Luke 2: 1-20                                                                                                                 Rev. Dr. Galen E. Russell III

Matthew 1: 18-25                                                                                                                     December 24, 2025

Christmas Eve    7:00 p.m.

“But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream...”

Prayer: We are listening, Lord. Please tell us of your birth in our lives. Amen.

In the United Church of Christ, we love our catch phrases, and one of them is “God is Stillspeaking,” And when we’ve said that, sometimes you’ll hear the tag line afterwards, “Are we still listening?” Which is a good question to ask, I think, because there are so many voices, and noises, and sounds in our world that overwhelm God’s voice. And it takes a fairly good amount of effort to listen through all the noise to discern what God might be saying.

It’s kind of like the tinnitus condition I’ve had ever since I was a kid. There’s a constant ringing in my ears that is 2-toned, and very high pitched—like off the piano keyboard high-pitched. My right ear is slightly higher in pitch and more piercing than my left, so the ringing in my right ear’s more dominant. And if I’m in silence, OMG! The ringing is unbelievably loud!

But I’ve learned how to live with this condition. I’ve learned to discriminate the ringing from actual sounds. Basically, when I hear real sounds, I’ve learned to listen more deeply and ignore the high-pitched ringing in my ears. Now Barb might say something different about me listening more deeply, but that’s a whole ’nother subject! But, when I do listen through the ringing, it’s almost like the ringing in my ears isn’t there anymore. But as soon as I focus on it, I hear it. ’Cause the ringing’s always there.

This made me think that Advent gives us the chance to listen through all the noise to discern what God might be saying. Listening deeply through the noise is one of those things I think we can do to get things ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus tonight and tomorrow.

Joseph had to listen deeply through all the noise. What noise? You ask? He heard they laid Hebrew laws that said because teenaged Mary was pregnant before she was married, she committed adultery, and she was to be condemned. Perhaps he heard the loud judgmental voices of his community wanting Mary to be put shame for perceived infidelity. Because you know, we humans love to make perception our reality, often without evidence, which we see a lot of today, it seems. Maybe he even heard the noisy concerns for his own reputation among his peers.

But I think Joseph, a righteous, faithful man, a spiritual man, had to listen through all that noise, and get to the deeper truth. Because while he was a man who understood the biblical law, he also I believe, understood God as a God of goodness and love. And maybe he understood that God’s law was there to help people live out that goodness and love and not be condemning. So, after deliberation, Joseph resolved to quietly divorce Mary without the public shame of a trial for adultery. That was the best, most gracious option he could hope for and keep integrity in a bad situation. 

But then something incredible happened! Did you catch that? Joseph went to sleep! Because you know, sometimes when you have a big decision to make you say, “Let me sleep on it…” Which means to take some time before enacting a decision. To think and pray and feel what’s the right thing to do. To listen deeply. And when Joseph did that, God’s angel spoke to him in a dream.

And the physical, mental, emotional, and the spiritual elements of his life all kind of came into alignment, and he awoke in a completely different place of thinking. He awoke trusting in the Lord with all his heart. He awoke not relying on his own insight (Proverbs 3: 5). He awoke willing to surrender his own plans to divorce Mary and, for the good of others’ salvation, he was willing to embark on God’s plan, a new direction in his life. A direction that acknowledged God and God’s ways. 

I commend Joseph. Because he had to discriminate against all the noisy messages pounding in his heart and mind and listen through all that noise to discern the meaning of Mary’s pregnancy.

That is my prayer for all of us tonight as we celebrate our Savior’s birth. That we deliberately align our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual lives so as to discriminate against all the noise we hear in our lives. That we remember that our perceptions aren’t necessarily our total reality, and that we listen deeply to the holy messages God wants us to hear: That our Savior is born. That God is with us. That we are loved. That we can have a new life.

So, this Christmas, remember that God is Stillspeaking, that God spoke through prophets, and also through Jesus, God’s son. And God continues to speak to us, through the noise, which is there all the time. But God’s message to us and to the entire world is that Christ, our Savior is born. Christ our Savior is born. For all. Thanks be to God! Merry Christmas! Amen.

May the Lord be with you.

Christmas Prayers and the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And do not let us fall into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever! Amen.