Do You Hear What I Hear?

On Christmas Eve we hear the same story every year. The same Scripture from Luke 2. The same carols. The same familiar sounds. And yet, we never hear Christmas quite the same way twice.In this sermon, Do You Hear What I Hear, we explore how Christmas speaks differently to us each year because we come carrying different joys, losses, hopes, and fears. Like bells that all ring but sound different because of what they are made of, the Christmas story rings into our lives in unique ways depending on what this season has been for us.Luke tells the story of Jesus’ birth through sound. The noise of empire. The quiet vulnerability of a manger. The song of angels. The hurried footsteps of shepherds. The silent pondering of Mary. Everyone hears the same birth, yet each hears it differently.The good news of Christmas is that Jesus still speaks today. He speaks in the language we most need. The language of hope, forgiveness, healing, belonging, or joy. We may not all hear the same thing, but we all hear it from the same source. The child born in Bethlehem for the love of the world.Wherever this Christmas finds you, good or bad, happy or sad, easy or hard, God meets you there. The question Christmas Eve invites us to ask is simple and holy.Do you hear what I hear?