Christmas Eve
Text: Luke 2:1-20
UNTO YOU IS BORN THIS DAY… A SAVIOR!
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting
Merry Christmas to you! A Savior is born to you! Everything depends on the Baby first cradled in a manger coming to you – your salvation, your forgiveness, your life, your resurrection, your everything! How do you know the gift of this child is for you? The shepherds heard it first, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. You don’t have to be old enough or wise enough or wealthy enough or strong enough or good enough to qualify for this gift. I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. Merry Christmas to you!
Nothing new will be said tonight that these walls haven’t heard for some 90 years now. In text or song or sermon, the meaning of this night is the same this year as last year and as the year before that. Nothing new is ever added and yet it is always new. God give you ears to hear it anew tonight, to mull over and wonder about this holy mystery, to treasure up and ponder the birth of Christ, to know that this gift of God’s love is for you! Merry Christmas to you!
If you’re not in the mood for Christmas, whatever we think that is, that might be a plus, a distinct advantage. That might help you hear the truth of this night even better. For Christmas is not about our ever-changing, mixed up moods. Christmas is about God’s never-changing, marvelous grace. The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people (Titus 2:11).
That’s why nothing can ruin Christmas! Unbelief can ruin us eternally, but nothing can ruin Christmas! Nothing can ruin Christmas because it is God’s gift! Unto you is born this day…A Savior! Lack of snow cannot ruin Christmas! Modern culture pressuring us to say, “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas’ cannot ruin Christmas! Feeling low, facing sickness, being lonely, even being depressed cannot ruin Christmas! Good heavens, dear Christians, it’s because we sinners face all these things that Christ came down in Mary’s womb! The good news of great joy announced over Bethlehem’s fields is not because we have everything in hand. The good news of great joy is exactly because of our ongoing desperate need. Merry Christmas to you! Really, merry Christmas to you, whatever mood you’re in! Don’t be sucked in and swallowed up by unrealistic expectations about what this celebration and this season mean.
The truth is that no matter how we struggle and how we strive, no matter how often we think we’re in the mood or not in the mood for Christmas, we’re not going to get out of this world alive. We are dust and to dust we will return. Yet, even death cannot ruin Christmas. This baby was born to die and so defeat death for us. That’s the reason He took on flesh! Death, where is your sting? Grave where is your victory?
And the angel said to them, “Fear not…” We sinners have every reason to fear what comes to us from the realm of heaven. Not one sin will ever enter the presence of God’s holiness and look at the mess that festers in your heart. It looks a lot like the mess in mine and in the heart of every man and woman and child. Yet the messenger comes from attending God to announce how God is attending to our foremost need. “Fear not”.
You are not an evolutionary accident. You are one created in the very image of God and now fallen in the sin of Adam. But the God from whom you are estranged, the God against whom you rebel, reaches down to you with these words, “Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of a 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.” This is not an imaginary new-age angel promising to show you your inner spiritual spark. This is a messenger from God’s presence proclaiming the fulfillment of all His promises. No matter how many promises God has made, they are “yes” in Christ Jesus (II Cor. 1:20.
Merry Christmas to you! The people walking in darkness have seen a great light! It happened! Nothing can ruin Christmas! God give you ears to hear it new, to mull over and wonder about this holy mystery. God has always loved you! He loves you now! In His undeserved love He by whom the heavens and earth were made came down. It actually happened and it happened “to you”, that is “for you”. “Unto you is born this day… a Savior!”
He is born in the city of David, Bethlehem. He is born in a stable. He is born of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Knit together in her womb, He is born to you just what you need…a Savior! He is born to you not a mere spiritual advisor to give you a few pointers on cleaning up your life. He is born to you not a spiritual guide to show you how to find your own way through contact with your inner self. He is born to you not a sweet spiritual image to make you feel a certain way! He is born to you a flesh and blood Savior. Unto you is born…a Savior!
God give you ears to hear it new for our sluggish hearts so easily treat it as tired, old news, childish, sentimental stuff. We can easily drag through these busy days and miss the treasure. The true spirit of Christmas is not the spirit of sweet, generic cards about earthly peace and love in general. The spirit of Christmas is not that of the angel Clarence working off his sins in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. The spirit of Christmas is not simply that of family time, helping people, or feeling good. The true spirit of Christmas is the Holy Spirit testifying to all that this child is and does for you. Unto you is born this day…a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
Dear Christians, the beating heart of Christmas is first of all not what you feel and do, but what God did and continues to do. Christmas is about your being given to - like a little child is given to at Christmas. Do you ever remember delight and joy as a little one upon receiving a special, unique gift that caught you unawares? I can remember one such gift quite clearly almost a half century later. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it (Mark 10:15). In the Christ child your Heavenly Father brings to you and me the gift of gifts that far surpasses any earthly possession. In this child God gives you His love in the flesh. Merry Christmas to you!
