The Light in the Darkness

Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas based on Luke 2:22-40

Dear believers with hope: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Simeon lived in dark days. The land of Israel was occupied by Roman armies. The ruler at the time, Herod the Great, was a tyrant. He is the same Herod that ordered the Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem. The church had become corrupted by greed and power-hungry leaders. Teaching had wandered from Scripture as the Pharisees threw away the Ten Commandments and made up their own laws for people to follow. God had not sent a prophet for four hundred years, and from all appearances, God had abandoned His people because they had turned away from Him.

Appearances can be deceiving, because God had not abandoned His people. There was a period of silence, but then an angel had appeared to Zechariah in the temple, and Zechariah had prophesied in the temple about his son John, and about the visitation of God to redeem His people. Angels appeared to shepherds, announcing the birth of the Saviour, and Simeon had been told that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

In the midst of darkness, there was light. There was hope. God is faithful to His people even when they are faithless. Christ is born! Let heaven and earth rejoice!

Simeon rejoiced. The world and the church were in a terrible state, but Simeon rejoiced because the Saviour was born. Simeon prophesied of the fall of many, the opposition to the Christ, and a sword piercing the soul of Mary, yet he rejoiced because Jesus was born to save us from falling, save us from opposition, and save us from sorrow and sin.

Appearances can be deceiving, because all Simeon saw was an infant in His poor mother’s arms. But he believed God’s promise that this infant is the Saviour of the world. He believed and says that he is now ready to die in peace.

Anna also lived in those dark days. In addition to the sadness of the state of the world and the church, she had sadness in her own life, too. She was only married to her husband for seven years when he died. At eighty-four, she had lived many years as a widow. She too gives thanks to God upon seeing the infant Jesus at the temple. In her excitement, she tells others at the temple who this baby is, this long-awaited Saviour. She does not say it, but she too was ready to die in peace, as Simeon’s song says.

There is a reason we sing Simeon’s words right after receiving the body and blood of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar. We too can depart in peace since God has fulfilled His Word. Our eyes see the salvation of God that He has prepared before the face of all people.

Appearances here too can be deceiving, as all we see is bread and wine. But believing God’s Word and His promise that with the bread and wine we receive the true body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, we too can be ready to die in peace.

We live in dark days. The world and the church are in a terrible state.

In the midst of darkness, however, there is light. There is hope. God is faithful to His people even when they are faithless. Christ was born to die and save us from our sin. He gives us forgiveness with His body and blood so we are ready to die; we are ready to leave this vale of tears to the eternal joys of Paradise because Christ has opened the kingdom of heaven for us.

Simeon’s prophecy is part joyful, part sorrowful. There is joy because God has fulfilled His promise to send a Saviour as foretold by the prophets for thousands of years. Christ did not come just for the people of Israel, but He is a light for revelation to the Gentiles. He came for the whole world, to save us all. Christ came to reconcile man with God, and also to reconcile man with man. All war and division will cease.

There is also sorrow. Simeon says to Mary, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Here is revealed that what is good for us is terrible for this infant. He will be opposed and spoken against. He will cause division. He will suffer and die, which will also bring suffering to His mother and His followers.

But the sorrow and horror of Christ’s suffering and death is also His glorification. In His self-sacrifice He shows us the love of God for us, fallen mankind. Jesus’ death is how we know God’s love for us. We don’t have to wonder if God has abandoned us because of our sin. We don’t have to fear even in dark times. The world and the church may be in dark times, but God is faithful to His people even when they are faithless. He does not abandon us because of our sin. Instead, He forgives our sin.

He forgives our sin, so we are ready to depart in peace. Then, we are bold and eager for the end, as Simeon was. Christ’s sorrow has brought us joy, both now and in eternity, so we pray with Simeon, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace.” Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The Word is Life

Sermon for Christmas Day based on John 1:1-14

Dear people in the light of Christ: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our Gospel lesson for Christmas Day is the most important of the Christmas accounts for knowing who Jesus is. It most clearly teaches that Jesus is not just man, but that He is divine; that He is God.

First, we see this because He is the Word. John points us back to the beginning as recorded by Moses in Genesis, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” John writes, “In the beginning was the Word.”

For each day of creation, God created with His Word. The first day, God said, “Let there be light” and there was light. This John corroborates by writing, “All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.”

If everything that was created by God was created through Christ, who is the Word, then that means that Christ is not created. Christ must precede everything that was created. Christ therefore is eternal without beginning.

Nothing exists apart from God and what God has created. If Christ is not created, He is therefore God.

Then John tells us, “And the Word was with God.” This was in the beginning, before creation. There was nothing outside of God, so of course the Word was with God. Again, this is the same that Moses writes. When he writes, “God said, ‘Let there be light’” it shows that whenever God speaks, the Word must be with Him. The Word was with God, a separate person, but also God. Therefore John continues, in order to be as explicit and clear as possible, “And the Word was God.” There is no doubt therefore that Jesus is very God of very God as we confess in the Nicene Creed.

Second, our Christmas Gospel tells us concerning the Word, “In Him was life.” Of course, you cannot create life unless you are the source of life. Apart from the Word, nothing is alive. All things that are alive are alive through the Word.

