1.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from
God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The
message from God’s Word this glorious Christmas Day we celebrate our Savior’s
birth is taken from Luke 2:1-20, and is entitled, “Great Joy for All People,”
dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
Luke 2:10 says, “I bring you
good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” It used to bother
me when I’d see nativity scenes from other countries that depicted Jesus as
being of the same race as the majority of people in that country—in a
Chinese painting Jesus looked Asian, in an African portrayal Jesus was black,
or, in a German or Scandinavian portrait Jesus looked like a blue-eyed European.
It bothered me because the Christmas narrative is a true story, real history,
and Jesus is a Middle Eastern Jew. To depict the nativity in some other way
seemed to me to be making it into a bit of a fairy tale that we can shape and
change to fit our desires and needs. The account of Jesus’ birth is no myth. It
doesn’t belong in the same category as flying reindeer and all the fantasy that
has become so much a part of our culture’s Christmas holiday. What I read to
you is for real. Luke emphasizes that point by even giving you some of the
historical details about who the Caesar was and the census and the tax and who
the governor of that region was at that time. The Christmas story is
an actual, literal account about the real Jesus and his birth.
3.
But, the more I think about it, the
more I believe those paintings may have it right, at least in this sense: The
angel came with the message of good news for all people.
“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ
the Lord” (Lk 2:10–11). The Savior Jesus is born to you, for you; he
is yours. He’s your kind, humankind. Jesus
Embraces All of Humanity in His Holy Incarnation.
4.
You see, when the Son of God took
on our human nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, he didn’t just become a man.
He became man. He
took all of humanity into himself in his incarnation. For he came to bear the
sins of all humanity in his body. That includes every nation and race and
people and language. Though Jesus was a Jew, his birth reveals the truth that
there is in fact only one human race, the fallen children of Adam. And in this
baby in the manger, every sinner is redeemed and restored to God. Jesus is the
embodiment of all people from every corner of the globe, and in his body all
people are put right with God again. And so, when Jesus is portrayed as African
or Asian or European, theologically speaking that’s true. By becoming man, Christ
becomes one with all people to deliver all people. The Savior is born for you.
He’s one of you, your very flesh and blood, your true human brother. There’s no
one that’s left out of the new life that comes from his holy birth. He’s like
you in every way, except without sin, so that you might become like him in
every way and share in his divine glory.
5.
This is the basis for the peace on
earth of which the angels sang. In Christ, God and sinners are reconciled. We
sinners are no longer under God’s wrath; we are at peace with him again through
his self-giving mercy. The warfare between heaven and earth is now ended. The
case of God against the human race is set aside, and his love for the world is
revealed. Our flesh has been joined to God. Heaven and earth are at peace. God
and man are brought back together in Jesus, for Jesus is God and man together
in one person. Baptized into Christ, we are put right with God. And living in
Christ, we are put right with one another too. The only peace on earth that
lasts is the peace of Christ, forgiven sinners united as one in his body.
6.
Of course, that first Christmas
night was probably not very peaceful for Joseph and Mary. Not only did they
have to deal with the stress of traveling to Bethlehem for the census, but also
of trying to find a place to lodge while she was in labor. And there was no
place for them, except with the animals. Imagine a first-time mother trying to
give birth under those conditions! The fact that Jesus was born in these
circumstances is prophetic of his whole ministry, how he would be despised and
rejected by men. John 1 says that “He came to his own, and his own people
did not receive him” (Jn 1:11). People didn’t understand who he truly
was. He was an outcast and an outsider. And yet John goes on, “But to all
who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor
of the will of man, but of God” (1:12–13).
7.
We all would like to think that if
we were there that night, we would have made room for the Holy Family. But the
truth is that our lives often say otherwise. We, too, have shut Jesus out. It’s
not only those who stay away from Divine Service, those who don’t come to
church, or at least not very often, who push Jesus away, who don’t have any
room for him in their inn. No, also those of us who are here regularly don’t
have room for him out there in our day-to-day lives. We shut out the Word of
Christ in certain situations. We shut out the people in whom Christ is present
for us to love. We don’t want to have to deal with the inconvenience of letting
Jesus in because of all the changes that might mean for us in the way we live.
8.
Whatever the case may be, whoever
you are, the message of this night is that Christ came for you to rescue you,
to forgive you. He has made room for you by his gracious mercy. He was willing
to deal with the indignities of his lowly birth and his humble life and his
humiliating death in order that you might be exalted and lifted up with him in
his resurrection to everlasting life.
9.
In truth, this Christmas narrative
foreshadows the reason why Jesus came into this world. Even as he was born
outside the inn with the animals, so he would be crucified outside the city
with common criminals. Even as he was wrapped in strips of linen and laid in a
manger, so later he would be wrapped in cloths and laid in a tomb. Even as the
shepherds came to worship him, so it is that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world. The wood of the manger would later be traded for
the wood of the cross. We must never forget on this Christmas night that our
Lord took on flesh and blood so that he might sacrifice his flesh and shed his
blood to cleanse us and make us holy. He was born to die for us that we might
be reborn to live in him eternally.
10.
The place of Jesus’ birth was
Bethlehem, which means literally, “house of bread.” Even as he was laid
in a feeding trough, so he is given to be holy food for us, the bread of life,
of which one may eat and live forever. Let us then come today to the Bethlehem
he has prepared for us, to the swaddling cloths and manger in which he now
lies, the bread and wine that holds and is his true body and blood given for
the forgiveness of our sins. Let us feast on the living bread from heaven, that
our humanity may be restored in him who became fully human for us. You need not
go to the Holy Land to feel close to Jesus. For this is the holy land, where
Christ is truly present for you. You get to kneel with the shepherds right here
at this altar.
11.
To all of you, whoever you are,
wherever you come from, whatever you’ve done, know this: Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. In him, you are forgiven, you are put right
with God. All is well. “For unto you is
born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”
(Lk 2:11). Merry Christmas! Amen. The
peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus until life everlasting.
Amen.
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