The revelation of the King of all nations

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the Epiphany of Our Lord

Isaiah 60:1-6  +  Matthew 2:1-12

Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. Epiphany is the season of light. It means appearance or manifestation or revealing. God’s Son was finally born into the world. And following His birth, there were many appearances, many revelations of His glory, some of which we’ll hear about during this short season. Today, on January 6th, in the ancient Church, three such revelations were traditionally celebrated: The revelation of Jesus to the wise men as the King of Jews and Gentiles. But also the revelation of Christ as the Son of God and our Savior at His Baptism, which is why we sang Luther’s baptism hymn a moment ago. And the revelation of Christ’s divine power and goodness at the wedding at Cana, which we’ll hear about next week.

For now, our Gospel turns our attention to the visit of the wise men. There was literally a light that shined on Israel at the birth of Christ—a miraculous light, a “star” that was no ordinary star, but, as Isaiah prophesied, The glory of the Lord is risen upon you…The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. It led the wise men to the land of Judah. But it wasn’t really the star that led them.

There was another light that led the wise men to the Light in Israel. As the Psalm says, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. These wise men from the East had clearly been exposed to the Holy Scriptures of the Hebrews, probably from the time of the Babylonian captivity. These wise men had learned about the LORD God of Israel and had found some of the prophecies of the Old Testament about the coming Savior-King who would be born from King David’s line and rule, not only over the Jews, but over all the nations, all the Gentiles. God used His Word to enlighten them, to bring them to understand and believe the prophecies about this divine King.

The light of the star only pointed to the land of Israel, so they naturally went to Jerusalem to find the newborn King. Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him. Now the light of the prophet Micah had to guide them, as Herod had the priests and scribes search the Scriptures for the answer: But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel. See how God always drives His people back to His Word, so that we ground our faith, not in outward signs that are so often misinterpreted, but in His sure, unfailing Word.

So the Word of God through the prophet Micah shined the light on Bethlehem. And the Word of God through the prophet Isaiah, which you heard this morning, explained the meaning of the wise men’s visit: they were the Gentiles who had come to Israel’s light—the light of the King, the light of the Messiah who was born to rule over one great kingdom, one holy Christian Church. Born to bring all nations into Israel, to enlarge Israel, to earn salvation for all men, and to offer salvation to all men.

But even then, before Jesus uttered a single word, most in Israel didn’t care to have Him, didn’t care to see Him. The king and the priests of Jerusalem, and most of the city with them, were not happy to hear about the birth of the King of the Jews. They were “troubled,” it says. They were upset. Others were obviously apathetic; they didn’t follow the wise men to Bethlehem to worship the newborn King.

Jesus once said, And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. The world, in its darkness, in its idolatry, in its sin and love for sin, doesn’t love the idea of the true God sending His Son into the world. And that’s tragic, because the true God, while His Laws are demanding and His wrath is severe—the true God has given His own Son into human flesh to suffer the punishment for our sins, to obey His own Law in our place, and to give us eternal life as a gift. The Son of Man came, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Salvation is by faith in Him, faith that the Holy Spirit Himself creates through the light of His Word.

The Holy Spirit was resisted by most of Israel; He can be resisted. But He worked faith in the hearts of the non-Jewish wise men—as He had worked faith in Joseph and Mary and Simeon and Anna, the shepherds, and others in Israel who remain unknown to us. The wise men journeyed to Bethlehem, and then, led by the Word of God, they were again blessed with the light of that mysterious star to point them to the exact place where the Christ Child was.

They found the humble Baby with His humble mother in a humble house—not a palace, not a mansion. He had no attendants, no servants, no other worshipers. Their eyes told them that this must not be the place, that He must not be the One. But Scripture told them otherwise, and they believed the Scriptures over their own eyes. They knelt before the Baby. That’s what you do in the presence of royalty, or in the presence of divinity, or in this case, both.

