+ The Nativity of Our Lord (Midnight) – December 24th, 2025 +
Isaiah 9:2-7; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Grim was the world and grey last night:
The moon and stars were fled,
The hall was dark without song or light,
The fires were fallen dead.
The wind in the trees was like to the sea,
And over the mountains’ teeth
It whistled bitter-cold and free,
As a sword leapt from its sheath.
The lord of snows upreared his head;
His mantle long and pale
Upon the bitter blast was spread
And hung o’er hill and dale.
The world was blind,
the boughs were bent,
All ways and paths were wild:
Then the veil of cloud apart was rent,
And here was born a Child.
The ancient dome of heaven sheer
Was pricked with distant light;
A star came shining white and clear
Alone above the night.
In the dale of dark in that hour of birth
One voice on a sudden sang:
Then all the bells in Heaven and Earth
Together at midnight rang.
Mary sang in this world below:
They heard her song arise
O’er mist and over mountain snow
To the walls of Paradise,
And the tongue of many bells was stirred
in Heaven’s towers to ring
When the voice of mortal maid was heard,
That was mother of Heaven’s King. (Noel, by J.R.R. Tolkien)
When we think of Christmas we think of light. And for good reason. Lights shimmer upon our gutters and dance around our rooftops. Light adorns the Advent wreath, as the flames grow brighter each week. The light advances. The Bridegroom draws nigh. Rejoice, rejoice, believers and let your lights appear. Son of Righteousness arises. Light dawns in the darkness.
Christmas is full of light because it is the birth of Him who is Light of light. Very God of very God. Begotten, not made. Light incorruptible. Light unquenchable. Light undimmable. Light eternal.
John bore witness to this Light. But he was not the light. One more finger in the dark. A watchman in the night. A voice in the abyss. Arise, shine. Your Light has come.
The true light which enlightens everyone, has come into the world. The very Word of God who spoke in the beginning: “Let there be Light” is the same Light of the world in human flesh. The Son of God is born the Son of Mary. He who has no beginning or end makes a beginning for us. Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, the Light no darkness can overcome.
And yet before the light breaks in, there is night. Christmas begins in the dark.
When all was still, and it was midnight, Your Almighty Word, O Lord, descended from the royal throne.
Christmas begins in the funeral pall of fig leaves in Eden. In the blood-tarred soil beneath Cain’s feet. And in the forty days and nights of darkness as Noah and his family float between the ancient abyss below and the tenebrous squalls above.
Christmas begins in the twilight of stars too innumerable for Abraham to count. In the dark night of Job’s anguish and agony. And in the bleak and barren wombs of Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth.
Christmas begins in the shadows of Sinai where Moses glimpses God’s glory. In the pitch-dark of the first Passover where Israel’s firstborn are saved by the blood of the lamb. And in the flickering torches and trumpets blaring, Gideon and his three hundred piercing the dark with cries of deliverance on the day of Midian.
Christmas begins in the eventide of Israel’s kingdom. While hearts and hopes grow dim, the prophets tend the fires of repentance and redemption. It begins in the faithful remnant whose hearts have not been unlit by idolatry. In the nightfall of exile where God’s people cling to the beacon of God’s grace beckoning them to look down through the starless chasm to Bethlehem: For unto us a child is born; and unto us a Son is given.
Yes. Christmas begins in the dark. In the fitful slumbers of faithful Joseph. In the raven-shadowed hills where lowly shepherds kept watch over their flocks by night. In the obscurity and holy humility of the manger. And in the quiet, coddling arms of the Virgin Mary.
When all was still, and it was midnight, Your Almighty Word, O Lord, descended from the royal throne.
The Son of God descended into the darkness of the Virgin’s womb. Jesus came to dwell in the abyss of our afflictions. He joined us in the nightmare of our sin and brokenness. He walked through the valley of the shadow of death to the cross, eclipsed by billowing clouds of judgment. Down into the gloom of the grave he went – taking all our sin and death and darkness with him.
For in this Son of God and Son of Mary. In the child of the manger and the man of the cross. Here is light inextinguishable. Light that does not dim or fade. In him is life, and the life is the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
For…On this night, Isaiah’s words shine forth in fulfillment: the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. The greatest light of all. The grand miracle. The glory of Almighty God becomes a gurgling, giggling, baby boy to save you.
On this night, we who dwell in a land of deep darkness, on us the Light of God incarnate shines forth in the blazing glory of God’s grace.
On this night, the angels message reverberates through the hills and hollers of Judea and to the ends of the earth. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
On this night, the halls of our Lord’s house radiate with glad tidings of great joy and the hills echo with luminous laughter and mirth.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Christmas may begin in the dark, but it doesn’t end there.
For tonight, sorrow, shame, and sadness are swept away by the Son of Righteousness.
Tonight despair, disease, and death are destroyed by Redemption’s happy dawn. At long last, Mary has delivered our infant Redeemer.
Tonight the darkness is chased away by the Christ Child born for you.
Glad is the world and fair this night
With stars about its head,
And the hall is filled with laughter and light,
And fires are burning red.
The bells of Paradise now ring
With bells of Christendom,
And Gloria, Gloria we will sing
That God on earth is come. (Noel, by J.R.R. Tolkien)
A blessed Christmas to each of you…
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
