"The Revolution Was Born in a Barn!"

Christmas Eve, December 24, 2025

Isaiah 9:2-7 and Luke 2:1-20 Sermon by the Reverend Michelle Manicke

Pastor Michelle Manicke

Long ago - about 2800 years ago! -

when God's people

were weary of warfare, bruised and broken,

and walking in the darkness

of an inhospitable land -

living in a house divided against itself --

God spoke to them through the prophet Isaiah

and made an incredible promise:

God promised to set the people free

by breaking the yoke

of their own clueless and callous ruler, King Ahaz,

and the rod of their cruel Assyrian oppressors.....

All the muddy boots

used to trample God's people

and all the bloody rags

in which they'd been forced

to wrap themselves

would be gathered

as fuel for a great bonfire:

a fire that would finally

bring warmth and light

to God's people.

But God's promise

came with an unexpected twist:

Evil would be overcome

NOT through a great military victory,

but, rather, through the birth of a child -

a child who was a gift from heaven,

sent to bring new life to all the children of God.

Sometime later -

about 750 years after Isaiah's prophecy! -

when God's people were once again

walking in the darkness

of an inhospitable land,

bruised and broken

and staggering this time

under the weight of Roman oppression,

God spoke to them in a whole new way.

unveiling God's incredible promise ....

Under cover of darkness,

while the king and his henchmen

lay sleeping on beds of ivory

way up in Herod's high tower,

a teenaged girl gave birth to a baby boy

and laid him on a bed of straw

in a lowly cattle stall.

The newborn was named "Jesus,"

a name meaning "he will save,"

because God had poured

a mega-dose of God's Spirit out upon him

and sent him to set God's people free:

free from sin and death;

and free for love and abundant life.

In this holy child, Jesus, the Christ,

God revealed God's very self

to the whole human family.....

Let that sink in, friends:

God, who is Love, revealed God's self to us

by sending us...a baby!...

The Word of God became flesh for us.

because our God knows

nothing gets under our skin

and nothing cracks open the human heart

quite like...a baby!

(Amen?!...)

And here I just have to say:

As much as we all love

our church Christmas programs,

deep down I think we all know

that the story of our Lord's birth

among us as a human child

Is NOT just a sweet, sentimental story

to be reenacted once a year by adorable children dressed up as shepherds and angels and barn animals....

Far from it!

The story of our Lord's birth among us as a human child

is the radical, revelatory, revolutionary story

of God's undying love

for this whole dying world....

And in this day and age,

when so many grave threats

are rearing their ugly heads all over the world,

THAT, my friends, is some seriously Good News!...

God's love revolution

was born...in a barn

and laid in a manger,

but you and I know

that Jesus, the incarnate Word of God,

didn't stay in that manger

because God's love refuses to be confined

by any of the "boxes" we humans construct

in our misguided efforts to try to control or contain it.

Indeed, our God almost always chooses

.to work "outside the box!..."

And so, almost before you could say "Caesar Augustus,"

Jesus was sitting at Mary's knee,

listening to his mama sing

the protest songs of their people:

"The Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name....

He has cast the mighty down from their thrones

and lifted up those who were down and out!..."

Jesus grew up well-steeped

in the songs and stories of God's people ....

In fact, he made those songs and stories his own,

and they would sustain him

through many hardships and much suffering

on his journey through the wilderness of this world....

And here's an amazing thing, friends:

The love revolution

that was born in a barn

some two thousand years ago

lives on today by the power of the Holy Spirit

working through ordinary people like you and me....

God's love revolution lives on when we kneel at the manger

in awe of all that God has done for us.

God's love revolution

lives on when you and I sit at Jesus' knee,

listening to his teachings

and making them our own....

God's love revolution lives on

when we feed the hungry bodies and spirits

of neighbors who come to our Community Dinner.

It lives on when we help purchase cold weather gear

and pack gift bags for the farmworkers

who pick the crops that grace our tables;

the love revolution lives on

when the quilts and prayer shawls you've lovingly created

bring warmth and hope to children of God

who are shivering with cold and fear.

God's still-unfolding, restorative love lives on

when you and I visit a neighbor

who's sick or suffering;

when we welcome immigrants and strangers

into our homes and into our hearts,

embracing them in all their rich rainbow diversity....

And the love revolution lives on

when you and I dare to look deeply

into each others' eyes

and see ourselves reflected there,

when we recognize that we're all siblings

children of God who bear the image and likeness

of our loving Creator.

My friends, the love revolution lives on

because God's new creation isn't finished yet....

Our gracious and generous God knows

that even in our day,

you and I and so many other children of God

are still walking in the darkness

of an inhospitable land -

still living in a house divided against itself -

and still longing to see a great light....

Like God's people of old,

our hearts are also bruised and broken,

and many of us are quaking with fear

as we anticipate the future....

Across the street and around the world tonight -

from Brown University to Bondi Beach,

from Gaza to Kyiv,

from Moscow to Washington, DC,

from Bethlehem to Canby,

the children of God

cry out for help and for hope....

AND at the very same time -

at this very moment --

Christians all over the world

are gathering to defy the darkness.

On this holy night we gather

to light candles, sing songs,

offer prayers, and tell the story of God's greatest gift:

the story of God's abiding promise and presence

with us and for us in Jesus the Christ....

And so, my friends,

Let's join our voices with God's children

across all time

and around the world

as we pray:

0 God, our Creator and Redeemer,

"The hopes and fears of all the years

are met in Thee tonight..."

Crack open the door of our broken hearts

to make "room at the inn" for your Son.

May the gift of your Love

be born in us,

so that we may we bear the light of Christ

to all who walk in darkness

until that day when all your children

will turn toward each other

and see that You are in all

and all are one in your love;

through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen