Christmas Day: Audio Sermon (25-Dec-2013)

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Christmas Day [Luke 2:8-13] (25-Dec-2013)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am) and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Luke 2:8-14)

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

 

In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, St Luke describes for us the events that surrounded the birth of Jesus.

We learn about Caesar Augustus holding a census, and requiring everyone to go to his home town. We read how Joseph and Mary travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem because Joseph was from the house and lineage of David, and David was born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem was called the city of David. So Bethlehem was the town of Joseph and Mary’s ancestors. And we read that while they happened to be at Bethlehem, the time came for [Mary] to give birth. And we read: And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

This part of the reading talks about very matter-of-fact kind of things: a Roman emperor, a census, Joseph and Mary travelling, a birth, an inn, a manger. There is nothing from face value that seems all that supernatural—in fact, it’s all very factual, and historical. St Luke claims that what he is writing is historical fact, and not a myth, not a fairy tale, not fiction. St Luke says: I am writing an orderly account for you… that you may have certainly concerning the things you have been taught.

However, we know that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the God of heaven and earth that we worship, also guided and directed Mary and Joseph so that they would be in Bethlehem at the right time to fulfil the prophecy.

Now at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, where St Matthew speaks about the birth of Jesus, he quotes the prophet Isaiah, and says: Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us.

Jesus is truly God, and at the same time he becomes a true man, and takes on human flesh from the Virgin Mary’s womb. As it says in our Gospel reading today: The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. Even as Joseph and Mary are travelling from Nazareth to Bethlehem, that unborn child in Mary’s womb is actually their true God who is with them, and leading them and guiding them, their Immanuel, God with us.

And right at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, we read where Jesus says: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

At the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, when Matthew talks about the birth of Jesus, he calls Jesus “Immanuel”, God with us. At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus promises exactly the same thing: I am with you always to the end of the age. Jesus says: I will be travelling invisibly with you, taking you on the journey I want to travel with you, just as I was hidden travelling with Mary and Joseph.

Jesus says: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And he commands his apostles to go and baptise and teach.

Jesus doesn’t want his church to baptise people in silence, but also he wants the church to talk about it and teach people. The work of the church is not finished when baptising is done, but the work of the church continues when we keep talking about baptism. In fact, when Jesus ascended into heaven, he didn’t simply want to leave his life behind, but he sent out his apostles to tell the whole world about his wonderful life, his wonderful birth, his wonderful suffering and death and resurrection. Because when we talk about Jesus, and preach about him, and teach about him, his life and everything that he said, he promises to be with his church always to the end of the age.

So in the same way, Jesus is not satisfied that he should simply be born in Bethlehem. His work at Christmas is not finished simply when he is born and placed in a manger. After Easter, Jesus sent out preachers to tell people all throughout the world that he was risen. But also when he was born, he also sent out preachers to tell the world about it.

It’s this second part of our Gospel reading today which tells us about the preachers that Jesus sent out.

We read: And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

It’s strange: St Luke has told us about the most important politicians and world leaders—he has told us about Caesar Augustus and his census, and Quirinius who had to organise it and follow out the Caesar’s orders.

St Luke also tells us about Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus, who in God’s eyes are very precious.

But then St Luke tell us about some shepherds. They don’t seem to be very significant people to anyone. They are simple men, with maybe some teenagers and older boys looking after sheep. Back in those days, sheep weren’t keep in paddocks in fences, so the shepherds had to guard the sheep all the way through the night.

But remember, Moses was a shepherd, King David was a shepherd boy. In fact, the skills that David had learnt being a shepherd, especially learning how to kill animals with his slingshot, was what enabled him to kill Goliath.

So God had used simple shepherds before. And when Jesus sends out his apostles and pastors, he says to them: feed my sheep. In fact, the word “pastor” is Latin for “shepherd”.

So what happens to these shepherds?

We read: And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

Here we can see that this baby Jesus is not satisfied by simply being born and placed in a manger. Just like he sends out the apostles to preach about his life when he ascends into heaven, so also when Jesus is born he sends out preachers to tell people about his birth.

But here’s a problem—we know that Jesus is the true Son of God. And after his resurrection, Thomas tells us the truth when he says to Jesus: My Lord and my God! But the true almighty God, the Lord of heaven and earth, has taken on human form. And he has taken on human form in each of its individual different stages. At Christmas time, we read that he became a tiny newborn baby.

So even though we know that the baby Jesus is the Lord of heaven and earth, how is he going to send out preachers? How is he going to publicise this good news? How is he going to make this great miracle known? Is the good news simply going to stay locked and hidden away in a little stable in the back streets of Bethlehem?

No—Jesus isn’t finished yet. And so he sends out preachers. But of course, a baby can’t talk. He can’t gather a team together, a mighty army of preachers. So what does Jesus do? He sends out a different kind of preacher, the kind of messenger that looks after babies: he sends out an angel.

