Christmas Eve - 12-24-10

The Church Season of Christmas,
Christmas Eve,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (December 24, 2010)
One Year Series

“Prepared”

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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 1st chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verse.

Matthew 1:18-21 (NIV)

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the Name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

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

It is the eve of the celebration of the birth of Christ into our world.  Are you ready?  Are you prepared?  Are you prepared for a journey which leads beyond the sparkling lights and sales, Santa Claus and Christmas trees, and all the gift giving, a journey to the quiet and sleepy town of Bethlehem.

Have you ever wondered what it would have felt to have been there on that blessed night so long ago? The shepherds standing in the fields, tending their flocks by day and by night. The awesome beauty and majesty of the sky, the peaceful air, and of that silent night.  And then bursting into the still silence a voice as frightening as thunder and the brilliance of the glory of the Lord. Were those shepherds ready? 

What would it have been like to hear the angels voices, proclaim “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The shepherds were not ready for what they had heard, they were certainly were not ready for what they would see.  But to be fair, are we anymore prepared for that Christ child who has come for us too?

If we believe we are prepared, then we shouldn’t we also be prepared for what we will see. When the shepherds arrived to see this glorious Child were they prepared for what they would see?  For the shepherds found Mary and Joseph who obviously were not prepared, they had no light, no fire, ad little assistance with that child.  But to be sure not just a child, the promised Child. And this Child was not wrapped in a royal purple silk but rather in rough pieces of cloth. He was not laid in an ornate, golden bed, no He was laid in a stone cold manger, a lowly feeding trough. Were the shepherds ready to understand what they saw?  Were they prepared to see that trough normally filled with hay to feed a few creatures, was now the home of God’s only Son who would feed the entire world with the bread of life?

No glory and honor and power and might just an innocent, humble, and helpless child. And is that what you want to see? Is this the Kingly glory that you desire, are you ready to see God’s face in this tiny helpless infant?

Many of the songs we hear around us focus upon those who would approach that manger.  But a precious few like those we sing tonight speak of what is most important and that is the One who is in the manger.  And truthfully we’re not prepared for Him, rather He is begotten for us and He prepares us for Him. 

Yes, that child is the King of glory, the King of the Jews, the Child who comes me to prepare us, by bearing our sin and being our Savior. For we are but a foolish lot of men, trapped and troubled by our fears and anxiety, and scared to admit our sins.  Yet, Jesus Christ is the Child who still dares to become incarnate in our midst. And not only in that manger so long ago, but He still comes to us this very day. This is the true miracle of Christ, it is the incarnation, that our Lord comes to us, and He still comes in ways that seem so very humble, so very weak, and even lowly.

For the Christ Child comes into our midst. He comes in the preaching and proclamation of His Holy Word. For where His Word is—there also is His Spirit. And He comes to us in Holy Absolution—forgiving our sins and then remembering them no more. He comes among us in simple water joined together with His Holy Word, a baptism which brings to us the free gift of faith.

And He also comes to us this day in perhaps the most humble and lowly way of all: in simple bread and wine which Jesus Himself proclaims IS His body and IS His blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins.  Here again Christ prepares, renews, and refreshes us for eternal life and salvation. 

Our King comes to us, in the way He promised, ways in which the world may never understand. We not only see Him as a few shepherds did that very first Christmas, but we see our Savior this day when we too touch and handle things unseen.  Tonight the child prepares us to return to our own homes glorifying and praising God to all whom we meet, because of the forgiveness which He has won for us.

Soon, all too soon, the glitter and glamor of Christmas will be over. The decorations will be taken down, and life will go back to some form of normal. What then?  What do we prepare for next? Maybe we don’t want to go back to our everyday lives—to all the pain and suffering, the boredom and monotony, maybe the carols and lights have been some kind of salve to prepare for yet another day.  But, the Lord in the form of that Christ Child prepares you for healing beyond any wounds which world or our sinful hearts may inflict.  For that Christ child is also the Christ man.  And Jesus Christ’s wounds will not only redress the pain of this world and your sins.  Jesus will cause your sins to be forgiven and forgotten, and that no other man, no other child on this earth can ever do what He has already done.  Only Christ the God-man, only Jesus the Christ child, only Jesus the babe of Bethlehem prepares you for eternal life.  Amen. 

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