And they gave gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh. All were gifts fit for a king. All were gifts actually given to King Solomon long ago, the son of David who prefigured the Son of David born of Mary. Myrrh and frankincense made up the perfume that King Solomon wore for the day of His wedding, wearing his crown of gold, all of which, in the Song of Solomon, was an allegory of the great Son of David, Jesus, and His beloved Bride, the Christian Church, made up of Jews and Gentiles—of all who believe in Him.

The wise men knew that Jesus was born for them, and they worshiped him with great joy. They were the first Gentiles to worship him, but certainly not the last. You Gentiles have seen His light, not with your eyes, but with your ears. You have beheld His glory as the Holy Spirit has revealed this Christ as your Savior, too, as your God and as your King. Even now the Holy Spirit is revealing Him to you, another Epiphany, the appearance, the manifestation of Jesus as King of all nations, right here in our midst in His Gospel. Join the wise men in seeking Him where He is found, in giving your life for His service, and most of all, in believing in Him as your King. Amen.

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The whole-self service of the Child of God

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the First Sunday after Epiphany

Romans 12:1-5  +  Luke 2:41-52

There were many kinds of sacrifices and offerings in the Old Testament. There were sin offerings. There were peace offering. And there were also whole burnt offering. The offering and burning of a whole animal on God’s altar was to teach the people of Israel that a person’s whole life should be completely devoted to God. It seems to be the whole burnt offering that St. Paul had in mind in our Epistle today when he encouraged the Roman Christians, Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

You want to see what it looks like in practice, to offer your whole self in service to God? Watch Jesus today in the Gospel—the Boy Jesus when He was twelve years old.

Some important things have happened since we left Jesus in the Temple last week with Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna. Joseph was warned in a dream to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt, because King Herod was searching for Him, to kill Him. Herod did kill all the baby boys of Bethlehem who were two years old and younger. But Jesus was kept safe in Egypt until Herod died. Then God directed them back to the land of Israel, and up to the region of Galilee, where Mary and Joseph had lived prior to Jesus’ birth.

Once Herod was gone, it was safe for the holy family to make the annual trek down (or up) to Jerusalem for the Passover. God required His people to make that annual journey, both in commemoration of the first Passover, and in anticipation of the true Passover of the Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. So every year, Mary and Joseph would go to Jerusalem to the feast in commemoration of the death and resurrection of their Son—though they surely didn’t understand that at the time.

But Jesus did. He knew His purpose. He knew that each Passover He attended was a sort of rehearsal for Holy Week. Luke tells us that He went with His parents to Jerusalem when He was twelve. Whether or not He went before that, we don’t know. But now that He’s twelve, He is expected to follow all the commands imposed by the Law of Moses on an Israelite. He was now a Bar Mitzvah—a Son of the commandment.

After the Passover, Mary and Joseph left to start the long trip home to Nazareth. But Jesus stayed behind. He didn’t get lost. He didn’t run away. He “lingered.” His parents—rather carelessly, it seems—left Jerusalem, assuming Jesus was with some of their relatives who had traveled from Nazareth with them. That reveals just how much they trusted in this twelve-year-old boy. He never got in trouble. He never disobeyed. They could always count on Him to do what was expected of Him. Until now.

They go back searching. They had already traveled a day’s journey, so another day to travel back, and then after three days, or probably on the third day, they found Him. Not playing with the other kids His age. But sitting in the Temple, in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. He had, if you will, enrolled Himself in the church’s school, and was taking advantage of the opportunity to listen to the teachers of the law, to ask questions, and to answer their questions. And He proved to be an amazing student.

You can imagine Mary and Joseph’s joy mixed with surprise with a bit of anger. Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.

“Son,” Mary called Him. And, of course, He was that. She refers to Joseph as “Your father.” And, legally and practically, that was true, too. But it seems they forgot for a moment who this Boy really was, and why He had come into their lives in the first place. He reminds them: Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? Jesus is twelve now, a Son of the commandment. His life—His whole life—is and has always been devoted to the service of His Father. When He was a Baby, you couldn’t see that. But now you can. You can see where Jesus’ heart is: fixed on learning God’s Word, as every child must do, yearning to be in God’s House, determined to spend His life doing His Father’s business. This is what whole-self service to God looks like for a twelve-year-old.

