Category: Christmas Eve

Peace on Earth

1/2/2023

The Shepherds and the Angel, Carl Bloch, 1879. Public Domain.

Christmas Eve 2022| Luke 2:14| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace,
good will among men.”
Luke 2:13-14
Peace on earth. What peace on earth? Wars continue to be waged around the world throughout the centuries. Instead of compromising and seeking peace, the leaders of the world insist on their own ways, so that soldiers and even women and children are killed senselessly. And we can complain about these war-crazy rulers, yet they are cut out of the same cloth as all of us. Peace among the nations of the world, why don’t we try peace among the households of the world, or even peace in our own house? How many of you are not at peace with a brother or sister, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law? We don’t have peace among the nations, because we aren’t at peace among ourselves. And it doesn’t seem that Jesus’ birth has changed that. Even Jesus seems to have missed this sermon of the angels, when He said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)
Yet, the division Jesus says He brings to earth instead of peace is not His fault, but the fault of unbelief. Jesus brings a sword, because He separates the faithful from the unfaithful. We still see war and enmity on earth, even after the Prince of Peace was born, because of unbelief. The peace the angels preach can only be received through faith.
And this by no means belittles the peace the angels declare. This peace is the greatest peace imaginable. The Paris Peace Treaties have nothing on this peace. This is peace between God and the human race! While we were enemies with God, God sent His Son to join our human race and die for our sins, so that we may be justified through faith. St. Paul writes in Romans chapter 5, “therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And this peace with God was made possible because God became a man.
Now, perhaps that does not impress you. It doesn’t impress most people. This is evident in how this holiday devoted to God becoming a man is no longer celebrated as such, but rather the focus is on the goodness of humanity, giving gifts, singing silly songs, eating junk food, and watching overrated movies. Yes, such pathetic and shallow things have overshadowed the fact that God became man to make peace with us sinners! But if you are one of those who is not impressed and does not marvel at this mystery that God has become a man, let me break some news to you.
You are not God. God becoming a man is not some inconsequential thing like Sally going over to Jane’s house for tea. You are not the almighty. You are not sinless, far from it! Yet, God, the Almighty, the holy, sinless, and eternal God joined our human race, being born to a poor young girl, who wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a feeding trough with hay for a bed. God grew up as a human, obeying His father and mother, whom He created. He submitted to wicked rulers, whom He placed in authority. He died, paying the wages of sins which He never committed!
God became a man! This affects all mankind! God has become our brother. He became a human being in order to save all human beings. From Adam to the last person born on this earth, God has joined Himself in flesh and blood. And He has done this to heal us from our sins and grant us everlasting life. God became a man, which means that His death on the cross wins salvation for all people.
We cannot express in words how wonderful this mystery is that God was manifested in human flesh (1 Timothy 3:15). The angels, who are much wiser and smarter than we, gaze into this mystery. They look into God’s deep heart full of love, and they can’t see the bottom. They cannot fathom how this can be, so they simply cry out, “Glory to God in the Highest!”
It is trendy these days to claim that celebrating Christmas on December 25th was originally done to take over pagan sun-worshiping celebrations on December 25th. However, that is a myth with no historical backing. Celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25th was well established among Christians by the year 200 AD, and likely had already been celebrated on that day for generations before, before any pagans used the day to celebrate their own god. It is quite probable that Jesus really was born on December 25th, yet even if the date is just an early tradition, it serves us well. We’re in the dead of winter. The nights are the longest of the year. Yet, each day the sun makes a further advance into the night. Here in the darkest, coldest time of the year, we ponder God’s grace as He descends upon us to dwell in this dark, cold world. Yet, the darkness is receding. And the cold will give way to warmth. Jesus has come! His peace is spreading.
Yet, the darkest and coldest place on this earth is your own sinful heart. In Genesis 6, Moses writes, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Again, the Lord caused the prophet Jeremiah to write, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it.” (Jeremiah 17:9) And finally, our Lord Jesus says, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:19) Yet, God became a little baby lying in a cold manger in order that He could dwell in your cold, dark, sinful heart and make it pure.
Perhaps more marvelous than that God would choose to live in poverty as a boy here on earth is that He chooses to live in your heart through faith. Where sin and evil dwell, there Christ wants to dwell, so to rescue you from choosing damnation. It is Christ who draws you away from your own pride, which combats peace and embraces sin, and draws you to live a life pleasing to God. The angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men. Good will among men. That means that God is pleased with us. How? How can God be pleased with us sinners, who’s hearts are filled with hatred? God is pleased with us for Christ’s sake. God became man, so that He might be pleased with mankind. For the sake of Christ, who pleases God and pays for our sins, God offers to us His good will.
This peace and good will can only be received through faith. Yet, Jesus no longer lies in swaddling clothes, neither in the manger nor in the tomb. He is ascended to heaven. So, how can we know Him? How can we believe in Him? How will we recognize Him? The angels gave signs for the shepherds to mark, swaddling clothes and manger dark. And Christ gives us signs to mark today as well: Baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit which grants us new birth and daily renewal. Absolution, where God’s voice of forgiveness is heard from a sinner, yet declared true in heaven. Christ’s body and blood given and shed for sinners to be eaten and drunk in remembrance of Him. And of course, the proclamation of the Gospel, which grants eternal life to all who believe. These are the signs that we should mark, so that we may treasure Christ in our hearts and be at peace with God and our fellow Christians.
St. Paul writes to the Ephesians in chapter two, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace.” Jesus is our peace, because He is our Lord and Savior, who became our brother and took away our sins with His blood. With Jesus dwelling in our hearts, we are at peace with God and we are at peace with those who are at peace with God, because God Himself has done away with all hostility. When we look away from Christ and dwell in the darkness of this world, we don’t see God’s peace. But when we look upon our Savior and pay attention to the signs He gives to us, we see we have a God at peace with us. And through that peace, God enables us to make peace with one another. Let us pray.
Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled
A quiet chamber set apart
For You to dwell within my heart. Amen.

