In most of my (admittedly few) years as a pastor, Christmas Eve has disappointed me. I wanted to recapture the wonderful experiences I had as a youth. After talking with my father on the telephone last night after the service, I regretted afterward not saying what I really wanted to say: “Thank you for taking me to church as a child on Christmas Eve.” I’m not sure who I’d be without that. That late-night service on Christmas Eve was filled with wonder for me–things not experienced any other time of year: going to church late at night, with the wind snapping against my cheeks, being careful not to slip on the ice on the steps up into church; the church darkened, singing Silent Night…

It wasn’t until some years after seminary that I began to grasp the importance behind the line from Irenaeus in Against Heresies: DEUS FACIT, HOMO FIT (“God makes, man is made”). The life of men is spent in making: making things, making money, making a name. But all of his making is idolatry if not done as one who has been made, who lives in the fear of the God who made him. What an incredible statement, then, in the Creed: ET HOMO FACTUS EST (“and was made man”). God who makes becomes One who is made. Which is, I suppose, why the Church bids us genuflect at those awe-ful words. This glorious truth we rejoice in again, beginning tonight: DEUS FACIT, HOMO FIT…