December 24, 2019 (Christmas Eve) – Luke 2:1-20
Luke 2:1-20
Good News
Christmas Eve – December 24, 2019
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
An infant of mysterious parentage. An infant imbued with the life force of the universe.
An infant imperiled by forces that seek his life.
I’m talking, of course, about . . . Baby Yoda.
People have asked me how I am doing this week and I say,
“Oh, you know, I’m okay, getting over a cold, a little concerned about Baby Yoda . . .”
Episode 8 cannot come fast enough for those of us devouring The Mandalorian.
Half the world is concerned with a special child this week who is threatened by dark forces.
It does sound very familiar.
Now among the many fascinating things about the Baby Yoda phenomenon is this:
you cannot (yet!) buy Baby Yoda merchandise!
Which is amazing in this day and age – in addition to being very refreshing.
So, as a result, and as one commentator pointed out in the New York Times,
people have had to take matters into their own hands:
it’s been a DIY Christmas for lovers of Baby Yoda.
Look at what I was given by my friend Kristofer Reid recently:
a beautiful drawing of Baby Yoda he made himself!
And if you Google Image search Baby Yoda you will find
home-made crocheted Baby Yodas,
home-made Lego Baby Yodas – and even cocktails that look like Baby Yoda!
People have figured out a way of doing it themselves.
People have figured out a way of taking matters into their own hands.
People have figured out a way of literally making Baby Yoda their own.
Despite the obstacles, Baby Yoda is coming to where people need him the most.
This is exactly the picture Luke draws for us in his beautiful story of the birth of Jesus.
Jesus, Luke acknowledges, was not born in a palace.
Jesus was not born in the centre of political power.
Yeah: Caesar Augustus was reigning but Jesus did not come to Rome.
And on the religious side, Jesus was not announced to Annas and Caiaphas,
the high priests.
Jesus was not announced at the temple in Jerusalem, the centre of religious authority.
No to all that: Jesus was born in a little town, to parents who lived in poverty.
The announcement of his birth was given to the lowest of the low, to shepherds in their fields.
Shepherds who were stereotyped as thieves, liars, and unclean.
Shepherds whose testimony was not admissible in court,
shepherds who were barred from many towns’ city limits.
These are the ones to whom Good News is announced on Christmas Eve.
To you is born a saviour. To you shepherds. To you who need him most.
Jesus comes to those who need him most.
Jesus comes to where people need him most – despite the obstacles.
I recently heard of a radio broadcast where a host asked the radio audience:
do you listen to the news? And what do you think of it?
One person wrote in to say, “It seems we only hear bad news, which induces fear.
We need to hear good news. How different our days might be if we heard more good news.”
One commentator this year urged preachers to sketch out the darkness of our days clearly
for our hearers so that they could appreciate the light of the good news all the more.
But really? Do you really need me to spell out the darkness for you?
Political darkness? Societal darkness? Relational darkness? Personal darkness?
I don’t think so. You know it well.
With the angels I am here to announce good news.
And the good news is that, like Baby Yoda, Jesus comes to where he is needed most.
Jesus comes to outsiders and to the poor.
Jesus comes to those who experience prejudice and Jesus comes to the fearful and the anxious.
And when he grows up, Jesus comes to the sick and brings healing.
Jesus comes to the hungry and brings food.
Jesus comes to the lonely and brings welcome and community and friendship.
Jesus comes to the sinful and brings forgiveness.
Jesus comes to the despairing and brings hope.
Jesus comes to where people need him most.
And like Baby Yoda, you cannot go the store and buy Jesus.
You cannot even come to church and buy Jesus.
Jesus is something you have to make for yourself, in community,
with the help of the Holy Spirit.
At First Lutheran Church you are invited to be part of a DIY community where
Jesus is being brought to where people need him most: namely at Sargent and Victor.
Here is some good news this holiday season:
God’s love is bodily coming to where people need God’s love most.
That is the meaning of Christmas.
The hungry are fed. Refugees are welcomed and cared for. The poor are befriended.
Immigrant women are empowered in partnership with our friends of
The Excel Empowerment Centre.
The despairing are encouraged. Relationships are transformed.
Strength is shared. Friendships are made. Love is given and received.
Every single person who needs to hear it hears this every week:
You are making this day special – by just being you.
Jesus comes at Sargent and Victor to where people need him most.
Over and over, every day – every day, it’s a DIY Christmas at First Lutheran Church,
done in community, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
And this evening, you too are part of what God is doing, you too are part of the DIY Christmas,
you are part of God’s love being born right here in the West End of Winnipeg:
for you have taken the time and the trouble to come here and I thank you for that,
for with your bodies you witness to God’s love for this neighbourhood.
Jesus comes to where people need him the most –
and this evening Jesus has come to Sargent and Victor. Thank you.
So together, let us celebrate the good news – Jesus comes with love to where people need him the most, Jesus comes to you where you need him the most – and together let us say, “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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