Reader 1:
Christmas is for children! Isn’t that right? Look at all the ads in the papers and on the TV--everything for children! So innocent. So trusting! What do children know about the real world--the world of struggle, the world of greed. They can believe in a little baby and angels and shepherds. They can hear the story of the birth and dream of God’s love. With us adults, it’s just different. There is too much to do. We don’t have time anymore for these sweet stories of Christmas.

Voice:
When did you stop being God’s beloved one? For all of your life, God has and continues to love you. Wonder and witness are not consigned to children--those young in years--they are for everyone. Imagine again the wonder of waiting for the day when you could sing with your whole heart and voice "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and "Silent Night." Do not lose that wonder. Open your heart to receive and believe, and rejoice! Love, not busy-ness, is what this is about.

Choir: He came down that we might have love

Reader 2:
My heart aches for the comfort and hope of Christmas. Life has been difficult. I want to rest in the assurance of God with us. But fears and doubts have crept into my soul. God, please send to all of us a special sign, the sign of your presence and your love. Please help us let go of the fear and embrace once again the hope of that promised One.

Voice:
Let go of the fears. You are being sent God’s richest blessings. This Child will bring peace. He will teach us of God’s loving presence with each of us. He will bring healing to our wounds. He will teach us how to truly live as God’s beloved children. Love, not fear, is what this is about.

Choir: he came down that we might have love

It doesn’t make sense that Matthew and Isaiah don’t’ match each other with the facts. And that Matthew and Luke disagree completely. And a virgin birth? Get real. I like things to make sense, logical, scientific. This is all just too sentimental, a bit romantic, and a really strange way for God to go about saving the world.

Stop worrying about reconciling the ‘facts’ –something can be true without being factual. here’s the situation: you’re focused on all the wrong stuff. The good news is certainly not sentimental. There’s nothing romantic about poverty, or pregnancy before marriage, or death on a cross—there is no tinsel around the Jesus way. But it is the way to challenge your personal ideas about greatness.

Get with the plan, the God-plan, like Joseph did. God’s way is not about power as we know it, control, facts, or literalness. Stop sitting quietly with the self-righteous Right, and speak out, act out the God-with-us counter-cultural action of Joseph. Love, not power, is what this is about.

I am mixed up and a bit afraid. I don’t know the right way forward. I can relate to Joseph, but my dreams are more like nightmares. Moral and cultural values are no longer as clear as they used to be. I need a clear sense of direction.

It is enough that God is with you, whatever the call may be, whatever the direction, wherever the journey may lead. Emmanuel. God is tangibly present with you in the foreseeable future--how does that impact your life? Does it? The call from God comforts, challenges and changes you, just as it did Ahaz, Joseph, Mary. Love is stronger than confusion. Love is god-present. Love as an active verb is what this is all about.

Choir: he came down. that we might have love

So what will it be? Business as usual? Christmas as usual? Or will you let Love meet your life?