Christmas Eve, Year C
December 24, 2024
Isaiah 9:2-7, Psalm 96, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-20
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“The Gift of Yes: God’s Never Ending Story”
The Very Rev. Kathleen Murray
Historic Beckford Parish, Mt. Jackson & Woodstock
“The Gift of Yes: God’s Never Ending Story”
We’ve just heard the story of Jesus Christ’s birth, the story of the Nativity. We heard about the great joy that “to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”
The gift of Christmas cannot be fully explained or understood by logic, the rational mind, or our theologies and doctrines. It can only be experienced. Tonight, I want us to experience Christmas a little differently.
I want to tell you a story. Some of you might recall this story, but I also know that many of you will be hearing it for the first time. Even for those who remember, it is a story worth revisiting—a story of hope, reunion, and the spirit of Christmas.
It’s a real story, a family’s Christmas over a century ago. It’s the story of Henry and Jennie Lindsay and their Christmas journey to Philadelphia in 1908.
Henry Lindsay and Jennie Dunlop Morrison married in Glasgow, Scotland 1886. Jennie was a widow with six children, and together, they built a life, raising the children as their own. Soon after their marriage, Henry left for America to build a future for his family. After two years of hard work, he saved enough money to bring Jennie and the children across the ocean to join him. They eventually settled in Rhode Island, where Henry worked as a blacksmith in a stone quarry.
Their son Harry later moved to Philadelphia, where his wife gave birth to a son, Henry, named for his grandfather, in 1905. By 1908, Henry was working in Canada, and Jennie lived with family in Providence. When Henry received a letter from Harry that December, he realized he hadn’t seen his son in four years and had never met his grandson. On a whim, he decided to surprise them with a Christmas visit. Henry stopped in Providence to pick up Jennie, and together, they boarded a train to Philadelphia, where Harry and his family lived.
They arrived on Christmas morning, full of excitement. But when the driver of their hired carriage asked, “North 10th or South 10th?” Henry didn’t know. They guessed North 10th, but the address turned out to be wrong. Exhausted and desperate, they tried South 10th Street, a mile away – but it felt much farther in the bustling city. Once again, they found themselves at the wrong address. They were strangers in a big city who were lost and unsure where to turn.
Finally, their search led them to a boarding house run by a kind woman, Miss Mary Bare. Seeing their distress, she invited them in for tea and insisted they stay for Christmas dinner. Miss Bare’s kindness didn’t stop there—she housed them overnight and appealed to the local newspaper for help.
The next day, their story appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Henry and Jennie’s photo was published with the message: “If the son’s eyes chance to fall upon this article, two anxious parents will be waiting for him.” Harry spotted the story while reading the paper at breakfast. Without finishing his meal, he raced to Miss Bare’s home, where he embraced his overjoyed parents.
The confusion had been a simple mistake—Harry lived at 253 North 10th, not 252. But Miss Bare’s love and hospitality transformed what could have been a heartbreaking Christmas into one of joyful reunion.
Do you see what just happened? We just heard the Christmas story. Miss Bare opened her door to strangers, offering shelter, food, and hope. Henry and Jennie found what they had been searching for through her kindness.
Miss Bare said yes to God that night. She said yes to love, hospitality, and the Christ child present in those weary travelers.
Her actions remind us of the innkeeper who found room for Mary and Joseph and the shepherds who hurried to meet the newborn Savior.
In the birth of Jesus, we see the ultimate “yes.” God did not remain distant but came to us in human flesh, vulnerable as a child, sharing in our struggles and joys, living among us to redeem us. Jesus is God’s “yes” to humanity—a yes to creation, reconciliation, and eternal life. Through Jesus, God shows us that love is not just spoken but lived.
God’s unconditional “yes” to all of us is what Christmas is all about. In the birth of Jesus, God says yes to humanity: yes to our joys, our struggles, our hopes, and even our failings. God’s love is not conditional. It doesn’t come with a “why” or an “if.” It simply is. God’s yes is a gift, pure and unearned.
Just imagine if we could live out that yes in our own lives. Saying yes to the poor, yes to the hungry, yes to the lonely, yes to the stranger. Saying yes to hope, yes to forgiveness, yes to reconciliation.
As we come to the Holy Eucharist tonight, we celebrate that God became flesh to dwell among us, to bring light into our darkness. Like Miss Bare’s cup of tea and Christmas goose, God meets us where we are—sometimes in the most unexpected places.
And so, we gather to remember, to be reminded of, and to hear God’s never-ending story. This is the song of Christmas, and it’s playing for everyone. May we listen, may we respond, and may we say yes.