Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Rev. Bart Morrison December 24th, 2025
Christmas Eve
Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room
Text: Verses from the Hymn Joy to the World
Introduction: Joy as a Command
Joy to the World is often treated as a cheerful celebration. But it is not merely descriptive. It is imperative. The hymn does not say, “Joy has arrived, if you feel like it.” It declares: “Joy to the world!”
This is not emotional suggestion. It is theological proclamation. Joy, in this hymn, is not a mood. It is the rightful response of creation to the arrival of its King. Christmas joy is not fragile sentiment. It is defiant hope grounded in fact: The Lord is come.
I. “The Lord Is Come” is Kingship, Not Comfort
Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King.
Notice what the hymn announces first. Not a baby. Not a feeling. Not a season. A King.
The Incarnation is not God stepping back from authority. It is God claiming His throne—not by force, but by humility; not through conquest, but through self giving love.
The earth is commanded to receive Him.
Which means He comes whether we welcome Him or not. But joy comes only when we receive Him as He is—not as a comforting accessory, but as Lord.
Christmas joy is inseparable from repentance, because to receive a King is to surrender rival claims.
II. “Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room”: The Inner Work of Christmas
Let every heart prepare Him room, And heaven and nature sing.
The hymn turns immediately inward. Before it addresses the nations, before it addresses creation, it addresses the heart.
The obstacle to joy is not God’s absence—it is our crowded interior lives. There is room for distraction.
• Room for resentment.
• Room for anxiety.
• Room for nostalgia.
But is there room for Christ? Preparation is not passive. It is deliberate. Advent trains us for this moment—to clear space through prayer, confession, and obedience. Joy is born where Christ is welcomed, not merely admired.
III. “No More Let Sins and Sorrows Grow”: The Reach of Redemption
No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found.
This is one of the most powerful theological stanzas in all hymnody. Christmas is not an escape from the world’s pain. It is God’s invasion of it. The curse that began in Eden—sin, sorrow, decay, alienation—does not merely get forgiven. It gets undone.
“Far as the curse is found” means there is no corner of human life where Christ refuses to reign. Personal sin. Social injustice. Broken institutions. Diseased bodies. Weary souls. Joy is not denial of these realities. It is the declaration that they are not ultimate.
IV. “He Rules the World with Truth and Grace”: The Shape of Christ’s Kingdom
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.
This stanza corrects our misunderstandings of power. Christ rules—but not as tyrants rule. He rules with truth—not propaganda, not illusion, not flattery. He rules with grace—not coercion, not fear, not domination.
And the nations are called not merely to submit, but to prove—to demonstrate— the righteousness and love of His reign. The Church does not advance the kingdom by force. It bears witness by faithfulness.
Where Christ reigns, truth is spoken, grace is practiced, and joy takes visible form.
V. Heaven and Nature Sing: Creation’s Chorus
Throughout the hymn, one phrase keeps returning: “Heaven and nature sing.”
Why? Because the Incarnation is not only about saving souls. It is about restoring creation.
• The angels sing.
• The earth responds.
• Nature rejoices.
Christmas reminds us that the world is not disposable. It is beloved. Joy erupts when creation recognizes its Creator—not as distant architect, but as present Redeemer.
Dearly beloved in Christ,
As we rejoice in the Nativity of our Lord, the Church now calls us to receive—not merely admire—our King. Therefore, I invite you to:
1. Receive Christ as King—renouncing every rival loyalty, and submitting your life anew to His lordship.
2. Prepare Him room—through prayer, confession, and the faithful keeping of the Church’s rule of life.
3. Live as people of joy—not shallow cheer, but resilient hope, grounded in truth and sustained by grace.
4. Bear witness to His reign—in your homes, your vocations, and your communities, showing forth the wonders of His love.
And now, having received the King of glory, let us go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit, that heaven and nature may yet sing, and that every heart may prepare Him room.
