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Luke 2:1-2 - Christmas Eve (2005)
St. Mark Lutheran Church, Conroe, TX
Merry Christmas! In the name of Jesus. Amen. The wait is over. The preparation done. Everything is ready. And if it's not ready, there isn't any time to get it ready. He is here. Finally.
He's here! Jesus is finally here. He has come. That's Christmas! Christmas is the celebration of our Lord's birth, His taking on our flesh to save us. Finally the long preparation of Advent has come to an end and the celebration of our Savior's birth is here.
He is here and so no more let sorrows grow. God has come. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Unto you... that's for you. That's why He is born. He is born to save you and me from the threatening peril of our sins. God has come.
And God hasn't just come, but He has come bearing salvation. He has come one of us, with us, and for us.
God is now so one of us – so like you – that He has hands like you have. Fingers too! Five on this hand and five on that one. He has feet like you too. Five toes on each one!
God has a tummy, Mary's filling it. God has a little mouth. God has a little tongue. God is going goo goo and drooling.
No palace for God – that's for the big wigs like Caesar Augustus and Quirinius. No. God is so one of you, there's no room for Him in important places. He's out of place. Only a manger for Him, not even room for Him in the inn.
God gets cold. He is wrapped in swaddling clothes. Don't want God to catch a sniffle!
God – immortal, invisible, and eternal, has taken on your flesh. What you do, He does. What you experience, He experienced in your place.
And crying He makes. Why not? You cry, He cries too. God weeps. He weeps in the arms of the Virgin. How else is He gonna get mom's attention now that He has taken on our flesh. Mom can't understand all that cooing, so God needs to weep a bit to tell her He's hungry.
He's hungry. God eats like you eat. He thirsts as you thirst. Would He like pepperments or cookies and eggnog? He must! You do! But not tonight, tonight it's just milk for Him. God's stomach can't handle anything harsher.
He smiles as you smile, He laughs as you laugh. He's just like you in every way.
Mary holds God tightly. Don't want to drop Him. So, she guards her newborn Son as you guard your little ones. Later, He will get ouies and ouches. She will kiss them and make them better. Kiss God and make Him better.
But, the day will come when she cannot protect Him anymore for God is born to hurt in your place. As as you hurt, He will hurt. He will suffer as you suffer.
That little forehead Mary kisses today and covers with swaddling clothes, one day will wear a crown of thorns. We will punch and beat Him. On Good Friday, we will take those little hands and feetsies of His and hammer nails through them and lift Him up on the Cross where He will die for Mary, Joseph, Augustus Caesar, Quirinus, and for you and me. On that day, He will thirst. God will thirst before He cries out and gives up His Spirit. Then, after He dies, after God has died in that side that the Blessed Virgin protected, we will thrust a spear.
For our sins the Babe of Bethlehem will be slain. For our sins, Mary's boy will be beaten and bruised. For our salvation, He will die.
Nails, spear shall pierce him through, The cross he borne for me, for you; Hail, hail the word made flesh, The babe, the son of Mary! (LW 61)
But, what good does it do that God and sinners are reconciled if the angels don't get the message out! Even more glorious is that it's not to Quirinus or Augustus Caesar that the Lord sends His angels, but to the lowliest of the low, to the shepherds watching their fields by night. To them goes the message:
“For unto you is born this day in the city of King David a Savior. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
It's not Christmas unless the gift is delivered. His being one of us doesn't do us any good unless He is for us, unless He is delivered. So, the shepherds find Him, exactly where the angels pointed them!
This holy night, He comes to you in His Word. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shine. He comes to you where you are tonight and calls you out again of the darkness of your sins, your sadness, despair, your pain, your sin, and even your death.
Turn from your sins. Turn from your evil deeds. It is the grace and mercy of God that brings salvation. He has appeared to all men, to some shepherds, and even to you and me. Learn to deny ungodliness and worldy lusts. Live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age.
And come tomorrow when the Babe of Bethlehem delivers Himself to you in His Body and Blood. That's Christmas – the Lord Supper celebration of His Birth. Tomorrow, He gives you His body to eat and His blood to drink for the remissions of all your sins.
Dr. Luther said that Jesus is closer to you in the His Supper than He ever was to Mary, who held Him in her arms. He's so much for us, so close to us, that He delivers all of Himself to us in His Sacrament tomorrow morning.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth! The Lord has made known His salvation. His righteousness is revealed in the sight of the nations!
There was nothing silent about that first Christmas night when the heavens burst forth in song!
Joy to the World! What was announced to shepherds has burst forth in song to the ends of the earth! The Lord, our Savior, has come! Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men with whom He is pleased.
God has come. He's one of us now – hands, feet, toes, and all. He is like you in every way now. Tonight, we celebrate that He came in the arms of the Virgin. He has come headed for the Cross. He has come to us in His Word. Tomorrow, He comes to you on the altar.
Let the heights of heaven adore him; Angel hosts, his praises sing; Powers, dominions, bow before him And extol our God and King; Let no tongue on earth be silent, Every voice in concert ring Evermore and evermore. (LW 36, 4).
Merry Christmas! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
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