THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD (Christmas Day)

Hymns: 105, 103, 84, 102, 107

Luke 2:15-20 — “And Came to Be . . . Just as Had Been Told to Them”

      Grace, mercy, and peace to you all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

      Today is the Festival of the Nativity of Our Lord. The appointed Gospel reading for this day is Luke 2:15-20:

     So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

      In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Introduction

      Last night’s Gospel reading began with the same saying as we hear again today, “And came to be.” Truly this is the revelation of God’s eternal salvation for mankind. This truly is the Gospel or good news that we all long to hear. This good news cannot be told too often. It is a message that never grows old or stale. It is as fresh as the new day, and truly it is the source of all that is renewed and good. This is our good news. It is the Gospel in its most literal form. This is the one and only true cause for “Joy to the World.” It is the message entrusted to God’s Church to be told again and again and again, for as long as this world stands and men stand in need of God’s salvation.

I.      And Came to Be (Continued)

      “And came to be. . .” These are sweet and wonderful words of blessing. These are words that tell of the fulfillment of God’s holy and gracious will for the world. God has declared it so to be, and so it is just as He has declared. God says it and it comes to be. But God speaks it over and over again so that even as we pray in the Our Father, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” God has ordained angels or messengers through whom He speaks His wonderful Gospel over and over, so that it comes to be, not only in the highest places where we expect His glory to be, but also on earth, in men, where God’s goodwill comes to be with us in the person of Immanuel, born of the Virgin. Thus God’s glory is with us, even as in the highest places of heaven. God’s glory comes to be in the body of Christ, incorporated into God in connection with the spoken or preached Word and with the Word laden Water, and with the Word wrapped in bread and poured out in Wine.

      “And came to be, even as departed from them into the heaven the angels, even the men, the shepherds, said to one another, “We must journey through now until Bethlehem even so we might see this utterance, the one having come to be, which the Lord has made known to us.”

      This is the effect of the preaching of the pure Word of God. Those who hear it and receive it have their hearts and minds changed by it. It is not enough for one who has received the utterance with the ears simply to sit around and talk about it or to marvel about it. Those who truly hear the utterance of the Word must also partake of Him. The preaching of Christ is not merely preaching about Jesus, but it is the gift of Jesus Himself. True preaching of the Word is preaching that moves the hearer to come to be even as the Word Himself has come to be. True preaching of the Christ makes the heart come to be alive so that the person wants to run to the manger to see and to behold Jesus in the flesh. This is why every aspect of the divine service prepares the hearers to come to the New Testament manger to receive Jesus bodily, even as He has commanded, “This do often.”

      Today we are gathered again in Bethlehem, the House of Bread. For the gathering of the saints to receive Christ through the preached Word and in the Sacrament truly is the House of God’s bread from heaven, the very Bread of Life. That is the reason that we gather. That is the true meaning of serving God alone. True worship is serving God by coming to be what He has commanded that we should be. “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” “This do, as often as you should drink, into My Remembrance.”

      Thus, as soon as the heavenly messengers finished their preaching, the shepherds turned to one another saying, “We must journey through now until Bethlehem even so we might see this utterance, the one having come to be, which the Lord has made known to us.”

II.      Now Seeing, They Made Known Abroad Concerning the Utterance

     And they came with haste and they found Mary and Joseph and the infant lying in the manger. Now seeing, they made known abroad concerning the utterance of the having been spoken to them concerning the child, this one. And all who having heard, marveled concerning those things having been spoken by the shepherds. But Mary all kept closely together, the utterances these, thrown together in her heart.

      Having heard the angels, these shepherds could not keep away. God did not send the angels to tell these shepherds the sign with the intent that the shepherds should continue with their flocks. No, God meant for these shepherds to stop everything and respond to the sign. That is the very purpose of providing a sign! If you think otherwise, the next time that the traffic signal turns green, just sit there without being moved to action. You will very quickly be made to realize that the sign is given to change your mindset. The green light is given so that you will be moved to continue onward.

      These shepherds received the promise that the sign was not where they were, but in Bethlehem, in a feed stall. So they went, and with great haste. They were in a hurry to come to be where the sign was told to them to be. They did not question what they were told, but received the utterance as from the Lord, as being a faithful and true utterance, down to the very last word. Surely none of it made sense to any of them. What rational person would expect to find the King of Kings in such a place as a manger? How could it make any sense that they should go running to the tiny town of Bethlehem, when Jerusalem was the city of God, the city with the King’s palace and with the temple? Who would expect the Savior to be lying in a stall where the animals were fed? But these shepherds did not ask these very reasonable questions. They abandoned everything and went running to Bethlehem, the exact opposite direction that human reason would have led them. They went to Bethlehem and began checking the various mangers until they found the sign of God’s presence in the body and blood of Jesus, lying exactly where the Lord had made known through the utterance of the angels.