This is also true of eternal life. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) There is no resurrection without the Word. There is no eternal life without the Word. Only the Word made flesh can give eternal life because only He died to earn you eternal life, and only He conquered death by rising from the dead Himself. Only the Word made flesh can give eternal life because He is the source, the cause, the fountain of life.

Next, our Christmas Gospel tells us concerning the Word, “The life was the light of men.” If the Word is the light of men, without Him, we are in darkness. This is why the prophet Isaiah writes concerning the birth of Christ, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” (Is. 9:2)

Without Christ, man is in complete spiritual darkness. He may imagine that he is pleasing God in his life. He may think that his ways are right. He may think that he clings to what is life, but because he is in darkness, he really clings to death.

All who trust in Christ for salvation, however, are in the light and have life. Even though our body will die, our soul will live forever and never die. This is what Jesus promises when He says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26) “Though he die, yet shall he live” sounds like a contradiction if you don’t know what He means. It is no contradiction. Whoever believes in Christ has eternal life even when his body dies. The body is buried and awaits the day of resurrection, but the soul returns to its maker in Paradise, and is alive.

Christ died as a man and His body was buried. Yet His spirit lived on because He is Life. Life could not and cannot die. Consequently, death was overcome and was swallowed up by life, so much so that His body soon again became alive.

This same Life is the light of men. He who recognizes and believes in such a life in Christ, indeed passes through death, yet never dies. Christ, who is our Life protects him, so that death cannot harm him. Although the body must die and decay, the soul will not feel this death because believers are in the light of Christ, who is Life. On the day of resurrection his body will be raised imperishable and reunited with the soul.

He who does not believe this, remains in darkness and death. Such a soul will taste and feel death, and will die eternally. On the day of resurrection, his body will be raised from the grave and both body and soul will suffer eternally for rejecting Christ who is the Life.

Christ is your life. The soul of all who believe will never taste death because Jesus tasted death for you. The eternal Word who created you, came to earth to save you. God became man to deliver man. He is your light. He is your life.

The darkness of this world cannot overcome the light of Christ. Death cannot overcome Christ, who is the Life. The Word who created you will protect your soul from death and raise your body on the Last Day. He is God, so you know that He keeps His promises and can do what He says He will do. He is eternal, and in Him, you too will live forever.

May these blessed and comforting words of the Gospel strengthen you at this Christmas time. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Him, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Him shall never die. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Celebrating Christmas

Sermon for Christmas Eve based on Luke 2:1-20

Dear people who celebrate Christmas: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The devil wants us to celebrate Christmas. He wants us to get together with family and eat and drink and be merry. He wants us to put on pageants and shows, to give and receive presents, to put up all kinds of decorations, and even sing some of the popular Christmas carols.

The busier we are with celebrating Christmas in these ways, the more we will miss Christmas entirely. Christmas is not about family. Christmas is not about presents. Christmas is not about eating and drinking. Christmas is about God taking on human flesh to live and die for us because of our sin. More often than not, it seems like Christ is the least important part of Christmas. That is exactly the kind of celebrating the devil wants.

The devil wants you to celebrate Christmas so long as you are distracted from knowing who Christ is, why He came, or what fruit He produces in us.

The reason why Christ has become a less and less important part of Christmas, is that He has become a less and less important part of life in general. Christ is treated as a sort of side dish to the great feast of our lives, or He is treated like the turkey in a Christmas meal: you kind of think He should be part of the meal, but only if smothered in lots of gravy, dressing, cranberry sauce, and followed by a sip of white wine to wash it down.

Christ loses importance to those who forget the ancient curse of sin that has doomed to death the whole universe. We can see this curse all around us in sickness, death, lies, slander, gossip, discontentment, violence, natural disasters, and so on. Everything that is wrong in the world is because of us and our sin, yet in our stupidity, we are more likely to point the finger at God for everything that is wrong.

The coming of God in the flesh at Christmas was to fix everything that is wrong. Christ came to take the ancient curse of sin onto Himself. He took the sin of everyone from Adam to you and your children and grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Christ did this through His suffering and death. It is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” Thus, Christ, by His crucifixion on the cross redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us (Gal. 3:13, cf. Deut. 23:23). He redeemed us from sin, which means that He freed us from the slavery of sin and the curse of eternal death that is the due punishment of sin.

Christ came to save us from hell and to bring us into the new heavens and the new earth which are perfect and without sin or blemish. He came to save us from this world of suffering and death to Paradise, where there is neither.

To show how unimportant are all the celebrations and feasting and all the other stuff we tend to hold dear, Christ shows us that He cares nothing for it. He came in poverty and humility so that we would understand what is truly important.

Christ chose to be born to a young woman in a working class family. He chose to be born at a time when the governing authorities were forcing everyone to go to their hometowns to be registered for taxing purposes, and Mary and Joseph were forced to leave their home for a long journey right when Mary was about to give birth. Christ shows how He cares nothing for the luxuries of this world, as He was born in a lowly manger because there was no room anywhere else for them. Mary did not even have the customary preparations and help other women would have at such a time.

