When I was thinking about what I was going to preach on today, I got thinking about how special it is when Christmas is on a Sunday, because it happens so infrequently. There’s no denying that these Christmas Sundays are special, and in some ways that can make it feel like a lot of pressure. I know it’s not uncommon for preachers to struggle with a real or self-imposed expectation when it comes to the advent season, to preach something new or unique, so we’re not just rehashing the same Christmas story everyone’s heard 100 times.
Yet as I reflected on the significance of a Sunday morning Christmas service, and as I thought about that same Christmas story, it really seemed like there was no other choice that was fitting for such a day than to return to the heart of it all in Luke chapter 2. The reality is that there is a lot we remember or think we know about the Christmas story, but even after hearing it 100 times over, we can still mess up the details. We like to imagine the drama, to think about what that night would’ve looked like for Mary and Joseph. We want the birth story! Give us all the nitty gritty!
But the Biblical account doesn’t actually give us that many details about the birth itself and so sometimes we end up filling in the blanks with information that isn’t actually there. But today, we’re going to do the exact opposite. We’re going to focus on what is actually written in the text. On a Christmas Day on the Lord’s Day, I want to be sure we’re reading what God’s word actually says about the birth of God’s son.
