Christmas Eve: God Loves Us


On Christmas Eve, Pastor Evan couldn’t just preach this year – he had to make things a little more…lyrical.  Here’s his “poem” for Christmas this year:

 

Refrain: (x2)

You might think God is done with us / But oh my! God is one of us!

God loves us! Everybody: God loves us!

Verse One – The Christmas Story (Luke 2:1-20)

What a crazy story / St. Luke does tell

for most of us here it’s a kinda hard sell

Emperors and governors rule the land

But the heroes of the story are our little band

Mary and Joseph / on the road together

got plenty on their minds – not just the weather

Mary bears God himself / and God’s coming tonight

But Joe, there’s no decent room anywhere in sight!

No vacancy they say / well at least not for you

a pregnant girl next door? My guests would sue!

Not a room to be had / nothing left to do

so Mary and Joseph trudged off to the zoo

Maybe it was a barn / kinda like a stable

One thing’s for sure – we know it didn’t have cable!

They lay all alone / two scared teenagers

They’re not even old enough to declare their majors!

It couldn’t be less holy / it seemed all wrong

Gabe’s promises felt like they were from a different song

Won’t you show up now, God? / She screamed in her mind

Now she was in labor and it was like God declined

To follow through on his words / it seemed so cruel

But then something happened that was just so cool

Some shepherds barged in / almost knocked down the door

Talking ’bout angels and the glory of the Lord

They had good news of great joy for all the people

To you is born a Savior – shout that from the steeple!

It all started to click / God had done God’s part

so Mary treasured their words and pondered them in her heart

God had given her this child / she held him with love

now she was ready to praise God above:

Refrain:

You might think God is done with us / But oh my! God is one of us!

God loves us! Everybody: God loves us!

Verse TwoThe People Who Walked in Darkness Have Seen a Great Light!

In the past God sent lawgivers, priests, and prophets

Moses and Jeremiah did lots of God’s projects!

Micah and Isaiah spoke God’s holy Word

teaching that the poor were God’s preferred

To love your neighbor / and all humankind

To love God with all your heart and all your mind

The people listened / sometimes they obeyed

but usually what they did left God dismayed

You know what I’m sayin / you’re catching my drift

what we do to each other makes God pretty miffed

The wars go on, the situation is dire

The refugees yearn for freedom and we make the walls higher

The poor cry out for what God says is theirs

But we’re more worried about our own affairs

Yeah we gotta be honest / we gotta keep it real

That’s why confessing our sins is such a big deal!

But what comes next is what you ought to remember

God forgives ALL your sins not just those from December!

How would we know this love, God wondered?

We wouldn’t get it if only from on high God thundered

No, God needed to get closer / no one else could God send

God wanted to show us we could all call him friend

Christ came down to feed the hungry, heal the sick, raise the dead

Pretty impressive for a baby who doesn’t even have a bed!

There’s no stairway to heaven / it’s not up to God you ascend

No, God came down to find you and attend

to all your hurts, your doubts, and confusion

to free you from all the devil’s delusion

You are who God says you are: his beloved child.

Baptized into Christ, you and God reconciled!

This wasn’t free for God – no, this good news caused him loss

Because when Christ committed to the cradle, he committed to the cross

The law tells you “do this” and you’ll never be done

Christ came down to say you’re my daughter, you’re my son!

No matter how deep the darkness you feel

No matter if death for you is all too real

It’s this Christmas gospel that sets you free

Now God’s gift is all you will do and be

Out of love for Jesus we will walk his Way

and share his love to at least one person each day

Not because we have to / but because we get to

God’s not ordering from on high, he’s walking with us it’s so true

The people who walked in darkness / have seen a great light!

God’s saving us himself because God wants us saved right!

Refrain:

You might think God is done with us / But oh my! God is one of us!

God loves us! Everybody: God loves us!

Verse Three – God Really Does Love You – Go Tell It on the Mountain!

I’ll give it to you straight / I ain’t frontin’ my man

Some days I feel like I’m in the garbage can

I’m sure you can relate / you’re just glad you weren’t late

with your to-do list growing at a geometric rate!

With too many people who seem to only hate

you feel like life has got you in checkmate

There’s a reason why I get up in the morning and put on my collar

It sure ain’t because I’m makin’ top dollar!

It’s because there’s a God who really does love you

loves you enough to come close and be one of you

A God who doesn’t ask you to get right first

because then you and I would only be cursed

No he became a curse for us and we’d become the righteousness of God

All that’s left to do is come and adore him who saved the flawed

God doesn’t expect you to have miraculous powers

Jesus shows us how to live, loves us when we don’t, makes our death his, and his life ours

Those shepherds left the joint to reach every address

to tell everyone the miracle of Christmas is that God’s in this mess

we call life – yours and mine. God’s committed to humankind

things always change but you can have this peace of mind

The baby born in the Bethlehem manger

will never be a stranger

though we do face danger

Because though we hung the Bethlehem baby on a cross

On Easter morning there was no loss

The baby rose from the dead so that whomever

receives him will have life forever

One day God will be all in all

So go tell it on the mountain: God loves us all!

Refrain:

You might think God is done with us / But oh my! God is one of us!

God loves us! Everybody: God loves us! AMEN!