This is the first picture with which Christ puts the world to shame. Christ makes way for others. Others fill the houses and apartments, the inns and hotels. They feast in them. They eat, drink, and are merry. Many a wicked man sat as head of table being honoured as lord, while the the creator of the universe, the God of heaven and earth lies in an animal feeding trough.

He whom the sea and wind obey

Doth come to serve the sinner in great meekness.

Thou, God’s own Son, With us art one,

Dost join us and our children in our weakness. (LSB 372 st. 2)

Christ does this to show you what is important. We have heard who Christ is and why He came, this is where we get to the fruit that He produces in us. Christ is God in the flesh, who came to save us from our sin and show us how unimportant are all the things that the world holds dear. The fruit that this bears in us is that we cling to Christ in faith instead of clinging to what the world holds dear.

This does not mean that we don’t have feasts or that we don’t get together with family. It doesn’t mean that we refuse to put up decorations or don’t give presents. It means that we cling to Christ and what He has done as of the greatest importance; that we would be willing to give up and lose all these other things rather than lose Christ.

Who Christ is and why He came also produce the fruit in us that we seek more and more to follow His example of making way for others. Of giving to others. Of not seeking our own good, but the good of others. When Christ changes our hearts so that we don’t cling to the things of this world, He gives us generous hearts to help those who are in need with the things of this world.

This is not what the devil wants you to hear at Christmas, and it’s not what he wants you to do. But not even he can change who Christ is or undo what Christ has done, and not even he can take your heart away from Christ no matter what worldly things he tempts you with.

The world may hold Her wealth and gold;

But thou, my heart, keep Christ as thy true treasure.

To Him hold fast Until at last

A crown be thine and honour in full measure. (LSB 372 st. 6) Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The Word Will Not Be Stopped

Sermon for Christmas Day based on John 1:1-14 (Psalm 2)

Dear believers who have the right to be children of God: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Word made flesh would not be stopped. Our Psalm asks, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed” (Ps. 2).

What useless and vain plotting and scheming. Nothing could stop God’s plan of salvation. The Word became flesh.

King Herod in all his power was a pathetic puppet of Satan in his vain attempts to kill the baby Jesus. God warned Joseph to flee to Egypt so that Herod’s attempts to murder Jesus were unsuccessful. In his fury, Herod murdered all the male children in Bethlehem who were two years old or younger, but Jesus he was not able to kill. God had a plan and a time, that was not it. Nothing would stop God’s plan of salvation.

The light came to shine in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it. He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him? That did not stop the Word made flesh. There was no room in the inn? That did not stop the Word made flesh. The great red dragon sought to devour the child of Mary (Rev. 12:1-6)? That did not stop the Word made flesh.

The Word made flesh came to be the life of men. He came to us in our hall of death, to breathe our poisoned air, to drink for us the dark despair that strangled our reluctant breath (LSB 834 st. 3). He saw our wretched state, as we lay fast bound in Satan’s chains, with death darkly brooding over us; sin tormenting us night and day. God’s Anointed had compassion on us, and brought us salvation; from sin and sorrow setting us free. He slayed bitter death for us that we may live with Him forever (LSB 556 st. 2, 4, 5).

The Word made flesh would not be stopped. His opponents and enemies did not stop Him. The temptations of the devil did not turn Him aside from His plan of salvation. Nothing stopped Christ’s plan of salvation from the manger to the rough wooden cross. No price was too high to pay, even His own life He gave for us sheep who love to wander. He would not be stopped.

The Word made flesh is not stopped today either. He rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. He is your light and your life, and He has given you the right to be children of God, by the will of God. And He will not be stopped.

His forgiveness to you will not be stopped. The nations can rage and the peoples plot against God’s children, but it is in vain. The kings of the earth can set themselves, and the rulers can take counsel together, against the Lord and against his children, but it is useless and in vain.

Our governments can pass whatever laws they like; they can ban every Christian belief, every Scriptural truth. They can take away the livelihoods of believers and imprison us for our faith and put us to death. But the Word made flesh will not be stopped.

He will not stop saving His people who cry to Him for help. The pathetic and powerless hands of earthly kings and authorities will not prevent God from saving us.

God laughs at any attempts of rebellion against His Word. “He who sits in heaven laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.” God ridicules and mocks those who think they’re going to stand in the way of God’s salvation.

The Word they shall let remain. They may not receive it. They may not care for it. They may hate it. It matters not. The Word made flesh shall return to judge the nations and break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

God’s plan of salvation for you will not be stopped. God’s claim on you through the waters of Baptism cannot be undone. His adoption of you as His child cannot be overturned. They body and blood of Christ that you have received have placed you in communion with Christ and it will not be reversed.

This means your salvation is firm and secure, no matter if the nations rage and the peoples plot against you. No lies or slanders against you will prevent your salvation. Not war. Not hunger. Not old grudges or fresh wounds. Not bad news from doctors, teachers, or the stock market. Not new laws from a wicked government.

Not even death can prevent your salvation. Death has lost its sting, the grave its victory.

