Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols

Luke 2:1-16

December 24, 2025

“If you do not like sentiment and symbolism, you do not like Christmas; go away and celebrate something else.” G.K. Chesterton wrote this in his 1908 essay Christmas. “If you do not like sentiment and symbolism, you do not like Christmas; go away and celebrate something else.”

Chesterton was responding to early twentieth-century rationalists, who wanted to celebrate a holiday without all the old “superstitions” of a virgin birth, angels, and wise men. I’ll admit, Christmas is something I’ve struggled with as a pastor. It’s the most busiest time of the year. Many of our people travel, and I want Christmas to be a day of worship, not a time for vacationing. It’s a losing battle. Most of my block doesn’t go to church, but their homes are all decorated. So it’s easy to conclude that sentiment and symbolism are antithetical to true Christianity. Sentiment, after all, can be defined as something irrational – an opinion based on emotion, not facts. Consider the popular phrase, “Facts don’t care about your feelings.”

But does this mean that all feeling is bad, and we should avoid it? Now consider again Chesterton’s phrase: “If you do not like sentiment and symbolism, you do not like Christmas; go away and celebrate something else.”

The question is, What is the sentiment? And, What is being symbolized?

For the Romans, the lights at the winter solstice symbolized the unconquerable sun. For Christians, it represents the God who made the sun. Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome.

Evergreen boughs for the Norse and German pagans symbolized resilience through the harsh winter. It was a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod pastor, Heinrich Christian Schwan, who first put up a Christmas tree in an American church. He did this in 1851 at Zion Lutheran in Cleveland. The local newspaper called it absurd and accused the Lutherans of “tree worship.” Pastor Schwan and his wife decorated the tree with candles, ribbons, cookies, and nuts – and beneath it put a nativity scene.

That’s the symbol. That’s the point. We may have happy memories of childhood Christmases - or of meals and presents you give your own children. I tied my son’s tie on him before coming to church this afternoon. It’s already a happy memory. These things are good, because family is good and food is good and all of it is a gift of God.

But families die or break apart. Food runs out, or spoils. If all we have is family and food, we don’t have enough. Our sentiment must run deeper.

So what’s the real Christmas sentiment we should pursue? The Bible describes it as “faith”: no mere hopefulness, faith is trust. Christian faith is confidence that the baby in the manger is in fact God. God makes Himself vulnerable, capable of experiencing hunger and thirst, cold and fear, sorrow and solitude, abandonment and despair.

God enters the human experience, He enters human life, He enters a real human family, He suffers human death. He does it for those who feel alone, who feel guilty, who don’t feel guilty enough. The Lord Jesus comes for those whose bellies are full but souls are empty. God becomes human for those whose sentiments have failed, whose symbols have turned out to be fraudulent.

You placed your trust in a political party or an institution that turned out to be interested only in power. You placed your trust in a friend who turned on you, a wife who ignores your needs, a husband who left you.

The candles we light, then, are for more than the serene experience of fire’s warm glow. They symbolize Jesus illumining every dark corner of our life, to absolve and heal what is found lurking there. He is with you in the shadows, even in the valley of the shadow of death.

The true Christmas sentiment then comes from the words, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

How then can we be afraid of death, or betrayal, or national collapse? We have received the good tidings of great joy! I know it is for you, because God’s messenger said it is for all people. God’s peace and goodwill is toward you.

Therefore the only thing to do is what the Shepherds did – make haste to see and contemplate. That’s worship. Mary ponders the words in her heart. That’s worship. The Wise Men come and offer their treasures. That’s worship.

So let this be the sentiment and symbol you yearn for. It undergirds everything else God gives to enjoy – family and food, and a rest from your noble labor.

And let these sentiments and symbols permeate who you are. Be at peace with your enemies. Give away a portion of your earthly treasures. Let the light scatter the dark things that have clouded your mind and heart and browser history.

For tonight, all things are made new. For to you is born this night a Savior, Jesus Christ. He is your Lord, who redeems you.

+INJ+