Jesus himself says later, when he is older: See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Babies, children and angels have a special relationship. Angels are always looking after and guarding the tiniest of children, right from the time of their conception. This is the reason why guardian angels are often painted as cute little naked babies!

And so this baby Jesus sends out an angel. This baby is not just human baby, but was conceived of the Holy Spirit by a virgin mother. And: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to [him].

He had the authority on earth to direct the world leaders and world events (like Caesar Augustus and the census) to fulfil the prophecy that he should be born in Bethlehem. But now after he has been carefully laid by his loving mother in the manger, he shows his authority in heaven, by sending out heavenly messengers, heavenly preachers, the angels of heaven.

We read: An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.

The baby Jesus is in the manger, but his glory shines all across the sky. The baby Jesus is lying amongst the animals and earthly creatures, the hay and the dung, but his glory shines around the heavenly creatures, the sun, the moon and the stars.

And when sinful people come into the presence of the almighty God, the judge of heaven and earth, people are filled with fear. Remember that the first angel mentioned in the bible, when Adam and Eve are cast out of the Garden of Eden, flashed a flaming sword about him.

What is this angel going to do? Cut us in pieces? Smash our hearts to the ground? Obliterate us from the face of the earth? No wonder it says: They were filled with fear.

No—not at all. The Son of God did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

So what does the angel do? What does he say? Does he give the shepherds a list of rules and regulations: what to eat and how to dress? Does he tell the shepherds to place their own works and prayers and efforts and opinions in the balance of divine justice? Does the angel even preach God’s own holy law to them, and make them tremble even further? Does the angel take them and show them all the fires of hell one after the other to frighten them into salvation?

No—not at all. These shepherds were already filled with fear, just by the mere sight of the angel. The fact that we even preach at Christmas that angels even exist and keep watch over us should fill our hearts with tremendous fear. People who deny that angels exist, only do so because it suits their bad consciences to do so.

But the tiny baby Jesus doesn’t send out messengers to fill people’s hearts with fear, he sends them out with pure good news on their lips. He sends them out with gracious words that pour out divine, heavenly joy!

The angel says: Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

I bring you good news. Not bad news. The angel doesn’t say that a baby is born, but he’s no use to you unless you do this or that. The angel brings the shepherds good news completely and totally freely.

And this is good news of great joy. This is the sort of joy that is not worked by human beings, a kind of fake pleasantness that people give each other at the checkout in the shops which buries their sadness only for the time being. This is a joy that is worked only by God, only by God the Father, only by Jesus Christ our Lord, only by the Holy Spirit.

And who is this good news of great joy for? It’s for all the people. Is it just for Jewish people? No. Is it only for Gentiles? No. Is it only for Jews together with Gentiles who act like Jews, and eat like Jews and follow Jewish customs? No. It’s for all people. Jews, Gentiles, Greeks, Barbarians, pagans, atheists. All are called to repent and believe the Gospel. It’s for all people: all people are called to listen to the voice of this angel and hear the good news of great joy. Even you can see this from the Gospel of Luke itself—it tells you about things which happened in Judea, but doesn’t tell them in the Hebrew language. St Luke wants the good news from this angel to go out to all peoples, so he wrote it in Greek, the most widely-language in his day. And on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the apostles the ability to speak in other languages, and the bible is even translated into our own language, so that we can hear it too. This is because it’s for all people.

So what is the good news of great joy?

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Unto you. The gospel is for you. It’s not for everyone else except you. It’s not for those people who think they are more holy than everyone else, but not you. No—it’s for you. Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour.

Jesus is called here our Saviour. He will save his people from their sin. This baby in the wooden manger, will one day be nailed to a wooden cross.

And he is the Christ, the Messiah. Christ means anointed one. He is anointed with every gift of the Holy Spirit. In fact, St Paul says: in him the fullness of deity dwells bodily. He is the one who gives out the Holy Spirit, and distributes the Holy Spirit to everyone who hears and believes his spoken words. He is the one who pours out the Holy Spirit, baptising them with the Holy Spirit as they are baptised with water. He is the one who will pour out his Holy Spirit on those who know and lament of their sin, and who eat and drink his true life-giving body and blood in his Holy Supper.

And he is the Lord. He is our Lord, and our master. But he is also the same Lord who appeared to Moses in the burning bush: The same Yahweh, the same one who said “I AM WHO I AM”, the same Lord. And no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And then the angel points to this greatest miracle of all: This Christ the Lord is not to be found sitting on a cloud, and is not to be found so out of reach that the shepherds have to climb up into the riddles of God’s heart to find him. The angel says: And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Even in our church today, as we join together in the liturgy with all the angels of heaven, this baby is Jesus wrapped up in his word, in baptism, and in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper.

