Sermon for Christmas Day (December 25, 2018)

Christmas Day 2018

“The Glory of Christmas”

            When you think about the glory of Christmas, what comes to mind?  Angels?  Spectacular light displays?  A beautiful, snowy, moonlit night?  Tearing into those colorful packages underneath the tree?

            In Southern California where I grew up, there was a famous production called “The Glory of Christmas” at the Crystal Cathedral in the city of Garden Grove.  The Crystal Cathedral was the huge glass church where the well-known TV evangelist Robert Schuller was pastor and from where he broadcast his weekly show, The Hour of Power.

“The Glory of Christmas” was a huge production, with a massive choir, angels flying in on wires and harnesses, Roman soldiers on horseback, camels and donkeys plodding down the aisles.  Yes … real live horses, camels, and donkeys!  I was teaching school at the time and one of my colleagues, an English teacher and choir director, played Joseph in the production one year.

But the Crystal Cathedral is no more.  Therefore, no more “Glory of Christmas.”  Schuller and the leadership of the church were charged with misappropriation of funds, forcing them to file for bankruptcy in 2010.  The building was eventually sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County and next year it will become their cathedral, the seat of the bishop.

            But what really is the glory of Christmas?  Is it all the shiny things?  All the excitement surrounding the holiday?  Lively entertainment … like productions of the ballet The Nutcracker, or maybe popular movies like Christmas Story, or Elf, or even Home Alone?  Is it about tearing into all the colorful packages?  Is it the bright lights and snowy nights?  This is all wonderful, for sure.  But the luster and shine of what we think is the glory of Christmas is tarnished by the way we have misappropriated all the gifts that God has given to us.  Not the ones that come in wrapping paper.  But the ones right in front of us and the ones within us.  We have misused and abused our responsibilities as God’s people.  We have failed to appreciate and properly care for the gifts of our families and friends.  We have neglected to use our gifts and talents in God’s service.

The glory of Christmas is that God loved you so much that he sent his Son into the world to save you and to forgive you for the ways you have misused and abused or refused to use the gifts he has given you.  Although we do not deserve to be rescued from our sins, the Son of God came down from heaven and entered into this world through the Virgin Mary to do just that.  Jesus is God in the flesh, God become a Man.  He is the Word, co-creator with God the Father, the source of life and light and the enfleshed revelation of the Father and his infinite love for you and me and all humanity.    

            John says, “We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  What glory did John see?  Is he referring to Jesus’ miracles?  Changing water into wine, walking on water, knowing exactly where a big catch of fish was waiting, calming a storm, making the deaf hear, the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead come alive?  That’s part of it.  But that might not be what John means here.

            Is he talking about the Transfiguration?  That moment when John along with Peter and James were on a mountaintop with Jesus and saw his divine glory shining through his human nature, flanked by Moses and Elijah?  Possibly.  Still, I’m not sure that’s what John means here either.

            So what is the glory of Christmas?  Is it the angels?  Not everyone got to see them, only the shepherds.

Is it the star?  Although others may have seen it, only the Magi recognized its significance.

The glory of Christmas was wrapped up in the swaddling cloths in the manger.  There, the glory of God was seen, veiled in human flesh.

The glory of Christmas culminated in the glory of Good Friday, where the love of God was veiled under pain and suffering and blood and death as our Lord Jesus paid the price for the sins of the world and earned forgiveness for all who trust in him.

And the glory of Good Friday found its fulfillment in the glory of the empty tomb … proof that Jesus’ death was sufficient for us, that he truly gained the victory over sin, death, and hell for us.

            God himself took up residence in human flesh and was laid in a manger.  That’s the glory of Christmas.  And today, the glory of Christmas is seen in the fact that the very same Christ Child of Christmas comes to you in the manger of the Holy Scriptures and in the bread and wine that is laid in your hands and in your mouth, his body and blood that was given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins.

            The glory of Christmas is right here … right now … for you.  That’s the grace and truth of Christmas.

            Amen.