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A Savior, Who Is Christ the Lord

12/26/2021

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The Angel Appearing to Shepherds, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1634, Public Domain.

Christmas Eve
Luke 2:10-12
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
December 24, 2021

10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ~ Luke 2:10-12

Although you might not realize it from reading the first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel, an appearance from one of God’s angels is a once in many generations event. And because this is such a rare occurrence for an angel to appear, you might be surprised by how short and to the point the angel’s message is. He doesn’t preach for very long, but gives a short, two or three sentence homily. Yet, the few words the angel says are worthy of our meditation tonight and our entire lives. The angel announces the birth of Jesus, and gives him three titles: Savior, Christ, and Lord. Each of these titles has immense meaning about our salvation, what it means to be a Christian, and what we are celebrating this Christmas.

Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior. I think if this angel were to arrive today with this announcement, most people would be disappointed. “What do I need with a Savior? If a being from outside this world is going to light up the sky to give me good news, it should be something more exciting than a Savior.” Truly, this is how people think. When I was a boy, the movie Aladdan came out. Most viewers’ favorite character was Genie, a funny blue creature who lived in a lamp, who had great magical powers. When Aladdin found him, Genie promised him three wishes. That’s what most people wish they could have: A jinni offer them three wishes, not an angel of God who gives them something they didn’t ask for. If I had a jinni, I could ask for whatever I wanted: an endless supply of money, immunity from every disease, super powers, health, comfort, anything I could imagine! Indeed, I think it’s fair to say that most would rather meet a jinni who gives three wishes than an angel declaring good news they didn’t ask for.

But thank God he sent an angel and promised a Savior. Everything money can buy gets ruined. And even if we were given an endless list of wishes, we would sooner ruin our lives than make them better, because of our sinful inclinations. What we really need is a Savior. But what is a Savior?

The angel told Joseph to name the baby Jesus, because he would save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). This is the type of Savior the angel promises: one who saves us from our sin. We are corrupted by sin. This corruption runs so deep, that no one in the history of the world has been able to heal himself from it. Our thoughts are so ruined by sin, that the more power a person has, the more miserable he makes his life. History attests to this. And was anyone here alive when the angel visited the shepherds? Of course not. That was over two thousand years ago. Because of sin, we die. No one here was alive a mere one-hundred years ago. Like the grass of the field, we fade away. Yet, unlike the grass, when we die, we are held accountable to God for our lives. Our deeds are weighed. If we are found lacking, we are damned to hell. Our sin makes us enemies of God. We need a Savior.

And this is what God gives us. That Jesus is our Savior, means that we are saved by grace, according to his mercy. It means that he loves us! “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…” (Titus 3:4) To us is born a Savior, who rescues us from our sin. He does not do this on account of any work we have done, but only out of his great love and mercy toward us!

And so, this first title given by the angel is a word of great joy. You have a Savior from your sins. He comes to take them away. He comes to rescue you from sin and hell; to take God’s wrath away. See how much God loves you! He’s not like some imaginary jinni, who will satisfy your base desires, but can’t actually help you. Your God knows your greatest need and he provides you with it without you asking.

