Why We Celebrate Communion on Christmas Eve

It is a juxtaposition to couple Communion with a Christmas Eve service―here we are, just welcoming the baby, and we immediately jump to the end of the story―the end of his life. That hardly seems fair, and, sadly, it can dampen the rejoicing of the angels even before the last echoes of their song fade.

Yet, it is for this table that this child is born to us.

Christ was born to save, sings the carol (“Good Christian Friends, Rejoice”); and this table is the remembrance of the means by which we are saved―Jesus emptied himself so we might be full.

Remember that. Our joy is real, authentic, and actual because of the outcome of this child’s life. He so embodied love―compassion for every person breathing and a generosity that seeks nothing but someone else’s completion―that we can gather here on this night in this world as it is without a hint of irony and celebrate fully, completely, maybe even a little bit foolishly. We can do so because this child―this wondrous child―is here among us, fulfilling his purpose in being.

This child does something miraculous. He reconnects every divided soul to every other soul. He overwhelms any and all animosity―my grandfather was there on that World War I Christmas Eve when the soldiers set aside their weapons on both sides and sang carols together in a moment of absolute peace. He silences the rancor of our time, allowing families to gather together even with wild Uncle Louie and crazy Aunt Harriet at the same table. He brings holiness into the exchange of presents as we truly try to express ourselves to those whom we love in real and actual terms. He does all of this because he gives himself to us at this table.

That is the greatest gift of all―a love that redeems, a love that makes a crazy world sensible, and a love that unites us in wonder. 

So, as we gather at this table, imagine it in a stable beside a manger holding a miracle child. It is his table. He wants nothing more than to share it with us. He wants nothing less than to see every one of us enjoying being with one another as we share the feast spread before us.

 This is good news of great joy!