Sermon for Christmas Eve (December 24, 2018)

Christmas Eve 2018

“Sleep in Heavenly Peace” (Luke 2:1-16)

The song “Silent Night” is 200 years old this year.  Most of us are familiar with only three stanzas of that song, but did you know there are actually six?  We’ll be singing all 6 verses later tonight … three with our candles lit, and then three after the benediction.  On the back of the service folder is an article that tells you more about the history of the song.  I’ll let you read about it later.

As sweet and lovely and beloved as that song is, I really don’t think it was a very silent night when Jesus was born.  Bethlehem was not a large village in those days.  Its population was probably around 300, give or take a 100, maybe.  However, given that Caesar had issued a decree that everyone had to return to their ancestral homes to register for the purposes of taxation, the population of the little town would have swelled considerably.  That explains why there was no room in the inn and why the only place available for the young couple from Nazareth was the stable in the back.  It also gives one reason to believe that all the travelers would have caused quite the stir, with families reunited, catching up into long hours of the night, and shopkeepers selling food to the new arrivals and to residents wanting to feed their visiting relatives.  Although the song says that Jesus was able to “sleep in heavenly peace,” I wonder if the rest of the town was able to do so.

It wasn’t a silent night when I visited Bethlehem last month.  It was midafternoon when we arrived in Manger Square, a large open area outside the Church of the Nativity.  Nor was it silent.  Quite the contrary.  Tourists and pilgrims from all over the world were milling around, adding to the current population around 25,000.  Cars and taxi cabs were zooming by, honking their horns.  People were queuing up to crouch down and pass through the tiny entrance to the church, modified that way years ago to stop looters from coming in with their carts and forcing riders on horseback to dismount before going in.

Although it’s expected that you act reverently when you go in, there is still an excited chatter all around you as everyone waits in line to see the shrine marking the place where it is presumed that Jesus was born.  You climb down a set of stairs that take you below the altar of the church, and there you see a marble slab with a hole surrounded by a silver star marking the sacred location.  Some people gaze with wonder.  Many kneel down and kiss the spot.  And you can bet that many take out their smartphones and cameras to take photographs and selfies.  At the same time, a man is standing there … I don’t know if he was a priest or church official or a member of the ministry of tourism … but whatever his position, he was loudly rushing everyone along so that others who had stood in line for two hours could lay their eyes on the location.

When we finally exited the building, it was dusk.  Lights along the outside of the church were turned on and beautifully illuminated the walls.  We stood there, waiting for our group to gather together and reunite with our tour guide.  And while we did, the sound of the Muslim call to prayer from the nearby mosque filled the square, an odd contrast having just come from the birthplace of the One whom Islam reveres as a prophet but rejects as God in the Flesh and the Redeemer of the World.

It certainly wasn’t a silent night.  Although we didn’t see any immediate conflict during our trip, there were signs of it.  In order to get to Bethlehem, which lies in the West Bank, you have to pass through a security checkpoint, and you can see the huge wall topped with barbed wire that separates many portions of the West Bank from Israel.  While we were there, rockets were being fired into southern Israel from Gaza.  The birthplace of the Prince of Peace and its surrounding regions have had many days when the people have not been able to “sleep in heavenly peace.”

And the conflict is not only between Jews and Muslims.  Sadly, there is conflict between Christians, too.  It happens in places like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, built over the places where Jesus was crucifed, was buried, and rose again.  Various Christian denominations have jurisdiction over sections of the church … Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic, and others … and once in a while the priests and monks get into scuffles and even violent fist fights over the use of each area.

But you don’t have to travel to Israel to see examples of this.  We have our own divisions here.  The Christian Church is divided into countless denominations.  Other religions are divided against Christianity and against each other.  Races are divided.  Political parties and persuasions are divided.  People are divided over personal offenses and long-held grudges.  And we are each divided within ourselves and against God because of our sinful natures.  The good we know we should be doing, we don’t do.  What we should shun and avoid, we often plunge right into.  There is a part of us that is hostile to God and all that he stands for and all that he wants us to do and be.

