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.
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.
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