He took up the flesh of Mary that He might be pierced and bleed in your place. He came naked from Mary’s womb in the darkness of a stable that He might hang naked in the darkness of God’s noonday wrath. He had no room in the inn that He might prepare room for you in heaven. He has always loved you and wants you with Him. He breathed your poisoned, covetous air that He might cry out and give up the Spirit for you. He slept in an animal’s feeding trough that he might feed you with the Bread of Life. He was clothed in swaddling clothes that He might later be wrapped in grave clothes, the completed sacrifice for the sin of the world. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes that needed changing and cleaning that He might exchange our filthy robes for the clean robes of His righteousness. He was nestled in His mother’s arms that, risen from the grave, He might enfold you in His arms for eternity.
He did it on purpose! He is glad He did it. Jesus helps those who cannot help themselves. There is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12) but there is salvation in Him. He made peace with God for you by the blood of His cross. He made peace with God for you that makes the angels sing! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will among men.
Unto you is born…a Savior. The Son of God is one of us. God and man are together again for He is both God and Man. There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He has always loved us! He has come to save us from the evils that we have done. He also releases us from the evils done to us! For you see, in this troubled world we sinners are both predator and prey. Our tongues may injure another, but we also may be injured by the tongues of others. Our body and actions may hurt others, but the actions and bodies of others may also hurt us. Our Savior, who is Christ the Lord, rescues us from our transgressions against others. He also rescues us from self-pity and bitterness and revenge when we are sinned against. We don’t have to play the miserable victim and seek revenge. Why, because, “unto you is born…a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. What kind of sign is that for the Savior of the world? What God of sign is that for the coming of Satan’s worst nightmare, a wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace. It is God’s chosen sign, humble and ordinary and sure.
But Jesus isn’t a baby in the manger anymore. Nor is He on the cross where He won your salvation. He is risen and ascended and with His church more than ever. This is the new sign for you that is also humble and ordinary and sure. You will find the Savior hidden in the waters of Baptism. You will find Him wrapped in the swaddling clothes of Scripture and mangered in bread and wine. Tomorrow and each week in the Divine Liturgy He comes to teach and feed you and give you life. You worship Him chiefly by receiving in faith what He gives.
And that affects how you live and what you give to others. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
You say you haven’t lived self-controlled and upright enough! You say you haven’t been zealous enough for good works. Praise God that you get it! That’s why Christ gave Himself to redeem you from all lawlessness! That’s why God doesn’t stop giving to you in Christ Jesus! You cannot rise to Him. He continues to come to you to cheer your wearied spirit and draw you unto Him.
Your loved ones who have died in Christ are not missing out on the true Christmas! Nothing can ruin Christmas! Through God’s redeeming love the people of His possession are enjoying the blessed hope for which you wait. While you wait, Merry Christmas to you! In the Name of Jesus, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be honor and glory now and forever. Amen.
UNTO YOU IS BORN THIS DAY… A SAVIOR!
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting
Merry Christmas to you! A Savior is born to you! Everything depends on the Baby first cradled in a manger coming to you – your salvation, your forgiveness, your life, your resurrection, your everything! How do you know the gift of this child is for you? The shepherds heard it first, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. You don’t have to be old enough or wise enough or wealthy enough or strong enough or good enough to qualify for this gift. I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. Merry Christmas to you!
Nothing new will be said tonight that these walls haven’t heard for some 90 years now. In text or song or sermon, the meaning of this night is the same this year as last year and as the year before that. Nothing new is ever added and yet it is always new. God give you ears to hear it anew tonight, to mull over and wonder about this holy mystery, to treasure up and ponder the birth of Christ, to know that this gift of God’s love is for you! Merry Christmas to you!
If you’re not in the mood for Christmas, whatever we think that is, that might be a plus, a distinct advantage. That might help you hear the truth of this night even better. For Christmas is not about our ever-changing, mixed up moods. Christmas is about God’s never-changing, marvelous grace. The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people (Titus 2:11).
That’s why nothing can ruin Christmas! Unbelief can ruin us eternally, but nothing can ruin Christmas! Nothing can ruin Christmas because it is God’s gift! Unto you is born this day…A Savior! Lack of snow cannot ruin Christmas! Modern culture pressuring us to say, “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas’ cannot ruin Christmas! Feeling low, facing sickness, being lonely, even being depressed cannot ruin Christmas! Good heavens, dear Christians, it’s because we sinners face all these things that Christ came down in Mary’s womb! The good news of great joy announced over Bethlehem’s fields is not because we have everything in hand. The good news of great joy is exactly because of our ongoing desperate need. Merry Christmas to you! Really, merry Christmas to you, whatever mood you’re in! Don’t be sucked in and swallowed up by unrealistic expectations about what this celebration and this season mean.
The truth is that no matter how we struggle and how we strive, no matter how often we think we’re in the mood or not in the mood for Christmas, we’re not going to get out of this world alive. We are dust and to dust we will return. Yet, even death cannot ruin Christmas. This baby was born to die and so defeat death for us. That’s the reason He took on flesh! Death, where is your sting? Grave where is your victory?
And the angel said to them, “Fear not…” We sinners have every reason to fear what comes to us from the realm of heaven. Not one sin will ever enter the presence of God’s holiness and look at the mess that festers in your heart. It looks a lot like the mess in mine and in the heart of every man and woman and child. Yet the messenger comes from attending God to announce how God is attending to our foremost need. “Fear not”.
