Good News on the Move

Because tonight, the Good News doesn’t stay in Bethlehem

It moves through us.

Christmas Eve,

12.24.2025

[Texts]

Isaiah 9:2-7 Light shines: a child is born for us

Psalm 96 Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad. (Ps. 96:11)

Titus 2:11-14 The grace of God has appeared

Luke 2:1-14 [15-20] God with us

God’s beloved,

May the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love of God be with you.

Just three days ago, as we ended the Advent season, we named the Good News that carries us through every season.

And that Good News is the same tonight as it was last Sunday:

Jesus was not born because humanity finally got it right.

Jesus was born because God refused to give up.

And tonight, as we gather again around the story of Jesus’ birth, we declare that this truth has not changed. Year after year, as we return to Bethlehem, the message stays steady and sure: God never gives up on making Good News known through ordinary people, in ordinary places, and so we do not give up either.

We know whom God chose to make this Good News known: angels in the heavens, shepherds in the fields. But why shepherds?

Shepherds weren’t random bystanders. They were people who knew their towns by heart. They cared for the community’s sheep every single day, picking them up in the morning, guiding them through the day, and bringing them safely home at night. Some sheep stayed with them even longer, trusted to their steady, watchful care.

Because of this trust, shepherds lived in a steady relationship with the families they served. Their lives were woven into the rhythms of the town.  And when shepherds heard something, they passed it on. That’s how stories traveled then, not by making grand announcements via a website promotion funded by resources, but through the quiet, reliable network of people who were known, trusted, and rooted in their community.

Imagine their excitement that night—maybe not so different from the joy rising among us this evening.

So when God chose shepherds to receive the first proclamation of Christ’s birth, it wasn’t an accident. It was a sign. A sign that the Good News begins with those who live close to the ground, close to the people, close to the everyday work of tending life. This is how God makes Good News known—Good News is alive, moving, and ready to take root in our lives.

And yes, from the moment we greet each other with “Merry Christmas,” we join God's movement.  

Breaking the word Christmas into Christ + mas may only make sense inside the Church, but it’s worth naming year after year.

Christ means Messiah:

God’s anointed for God’s people, the center of what we celebrate.

Mass comes from the ancient tradition of the Holy Meal of love and gratitude:

The place where Christ’s presence is received, shared, and then sent into the world.

So when we speak of Christ‑Mas, we’re naming both the One who comes to us and the worship that sends us out. We’re naming the gift-Jesus and the community-the body of Christ that receives it.  

And when we place this Good News into our lives, and when we let it shape our days and our relationships, we become like the shepherds. We become carriers of Good News for those whose lives are also waiting. We become people through whom God’s Good News quietly travels into the world God loves.

How does this Good News become known through us—individually and together? 

The shepherds give us a clue.

Good News moves best through relationships where trust has grown over time. 

It also moves beautifully in relationships just beginning, ready to deepen. 

And sometimes, it moves most powerfully in relationships that feel strained or broken where shared purpose and shared values are reclaimed, and a new way forward becomes possible.

This is how God has always worked—through people who said “yes,” like Mary and Joseph, and through countless “yeses” across two thousand years. And it continues through yours and mine.

Yes, Good News doesn’t sit still. Good News moves through every story we hear tonight.  

Tonight’s scriptures echo the three movements of God’s Good News:

God is for us,

God is with us, and

God is within us,

a way of being that is relational, trustful, merciful, and full of love.

• Isaiah’s promise of light shows God is for us—the grace that appears and lifts burdens.

• Luke’s story of the manger reveals God is with us—a Savior was born.

• And Titus reminds us that God is within us—the Spirit forming us into a people who live out the Good News.

Nowadays, we tend to think that making something known requires speed, efficiency, clarity, and transparency. But God’s way is different. God’s Good News comes through relationship, trust, mercy, and love. It is always in action and on the move.  

Through this relational movement, God’s Good News reaches the emptiness nothing else can touch. God’s presence reshapes us from within and remains with us as we trust.

This Good News—Emmanuel—is always with us and always at work.

God is always moving toward us.

And this movement is what enriches the human heart, mind, and soul.

This is the greatest Good News of all.

This is what fills the worship space on Christmas Eve.

Let us pray.

Beloved of God,

as we leave this holy night, remember this simple truth to share:

God is for God’s people.

God is with God’s people.

God is within God’s people.

This is the Good News the shepherds carried.

This is the Good News we carry now.

Good News is still on the move—now through each of us.

We thank you, O God, for your unwavering perseverance,

allowing tomorrow to be a new day,

bringing new life among us.

May Christ's hope, the Light of the world, guide our path.

May Christ's peace, the Way we follow, stabilize our journey.

May Christ's joy, the Truth that liberates, surprise us as we proceed.

May Christ's love, the Life that sustains us, provide comfort and healing in our interactions.

For Emmanuel goes with us.

Amen.