Sermon for 12/25/22: The Nativity of Our Lord

 CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the sermon video.

Not Alone
John 1:1-18

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

An amazing thing happened a couple of days ago, though it likely went unnoticed by most. We reached and passed the Winter Solstice, and now our northern hemisphere tilts just a bit nearer the sun. Each day we receive a few more moments of sunlight; it will soon be Spring. And yet, we must still travel through the dreary days of January, as well as February’s flirtation with spring. The Solstice has come and gone, but it’s not Spring quite yet. Indeed, our coldest days may still be ahead.

Men walk about this cold, dark, and sinful sphere of pain, regretting the past and afraid of the future: hopeless, despairing, frustrated, and alone, if only with their thoughts. Their souls are as gray and gloomy as the winter skies. They are the living dead. Their guilt seems too much to bear. They cope through denial. They strive to forget. They hide. They run. They pretend. They strike back with cruelty and violence. They want to kill whatever remains in them that feels or can still be hurt. Ask them how they feel about life, and what they think of God; it is bleak and dismal and ugly. Do not think that they are the exception from humanity; do not think that man is basically good. No, this is man without God, and there is at least a bit of this infection in all of us, however much we may try to cover up what we really are.

Fallen man is cursed with an emptiness that has been left in him by rebellion against God. It is a deadly ignorance, which even the animal creatures in this world cannot experience. It is man’s foolish and shameful ignorance alone. In this regard, the wild beasts are wiser than men. Men are infected with sin. We are twisted in on ourselves. Sin is killing us as surely as death itself.

Sins, popular or not, great or small, afflict and torture us. They are not innocent. They are both the problem and the symptom. There are no “little white lies,” no “meaningless affairs,” no suitable “lesser evils,” no “small vices.” Our sins, our most grievous faults, our wicked desires and selfish motives, deepen the chasm that exists between us and happiness, between us and righteousness, between us and God. Men have chosen darkness, and we have deserved what darkness renders. We are dead, and on our own there is no hope. We are perpetrators, willing and intentional sinners. We have gossiped and lied, backstabbed and plotted, craved evil things, thought dark and cruel thoughts. We are shameful and guilty. We cannot stand on our own before the blinding glory of God’s holiness. We are despicable and disgusting, and, humanly speaking, impossible to love.

But we are not alone, and that is a very good thing. There is One who is in every way what we were created to be: Jesus Christ, the Word who “became flesh to dwell among us.” He became Man, and yet He remained pure and holy, merciful and gracious, kind, compassionate, and forgiving. He was true Man more true than any other, for He lives as we were created to live; He is all that Adam should have been for Eve and his children. He was born to rule this world as the Prince of peace.

And this is how our King chooses to rule: “To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given...” He does not rule by power or might, nor by force or violence, nor by coercion or popularity; He enforces His gracious rule by sacrifice, by forgiveness and grace. There was no room for Him in the inn so that there would be room for us in heaven. He was born to die, to be a sacrifice, to be the Light of man and beat back the night, to shut the devil’s mouth, to rob the grave of its victory, to be God with us in flesh.

Here is the real miracle of Christmas: The Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, loves us. Jesus is Immanuel—God with us as the flesh-and-blood embodiment of that love. All things are possible for Him who took up our flesh. He chooses of His own gracious will to love us. Love was born of Mary, according to the flesh, in those humble circumstances Luke describes in his Gospel. But the One born in flesh that night is the only-begotten of the Father from eternity. He did not come to exist in that moment of the angel’s announcement to Mary; He has always been. But in that moment, when Gabriel told Mary the Good News, God became Man. He took up our flesh to live our life and die our death, to rise again for our justification, to love us, to free us, to make us clean and holy, to redeem us.

We are gaining sunlight every day. The Solstice marks the turn. It promises a future free of cold. If it is Winter, then Spring is coming. If it is Christmas, then Easter cannot be far away. And if that is the Spring, then His return in glory is the warm and peaceful Summer. And that glorious day will soon be upon us, too. For we are not alone. God is with us. God is One of us to save us. On this day we stand in His grace, righteous in Christ, adopted as His beloved, forgiven of all sins, bearing His holy name. We are not alone. We are not afraid. We have hope. For we have a Savior. He is Christ the Lord, proclaimed by angels, worshiped by shepherds, and adored by us this day, where He bestows the life we so desperately need. In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.