Unto you is born this day, a Savior, who is Christ. The word Christ means anointed one. Anointed by whom? Anointed by God. This means that this Savior born to us was chosen by God! This is as joyous news as the news that we have a Savior! Because if it were up to us to choose a savior, we’d do a miserable job. In fact, many have clued in that sin is our greatest and most urgent problem and have sought saviors from sin. And all of these saviors discovered by men have been utter failures! This is because all of these false-saviors focus on our own works and abilities. Nearly every religion invented by man has diagnosed sin as a great problem and has promised salvation from sin. Yet, all these religions invented by man make your salvation dependent on your own works. Allah saves the Muslim who is submissive enough. The Mormon god saves the Mormon who is obedient enough. Every sect that has broken away from the Christian Church has made salvation dependent on your own works. These false saviors leave you a more miserable sinner than you were at the beginning, deeper in debt, and more doubtful of your salvation.

But to us is born a Savior, who is Christ. That means he is chosen by God. That means that he cannot fail. He is the Son of David prophesied of old, which is why he is born in the city of David. This means he is truly our brother, born in human flesh. He is born of woman, born under the Law to redeem us who are under the Law. He fulfills God’s Law for us. And he suffers the punishment of our sins in our place. And that he is the Christ means that he is true God, David’s Lord, as David himself confessed (Psalm 110:1). This means that Jesus’ death upon the cross is a sufficient price for all your sins and the sins of the whole world. Only God could have chosen such a Savior for you. Such a mystery would have never entered any of our minds. That our Savior is the Christ, means that he is the true Savior sent by God.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Jesus is your Lord, your Master. People today don’t like the idea of having a Lord and Master. “We don’t have a master! We’re free!” That’s what the Jews told Jesus nearly two thousand years ago (John 8:33). But Jesus says that whoever sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34). This means that before Christ becomes your Lord and Master, your lord and master is sin and the prince of sin, Satan. It is an illusion that you are free when you follow the passions of your own flesh and when Satan can turn you to follow his will like a pilot turning the rudder of a ship. True freedom is having Christ as your Lord and Master.

And Christ Jesus indeed is your Lord. He has purchased you as his own, not with silver or gold, but with his holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death. That little baby in the manger has come for the purpose of winning you for himself. To have faith in Christ Jesus is to acknowledge him as your Lord, who has won you as his very own precious possession.

That Jesus is the Lord means that he is God. He is the Lord, who made himself known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, who rescued Israel from all its enemies. That little baby lying in the manger, is the God who holds all the stars of heaven in his hands. That young man hanging nailed to the cross, is the God who formed you in your mother’s womb. That man risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father is your Lord, your God and Savior.

So, what does it mean to live with Jesus as your Lord? It means to live free from guilt of sin, to be forgiven. It means to be free to love your neighbor and forgive your enemies. It means that your entire purpose in life is to serve your Lord and Master. The greatest joy a Christian has is to do what pleases his Lord, Jesus Christ.

And Jesus’ burden is not hard for us his servants to bear. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. In Jesus we have forgiveness of all our sins, safety from Satan, and assurance of an eternal inheritance in heaven. Our service to Christ involves listening to his holy Word, praying to him, and praising his name. Our service to Christ involves loving others and forgiving those who harm us, being patient and kind. And when we fail in this service, our Lord graciously welcomes us back. He brings us to repent of our sin, forgives us and restores us to our place. This is why we keep going back to him, to grow in his Word and receive his Medicine. Jesus is our Lord and God. There is no sin too great for him to forgive, no problem too great for him to solve. He is our Good Master, our Dear Lord from Whom we never want to be separated.

Dear friends in Christ, unto us is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. He alone saves us from our sins and grants us eternal life as a free gift. He alone was chosen by God to save us. He alone is the Lord. There is no other God than He. And he has purchased us with his own blood to make us his own. This indeed is good news of great joy for all people. May we celebrate this joyous birth tonight and always. Amen.

Let us pray: Oh, the joy beyond expressing When by faith we grasp this blessing, And to You we come confessing That Your love has set us free. Amen.

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Christ Comes to Dwell with Us in Love

12/25/2020

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The Adoration of the Shepherds, Gerhard van Honthorst, 1622, Public Domain