You are not an evolutionary accident. You are one created in the very image of God and now fallen in the sin of Adam. But the God from whom you are estranged, the God against whom you rebel, reaches down to you with these words, “Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of a 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.” This is not an imaginary new-age angel promising to show you your inner spiritual spark. This is a messenger from God’s presence proclaiming the fulfillment of all His promises. No matter how many promises God has made, they are “yes” in Christ Jesus (II Cor. 1:20.
Merry Christmas to you! The people walking in darkness have seen a great light! It happened! Nothing can ruin Christmas! God give you ears to hear it new, to mull over and wonder about this holy mystery. God has always loved you! He loves you now! In His undeserved love He by whom the heavens and earth were made came down. It actually happened and it happened “to you”, that is “for you”. “Unto you is born this day… a Savior!”
He is born in the city of David, Bethlehem. He is born in a stable. He is born of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Knit together in her womb, He is born to you just what you need…a Savior! He is born to you not a mere spiritual advisor to give you a few pointers on cleaning up your life. He is born to you not a spiritual guide to show you how to find your own way through contact with your inner self. He is born to you not a sweet spiritual image to make you feel a certain way! He is born to you a flesh and blood Savior. Unto you is born…a Savior!
God give you ears to hear it new for our sluggish hearts so easily treat it as tired, old news, childish, sentimental stuff. We can easily drag through these busy days and miss the treasure. The true spirit of Christmas is not the spirit of sweet, generic cards about earthly peace and love in general. The spirit of Christmas is not that of the angel Clarence working off his sins in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. The spirit of Christmas is not simply that of family time, helping people, or feeling good. The true spirit of Christmas is the Holy Spirit testifying to all that this child is and does for you. Unto you is born this day…a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
Dear Christians, the beating heart of Christmas is first of all not what you feel and do, but what God did and continues to do. Christmas is about your being given to - like a little child is given to at Christmas. Do you ever remember delight and joy as a little one upon receiving a special, unique gift that caught you unawares? I can remember one such gift quite clearly almost a half century later. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it (Mark 10:15). In the Christ child your Heavenly Father brings to you and me the gift of gifts that far surpasses any earthly possession. In this child God gives you His love in the flesh. Merry Christmas to you!
He took up the flesh of Mary that He might be pierced and bleed in your place. He came naked from Mary’s womb in the darkness of a stable that He might hang naked in the darkness of God’s noonday wrath. He had no room in the inn that He might prepare room for you in heaven. He has always loved you and wants you with Him. He breathed your poisoned, covetous air that He might cry out and give up the Spirit for you. He slept in an animal’s feeding trough that he might feed you with the Bread of Life. He was clothed in swaddling clothes that He might later be wrapped in grave clothes, the completed sacrifice for the sin of the world. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes that needed changing and cleaning that He might exchange our filthy robes for the clean robes of His righteousness. He was nestled in His mother’s arms that, risen from the grave, He might enfold you in His arms for eternity.
He did it on purpose! He is glad He did it. Jesus helps those who cannot help themselves. There is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12) but there is salvation in Him. He made peace with God for you by the blood of His cross. He made peace with God for you that makes the angels sing! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will among men.
Unto you is born…a Savior. The Son of God is one of us. God and man are together again for He is both God and Man. There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He has always loved us! He has come to save us from the evils that we have done. He also releases us from the evils done to us! For you see, in this troubled world we sinners are both predator and prey. Our tongues may injure another, but we also may be injured by the tongues of others. Our body and actions may hurt others, but the actions and bodies of others may also hurt us. Our Savior, who is Christ the Lord, rescues us from our transgressions against others. He also rescues us from self-pity and bitterness and revenge when we are sinned against. We don’t have to play the miserable victim and seek revenge. Why, because, “unto you is born…a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. What kind of sign is that for the Savior of the world? What God of sign is that for the coming of Satan’s worst nightmare, a wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace. It is God’s chosen sign, humble and ordinary and sure.
But Jesus isn’t a baby in the manger anymore. Nor is He on the cross where He won your salvation. He is risen and ascended and with His church more than ever. This is the new sign for you that is also humble and ordinary and sure. You will find the Savior hidden in the waters of Baptism. You will find Him wrapped in the swaddling clothes of Scripture and mangered in bread and wine. Tomorrow and each week in the Divine Liturgy He comes to teach and feed you and give you life. You worship Him chiefly by receiving in faith what He gives.
And that affects how you live and what you give to others. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
You say you haven’t lived self-controlled and upright enough! You say you haven’t been zealous enough for good works. Praise God that you get it! That’s why Christ gave Himself to redeem you from all lawlessness! That’s why God doesn’t stop giving to you in Christ Jesus! You cannot rise to Him. He continues to come to you to cheer your wearied spirit and draw you unto Him.
Your loved ones who have died in Christ are not missing out on the true Christmas! Nothing can ruin Christmas! Through God’s redeeming love the people of His possession are enjoying the blessed hope for which you wait. While you wait, Merry Christmas to you! In the Name of Jesus, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be honor and glory now and forever. Amen.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
12/27/2006
