Christmas Day - 12-25-08

The Church Season of Christmas,
Christmas Day,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (December 25, 2008)
One Year Series

“JUST AS THEY HAD BEEN TOLD”

Readings:

Micah 5:2-5
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:1-20

Sermon Form: Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 2nd chapter of Luke, especially verses 10 and 11.

Luke 2:1-20 (NIV)

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

We have been told of a journey by Joseph and Mary to the insignificant place Bethlehem the city of David. In the time of Jesus’ birth, this journey from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem was more than a day of travel. And on that journey a child from the infinite heavens, was being carried in the finite earthly womb of his mother. Yet He was from the timeless and infinite with no beginning, and this journey to Bethlehem was not His end. This journey was from Heaven to earth, from the infinite to the incarnate, from the comfort of His mother arms, to the pain of the cross, from His death into hell, and from His resurrection into heaven. This babe of Bethlehem was born knowing of all these events, knowing of the past and of all that was to come. But even knowing all things, and in spite of all that was, He came just the same. The prophet Micah foretold of His journey saying, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”(Micah 5:2) Indeed this child who would rule over Israel was from of old, even from ancient times, just as Micah and all the prophets had told.

And we are told that upon His birth an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds in the shadows of the darkness. These shepherds were “living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night”(v. 8) minding their own business. But the silence of that peaceful night was broken by the appearance of angels. Certainly being visited by angels in the night was startling, and not a common occurrence. And is the case in of all appearances of angels the first reaction of these Shepherds is that they were terrified. ”But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.”(Lk 10-14) And from the song of angels from the heavenly hosts, the shepherds were calmed from all their fear. And with angelic guidance these lowly shepherds journeyed from their fields to see with their own eyes what they had been told. And what they found was “Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in a manger”(Lk. 2:16) Here in total human helplessness was the very Son of God, just as they had been told.

Throughout our lives we too have been told of the account of Jesus birth. We have been told countless times about the wondrous proclamation of angels who appeared to Joseph and Mary. And from the “Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plain” who bid the Shepherds to “Come adore on bended knee Christ the Lord the newborn King.”(LSB#368) It is much more than a story of Jesus birth, much more than just history. For in Jesus’ birth, you are told of His Gospel, His Good News. Martin Luther wrote that, “the Gospel does not only teach the history concerning Christ; but it enables all who believe it to receive it as their own, which is the way the Gospel operates...Of what benefit would it be to me of Christ had been born a thousand times, and it would be daily sung into my ears in a most lovely manner, if I were never to hear that He was born [FOR ME]and was to be my very own”(Luther’s Church Postil, Vol. I, p. 149)

We are told that the tiny baby of Bethlehem is the sacred face of God, of whom “seers of old time chanted of with one accord.”(LSB384:3) He is the one from the beginning of whom Adam and Eve were told would come to crush sins evil head. We are told this child resting in the wood of animals feed box appeared to men in such a lowly state was, in fact, born of royal lineage. We are told of all the many generations from Abraham to David to Babylon to Christ, yet the Christ child was not called Joseph’s son. You have been told that the little baby of Bethlehem, “grew in wisdom and stature,”(Luke 2:52) in the house of Joseph the carpenter. You have been told that the little baby who once lay in the wooden feed box, would one day lay down His body for your sins. You have been told that He would be called Immanuel, “God with us,” and He is the one who came to be with us as that baby. He is with us as He became the man who ultimately lay down His life, so that He could, “save His people from their sins.”(v.21)

Yet we live in a world which tells us that the celebration of this day is not about that baby in Bethlehem. We are told by this world that the story of the Christ child is just that, a story and nothing more. We live in a world which does its very best to distract us with sparkling lights, politically correct prayers, newscasts spewing economic woes, and of the wrestling of the world’s rulers for political power. Even more than that, we tell ourselves that what we want and what we need is the most important story, and from this kind of thinking God has told us to repent.

Rather than being confused by our own sin and the distractions of this world, instead hear again what the Shepherds were told, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord”(Lk. 1:10-11) Do not be afraid by what you hear or what you have been told by the pundits of this world. Do not be afraid of what you are told from your doubt within. Rather, you are told, that “today in the town of David [Your] Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” And this Savior is with you this very day in Holy Communion. For He has told you, “This IS my body, this IS my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” You may treasure up and ponder all these things in your heart, but your salvation does not lie there. Rather your salvation is with the child lying in a manger. It is He who has told you that your sins are forgiven. It is He who has told you that you have been made His in your Holy Baptism.

Upon Christ’s birth, “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Because of the birth of the Christ, one day you will return to Him and you will see the eternal babe of Bethlehem. And on that day you will join in eternally glorifying and praising God for all the things that you have heard and for all that you will see, just as you have been told.

AMEN
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen
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