It should be no surprise then that we read: 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 among those with whom he is pleased!

Glory to God in the highest! What a wonderful message! What a wonderful messenger! But even more, what a wonderful child, a wonderful Saviour, what a wonderful Christ, what a wonderful Lord! Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, how we desire to join in with the angels to sing your glory today this Christmas! But what a wonderful miracle it is that the angels even want to join in with us, knowing that you were not born in Bethlehem for them, but for us, and for all people! Glory to God in the highest! Amen.

Christmas Eve: Audio Sermon (24-Dec-2013)

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Christmas Eve [Luke 2:1-7] (24-Dec-2013)

This sermon was preached at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yarram (2pm, 22-Dec-2013), St John's Lutheran Church, Sale (4pm, 22-Dec-2013), St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (7pm, 22-Dec-2013), Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bairnsdale (12pm, 23-Dec-2013) and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (7pm, 24-Dec-2013).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Text: (Luke 2:1-7)

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

 Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

 

Our Gospel reading for Christmas from Luke 2, starts like this: In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was the governor of Syria.

The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was about to be born in the flesh. He was true God, equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and yet at the same time he came down from heaven and took human flesh from the Virgin Mary. This is at the centre of the whole Christian faith: Jesus is both true God and true man. He has God the Father as his own father, and the Virgin Mary as his true human mother.

Now, why does the bible passage about Christmas start by talking about Caesar Augustus and the governor of Syria Quirinius? Let’s hear the passage again: In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was the governor of Syria. The first thing we learn from this is that the birth of Jesus Christ is not a myth or a fairy story, but that it happened at a certain time in history, when certain world leaders were in charge. If something of this significance were going to happen today, we might say: Queen Elizabeth II was the Queen of England and the British Commonwealth, and Tony Abbot was the prime-minister of Australia.

But secondly, we need to take notice of Caesar Augustus and think about exactly who he was. Caesar Augustus was born in 63 BC and was adopted by his great-grand-uncle, Julius Caesar. Eventually, this boy became the Emperor of the whole Roman Empire. He was considered so great that even while he was still living people built altars dedicated to him and worshipped him as a god. In fact, one of his titles was “The son of a god”.

Meanwhile, while this man was exalting himself to be a god, the Almighty God of heaven and earth humbled himself to become a man. A mere man made himself into a god, while the true God made himself into a man.

And so, while this was all happening in Rome, God was doing a wonderful thing in Bethlehem. From a human point of view, Rome was the centre of the world, but from God’s point of view it was small town in Judea, in modern-day Israel, called Bethlehem, that was the centre of the world.

Now it so happened, that during the reign of Caesar Augustus, his whole empire was so well managed, that there was a great time of peace that prevailed. There were no wars, no uprisings, no battles. It was a time of great peace. And so, Caesar Augustus used this opportunity to take a census of his entire empire so that he could make everyone pay tax. It says: A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

We also read: This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. St Luke tells about this, because he wants to tell us the man who organised this particular census, and this particular registration. Here we can work out exactly when the time of Jesus’ birth was, in the year 6 BC.

Then we read: And all went to be registered, each to his own town. Here we learn how the process of the census worked. Today when we have a census, the government send forms around to our homes, and we have to fill them in and wait for them to be collected. But in these times, the people had to go to their own hometown, the place where their ancestors lived, and be registered there.

Isn’t it strange that at Christmas time we should be discussing the ways in which censuses were conducted 2000 years ago? Isn’t it a strange thing that the bible passage which describes the birth of Jesus talks about all these things –Caesar Augustus, the governor of Syria Quirinius, the census, the process, and all this? Why does St Luke tell us all these things?

We read: And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

So now we see that it wasn’t just everybody in the whole Roman empire that was moving around and travelling to their hometown, but now St Luke wants to tell us about a particular family that were travelling their own hometown. It says that Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, but they went to travel to Bethlehem, because Bethlehem was his family’s hometown. Joseph was part of King David’s family and was from his lineage, and so he went to the town where King David was born, which was Bethlehem. The prophets also foretold that the Christ would come from the family of King David.

Now in the Gospel of Matthew we read that when the wise men came to visit King Herod to find the baby Jesus they wanted to know where the King of the Jews would be born. It says: Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [King Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”

So we read in our reading that Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth to Bethlehem at this particular time when Caesar Augustus was holding a census. We learn here that God uses world leaders and world events to shape things for the blessing of the whole world. It’s not as if God the Father takes Mary and Joseph in some magical or supernatural way to Bethlehem. No—this happens through real events in world history: in this case, a real census that was ordered by a real Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus.