But then it’s also going back with His father and mother when they tell Him to, and, as Luke tells us, being “subject to them.” And “increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Those are the duties God has given to children. And Jesus shows us what it looks like to carry out those duties, from the heart, as One who has devoted His whole self to serving God.

Why did the boy Jesus render this whole-self service to God His Father? Because He loved Him with His whole heart, His whole soul, His whole mind, and His whole strength. That love for God, on this occasion, brought Him into conflict with His parents, whom He also loved. But when it comes down to whether to obey God or to obey man, God has to win every time. And He always did in Jesus’ life.

There is the innocent sacrifice, the spotless offering that mankind needed, to whom all the Old Testament offerings pointed. As the perfect, sinless, spotless Lamb who loved God from the bottom of His heart and served Him with His whole life, and as the Son of God, whose life is of infinite worth and value, He was the offering, He was the substitute that we all needed.

Because, parents, you know that, in addition to all your other sins, you’ve had your share of failures in raising your children and in guiding them to serve the Lord with their whole lives, even as Mary and Joseph stumbled in our Gospel. And children, you know that, in addition to all your other sins, hearing and learning God’s Word, faithfully, regularly, eagerly, is not always what you want to do, and submitting to your parents, obeying them, without any complaining, without any whining, without any disrespect for them in your heart—that doesn’t describe you, does it?

And so Jesus, our Substitute, who truly loved His Father and devoted His whole life to His Father’s service, is qualified to be the spotless sin offering, whose blood, shed on the cross 21 years after the incident in our Gospel, pays for all your sins and self-service. He is qualified to be the spotless peace offering, who makes peace between God and man and brings you into God’s family through His Sacrament of Holy Baptism, and sits down to have a meal with you in His own holy Supper. And He is qualified to be the whole burnt offering, whose blood now cleanses your service, as baptized children of God, so that, even though your service to God isn’t perfect, still He is pleased with it and accepts your works of love for Jesus’ sake.

And so, St. Paul pleads with you, baptized children of God who know the mercy of God in sending His Son to be your Substitute, your Sacrifice, your Savior— I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The world around you wants your attention. It gives you games to play. And games to watch. And shows to entertain. It gives you countless opportunities to work, to explore, to make money and to spend it, too. It gives you the chance to pursue friendships and relationships and courtships. But all to have a good earthly life. To have fun here. To be comfortable here. To pursue happiness here. And you see most of the people around you in the world conforming their lives to that. But St. Paul says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You’re Christians. Think differently about the world than non-Christians do. Think differently about your life. Make different goals—godly goals, goals to pursue God’s service and God’s will in the work you do or in the career you pursue, in the marriage you’re in, if you’re married, and in the marriage partner you’re looking for, if you’re looking.

All this begins, of course, with a zeal for godliness. It begins with knowing your Small Catechism—a summary of the most basic truths of the Christian faith—and reviewing it often. It continues with regularly hearing the preaching of the Word and receiving the Sacrament, and with knowing the Bible and learning to know it better this year than you did last year. It continues with regular prayer, with daily repentance, and with asking the question each and every morning, how shall I serve my God today? How shall I walk in the footsteps of Jesus my Savior? Not to earn my salvation. He’s earned it for me and paid for all my sins. But as redeemed children of God, Jesus teaches us what the whole-self service of the child of God looks like. May He grant you the zeal to spend your whole life pursuing it. Amen.

