Christmas
Eve - 2017
In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Newborn King +
In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Newborn King +
So
many stories, so many songs, all driving together towards this one
simple and beautiful truth; when mankind was at its worst and in
trouble, God came down to help. God comes, and He comes to help, to
rescue, to save. When we stupid humans get messed up with sin, when
the world goes sideways, when everything is messed up – God Himself
comes down to save us.
He
didn't have to, or so we think. Adam and Eve hid in the bushes
because they were sure, absolutely sure, that God was not coming for
them in love, but rather that He was coming to smite, to punish, to
destroy. That it would be easier to just scrap the whole thing and
just start over – too bad for Adam and Eve, too bad for you and me.
That's the way our sinful minds tend to work – add up the costs,
subtract the current value – and sorry, total the car, cut your
losses, it's just cheaper to tear this all down and build something
different from scratch. But that's not the way God thinks, that's
not who God is. He is the creator, the very Word by which Adam and
Eve were made – and when the LORD comes down and sees Adam and Eve
pathetically hiding in the bushes, He actually has pity upon them.
And the LORD makes them a promise, even as they shiver in terror. He
looks at the old serpent and says, “I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her
offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
You don't get to keep them, Satan. The day is going come when I
myself will be born, and I will crush you Satan – that is a
promise.
And
the LORD held to His promise. That's what the entire Old Testament
is – God continuing to repeat His promise to His people, even as
they run around like tom fools most of the time. God continuing to
pour out love even on lousy sinners who just make things worse –
but fear not! Your son will live, Abraham, because I myself will be
the sacrifice! Fear not the darkness, for I am the light of the
world, and I come to free you from sin! Fear not, for even though
the kingdom of Israel has dried up, I myself will come to be the King
of Kings, and you shall dwell in my house forever, and the old
serpent will bother you no more! Through generation after generation
– the promise still was proclaimed – and still it was ignored,
disdained, brushed aside by so many. So few were grateful, so few
were thankful. Most actively fought against it. And again, if the
sinful world could have seen, they would have guessed that this
indifference would have just caused God to call the whole thing off!
Not going to thank me, well, no more presents for you next time!
Harrumph! But that's not who the LORD is – God is love,
persistent, full, strong, burning love – love that has to show real
and true love, love that has to keep His promises because there is no
way on earth that He would break His promise to you.
So
finally, when the time was right, the LORD sent one of His messengers
to a young woman named Mary. And Mary was told, much to her surprise
and awe that she would be the mother of the Messiah. That even
though no man had yet to touch her, God Himself would be born of her
womb. It will be clear, Mary, that this is not just mankind fixing
itself, but no, this is God Himself becoming man, the LORD coming
down to be with us, to step into the breech against sin for us, to
fight for us, to love for us, to obey for us, to die for us, and to
rise for us. God with us – Immanuel. The LORD saves – Jesus.
That is what this child – true God and true Man - would be.
And
you know how the story plays out. We sing beautiful songs about it,
pretty Christmas cards have it illustrated, generations of kids
acting as Joseph and Mary and Shepherds and Angels. Joy to the
world! Joy and Hope and Peace! Yet do we pause to ponder how
astonishing that Joy is, that Hope is, that Peace is – or do we
take it for granted? “...because there was no
place for them in the inn.”
Long, weary travels with no good place to rest – that's not
typical of joy. “There were shepherds out in
the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”
Stuck at the bottom of the social rung, shuffled off to third shift
and left there to stay – that's not typical of hope. And telling
King Herod that another King has been born – that's not the most
peaceful sort of thing either. Confusion and weariness and isolation
and hardship – that's what's going on in all these texts – and
yet, when we hear them, when we sing them – Joy and Hope and Peace.
Not
just because it's a cute story. It's really not. Go ask a farmer
how “cute” their barn is right now. Go ask a mom how “cute”
child-birth is. Or dealing with a wicked king or oppressive taxes.
No, everything that is swirling around in this old familiar story is
really sort of lousy – and yet, we are right to look at this story
and see joy and peace and hope. Because God has fulfilled His Word
and come down to rescue us.
When
the Lord sent that angel to Mary, He was thinking of you. He was.
Because no matter how messed up or strange or frighting or dull and
tiresome things would get here in this world because of sin and
sinners, Jesus was determined to save you. To do everything required
to win salvation for you, to give this salvation to you. And this
will be what we hear the next several months – how this child grew
for you. How He was baptized for you, so that your baptism would
join you to Him. How He fought off disease and demons for you. How
He instituted the Lord's Supper to give Himself to you over and over.
How He died for you, how He rose for you. All of this for you,
seeing and knowing you, you right here, sitting on a pew here in
Herscher, Illinois. The first Christmas happened because Christ
Jesus saw you – and yes, saw you even with all your flaws and
warts, even the ones you hide from everyone else, even the ones that
are hidden from you – the first Christmas happened because Christ
Jesus looked upon you with love and was determined to do everything
required to win you salvation, to win you eternal life, to see that
you would be by His side forever.
And
that is why we see this story as joy. It's joy that conquers over
the strife and hardship of this world. That is why we see this story
as Hope – it is a Hope that is solid and sure because God has said
so, and He Himself gets things done. That is why we see this story
as peace – a peace that surpasses all human understanding, that
goes beyond anything that sinful man could expect. Christ Jesus your
Lord comes down from heaven to win you salvation. And we see it
again for the first time this Christmas Eve, God in man made
manifest, the wonder of the ages that causes angelic armies to sheath
their burning swords and instead sing hymns of praise. Behold, my
brothers and sisters in Christ – you Lord comes to save you, as He
had promised He would. A joyous and blessed Christmas to you all!
In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Newborn King +
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