Your salvation cannot be undone because Christ’s birth for you cannot be undone. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This is a fact that endures forever. Your salvation cannot be undone because Christ’s death for you cannot be undone. His death for you has paid the price of your sins forever. Your salvation cannot be undone because Christ’s resurrection for you cannot be undone. As surely as He lives and reigns to all eternity, so you also will live with Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

Let the nations rage. Let the peoples plot in vain. Let us join our Lord in heaven who laughs and holds them in derision. The Word made flesh was not stopped and will not be stopped. He is our light and our life, and it will not be undone. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Christmas with a Cross

Sermon for Christmas Eve based on Matthew 1:18-25

Dear people who celebrate Christmas and yet carry a cross: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

God put Joseph into a predicament. Joseph didn’t really have any good options. His betrothed wife, Mary, was with child, and it wasn’t his. The virgin Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

Joseph concluded what everyone would conclude today: that Mary had been unfaithful to him. Joseph was a just man. Even though it was obvious to him that Mary had cheated on him, he still did not want to expose her to public shaming. Being a just man, he resolved to divorce her quietly, to minimize the damage to her reputation.

The angel’s appearance to Joseph in a dream, telling him that that which is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit, not from another man, certainly must have been a great comfort and relief to him. He then knew that Mary had not been unfaithful to him. Mary’s virginity, her loyalty, and her love for Joseph remained pure.

The predicament, however, remained. People would talk. They always do. Gossip never cares for the truth. Gossips are always liars. They embellish their tales even when they know that they are false. Joseph would face shame even though he had done nothing wrong. And God is to blame.

Also, let’s not ignore the fact that God had quite simply taken Joseph’s wife from him and impregnated her. God didn’t ask Joseph first. The Son born to Mary was not Joseph’s.

Being a just man, Joseph submitted to God’s will. He took guardianship of both Mary and the baby Jesus. Joseph trusted what God was doing, even if it brought a cross that he would have to bear.

Is that not what is most difficult to bear – the cross that God sends? If we suffer because of our own sins, if we’re honest with ourselves, we will say that we deserve it. But if God sends us a cross to bear for no reason we can figure out, then we become exasperated. We want to know why God is doing what He’s doing, but He won’t tell us.

Such is a time to learn from Joseph, and trust that God knows what He is doing; trust that God is good; trust that what God does is good, even if He doesn’t tell you what He’s doing.

We can certainly see the good in what God did in Joseph’s situation. God brought forth the Saviour into the world.

As foretold by the prophets, the Christ would be born of a virgin. Christ is the eternal God, begotten of the Father before all ages, but is also true man, born for us men and our salvation from the virgin Mary.

As the colt on which Jesus rode to enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday never had anyone sit on it before, and as no one had been laid in the tomb in which He was buried, so also Jesus’ mother had to a virgin, set apart for a holy purpose.

Since children need a father, God did not impregnate a single woman, but one who was betrothed; one who was promised by oath to a man. Thus, God provided an earthly father for Jesus.

God planned and executed the coming of Jesus in the perfect way, but it meant carrying a cross for Joseph. He couldn’t escape the shame of the gossip, or the cross of God taking his wife for His holy purpose. Again came the cross when Joseph’s friends and family in his hometown of Bethlehem did not make room for him and his family. Soon afterward, Joseph had to flee to Egypt with his family as Herod sought to murder the baby under his guardianship. Mary was not alone in bearing a cross because of Jesus, Joseph also bore a cross.

From the cross, however, comes good. From the cross that Joseph and Mary bore came the Saviour of the world – the Saviour who went to the cross on Calvary to die for the sins of the world.

From Christ’s cross comes good. From His cross comes life and salvation for mankind, because Mary’s baby went on to buy us evil men out of captivity with His death. The good from the cross is given to us in Baptism where God washes us clean from sin and claims us as His own. The good from the cross is given into our mouths when we receive the body and blood of Jesus that gives us forgiveness and nourishes our faith. The good from the cross is given to us when we hear that since Jesus rose from the dead, we too will rise from the dead on the Last Day.

We see from Joseph, that following Jesus comes with a cross. With the cross, however, comes good. God may not tell us what that good is. We may not know until He takes us home to be with Him. But we trust that God knows what He is doing. We trust that God is good. And we trust that what God does is good, even if He doesn’t tell us what He’s doing. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The Word Became Flesh

Sermon for the Nativity of our Lord based on John 1:1-14

Dear people who are flesh: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Word became flesh. God became man. The eternal Son of God who made all things and without whom was not anything made that was made, joined creation by taking on human flesh, and He dwelt with us.

God the Son did not have to become man. He did not have to leave the joys of heaven and attach Himself to mankind by becoming one of us. He could have instead destroyed sinful mankind who had rebelled against Him. He could have thrown all of creation into hell after the fall into sin.

Yet, out of love for His fallen creation, He did not want to see His creation eternally punished. He became man for us, out of love for us. He loved His fallen creation so much that He was willing to become one of us. He became one of us to take on our sin.

God the Son shares in our human state. God has forever elevated what it means to be human by becoming one of us. By becoming one of us, He affirmed the goodness of creation, even if it is now marred by sin.

Christ came to take back what He had lost. Man was lost to God because of sin, but Jesus came to win us back to God. The Son of God came to pay the price of our sins, thus freeing us from the bondage of sin.