 

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Celebrating redemption with Simeon and Anna

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the Sunday after Christmas

Galatians 4:1-7  +  Luke 2:33-40

Merry Seventh Day of Christmas! Seven days have passed since we followed the shepherds to Bethlehem to see the newborn Babe. But forty days have passed between the shepherds’ visit and the events recorded in today’s Gospel. Jesus had been circumcised on the 8th day, which is tomorrow on the Church calendar. The wise men have likely already visited and left, which we’ll celebrate this coming Saturday, but the holy family hasn’t yet fled to Egypt or returned to Nazareth. Today’s Gospel takes place in Jerusalem on Jesus’ presentation day, and Mary’s purification day, which is celebrated more fully on February 2, 40 days after Christmas. The Law of Moses required that Mary present a sacrifice of purification from the blood that was shed in childbirth—a reminder of original sin, and that the blood of sinners is impure, and a sign pointing forward to Christ, to the only One born in human history who was not a sinner, but whose blood could purify the sinful human race before God. And the Law required that the firstborn son of any Israelite be redeemed—a reminder that God Himself redeemed the firstborn of Israel by the blood of the Passover lamb, even as He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, and a sign pointing forward to Christ, the firstborn Son of Mary, and also the Firstborn over all creation, by whom the human race would be redeemed.

Truly this Jesus was, as St. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “born of a woman, born under the law,” and His parents dutifully saw to it that everything that was required by the Law was done, so that, by His perfect keeping of the Law, He might free us from the curse of the Law, by becoming a curse for us.

In the Gospel today we meet two elderly saints who met Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the temple: Simeon and Anna. The beginning of Simeon’s story and the Song of Simeon, the Nunc Dimittis that is so familiar to us, are the Gospel for the Festival of the Presentation, so we’ll pass it by for now and focus on Simeon’s prophecy.

Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Simeon rejoiced to meet the Baby Jesus. The Holy Spirit had miraculously revealed to him that he wouldn’t die until he had seen the Christ with his own eyes, and here He was. Simeon praised the Lord for sending His Christ and for allowing him to see Him. But his blessing of the holy family wasn’t what you’d call “cute,” was it? No, it was a prophecy of Jesus’ future, and it was a hard prophecy to hear.

“Destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel.” Isaiah had prophesied that the Christ would be “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,” and that’s exactly what Jesus was. He caused many in Israel to fall. Why? Because He told them the truth: “No matter how much you try to keep God’s holy Law, you’re unclean. Your works are evil. You can’t earn God’s favor.” Many didn’t like that, and they stumbled over it, and fell. And He told them the truth: “I am the One sent by God to redeem you. I have come to give life to those who don’t deserve it, to cleanse the unclean by My blood, to save mankind through faith in Me.” And many didn’t like that, either, and they stumbled over it, and fell.

But many heard it, and were raised up. Many heard it, and repented of their sins. Many heard it, and believed and found a place in God’s kingdom and God’s house.

Simeon says that Jesus will be a sign which will be spoken against. We know how that history played out in Israel as many spoke against Jesus even before they crucified Him. And then Simeon adds to Mary, on a very personal note, a sword will pierce through your own soul also. And there it is, the bitter reminder that we shouldn’t get so caught up in the birth of Christ that we forget who He is or the reason why He was born. The Church calendar helps keep us focused. On the day after Christmas the Church remembers the stoning to death of Stephen. On the next day, we remember the labors of John the Evangelist—and the martyrdom of St. Peter. On the next day, we remember the slaughter of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, murdered by King Herod. In tomorrow’s Gospel on the Circumcision of the Lord Jesus, we remember His first shedding of blood. And today, on the Sunday after Christmas, mingled with Simeon’s praise, is the prophecy of a sword—the sharp pain and grief that a mother would one day experience as she sat at the foot of her Son’s cross, watching Him suffer and die.

What stronger medicine could there be against our culture’s infatuation with cute things, with a “Christmas spirit” that, at best, forgets about the cross, and at worst, leave Christ out entirely?