Christmas Eve 2020
Luke 2:1-20

Every once in a while, someone, usually from the church, will ask me if he can stop to check on something in the parsonage. And I almost always answer, “Yeah, sure.” This annoys my dear wife, not because she has a problem with people stopping by, especially to help, but because I almost never tell her that someone is coming. She likes to have a heads up, so she can tidy up before someone enters our home, in case there’s a mess. It would cause her embarrassment if someone she respected walked into our kitchen and saw oatmeal smeared on the table, milk spilled on the floor, and peanut butter fingerprints on the window and a toddler running around without any pants on. She’s not being weird. This is how we all are. It’s why we clean our homes before honored guests arrive.
Now, you can imagine the shame that befell our world when the Almighty God, the eternal Son of the Father by whom all things in heaven and on earth are made, who is robed in majesty in heaven and who receives the eternal praise of all the angels of heaven, came down to visit our humble earth. And he didn’t come to us unannounced by any means. Not only did prophets proclaim his coming for hundreds of years, even telling us the very town in which he would be born, but God sent angels to announce to Mary and Joseph! And still, with all this warning ahead of time, our world could not prepare a place fit for him. The finest palace with gilded marble and silk cushions would be too mean an accommodation for such an honored guest, yet all Joseph could secure for him was a drafty stable with a manger for a bed.
It makes one blush to think of the state of things when this most noble guest honored us with his presence. And indeed, it is horrifying to think of the behavior of our race as Christ Jesus arrived! No death glare from a mother at her son burping in from of his grandmother at Christmas dinner could suffice for the shameful act with which humanity welcomed the Christ child. Instead of sending precious gifts and welcoming him into his palace, King Herod sent soldiers to murder the baby boys of Bethlehem. And as this perfect child grew up into a man, he saw with eagle eyes our every fault: the weakness of our flesh, our diseases, our stench and mortality. He saw how we treat each other! Each one of us has his own faults, behavior that annoys and even harms our neighbor. Yet, instead of being patient toward the faults of others, we are quick to condemn, complain, and malign those with faults no worse than our own! Jesus didn’t just see our messy kitchens and smell our stinky feet. He watched how the crown of his creation, which he honored by joining in flesh and soul, treat each other with utter hatred, pride, and selfishness.
That’s embarrassing. Shameful. We humans couldn’t get our act together, even for a little while, to welcome the Son of God himself into our home. Of course, it did not surprise Christ Jesus that we were so awful. He didn’t come to earth expecting to find a bunch of righteous saints nor did he come to sleep in a comfy bed. Jesus came to earth to save us from our sins; to shine a light on those dwelling in darkness. He saw our wickedness and misery even from his glorious throne, and still he chose to come to us. Not only to come to us! He came to join us. To become our brother! Jesus Christ, our God is a human being. And he didn’t borrow the body of a man. He assumed human flesh. He acquired a human soul.
Think of the significance of this decision from our God! God cannot change. Yet, by becoming a man, he added something to himself that remains permanent forever! This means that in a billion years from now, yes, in one hundred billion times one hundred billion years from now, our God will still be our brother. He’ll still have ten fingers and ten toes, two eyes and a nose. He’ll be the same human who lied in the manger, who hung on the cross, who lay in the tomb. He will be as human then as he was that Christmas morning over two thousand years ago.
Why? Why did God join his creation? Why has he become a man, just like us? In order to rescue us from our sinful condition. Christ didn’t expect us to clean up this earth in preparation for his coming. Jesus came to rid the world of sin and death for us. While we with faults judged others for their faults, he who has no faults at all, came to rescue the people of the world from their own misery. It is exactly as the Apostle writes, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
Christ Jesus came to earth, became a human permanently, bore the worst suffering this world could place on him, bore our sins, sorrow, and punishment, because he loves us. In the Christmas story, we see how much our God loves us; how far he will go to save us. Again, it is as the hymnist reasons,
“If our blessed Lord and Maker
Hated men, Would He then
Be of flesh partaker?
If He in our woe delighted,
Would He bear All the Care
Of our race benighted?” (P. Gerhardt, All My Heart Sings and Rejoices, stz. 5, ELH 115)
