Preparing for Worship - December 24, 2023

I am discovering that some churches are canceling their Sunday morning services on December 24 because it is Christmas Eve, as well as the 4th Sunday in Advent, and there are many services later in the day. The readings for the morning are important for us, though, as a final preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth later on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I’ll just take us through those readings in what I write here.

The Old Testament lesson is from 2 Samuel 7:1-11,16. David lived in “a house of cedar” as King, an indication of his wealth and beautiful home. In contrast, God’s house, the tabernacle, was still a tension. David wanted to build a better “house” for the Lord. Nathan agrees until the Lord appears to him and tells him to tell David not to build a house for Him. A son of David would build a house, and from that line of David, the Lord promises an everlasting kingdom.

The psalm is Psalm 89: 1-5, (19-29). The psalmist remembers the covenant made with His “Chosen One” from the line of King David. The Lord has “steadfast love” and “faithfulness,” and “in the heavens He will establish His faithfulness,” for “His offspring (singular) forever,” a reference to Jesus. He will be “the Firstborn,” the Highest, and in the Lord’s Name, His horn, (His strength) shall be exalted, and he will know “His Father, the Rock of Salvation, and will have a “throne” forever.

The One who will have this everlasting kingdom is clearly identified in the Gospel lesson, Luke 1:26-38, by the “angel Gabriel,” who announces the “virgin birth” of Jesus, through Mary. Mary is a "favored one, for she will conceive and bear a Son, Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The really important One is Jesus, though, for “He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High.” "He will receive the promised throne of His father David," and “he will reign forever” and "of His kingdom there will be no end.” All this can happen, “for nothing will be impossible with God.” Mary “serves the Lord” by simply “trusting His Word.”

The Epistle lesson is from Romans 16:25-27. Paul assures believers that the “eternal God” will strengthen them (and us) with the “Gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ,” and the “prophetic writings” of the Scriptures, and “bring about” in us “the obedience of faith” in the “mystery” of God’s saving plan for us “through Jesus Christ.”

All the other things we hear of and celebrate on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are the fulfillment of these Scriptures and as Mark says, “The beginning of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).