Yes, all of this still plays out today. Jesus still causes the fall and the rising of many. He is still a sign that is spoken against. And the thoughts of many hearts are revealed as the truth comes out. What’s really behind the rejection of Jesus? It’s the deep-down view of God’s law as something, either that I don’t need to keep, or that I can keep. In either case, I don’t need a Savior who is true God and true Man to keep it for me and to die for my sins to redeem me from the Law’s curse.

But there’s old Simeon, praising God for a little Baby. And there stands old Anna, giving thanks to God for this Child and speaking about Him to all who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem. To those who are looking for redemption, looking for rescue from their sins, looking for a price to be paid so that you, the sinner, can go free, can receive the adoption, can call upon God as Father…here He is! Born when the time had fully come. Born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Remember your Baptism today, because that’s when you, a child of wrath by nature, were united to the Son of God and so received the adoption as a son. That’s when you were purified and rescued out of Satan’s kingdom into the kingdom of God. And the forgiveness you first received there is still held out to you now, to cover all your sins and guilt.

And remember also the gift of the Holy Supper, where the body of Him who was held by Simeon and praised by Anna in the temple is still set before you, to wonder at God’s mercy, not only in bringing His Son into the world, but in bringing Him to you now, that you, too, may receive Him and worship Him and rise to life because of Him.

And then let that wonder and worship spill out into your life as you celebrate redemption with Simeon and Anna, so that, as faithful Simeon and Anna spent their long lives hearing God’s Word, devoutly walking according to His commandments, you, too, live a life of devout, devoted service to God and your neighbor, speaking about Christ to the people in your life, knowing that God kept His promise to send the Savior into the world, and that He will keep His promise to come again soon. May God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—guard, guide, and strengthen you while you wait. Amen.

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God was made man to bring man to God

Posted on December 25, 2017 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Christmas Day

Hebrews 1:1-12  +  John 1:1-14

Everyone can understand a baby. Everyone can accept that a baby was born in the small Judean town of Bethlehem, a baby named Jesus, to a mother named Mary. It’s rather harmless, unintimidating. And in part, that’s the point, and that’s why, sometimes, even unbelievers are willing to hear the Christmas Eve Gospel from Luke 2, because the story of God’s salvation begins, in a sense, with this baby, who doesn’t threaten anyone. The unbeliever can even tolerate, for a night, at least, the notion of angels. Because it’s all good tidings of great joy for all people. It’s a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. It’s peace on earth, goodwill to men!

But we’re careful to explain, even on Christmas Eve, that the good tidings of the birth of an unintimidating baby can only be understood properly through the lens of the sin and darkness into which that baby was born—sin and darkness that permeated even Israel, not to mention the even greater darkness that covered the non-Jewish world, that this Jesus was born because of mankind’s idolatry, because of mankind’s rebellion against God’s Word, because of mankind’s disobedience toward God’s commandments, that He was born to suffer and die for the sins of the world, and that His peace on earth has nothing to do with the absence of war or the end of violence. That’s a little harder for the unbeliever to hear, and yet it’s the only way an unbeliever will ever become a believer, by hearing the whole truth about Christmas and about Christ.

Then we come to the Christmas Day Gospel, and suddenly the unbeliever is confronted with the truth head on, with things that human reason can’t even begin to grasp, with things that sound like foolishness to the modern “scientific” ear. That there was a time when time didn’t exist. That there was a time when there was no matter, no energy, just God who brought all things into being, not with a big bang, but by His almighty Word. And most incomprehensible of all, is that that Word was with God, and that the Word was God, and that this Word that was with God and that was God eventually became flesh. That this Word who existed already in the beginning, outside of time and space and matter and energy, is the very Person through whom all things were brought into existence, including the flesh that He one day became.

But again, if anyone is going to believe in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, it will only be through hearing this truth proclaimed. You can’t argue anyone into the faith. It’s all about the simple proclamation of the Word.