This is why the Son of God was born for us.  To be the Prince of Peace.  We are at war with God because of our disobedience to him.  We deserve nothing but punishment.  But God, in his infinite love and mercy sent his Son to be born as a baby, to live under God’s own holy Law, to grow up and live in perfect obedience to his Heavenly Father, so that he would be the perfect, holy sacrifice for the sins of the world at the cross.  Through his death and resurrection, he would destroy the power of the devil, be a blessing to all nations, and rule and reign for the good of all who trust in him.

This is why the angel could say to the shepherds, “Fear not.”  There is no need to be afraid that God might not love you or forgive you.  You have a Savior.

This is why the angel called the birth of Christ “good news of great joy.”  The promise that God’s people had been waiting for since the Fall into sin in the Garden of Eden was fulfilled in the birth of Christ Jesus.  God does love you.  He kept his promise to send a Savior for you.

This is why the angel said that it is “for all the people.”  No one is excluded from this promise.  It is for all people … every race, every tribe, every nation, every language, every size and shape.  Through faith in Christ Jesus, no one is excluded from God’s love and mercy.

And this is why the angel choir sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”  Jesus came to bring peace between God and Man through his death on the cross.  All of your sins and my sins and the sins of everyone who ever lived were credited to Jesus.  And by baptism and faith in Jesus, his perfection, his righteousness, his holiness, is credited to you.  God is at peace with you.  You are at peace with God.  You can sleep well at night knowing you are loved by God and forgiven.  You can sleep in heavenly peace.

But what about all those other conflicts that are going on outside of us?  The Prince of Peace has come, and yet there is still not much peace in the world.  Jesus said this would happen.  He warned that there will be “wars and rumors of war … nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matt. 24:6-7).  There’s not much we can do about whatever is going on around the world.  But what we can do is work for peace right where we are.  Since God is reconciled to us, we can seek to reconcile with others with whom we are at odds.  Offer the peace of Christ to them.  Be merciful and compassionate.  Reflect the peace that will one day arrive when Jesus returns as he promised.  On that day, in the new heaven and new earth that will accompany the return of our Lord, the prophet Isaiah pictures the peace of the Jesus this way:  “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them.”  All those who were common enemies will be friends once again.

Above all else, God in Christ Jesus is friends again with you.  Trust in the Little Child of Bethlehem.  Let him lead you so that no matter what is going on in your life, you can sleep in heavenly peace.

Amen.

Sermon for Christmas Eve 2011

“Light a Candle (The True Light)” (John 1:9)

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. (John 1:9)

Light a candle. What do you notice? A bright yellow glow. A flame that flickers. A warmth that emanates. A pleasant aroma if it happens to be one of those scented candles. A fire that burns if you get too close.

Light a candle. There is something unique about candlelight. Enter a room lit only by candles, and there will be a different feeling in that room. The glowing, dancing light has a certain enchanting quality. It’s as if the light is alive.

Light a candle. One small flame has power. If you light a candle in a pitch black room, that one small flame shines brightly. You can begin to make out the shapes in the room. No more bumping into walls and pieces of furniture.

This is a dark time of year in these parts. The hours of daylight are short. Two days ago it was the Winter Solstice … the shortest day of the year. The days are now getting longer. But it will be a while before we begin to notice it.

These dark, gray days cause many people to become blue. Sad. Depressed. Psychologists call it “Seasonal Affective Disorder.” A few years ago, as a Californian transplanted to Washington via Indiana, I came to realize that I could probably stand to use a bit more sunlight this time of year. I wouldn’t call it depression. That would be insulting to people who deal with true clinical depression. But I certainly found myself becoming sluggish and just generally down in the dumps. A friend suggested I light some candles. The natural, warm glow of candlelight has a certain quality to it that can help alter your mood. I also wonder if this is one reason why people decorate their homes with festive lights this time of year … seeing houses all lit up for the holidays helps to “lighten the mood.”