The answer is obvious! Of course, he wouldn’t! In that little baby lying on straw in Bethlehem, we see irrefutable proof that God loves us, that he desires to save us. And in the teachings and deeds of Christ, up to his willing crucifixion, death and burial, resurrection, and great Commission of the Gospel, we see over and over again Christ’s love for us.
Now, by means of this very Gospel, Christ seeks an even more intimate dwelling with us than sharing the same planet. He desires to dwell in our hearts through faith. Yet, our hearts are an even less appropriate place for the Mighty King of Heaven than even the dingy manger in which he once lay. Our hearts are colder, darker, and harder than that stable. Out of the human heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander, indeed, everything that defiles us and makes us ashamed comes from our dark cold hearts (Matthew 15:19-20; Genesis 6:5). The human heart is so bad, that the Prophet Jeremiah declares that its deceitfulness is beyond understanding (Jeremiah 17:9).
So, how can our hearts be an appropriate dwelling place for Jesus Christ? In the same way that our world became home for our dear Lord Jesus. Jesus came into this world to save it from sin, and so he comes to dwell in your heart in order to save you. He shines a light into your heart to expose every crevice, so that he can cleanse it from sin. He gives you a new birth of the Spirit that takes away your heart of stone and gives you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Jesus enters your heart with forgiveness and peace from God himself.
It was God who made our sinful earth his home, preparing everything, even raising up Caesar Augustus to declare a census, so that Joseph would take Mary to the town of Bethlehem in order to fulfill the prophecy of Micah (5:2). And, so it is God who prepares your sinful heart to be a dwelling place for the King of Heaven. He does this through the miraculous power of Baptism, which empowers plain water with the voice of God. He does this by exposing your sins to create remorse for the wrong you’ve done. He does this by declaring forgiveness for all your wrong. God does not demand that you make your heart clean in order for him to enter into it anymore than did he wait until we had cleansed the earth of sin before he was born in it. Rather, God enters your heart with forgiveness so that he might cleanse you from your sin.
God made the earth his home, because he loves us. Jesus makes your heart his home, because he loves you. This is the message of Christmas. This is the glad tidings the angel declared when he said, “unto you is born a Savior.” This is why this message is a message of great joy to all people. Jesus comes to save us.
And so, this Christmas season should be a season of peace. God has made peace with sinners. It is we who have sinned against God, not he who has sinned against us. We confess to God in Psalm 51, “Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” Yet, it is God who comes to us to make peace! It is our heavenly Father who sends his Son to die for us while we are still sinning against him. Rarely in a conflict is either side not at fault. Yet, it is God, the faultless one who makes peace with the guilty. This is the apotheosis of magnanimity. Yet, even at the time of Christmas, we who have our own faults find faults in others. We who have a need for peace refuse to make peace. We who need forgiveness refuse to forgive. We who are unworthy of God’s grace find others unworthy of our patience and good will. Such behavior is rooted in unbelief! It reveals a heart that has refused to let Christ dwell in it.
The only way for love to pour forth from our hearts is for our hearts to first receive Christ. Only when God makes peace with us through faith in Christ can we make peace with one another. Yet, when we refuse to make peace with one another, we show that we are not at peace with God in our hearts.
Every Advent we sing, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” In the final verse we sing,
“O come, Desire of nations, bind,
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of peace.”
And our dear Lord Emmanuel answers this prayer. He answers this prayer with his Gospel of forgiveness. When his forgiveness dwells in your heart, Christ Jesus dwells in your heart. And from your heart flows peace. Make peace with those who have sinned against you through the peace that God gives you through Jesus, the Prince of Peace. He has made peace with our sinful world. And he has made peace with each of us.
This is also why we pray after receiving the Sacrament of Christ’s body and blood, that through the Sacrament, God would “strengthen us through the same in faith toward [God] and in fervent love toward one another.” Indeed, how can this Jesus dwell in our hearts through faith and not have his peace pour out from us?
Dear Friends in Christ, God has made peace with us through Jesus Christ. May his peace spread from us to one another. Let us pray.