Already in v. 5 of our Gospel, St. John the Evangelist is referring to the Word coming into the world as a man, as “light.” Not some SyFy “being” made of light, but as Jesus Himself once declared, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life…As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. The very One who is true God also became true Man, the light which gives light to every man, just as the sun gives light to every man, except that He was already there before the sun was, and the sun was created through Him. St. Paul once wrote that God alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. So the only way we poor, sinful mortals could truly see the light of God, is if it’s veiled in flesh, if God makes Himself approachable to us. And that’s exactly what He did in the Person of the Word made flesh.

John the Baptist bore witness to Him. This is the light who gives light to every man! Not that every man sees by this light. But He is the only light by which any man may see, and He offers His light to all. What is His light? It is the knowledge of who God is and of how God gave His eternal Son to be born as a man, not to show us how to work our way up to heaven, but to earn heaven for all men, to suffer hell for all men, and to show us that it is by believing in Him who did all this for us that all men might have everlasting life.

That brings us to the tragedy of Christmas. The tragedy of Christmas is not that Jesus had to lie in a manger for a while. The tragedy of Christmas is that He came to save all men from their sins, to give life to all men, and yet most men didn’t and don’t want Him for a Savior, and so most men remain dead in their trespasses and sins. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. Doesn’t it just amaze you that God knew this would happen, and still sent His Son into the world, still holding out salvation to all, knowing that most would never receive Him and be saved?

But, John writes, as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. This is the glorious victory of Christmas, not that God’s Son was born as a human child, but that He was born as a child in order to give us the right to become children of God.

Because we weren’t. By nature, no one is. Creatures of God? Yes. But children of God? No. As sinners, we had no right to call Him Father, and no expectation of living in His house or of inheriting anything from Him. But now we do. Because we have a Brother who is God’s child. Because we have a Savior who paid for our sins and offers us a place in God’s family through Holy Baptism and through faith in Him. Because He sends His own Holy Spirit to give us that new birth of faith, since we couldn’t come to faith by our own power or will.

Yes, the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. He became Immanuel, God with us, so that we might follow Him in faith, be safe on the Day of Judgment, and live with Him forever.

The angels worshiped the Person of the Word since the moment they were created. But now God has taken on human flesh, and all God’s angels worship Him also as a Man. If the angels worship Him for taking on human flesh to save sinful human beings, will you human beings fail to worship Him? May it never be. On this Christmas Day, may the truth of the God-Man in the manger fill your hearts with wonder and with joy. And let your worship of Him today change the way you live your life tomorrow, so that you who have received Him and been given the right to become children of God may live as children of God in the world, that your life may be a song of joy and thanksgiving. Amen.

 

 

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A message from God’s angel on Christmas Eve

Posted on December 24, 2017 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Christmas Eve

+  Luke 2:1-14  +

God has a message for you all tonight—a message to the whole world of men, but specifically to you, who are here on Christmas Eve, regardless of your motives or your intentions or your reason for coming. It’s a message that may well be familiar to you, and yet it has been sent out from heaven again, because it’s more than a bit of information to learn. It’s God reaching down from heaven to speak to you, to convict, to convince, to enlighten, and to comfort. His message is scattered throughout all the seven lessons you heard in our service, but we’ll focus on the Christmas Gospel from Luke 2.

God’s message first given through Luke the Evangelist takes us back in time some 2,017 years—or perhaps a few more—to the days of Caesar Augustus, the first real emperor of the Roman Empire, the very emperor for whom the Roman poet Virgil wrote the famous Aeneid some 20 years earlier. Caesar Augustus was the one who issued that decree that forced Joseph and Mary to leave Galilee and to journey south to Bethlehem, the ancestral home of Joseph’s family going all the way back to Ruth and Boaz, and their son Obed, and his son Jesse, and his son David, the great king of Israel. We know why they had to get to Bethlehem. Micah told us that in the lesson you heard tonight: because the Christ was to be born there. But no one had told Caesar Augustus that, nor did Mary or Joseph seem to have it mind. No, this was God working in history, behind the scenes, invisibly, turning the events of the world to get His Son born in just the right place, at just the right time—a message to the world that God is in control of everything.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born—the baby who had been miraculously conceived in the virgin Mary’s womb nine months earlier by the working of the Holy Spirit. He was born, so it seems, in a stable where animals were kept, and placed in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Let’s not blame the innkeeper. We are told of no malice on his part. If the hotel is full, the hotel is full. So the little town was making room for these travelers who were compelled by Roman law to return to their ancestral homes, and it happened to be a stable. Well, not “happened” to be. God saw to it that the circumstances of His Son’s birth were special. “Special” as in, humble, unattractive, uncomfortable, but also safe and sheltered. And memorable! Who can forget the manger which served as the royal cradle of God’s Son? A message to all that God did not send His Son into the world to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many, that the Father’s will was always to humiliate His beloved Son for our sake, that we, through Him, may be lifted up, not to earthly wealth, but to the heavenly riches of God’s favor and eternal life.