Every Christmas too, we can look back at the whole year and see that the world has changed since last year. Maybe it has changed for what we think is the better, or maybe we think it has changed for the worst. Since last Christmas, there have been things that have happened all around the world, all around Australia, all around Victoria, even throughout Gippsland that are unique to 2013. And world history is never going to be quite the same again. This year has been a unique year, just as 2012 was, 2011 was, and so forth. God has used all the events of the previous year to shape and direct the world for the blessing of everyone.

How has God shaped and moved you this year? Has he moved you from a Nazareth to a Bethlehem? Has he changed your opinion about something? What are the circumstances that have even led you to come and hear the words of Jesus in this church today? How has God brought you to this point in your life, just as he brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem?

Let’s look back at our reading. It says: Joseph went to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. Here we read something that is very unusual, and especially for those days. If Joseph would have been travelling with Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered, we would assume that they would have been married. In those days, if they weren’t married, they probably wouldn’t have been allowed to travel together. These sorts of matters would have been very important then.

But the text doesn’t say that Mary was his wife, but it says that she was his betrothed, his fiancée, and it also says that she was with child.

St Luke calls Mary his betrothed, Joseph’s fiancée, because he wants to emphasise that the child is not Joseph’s child. This child is not the result of Joseph and Mary’s marriage, but existed before they were married.

Now, many people today would explain this very simply: they would say this is a “shotgun wedding”. They would say that Joseph and Mary went to bed together before they were married.

But this is not what the bible claims, and this explanation is not the Christian faith. The Gospel of Matthew tells us the following: When Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together [before they had been married, before any sexual relations] she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And later we read: Joseph did as the angel commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. When the bible talks about “knowing” a person, it’s talking about sexual relations between a man and a woman. The bible says that he knew her not. In the Gospel of Luke, when the Angel Gabriel goes to the Virgin Mary, and tell her she will become pregnant, Mary says the same thing:  How will this be, since I do not know a man?

So it is a central belief of Christianity, that Jesus’ mother was in fact a virgin. So who was the father? God the Father was the Father, and Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This is the Christian faith. Of course, this has never happened before and it will never happen again. But that does not mean that this is impossible. In fact, when the Angel Gabriel went to Mary, he said these powerful words: Nothing will be impossible with God. And these words ring out over the entire life of Jesus.

And so we read in our reading: And while [Joseph and Mary] were [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

You can see that God provided the occasion for Mary and Joseph to travel through the census. Mary didn’t choose the time and place for her son to be born, but God chose it, and the prophecy was fulfilled. And Mary found herself having to put their little baby in a manger, in an animals’ feed-trough, in a stable, because there was no room in the inn. All the hotels and motels in town were all filled up with other people.

And so the life of Jesus, the eternal Son of God in human flesh, begins. Jesus, who is true God, is born of a true virgin. And Jesus never promotes himself, but has the simplest, and humblest, and poorest of births, and the simplest of beginnings. The time, the place, the circumstances are all chosen for him and by him.

The man Caesar Augustus exalts himself as god, and at the same time the true Almighty God humbles himself to become a small tiny baby.

Caesar Augustus want to take a census of his whole empire, but Jesus is born so that he would enrol his whole empire, the whole world in the book of life.
Joseph and Mary are moved by the Holy Spirit from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and we are constantly moved by the Holy Spirit from darkness to light, from sin to forgiveness, from weariness to rest, from sadness to joy.
Jesus shows us his great power as God, how he was able to allow himself to be born at a particular place at a particular time according to the prophecy, but he does this in great weakness, humility, great gentleness, great poverty, lying in a manger in a stable. And by doing this, the little stable in Bethlehem becomes the centre of the world, the focus of the whole universe, the place where angels want to look in, the place where shepherds run to, the place where stars shine down upon.

What a wonderful thing it is to come and be in the presence of that same Lord, that same Jesus, that same Saviour today, to receive from him the forgiveness of all our sins, his great comfort, his great peace and his great joy! What a wonderful thing it is that Jesus comes to meet us in his word, in baptism by giving us his Holy Spirit and in the Lord’s Supper by giving us his body and blood! What a wonderful thing it is that our God comes to meet us where we are and takes us on his journey for us with him, to allow us to grow with him in faith from baby steps into adulthood. And what a wonderful thing it will be when this same child, this same Jesus, this same Saviour, will welcome us in to his inn, where there will never be any lack of room. As Jesus says: In my Father’s house are many rooms and I am going to prepare a place for you.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Amen.

Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your Son into the world to be born as a tiny baby in Bethlehem. Send us your Holy Spirit, and send us your gift of faith and peace and joy, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Advent 4 [John 1:19-28] (22-Dec-2013)

This sermon was preached at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon, 10am.

http://stephenvdh.blogspot.com.au/2010/12/advent-4-john-119-28-19-dec-2010.html

Apologies for lack of sermon posts over the last few weeks.