proclaim good news. We often call someone “an angel” when he/she does something nice. Sometimes we feel an angelic presence upon us when miracles happen when we were least expecting it. We pray for “angels to watch over us” when we are traveling or facing troubling times.
Tonight, we celebrate those thin places and times when heaven and earth are so close that we know that God is with us, Emmanuel. When we sing “Silent Night” softly and in the silence, we may notice that the angels are present and have always been with us.
The first witnesses of Jesus’ birth are shepherds. They are often seen as at the bottom of the social ladder. They were dirty and smelly from living out in the fields.
Tonight, we think about the people who wait outside a Home Depot for us to drive by and pick up for a day job. Perhaps they would be hired to mow your lawn or do a job too risky for you to do yourself. They are often immigrants with no legal papers and we would pay them cash so that the authorities wouldn’t be able to trace them. They are our shepherds tonight.
Did the angels take a wrong turn on that first Christmas night? Had they intended to announce the king of peace to Caesar Augustus, the movers and shakers, the important people?
The angels knew exactly what they were doing. The new king born this night brings peace to all men and women, but especially the poor. And here at Lakeshore, we are always doing something for those who may be less fortunate than we are because the angels and Jesus taught us to bring good news to the poor.
Noticing the Lord
I love the Worship Committee people of this church as they decorated the sanctuary for Advent and Christmas. We have lighted Christmas trees in the sanctuary, the narthex, and the Family Room. We have wreaths here and on the outside of the front doors. We have poinsettias everywhere. We have candles to brighten the darkness that reminds us that the dark corners in our lives will be bright again.
But I also noticed one more thing. Up here in the altar where the Nativity set is displayed surrounded by poinsettias and candles; where baby Jesus is lying in the manger, Joseph and Mary adoring their new-born baby, shepherds have arrived and the stable animals are lowing, and angels proclaiming, “Glory to God in the highest heaven…” you can see something else.
Under the table cloth, you can see the feet of the disciples at the table of the Lord’s Supper. Tonight, we notice Jesus, the King of Peace and Christ, the Suffering Servant who will wash the disciples’ feet and forgive our sins on the Cross. And on Easter morning, we will sing, “Hallelujah, He is risen.”
Tonight, as we notice Jesus Christ, who came into our world and is still coming to us, calling us whether we are Christmas Christians or Easter Christians or all-year-long Christians, all people that Jesus Christ, the King of kings is here.
Thanks be to God!
Let us pray.
Lord, help us to notice the family and friends around us, the neighbors and street people around us, the citizens of countries with their own passports around us, the immigrants and refugees who have no legal papers around us, all the people whose names we may not know around us but all these people near and far are all known by you who is our Creator, Maker, Redeemer, Savior, Christ the Lord. Be with us tonight as we anticipate the birth of Jesus and as we notice the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross to save us and all the people around us. Amen.