God then saw to it that shepherds would the first ones to know of this birth—shepherds, who were considered to be least in Jewish society. And that has a message in it, too. A message that God shows no favoritism, that God sent His Son into the world for the lowliest of men, even for you. A message which Jesus repeated many times in His ministry, the last shall be first and the first shall be last, everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Or as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

All those messages of God to the world are subtle and require the rest of God’s Word to make the messages clear. But the message of the angel, the word of God spoken by the angel to the shepherds and echoed down to us through the ages, couldn’t be clearer.

Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. The birth of Jesus is a message intended to drive out fear. It’s a good message, good tidings, of great joy, intended for all people.

Still, for as clear as the message is, the world has trouble hearing it, because, even though every single person desperately needs a Savior from sin, they don’t recognize it. People today have one of two messages pounded into them from the time they’re little children: either that nothing is their fault, and they deserve to have everything they want; or that everything is their fault, and no one cares for them at all. But both of those messages are false.

God made man in His own image, good and upright and just. But that was a long time ago, and early on, mankind turned away from God to make our own rules, to do what we wanted, and look where it has gotten us. Sin has infected everything. It’s real. It has consequences. And it’s not just something ugly to see in other people. Oh, no, not something to see in other people. It’s something to recognize and to despise in yourself, whoever you are. Everyone bears the blame for failing to acknowledge our Creator, for failing to worship Him as He deserves to be worshiped, and for failing to love our fellow man as He commands in His Word. That is our fault, and so we don’t deserve to have everything we want. What we deserve—all any of us deserves—is God’s wrath and punishment.

On the other hand, the demonic notion that no one cares for guilty sinners, least of all God? That idea couldn’t be dispelled any better than with the angel’s words to the shepherds. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Born to you. To a world made up entirely of guilty sinners, God came. God the Son, sent by God the Father, through God the Holy Spirit. He came as promised. He came as Savior. As Jesus would one day say, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” And so the angel attaches this name to the infant, Savior, Jesus. This is the one—the only One—to whom the name Savior has been attached. Nothing else in the world bears such a title. Nothing else and no one else is the Savior. Only the one who was born of Mary, who is Christ the Lord, who didn’t show up out of nowhere, but has a long history already behind Him the moment He’s born, a lineage going back to David, back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, back to Shem and Noah and Seth and Adam. But even further than that. For He is Christ, the Lord, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting, finally born so that He could grow up and die and so destroy death and purchase heaven for all men by His blood.

After announcing the birth of this Child, the heavenly host of angels couldn’t help but sing, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, goodwill to men. Not the peace and goodwill of “you’re going to have a wonderful life in this world,” but the peace and goodwill of “you have a God who cares for you this much, that He would enter your fallen race to suffer, not just with you, but for you, that you may become children of God.”

Let the praise of the angels be the praise of all God’s people on this Christmas Eve. And let it become the praise of those who have not been God’s people, but who have heard the message God has directed to you this night through a much humbler angel. The Savior, Christ the Lord, has been born. That makes today the day of salvation to all who hear and believe God’s message. Amen.

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