      Perhaps even more amazing is this portion of the account: “Now seeing, they made known abroad concerning the utterance of the having been spoken to them concerning the child, this one.”

      Not only did the shepherds abandon all reason so as to abandon their livelihoods and go the opposite direction of human reason, but having seen the sign they made known abroad concerning exactly what had been uttered to them. They told it exactly as the Lord had made known through the utterance of the angel. They did not change a single word. They did not interpret anything. They told it as they had heard it from the angels.

      Those who heard it from them wondered about it. Yes, they found it marvelous. Yes, they were amazed. But they wondered. Even Mary was not sure. All these things were thrown together in her heart. Surely she did not forget what Gabriel had told her and her husband concerning this child. But now she was hearing strange utterances also from these grungy and unfamiliar shepherds. So she wondered about them, but kept them all together just as the shepherds uttered them.

III.      Just as Had Been Told to Them

      “And they converted, the shepherds, glorifying and praising God upon all those things they heard and saw just as had been spoken to them.”

      Our translations seem to miss the wonderful point that Luke records regarding the conversion of the shepherds. This word does indeed include the sense of returning, but it is the same word that the Lord Jesus later uses in Luke 22:32 concerning the promise that Peter would be converted back to Jesus after denying Him three times, and in Matthew 13:15 regarding the use of parables so that the hard-hearted would not show a false conversion that would mislead others, and in Matthew 18:3 where Jesus says that unless we are converted and become as the children we shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

      Surely Luke could have used a saying such as “And they went again to their flocks.” But here he uses a word for return that is used with regard to the faith that the preached utterances of God produce in people. Is this just a coincidence? Consider the rest of what Luke records. “And they converted, the shepherds, glorifying and praising God upon all those things they heard and saw just as had been spoken to them.” Does this not sound as though Luke means for us to understand that these men were turned back, not only to their flocks, but more importantly, were turned back to the true and joyous faith of God’s Holy Communion in Christ? Did they not partake of the body of Jesus? Were they not filled with the Word of God through worshiping in the presence of Immanuel? Did they not receive the very utterances of God and repeat these utterances in a divinely given liturgical response?

      They responded to the utterance concerning the divinely ordained sign of Christ having come to be in the manager. The men were converted again or renewed through receiving the Christ in the way that they had been told that they would receive Him.

      Is this not the very utterance that we receive today concerning the Christ Mass? Is this not the sign that God has given for the gift of Jesus to the world in the New Testament? Is this not the utterance of the Holy Scriptures regarding the means by which God provides for us to be renewed in His grace, mercy, and peace today? Can there be any doubt that God means for us to hear that Immanuel has come to be with us in this divinely ordained sign? And having heard the very words of consecration, how can we not be converted just as the shepherds were converted by receiving Jesus in the flesh?

Conclusion

      Truly this is a day for celebrating! Truly this is an utterance to be made known abroad! Christ is born to us this very day, in the House of Bread, and this is the sign to you: you will find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger. This is what we have been promised. Surely we should make haste and come to Christ who is given for us to receive for our conversion from sin to holiness, from death to life, from despair to everlasting hope and joy. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

      The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus forever. Amen.

THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD (Christmas Day)

Hymns: 105, 103, 84, 102, 107

The Introit      (Is.9:6;Ps.98:1a)

The Collect     

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that the new birth of Thine only-begotten Son in the flesh may set us free, who are held in the old bondage under the yoke of sin; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy son, our Lord, who liveth, and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

The First Lesson      Micah 5:2-4 (NKJV)

      “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” Therefore He shall give them up, until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; then the remnant of His brethren shall return to the children of Israel. And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth.

The Gradual     (Ps.98:2-4; 95:1,6)

The Epistle     Titus 3:4-7 (NKJV)

      But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The HOLY GOSPEL      St. Luke 2:15-20 (NKJV)

      So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

Luke 2:15-20 — “And Came to Be . . . Just as Had Been Told to Them”

Introduction

I.     And Came to Be (Continued)

II.     Now Seeing, They Made Known Abroad Concerning the Utterance

III.     Just as Had Been Told to Them

Conclusion