Luke 2:10-11
EXORDIUM:
Christ is born! Let us glorify him!
Today is the festival of the Nativity of Our Lord. It recalls the day in Bethlehem, so many centuries ago, when God’s Son entered into this world, and set out on his life’s journey as humanity’s Savior.
God’s Son had, of course, been a part of the human race since his conception. He was already the divine-human Lord of heaven and earth when he was still in the womb of his mother Mary, growing and developing according to the human nature that he had taken from her.
But now, as he is born, he begins to be accessible to those whom he came to save. He was accessible to the shepherds, who came to his manger throne to adore him. He was accessible to the wise men, who would soon be on their way to worship him.
As he grew to adulthood, and began his public ministry, he became accessible to the people of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem, where he preached and taught. And as a living Savior, whose death for human sin was followed by a glorious resurrection from the grave, Jesus is accessible to us now as well.
The most common popular term for this festival in the English language, is “Christmas”: that is, the mass of Christ. It is indeed a day when it is especially appropriate for the church to celebrate the presence of the Lord among us – and the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation that he bestows upon us – in a mass, or a divine service.
As we gather around his Word and Sacrament, Jesus speaks to us in his gospel and in his absolution. Jesus blesses us in both soul and body – nourishing our faith and our own resurrection hope – by sacramentally bestowing upon us his true body and blood.
Jesus, the newborn king and the reigning king, is indeed accessible to us in these wonderful ways today. And Jesus is accessible to all who would hear his voice, heed his words, and believe his promises.
And so, as we today joyfully celebrate his birth, and his continuing presence among us, we sing the festival hymn, number 142, “Rejoice, Rejoice, This Happy Morn.”
SERMON:
As recorded in Chapter 2 of St. Luke’s Gospel, the angel announced to the shepherds near Bethlehem:
“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
During the Christmas season, nativity scenes are often put on display in homes, in churches, and also outdoors and in public spaces. Figurines or statues of the animals and people who were at the stable on the night of Jesus’ birth are set up in these displays.
A donkey or two, a cow or two, and a sheep or two, are always included. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds are also always represented. Quite often, the wise men from the east, who brought gifts to the Christchild, are also portrayed in figurines or statues in these Christmas creches.
Those who are familiar with the chronology of the Biblical events surrounding the birth and childhood of Jesus know, however, that the wise men were not there on the night when Jesus was born. Probably about two years passed between the birth of Christ, and the visit of the wise men.
So, in spite of the sentimental familiarity that is attached to statues and figurines of the wise men being included in a nativity scene, the wise men were not really there on that blessed night. For the sake of historical accuracy, the wise men should not actually be in a nativity scene.
In this sense, they are not a part of the Christmas story. But in another sense, they are.
When the wise men did finally come to kneel before the Son of God, they came from a distant land – from a non-Jewish land. They were gentiles.
But they came to Bethlehem to worship the divine child who had been born to be a king for all nations, and to be the Savior for all people. That’s what the angel said to the shepherds, when he appeared to them on the night of Jesus’ birth.
The good news of Jesus’ birth is good news for everyone – Jew and gentile alike. The wise men, who were drawn by the star to come, eventually, to worship their Savior, were therefore already included, in this way, in the Christmas story.
They were not physically there yet. But they were already there in the mind and heart of God.
Their names were written between the lines of the message that the angel was sent from heaven to proclaim. “All people” included them.
And, “all people” includes you as well! A figurine or statue representing you has never been included in any nativity display. As a matter of history, you were not in Bethlehem on the first Christmas, at the stable where Mary laid her baby in a manger.
But by means of the proclamation of the angel, you, too, are a part of the Christmas story. The Christmas story is, of course, not about you. It is about Jesus. But it is about Jesus for you.
Jesus came to be the Savior for all people – because all people, trapped in the darkness and corruption of a universally-inherited spiritual death, needed a Savior. And God loved those who needed a Savior so much as to send them the Savior they needed.
Jesus came to be your Savior – because you need a Savior, and because God loved you so much as to send you the Savior you need.
This is why the birth of Christ is “good tidings” for “all people.” This is why the birth of Christ is good tidings for you.
Jesus came to redeem us all, and to buy us back from the power and guilt of sin, with the price of his own blood. He came to redeem you, and to claim you as his own.
He came to restore you to fellowship with God, through the forgiveness of your sins. By faith in the righteous and holy Babe of Bethlehem, you are now justified and counted as righteous before God.
“For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” St. Paul tells us.
All of us, in ourselves, do fall short of the glory of God. But the glory of God is still proclaimed by the angels in this Christmas celebration, because Jesus, and all the promises connected with Jesus, do not fall short of that glory.
On the night of Christ’s birth, the world became a different kind of place than it had been. And it will never be the same again.
It is now a world where God’s real but hidden glory is present in the person and work of his Son; and in the Word and Sacraments that his Son has entrusted perpetually to his church. It is now a world where God’s mercy is always available to everyone, through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If anyone with a troubled conscience ever asks: “Is there a Savior for me, who can set my heart and mind at peace?” – the answer of the angel in the Christmas story is always “Yes!”
If anyone, in fear and doubt, ever asks: “Is there a Savior for me, who can assure me that God knows about me, and cares about me?” – the answer of the angel in the Christmas story is always “Yes!”
If your conscience is telling you that you need the Lord’s mercy; and if you know that your sins have created a barrier between you and God that needs to be broken down, then be of good cheer! God, in his infinite compassion, was thinking about you, when he sent his Son to this earth.
If you sense today that you are distant from God, and alienated from him; then rejoice in the good news that is proclaimed to you! You have been redeemed by Christ.
The Savior who was born in Bethlehem, was born to live for you, and to die for you; to win you back to God, and to restore your fellowship with God through the forgiveness of your sins.
Your sins are forgiven in Christ. You are clean, and God is at peace with you.
In particular – for those of you who are communicants – the divine Savior who came for the reconciliation of the world with God, and who entered into the world in the stable of Bethlehem, is the same Savior who comes today for your personal reconciliation with God, and who mystically enters into you, in his Holy Supper.
He who came as a Savior on that holy night, and whose coming was announced by a heavenly messenger, still comes today as a Savior. And the earthly messengers whom God has called to be his ministers here and now, likewise announce his coming, here and now:
“This is the true body of Christ, given for you.” “This is the true blood of Christ, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
And more broadly speaking, when the angel spoke to the shepherds of the good news that would go forth to “all people,” all of you were included. “All people” includes you: whoever you are, whatever you have done, and wherever you are in your relationship with God right now.
In the Christmas story, God gives you a new chance for a new beginning. God offers you a new life, and a new hope.
You were not physically there 2,000 years ago. But you were there in God’s mind, and in God’s heart. In this sense, therefore, You were in the Christmas story. And the Christmas story, today, is in you.
“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Christ is born! Let us glorify him! Amen.