God the Son took on our flesh in order to suffer and die for us. Even now, after the resurrection, He remains man. That’s why He can give us His body and blood to eat and drink.

If God is Spirit alone, He does not have a body or blood. But God the Son became and is still man, glorified and resurrected. He gives us His glorified and resurrected body to eat and drink so that we can be partakers of His flesh.

The Word became flesh to take on our sin, and now He gives us His flesh and we take on His holiness. His body and blood take away our sin because it was by means of His body and blood that He paid the price of our sins. Jesus gives us forgiveness and eternal life through His body and blood and we are united with Him. We have been adopted as children of God through our Baptism into Christ.

We have the right to become children of God. Not because we were born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but because we were born again by the will of God through water and the Spirit. By believing in His name, that is by faith, we are the children of God.

Jesus becoming man bridged the gap between God and man. We are no longer separated from God by our sinfulness since Jesus has fulfilled the Law for us and paid the debt of our sins.

As God, the Son of God does not need to keep the Law. Whatever He does is just and good and right. Whatever God thinks, says, or does is lawful. In order for Him to fulfil the Law in our place, He had to become one of us.

Scripture tells us, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Gal. 4:4-5) Born as a man, Jesus put Himself under the Law and fulfilled the Law’s requirements. Jesus became one of us to do what we cannot do.

The Son of God also became man so that He could die. God has no beginning or end. Without taking on human flesh, God the Son could not die. So, He took on our flesh and blood, and gave up His life to save us and give us eternal life.

God the Son took on our flesh, so He also experienced what it means to be man. He was tempted. He suffered hunger and thirst. He became tired and slept. He cried when a dear friend died. He was sorrowful unto death.

Christ knows what we go through. He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, as He has been tempted as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). Thus, we can confidently draw near to His throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).

Christ, who is God and man, has ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high, and He intercedes for us. There is a man sitting on the throne of heaven pleading for us, because He knows our weaknesses. He knows our weaknesses, so He has done everything to save us, leaving nothing to us.

From start to finish, it is all about love. God was willing to do this all for us out of love for us, His fallen creation. God became man to save man. We are saved and have been adopted as children of God, so we receive the inheritance of the children of God – eternal life. The eternal Son of God became man to give us eternal life. That is the Christmas story. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Celebrate Christmas

Sermon for Christmas Eve based on Luke 2:1-20

Dear people who celebrate the birth of our Saviour: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christmas traditions can be nice ways to celebrate at this time of year: turkey, cranberries, and stuffing; Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Christmas presents; getting together with family, feasting, and maybe some spiced rum in your egg nog.

Christmas is, after all, a time of celebration. It is one of the great festivals of the church year, celebrating one of the most important events for Christians. It is the celebration of the eternal God taking on human flesh. He who created the heavens and the earth, joins us, His creation, by being made man.

These days, we may lament the secularization of Christmas. We may mourn over the worldly celebrations overshadowing what Christmas actually is. We may even grieve the Christmas traditions of our own families being at odds with what Christmas is about. Christmas is under attack.

This, however, is nothing new. Christmas has been under attack since the first Christmas.

We tend to think of the first Christmas as a peaceful, silent night. That’s what we sing, isn’t it? Silent stars going by. Everyone is filled with joy – joy to the world, right? The cattle are gently lowing and little baby Jesus, nice and cute, is asleep on the hay.

However, there is an attack on Christmas taking place already on the first Christmas. The devil is outraged that God would join us here on earth in such a way. He is infuriated that the angel choirs are singing praises and that shepherds care about Jesus’ birth enough to leave their flocks at night to worship the infant. The book of Revelation describes the devil as a great red dragon standing by waiting for the birth of Jesus, so that he might devour the infant when He is born (Rev. 12:1-6).

The attack on Christmas is seen as the town of Bethlehem becomes a hellish nightmare when the tyrant Herod sends soldiers to murder all the baby boys. Herod vents his rage on the little town of Bethlehem and Jesus flees to Egypt with His earthly parents. The attack continues to the point of thorns, nails, and spear piercing the human flesh of God.

Here, we arrive at the purpose of Christmas. God took on our flesh for the very purpose of dying. Jesus was born for this. He was born to be the sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus came to suffer in our place and to die for us.

When Jesus was born, salvation came to earth. He saved us by doing what we cannot do: He kept the entire Law of God with its demands of perfection in thought, word, and deed. Jesus then gave His life for all our sins of thought, word, and deed. His life was not taken from Him, but He laid it down of His own accord (John 10:18). He willingly gave up His life to save His creation, to save us who have fallen into sin.

Jesus doesn’t just offer His forgiveness to some. He doesn’t just offer it to those who have tried hard enough to do what is right. He doesn’t just offer forgiveness to those who have been faithful enough, who have attended regularly enough, who have given generously enough. None of us has done anything enough to earn the forgiveness of sins. Jesus is not impressed by anything anyone has done. In spite of what we have done and left undone, Jesus offers us all His forgiveness.

Jesus came to earth and took on human flesh to die for all mankind. As we sang, “Now the foe, Sin and woe, Death and hell are broken!” (LSB 360 st.2) That’s why we celebrate Christmas. That’s why we get together with our families and feast and celebrate. That is why Christmas means joy to the world and why angel choirs sing glory to God. If angel choirs sing in celebration, surely we, those people for whom Jesus came, will join them in singing praise and glory to God.