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled,
A quiet chamber set apart
For You to dwell within my heart.
Amen.

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The Angels Proclaim Peace on Earth!

12/26/2019

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Painting "The Sheperds and the angel" (1879) by Carl Bloch. Oil on copper Public Domain

Christmas Eve, 2019
Luke 2:1-20

Our midweek Advent series this year was on angels. The first Wednesday we learned how these powerful spirits protect us. The second Wednesday we learned how these angels teach us how to worship. And last Wednesday we learned how the angels proclaim the Gospel. In short, angels are God’s servants, who do as God commands. So, what we have heard tonight, the angel announcing the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior, to a small group of shepherds, and then the great multitude of the heavenly army of angels joining in to praise God in the highest and declare peace and goodwill on earth, all this is by the command of God. Yet, this event stands in stark contrast to the first command recorded in the Bible which God gave to the angels.
Way back in Genesis chapter 3 after Adam and Eve sinned against God and were evicted from the Garden of Eden, God sent angels, called cherubim, armed with flaming swords to guard the way to the tree of life. These angels were charged with the task of keeping Adam and Eve out of paradise! What a great contrast from what we hear tonight, when the angels open up the heavens and declare God’s good pleasure to poor sinners! The angels, who were given the obligation to close the gates of paradise to mankind are now given the privilege to announce the opening of those gates to all who believe on Jesus Christ! It is as our hymn of the day declares in the sixth verse:
He is the key and He the door/ to blessed paradise;
The angel bars the way no more.
To God our praises rise/ to God our praises rise.
And you can understand then why the angels are so joyful and sing such praises to God! Christ Jesus has come to make all things right! He has done what no one else could do, neither man nor angel. He has opened the gates of heaven to poor sinners!
Yet, most underestimate how great a feat this is, which God has accomplished. They underestimate how far mankind fell; they belittle how much love God has for us and how much he gave in his endeavor to save us.
Adam and Eve fell into sin not simply because they ate a piece of fruit. Listen to what the serpent said, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:5) So, in that fruit Eve and her husband Adam saw their chance to be as wise as God; to become independent from him; to become themselves gods.
This is the greatest sin against the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods before me. Adam and Eve had other gods, themselves. They did not want to fear God. They did not want to be dependent on him so that they would need to trust in him. In their sin, they had no love for their Creator and heavenly Father.
And that is how we are in our sin. All sin in us is rooted in this desire to usurp God from his throne and set ourselves in his place! We want to be gods. We want to make the rules. We want to decide what is right and wrong. And so, we do! When we hear God’s word, we make our own determination whether it is important or not! We pick and choose which of God’s words we will believe and which we will disbelieve; which we will live by and which we will ignore! We imitate the sins of our first parents and even surpass them in our vice. This is no small sin. This not a little oopsie daisy, no biggie; no problem; no big deal. We are talking about a fall from God’s grace; rebellion against God himself; joining with Satan in a war against God!
For such rebellion, God has every right to condemn us to hell. He is perfectly justified in casting us out of paradise forever! Yet, that’s not what he has done! We take this for granted, but God did not do for the angels as he did for us! The Bible says in the book of Jude, “And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under the gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.” (vs. 6). Satan and his demons are fallen angels. But God offered them no chance of salvation. God never said to an angel, “You are my son, today, I have begotten you.” He never promised to become an angel or to send the angels a savior. Rather, he forever blocked the fallen angels out of paradise and damned them to hell. As he had every right to do! Yet, for our sad race, which leagued itself to Satan’s side, God offers salvation!
God loves us more than the angels. He made mankind in his own image. Immediately after God caught Adam and Eve in their sin, he promised a Savior, born of the woman, who would crush the head of Satan while enduring suffering for our sake. (Genesis 3:15). The birth of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the promise God gave to Adam and Eve, two sinners, who joined themselves to Satan against God. And this birth is a promise to us, which tells us that God does not desire our damnation, but our eternal salvation.
Even the cherubim armed with flaming swords guarding the way to the tree of life, God sent out of love for us. He did not want those two sinners to eat of a tree that gives eternal life, because then, they would be forever trapped in their sins. Rather, God had already prepared a way to eternal life for them. God would send his own Son to become a human being, so that he would die for our sins and clear the way to paradise for us.