The darkness around us, however, is much more than physical. Physical darkness in reality is not threatening. There is nothing there in the dark that wasn’t there in the light. At least that’s what we tell our children when they are afraid of the dark. But spiritual darkness, on the other hand, is the real enemy. The darkness of sin, evil, disobedience to God, rebellious hearts … this is the real problem we face. Disease, discouragement, dissension, dysfunction, death … these are only symptoms of the darkness of sin. This darkness is all around us. This darkness is inside each of us. And this darkness is present even on the brightest, warmest summer days.

Into this dark world, a candle was lit. An infant child was born in a stable and laid in a manger. The Son of God became flesh. This one small flame entered into this world to enlighten us, to shine the truth to us of God’s love for sinful mankind. The sinless Son of Mary came to do battle with the darkness and to overcome it for us. In his earthly ministry, he healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, made the lame to walk, the deaf to hear. He forgave sins. He brought comfort to those afflicted in mind and heart. He cast demons out of those oppressed by Satan and his evil allies. He raised the dead. In all this, he showed that he has the power over the darkness of sin and evil.

But it didn’t stop there. Jesus himself faced the darkness of death for us. At the cross, the debt we owe to God for our sin was laid upon him. The sinless Savior paid the price for our sins with his own life. The sun refused to shine that day. There was darkness in the middle of the day as Jesus hung there, breathing his last breaths and crying out, “It is finished!” It appeared as if the light of Jesus, the Light of the World, had been snuffed out. But on Easter morning, the light of Christ shone forth brightly as he rose from the dead, conquering death once and for all. Now you who are enlightened through the waters of Baptism and who trust in the light of Christ are forgiven of all your sins. Everlasting life is yours. Like Jesus, you too will rise to life again on the Last Day and live in the light of God’s love forever.

“The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world,” St. John writes in the first chapter of his Gospel (John 1:9). He goes on: “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:10-11). The Baby lying in the manger was the same One who created the universe. The Baby lying in the manger grew up to be the Savior who was rejected by his own people. People still reject him today. They seek other kinds of “light” for their problems. But these types of light are really no light at all. They only mask the symptoms of sin or dull the senses so that our real guilt before a holy God is either momentarily alleviated or denied altogether. These are artificial sources of light that really only leave us in the darkness.

Only Jesus, the true light, enlightens our darkness. Only he brings real forgiveness for our sin and guilt. The light of Jesus doesn’t just mask our symptoms or dull our senses. He truly dealt with our sin problem once and for all by his incarnation, by his sinless sacrifice, and by his resurrection. “Glory to God in the highest,” the angels sang at his birth, “and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14) In Christ Jesus, God’s favor rests upon you. In Christ Jesus, God is pleased with you. In Christ Jesus, God is at peace with you and you are at peace with God. Now, even though our earthly lives are still affected by the symptoms of sin, we can still have Christmas peace, Christmas comfort, Christmas joy because Jesus overcame the darkness of sin and death for us at the cross and the empty tomb. In eternity we will experience the total victory that Jesus won for us. No more sorrow. No more sin. No more death. Only joy and light and life in the presence of God forever.

God the Holy Spirit ignites the flame of faith in our hearts when we hear the Good News about Jesus the Savior. That fire within us is stoked when we hear God’s Word, when we remember our Baptism, when we hear that our sins are forgiven in Holy Absolution, when we receive Christ’s body and blood in Holy Communion. Still, the darkness of our old sinful nature causes the flame of faith to flicker and wane. The darkness that remains in the world tries to blow out the flame of faith and causes us to doubt, despair, and disbelieve. Is your wick smoldering tonight? Is the darkness within you and around you threatening to snuff out any remnants of faith and hope in your heart? Be assured that God’s will is to fan the flame of faith within you. The prophet Isaiah said, “A faintly burning wick he will not quench” (Is. 42:3).

God the Father lit a candle for you when his Son was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary and born in the stable of Bethlehem. That one small light was powerful enough to overcome the darkness of sin and death for the whole world. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Come and be warmed by the glow of God’s love for you. Trust in the resurrection power of Christ’s life. Come and be filled with the light of hope, peace, and joy found only in Christ Jesus.

Amen.