The world and the devil can attack Christmas all they want. They cannot take the joy of Christmas away from us. Now the foe, Sin and woe, Death and hell are broken. We celebrate because our sins are forgiven so we have peace with God. We celebrate because our ancient foe, the devil, has been defeated and is powerless to snatch us from God. We celebrate because death is defeated as Jesus rose from the dead and has promised us the resurrection of our bodies when He returns in glory.

So, celebrate this great festival with thanksgiving. Rejoice, for our Saviour has come and rescued us from every threat. Let the world do what it will, our Christmas joy cannot be taken away from us. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Christmas Joy

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Advent based on Matthew 1:18-25

Dear people with the promise of eternal joy: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christmas doesn’t always feel so joyful. We may be able to remember past Christmases which were filled with joy, but times change. For some, this will be the first Christmas spent in a nursing home and they are unable to celebrate with family as in the past. Some are spending this Christmas in the hospital, reeling over a scary diagnosis. Many are spending this Christmas as widows or widowers, and Christmas just isn’t the same anymore.

The first Christmas wasn’t all joy and happiness, either. Joseph’s life was unravelling. Everything had been going well. Joseph had found the girl he wanted to marry. In fact, Joseph and Mary were betrothed, so they had already promised themselves to each other. They were already in a legally binding relationship, the first stage of marriage. They were living chaste, pious lives – not living together or sleeping together, but waiting for marriage.

Then Mary came back from visiting her relative Elizabeth for three months, and she was “found to be with child.” Joseph knew the child wasn’t his, so he assumed Mary had been unfaithful to him. What other possibility is there? Sure, she had some story about being pregnant by the Holy Spirit, but that sounded about as believable to Joseph as it would seem to a husband-to-be today.

Scripture doesn’t tell us much about what Joseph was thinking, but it does tell us that he resolved to divorce her quietly. He obviously didn’t believe Mary’s story. He must have been upset. He must have felt let down and betrayed. How could Mary do this to him? He loved Mary, but what was he supposed to do now? If Joseph kept quiet and just took Mary as his wife, then everyone would think he was guilty. The small community in which they lived would ridicule and shame him. Back then it was not as it is today, with fornication and children born out of wedlock as the norms of society. Back then, there was still a sense of shame over such sin, and the law prescribed penalty for a betrothed virgin fornicating was the death penalty by stoning (Dt. 22:23-24).

Therein lay the other problem. Joseph didn’t want Mary to be executed, either. He thought if he could quietly divorce her, then she could escape the death penalty. Yes, he thought she had acted very wickedly towards him, but he loved her and didn’t want her to die, and he didn’t want the community to shame or ridicule her.

As Joseph wrestled with these decisions, he was not joyful. There was no happiness in his life as it seemingly crumbled apart and as he thought of what the future would be. Joseph was not full of Christmas joy and cheer.

A messenger from God changed everything for Joseph. The messenger told him, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

That’s great news! Mary was telling the truth! She hadn’t betrayed him or been unfaithful to him! And on top of it all, this child is the promised Saviour who will save people from their sins!

That’s the thing about messages from God. They show us that in the middle of what seems like crisis and disaster, God is there with His people. God gives good news in the midst of sadness. In the midst of loneliness, sickness, death, and betrayal, God sends His good news through His messengers.

Even if Christmas will not be the same this year for you; even if Christmas will never again be the same as it once was, know that the Christ child came to save His people from their sins.

This is such good news that it is bound to bring joy. This good news means that the nursing home isn’t your final home – you have an eternal home in the heavens. This good news means that your stay in the hospital and your diagnosis isn’t permanent – even if God doesn’t heal you in this life, He will heal you in the life to come. This good news means that your sadness and loneliness won’t last forever – you have the promised reunion with your loved ones who have died in the faith.

Thus, we will have joy this Christmas no matter what we have to face in this life – no matter how much our lives might seem to be crumbling, no matter how bleak and sad things look, no matter how little this year’s Christmas will remind us of Christmases past.

We have the good news that God fulfilled His promise and sent us His only Son. The virgin Isaiah prophesied about did conceive and bear a Son, and His name is Immanuel, which means God with us. Immanuel died for our sins and He is still with us. He is with us in His Word, He is with us in the waters of Holy Baptism, and He is with us in His body and blood which He gives us to eat and drink.

Jesus is the bringer of joy, because He has saved us from our sins. He is Immanuel, God with us. He is with us through the heart-breaks and betrayals; He is with us through the illnesses and diseases; He is with us at our death beds. When our last hour comes, He will take us to be with Himself in eternal joy and happiness. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes and we will never again be sad or sorrowful.

Thus, Christmas is joyful. Even amidst the sadness of this life, we have the joy of Christmas, that God sent Jesus, our Saviour, who died for us, saving us from our sins. Having the promise of eternal life, we have the joy of the promise of eternal joy. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Christmas Joy!

Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas based on Luke 2:22-40

Dear rejoicing Christians: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

We try so hard to have a joyful Christmas. We gather with as much family as we can get together. We buy presents for our children and other loved ones in the hopes that receiving such a gift will brighten their Christmas. We may even buy ourselves something which we’ve been eyeing for a while. We cook and bake the best foods, preparing ourselves feasts. We may even help out those less fortunate, because then we think we can really feel good about Christmas.

We can have a good Christmas when our family is around and when we have money for presents and elaborate dinners. How good would our Christmas be if we were all alone and broke? How good would our Christmas be if we just received a diagnosis of terminal illness or if a loved one passed away? Some of us have such situations in our future. Some of us are living through them right now.

These are the situations of the characters in our Gospel reading. This first Christmas, Mary and Joseph were far from their family. We know they’re not well off. The Old Testament Law required a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering (Lev. 12:6). Those who were too poor to afford the sacrifices could instead offer just two pigeons or two turtledoves (Lev. 12:8), and that is what was offered by Joseph and Mary. They could not even afford the normal offerings for purification, indicating that they were quite poor. Does this make for a good Christmas?

Anna was very old. She might have been eighty-four years old, or a widow for eighty-four years after being married for seven, making her over one hundred years old. Surely she was suffering the aches and pains of old age, especially at a time when they didn’t have the advances in medicine we have today to at least help with some relief. She had been a widow for many decades and was spending Christmas by herself in the Temple. Does this make for a good Christmas?

What about Simeon? The Bible doesn’t tell us how old he was even though he is always pictured as an old man and that is what the text certainly seems to indicate. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel. He was waiting for the double comfort Isaiah prophesied and we heard about during Advent. He had been told by God that he wouldn’t die until he had seen the Lord’s anointed. Well, he saw the Lord’s anointed, so he knew death was coming. It’s about the same as getting a diagnosis of a terminal illness. Does this make for a good Christmas?

And then Simeon speaks a prophecy by the Holy Spirit to Mary, saying that her Son will be opposed and that a sword will pierce through her soul. Add to that why it would not pierce Joseph’s soul also – because by all accounts Joseph died before Mary’s soul was pierced at the foot of the cross of her Son.

Where is the Christmas cheer? Where’s the festive gathering and the feasting? Where are the gifts that brighten Christmas?

Well, they are all actually there. If you listen to Simeon’s song of praise, it is full of Christmas cheer and joy. “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Simeon said that he’s ready to die. He’s got everything so there’s no point hanging around anymore. He has peace with God through the baby Jesus. He sees His salvation in the face of this infant. He knows Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s promises ever since man’s fall into sin.

And Anna begins to thank and praise God. She, despite her age, starts running around telling everyone who this baby is. She’s as excited as a little girl who just unwrapped the Christmas present she’s been waiting to open for so long. Anna also is filled with Christmas joy.

And Joseph and Mary just returned with the baby Jesus to their home in Nazareth, and go back to regular, everyday life. They marvelled at what was said about Jesus and they witnessed the praises of Simeon and Anna. Joyful about the birth of Jesus, and witnessing the joy of Simeon and Anna, Mary and Joseph could return joyfully back to their regular lives.

So why would we allow poverty to ruin our joy of Christmas? There’s no reason to have a bad Christmas even if family isn’t around, if you can’t have the great feast you’d like to have, or if old age is catching up with you. You can have joy at Christmastime even if you have been a widow or widower for decades like Anna or have just recently lost your spouse. You can have joy at Christmastime even if you have just received a diagnosis that you will soon die.

Because poverty isn’t the problem. Sickness isn’t the problem. Loneliness and sadness aren’t the problem. Even death is not the problem. The problem is sin.

Some families struggle to meet daily needs because there is sin in the world. There is sickness, loneliness, and sadness in the world because there is sin in the world. The only reason why there is death in the world is because of sin, because the wages of sin is death. The problem is sin.

That’s why Anna and Simeon were so joyful. They knew that Jesus was the solution to sin. God had promised that He would send a Saviour to rescue us from sin, the root cause of every problem in the world. Simeon could sing that he has been saved from sin, that he himself had seen God’s salvation. Anna could run around telling everyone that the redemption of Jerusalem had arrived, the Saviour who would redeem us from our sin.

Because with our sin forgiven, what is illness or sickness or loneliness? What is death but the doorway to heaven and a reunion with our loved ones who have died in the faith? Our Christmas joy doesn’t need to be crushed even if we don’t receive a single present, are near death’s door in a nursing home, long since widowed, without family around to even visit us for Christmas. All of this is the result of sin, and yes, we suffer in this world because of sin.

But sin is conquered. All of your sins are forgiven. The devil can’t accuse you of anything. Your guilty conscience can take a hike. You may suffer in this life because of your sin and you cannot undo those things that you regret, but Jesus paid for those sins with His holy blood. Your sins are not on your slate; they’ve been wiped away. All the sins on your account have been paid by Jesus.

We can continue to sing the joyful Christmas hymns throughout the Christmas season. We don’t have to stop just because our relatives have gone home and there are no more presents under our trees. Our Christmas joy continues. We don’t have to throw out our Christmas joy with our used wrapping paper just because the world has moved on to look toward the next holiday.