This is why the birth of Jesus is such a big deal. This is why God sent every angel at his disposal to announce his birth and teach us how to sing praises to our God. This is why we still celebrate this holy night over two thousand years later.
Every angel in heaven sang:
Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, good will toward men.
This is what brings God glory. That his Son joined our human race in order to save us. And that we accept this Christ-child, so that he forever dwells in our hearts. This brings more glory to God than all the wonderful works of the angels. Our salvation! Our union with God through his Son Jesus Christ. This glorifies God in the highest.
And in this song, the angels declare a wonderful promise to us, “And on earth peace, good will toward men.” Indeed, there is now peace between God and our human race through the mediation of Jesus Christ. On account of Jesus, God is reconciled to us. He is not angry with us. Rather, God accepts us for the sake of Jesus, his death and resurrection. There is peace between God and us.
Yet, this proclamation of the angels does not say, peace in heaven. It says, peace on earth. And this is not simply a wish, a hopeful expression like, “have a good day!” No, this is a prophecy; a divine promise from God. There will be peace on earth!
But has this prophesy failed? Since the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem until now, wars have not ceased upon the earth. If anything, they have increased! Yet, the angels are not speaking about peace between heathen nations. The angels are speaking about those who accept this baby Jesus, born in the manger. Among those, who love this Christ child, who hope in him for their salvation, who are reconciled with God through faith in Jesus’ blood, there will be peace. This is a divine promise. This is a prophesy that cannot fail.
Our hymn of the month this December was "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” In the last verse this congregation prayed every week, “O come, Desire of nations, bind/ In one the heart of all mankind; Bid Thou our sad divisions cease, And be Thyself our King of Peace.” These were not vain words we sang. We sang these words in firm faith that they would come true. Christ Jesus ends our sad divisions. He is our King of Peace. All who trust in him become peaceful, as Jesus himself taught, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
Those who trust in Christ Jesus love one another. Scripture says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” (1 John 5:1) And Jesus himself declares, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Those who love Jesus, who are reconciled with God the Father through faith in Christ and his blood, who rejoice at the birth of God in a manger, love one another. As God has loved us, so do we love one another. We try to do what pleases our fellow Christians and that which causes them harm we try to avoid. We speak well of one another. We think of one another’s interests over our own. As we confess one Lord and are joined in one Baptism, so we desire to be one.
Yet, it doesn’t work out so beautifully, does it? Rather, it is often the case that we are selfish and careless with our words and actions. We offend one another and isolate ourselves. Christians at enmity with other Christians! This happens, because although the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. We Christians still sin against each other. Yet, our Lord has given us a way to deal with this problem here on earth and so maintain the peace we are given by the Prince of Peace. Jesus says that when your brother sins against you go and show him his fault between you and him alone, and if he listens, you have gained your brother! Jesus teaches us to forgive those who trespass against us, even as God forgives us our trespasses.
Yet, too often we don’t do that. Rather we think, “I did nothing wrong. This person has offended me. That is his problem. I have every right to hate him in my heart.” Yet, that is not how God has dealt with us. When we sinned against him, God did not simply cast us off and hate us forever. Rather, while we were still sinners, when we didn’t ask for it, God sent his Son to be born of the Virgin Mary and to die for our sins. God confronts us with our sins and gives us a Savior, so that he can make peace with us. And so, it is our responsibility as God’s children to make peace with one another. Forgive one another even as God in Christ forgave you.
If you have a problem with a fellow Christian, go and talk to him. It may seem like an intimidating task, but God is not commanding you to make peace yourself. God has already made peace through Jesus Christ. When you go to your fellow Christian, whom you are at odds with, you go armed with the blood of Christ. You go with the power and authority of the Prince of Peace, who has made peace for us.
Through the Christ-child, who was once laid in a manger, God has made you people of Good Will. He has made you peacemakers, through the Prince of Peace himself. You are fully equipped. Martin Luther says that those who refuse to make peace do not listen to the song of the angels, but rather the howling of the wolf, the devil. Don’t listen to the lies of Satan. Listen to the voice of those angels sent by God. Peace on earth. Make peace with one another. God has done much more to make peace with you.
It is a joyful gift that God has given us that we can be reconciled with one another. Nothing is impossible for us, who know Christ Jesus. So, through Jesus let us make peace with one another now, as we wait for God to command his angels to escort us to heaven, where we will sing praises to God in the highest with the angels and with one another forever more.
God’s peace be with you. Merry Christmas. Amen.