In fact, we can celebrate the joy of Christmas every day of the year, no matter what is going on in our lives. We can sing with Simeon. We can run around with Anna. We can return to our regular lives with Joseph and Mary because we have the joy that Jesus has defeated sin. We can be ready to depart this life in peace because we have received the joy of our sins forgiven. We can have joy all the way to death’s door, where we will enter our eternal joy forever. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

On Track With Christmas

Sermon for Christmas Day based on John 1:1-14                                                                        

            Dear recipients of the greatest gift ever: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The Gospel reading for Christmas Day gets us back on track. It’s so easy to get off track with Christmas. It’s so easy to get caught up in a commercialized Christmas; to get caught up with family, feasts, presents, decorations. It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness, the long line-ups at the grocery store, or the hustle to pick up some final presents elbow-to-elbow with someone who’s ready to road rage with her shopping cart.

It’s too easy even to get caught up in the wrong things when we hear the Christmas story. Even when we come to church to celebrate Christmas and hear what happened the first Christmas, we can easily get off track.

We can get off track when we sing about how silent the night of Jesus’ birth was. How Jesus didn’t cry as a baby. How He was surrounded my cattle, donkeys, and lowing oxen. How the stars went silently by or looked down where He lay or twinkled for that matter.

The Bible never says the night Jesus was born was any quieter than any other night. Yesterday we heard that Caesar Augustus had declared a census decree and everyone had to go to their hometown to register. So many people were in Bethlehem the night that Mary and Joseph arrived, that all the inns were full. Every room that was available for travellers was full. There was no room for them anywhere in town except in some place with a manger, likely a stable. Bethlehem was as full of hustle and bustle as Yorkton’s Superstore earlier this week. It probably wasn’t all that quiet or peaceful at Jesus’ birth.

Jesus was born a human baby boy. Babies cry, that’s how they communicate. We know Jesus cried as a man, so why would He not cry as a newborn?

Jesus was laid in a manger because Joseph and Mary were unable to find room anywhere else, but none of the Gospels mentions that there were any animals around. It’s not like Mary and Joseph were going to sit there and watch the cows eat the hay out of the manger in which Jesus was laid.

Now, we can probably say that the stars went silently by or looked down or twinkled because stars do these things every day, but Christmas isn’t about stars.

 We can even get caught up in the Christmas story that is in the Bible, with the angels and the shepherds, the wise men and Mary and Joseph. The shepherds were so poor, the wise men so rich. What did Mary know about her Son? What did Joseph think of all of this?

I’m not saying we shouldn’t hear about the shepherds and the wise men or that we shouldn’t consider what Mary knew or what Joseph thought. We just shouldn’t get off track and think that these are the things Christmas is about.

We can even poetically sing about the silence of the night in contrast to how we might expect God to come to earth or in contrast to when the angels filled the skies and sang glory to God. We can sing poetically about the humble way God in the flesh was born, in a manger where oxen and donkeys would usually eat. We can sing about the stars in the sky to bring to light that the infant Jesus in the manger created those stars in the night sky.

The problem is when we get off track. The problem is when we’re caught up in everything else and don’t focus on the fact that in the manger is the Word made flesh, the Creator of the starts of night. That all things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. Our focus should be that Jesus is God who came to save us from our sins, from the devil, and from hell. That Jesus is our Saviour who reconciled us with God by covering our sins and crushing our ancient enemy.

Jesus did not come to be a cute baby for us to gush over, but He came to be crucified for our sin. God took on our flesh so that His flesh could be nailed to a cross. He came to be rejected by men and suffer unbelievable cruelty at the hands of the men whom He created, all so that He would save us. This should be our focus at Christmas.

Yes, many reject Jesus. But to all who receive Him, who believe in His name, He gives the right to become the children of God. Jesus came as a baby, so that we would be given all the rights that He has; that we would be adopted as God’s children and given the inheritance of God’s children.

Our inheritance is eternal life because Jesus, God in the flesh, came and dwelt among us. He did what we could not do. He put Himself under the Law that we cannot keep to fulfil its demands for us, in our place. He died our death taking the punishment of our sins on Himself so that we get His inheritance of eternal life.

That’s the focus of Christmas. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t feast and celebrate with our families. In fact, what a great reason to celebrate! What a great reason to give gifts to others because we have received the greatest gift ever!

In our celebration of Christmas, let’s remember what it is that we are celebrating. Let us celebrate the birth of God in the flesh who came to destroy sin, death, and the power of the devil and give us the right to become the children of God. And let us not be afraid to learn good Christmas hymns like the one by Paul Gerhardt which says:

O Jesus Christ,

Thy manger is

My paradise at which my soul reclineth.

For there, O Lord,

Doth lie the Word

Made flesh for us; herein Thy grace forth shineth.

 

He whom the sea

And wind obey

Doth come to serve the sinner in great meekness.

Thou, God’s own Son,

With us art one,

Dost join us and our children in our weakness.

 

Thy light and grace

Our guilt efface,

Thy heav’nly riches all our loss retrieving.

Immanuel,

Thy birth doth quell

The pow’r of hell and Satan’s bold deceiving. (LSB 372 st. 1-3) Amen.

 

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.