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Christmas Eve: For unto You Is Born... A Savior

12/25/2018

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Luke 2:1-20

Is this a true story? Was Jesus really born in Bethlehem to a virgin mother? Is Jesus an historical person like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln? Many ask themselves these questions and answer, “no.” They’ll object that very little is written about Jesus during the time he supposedly walked on this earth apart from the Gospels, and well, you can’t really take the Gospels seriously, can you? After all, they are filled with miracles and wonders and were written by religious fanatics!
Yet, why can’t you take the Gospels of the New Testament seriously? Are they really ahistorical legends? Well, let’s consider them. Four different individuals wrote four different yet complimentary and corroborating accounts about the life of Christ. They give dates, locations, names, list additional witnesses, everything you would desire from an historical report. The Gospel of Luke especially fits this description. Written by a physician named Luke, a companion of Saint Paul and other disciples of Jesus, Luke goes to extraordinary lengths to write a faithful account of what he has seen and heard. The Gospel begins:
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-4)
In other words, Luke did his research. He interviewed eyewitnesses, recorded their testimonies, compared his notes with others, and wrote a narrative which agrees with other writings of the same events and which was accepted by those who witnessed these events. Luke is meticulous in his writing, telling us this happened when a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Who, what, where, when; he answers all relevant questions. Humanly speaking, there is no reason to doubt what St. Luke writes in his Gospel concerning what we just heard tonight except for a bias against the supernatural; a virgin conceiving and giving birth and angels appearing before shepherds. If not for these supernatural events, Luke and the other Gospels would be accepted as the finest historical documents of their age.
Yet, there is much more reason why we, who have stifled our natural bias against the supernatural, should accept what was read tonight besides the fact that Luke followed the highest standards of historical research. Listen to how Luke’s Gospel relates to the prophecies of Isaiah.
Isaiah says in his 9th chapter, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forever more. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.” Compare these words with what the angel said to Mary when he told her she would conceive the Savior, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:31-33)
Mary asks the angel how this can be since she is a virgin echoing back to the saying of Isaiah in chapter 7, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Of course, King Ahaz never saw this sign. Rather, 700 years afterward the angel said to the shepherds out in the fields outside of Bethlehem, “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12) It was fitting that the angel announced this sign to shepherds outside the city of David, since David himself was a shepherd in those same fields, and it was to him God promised that he would set his son on his throne forever, referring to the Christ (2 Samuel 7:12-16). It is also fitting that the whole company of angels celebrated the birth of this Prince of Peace by singing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will toward men.”
These are just a few examples of how the Gospels fit together with the prophecies of the Old Testament like pieces in a puzzle. Indeed, there would not be enough time between now and the return of Christ for us to discuss sufficiently all the prophecies of the Old Testament fulfilled in the New by Jesus. And this is why we should regard what we have heard tonight so highly. The reason the Gospel of Luke fits so well with the writings of the Old Testament is not simply because Luke was such a brilliant scholar. It is because Isaiah and Luke have the same author, although they were written over seven hundred years apart by two different men. The Holy Spirit himself is the author of every book of the Bible.
Scripture is reliable, because it was caused to be written by God himself. Indeed, the Bible is the word of God. This means that we should regard what we have heard tonight from St. Luke’s Gospel with as much certainty as the Shepherds did the words of the angels on that holy night.
Not only does this teach us that the Scriptures are reliable, but this tells us to whom they are written. That the Holy Spirit caused these words from St. Luke to be written to be passed down generation after generation, means that they were written for us. It is as St. John wrote in his Gospel, “These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31) This means that the words of the angels, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” are not words only for the shepherds, but for you, and me, and indeed all people. Jesus is our Savior.
In St. Matthew’s Gospel the angel told Joseph that the child’s name will be Jesus, which means the LORD saves, because “he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus saves us from our sins. Indeed, Jesus only came to save sinners. For Jesus to be your Savior, you must be a sinner. This doesn’t mean that you must go out and break God’s commandments in order for Christ to be your Savior. You do that enough already without putting any special effort into it. But this does mean that you must become aware of your sins. Jesus saves sinners. If you are not aware of your sins and that you need to be rescued from them, you will not understand what it means that Jesus is your Savior. And you will not be able to welcome him as your Savior. Yet, if you recognize that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness, the news that Jesus saves sinners is truly splendid. Jesus comes to save idolater, adulterers, liars, murderers, thieves, gossips, drunks, people who skip church, he comes to save them all. Jesus comes to save you.
“Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” the Prophet Isaiah writes. Who is us? Who is speaking these words? Having been given these words by the Holy Spirit, we do. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Jesus was born for us. This means that the following words apply to us as well.
“The government shall be upon his shoulder.” This is not an earthy government, which taxes and makes trade deals, fights wars and desperately clings to power. No, this is a heavenly government, one where Jesus rules with all authority. This government is not limited to national boundaries, rather, you are a citizen of this government when Christ rules your heart through faith in his word.
“His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.” Jesus is our counselor. This means that he counsels us. We listen to his words and he guides us through this life as a shepherd guides his sheep with a rod and staff. He draws us to repentance, forgives our sins, and guides us in the path of righteousness.
“Mighty God.” Jesus is our God. This means we trust in him with all our heart, soul, and mind. We rely on him for all things. We trust that God will give us all good things for the sake of Jesus, who died for us. The greatest of these things is the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
“Everlasting Father.” Jesus teaches us that if we have seen him, we have seen the Father. Scripture makes clear that the Father and the Son are two distinct persons in the holy Trinity and Jesus is God the Son. He is not God the Father. The Father was not born of the Virgin Mary nor did he die on the cross for your sins. Yet, Jesus is to us an everlasting Father. He provides for us eternally, as a father provides for his children and rules his household with honor.
“Prince of Peace.” Peace. That is the word proclaimed by the angels at Jesus’ birth. That is the word Jesus declared to his disciples when he rose from the dead. Peace. Not as the world gives. This is peace the world cannot understand, peace between God and man. This is peace that can only be won through the shedding of Jesus’ blood, which removes every stain of sin from our souls. The Prince of Peace does not win peace for us by conquering our enemies with bombs and missiles. Our real enemies cannot be conquered by such warfare. Christ Jesus conquers our enemies, sin, death, and hell by removing your sin from you, by giving you eternal life, and by making you a citizen of heaven.
The message of Christmas is for you. God caused it to be written for your benefit. In fact, all of Scripture applies to you and your life. Jesus was born for you. He is your Savior. And all of his words are written for your learning, so that you may grow in faith and confidence in your salvation. We celebrate tonight not just a story that happened long ago and far away. Tonight, we celebrate the Gospel truth that unto you is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Amen.

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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

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Christmas Eve: For unto You Is Born... A Savior

Rev. James Preus

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