+ The
Nativity of Our Lord – December 25th, 2019 +
Christmas Day
Series A: Isaiah 52:7-10;
Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-14
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Some hospitals, like the
one Jonah was born in, play a little music whenever a baby is born. And even
though it was O-dark thirty, I’ll never forget the moment the nurse wheeled Natasha
down the hallway; she pushed that tiny, red button and cued a little lullaby
for all the hospital to hear.
I’ve heard that, or similar
music, played many times since, in several hospitals, and often when I’m on my
way to or from visiting someone. I heard it again recently while walking to the
elevator. A song of joy, hope, and new life in a place of illness, pain, and
death.
This is what God does for
us at Christmas, in the birth of Jesus. God himself descends into our world of
illness, pain, suffering, and death as an infant. Here is joy, hope, and life
in newborn flesh. Very God of very God and yet flesh of our flesh and bone of
our bone. From conception into all eternity, God is man. He shares our DNA. He
is human, like you. Born for you.
In Christ’s birth, a new
song is sung. A new day dawns. New life begins.
In Christ’s birth, God
becomes a child. He who made man in the beginning, is made man to save you.
In Christ’s birth, we are
given new birth. His birthday becomes our new birthday. We are born again in
Jesus who was born for us.
For, St. John writes,
“as many as received Him, to those who believed in His name, to them He gave
the right to become children of God: who were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John chapter 1 is God’s
wonderful and gracious birth announcement. It’s a boy! And he’s born for you.
John delivers a birthday card of divine creation, announcing Jesus’ birth and
our new birth in him. This good news is written from all eternity, yet made
known in time for you. We marvel and rejoice in the mystery and the love of God
come down to us in Jesus’ birth. It’s all wrapped up a single, miraculous,
mysterious, marvelous sentence:
The Word
became flesh and dwelt among us.
We could spend the next
twelve days of Christmas diving into this mystery, and still not reach the
bottom. The Son of God, eternally Begotten, not made, is born of woman for you.
“The Word of the Father, by Whom all time was created, was made flesh and was
born in time for us” (Augustine). The firstborn of all creation is Mary’s
firstborn Son. The Uncreated became a creature. The Infinite God became finite.
The eternal Word was born in the fullness of time for you. The one who formed
man from the dust of the earth has come with eyebrows, ears, and eyes. How
beautiful are those little feet that bear good news.
As St. Augustine once
wrote, “The Maker of man became Man that He, Ruler of the stars, might be
nourished at His mother’s breast; that He, the Bread, might hunger; that He,
the Fountain, might thirst; that He, the Light, might sleep; that He, the Way,
might be wearied by the journey; that He, the Truth, might be accused by false
witnesses; that He, the Judge of the living and the dead, might be brought to
trial by a mortal judge; that He, Justice, might be condemned by the unjust; that He, Discipline, might
be scourged with whips; that He, the Foundation, might be suspended upon a
cross; that Courage might be weakened; that Healer might be wounded; that Life might die.”
As profound as this mystery
is, it is also historical. It’s true, all of it. Jesus’ birth, life, death and
resurrection happened, St. Luke says, not once upon a time or in a galaxy far,
far away, but in the days of Caesar Augustus and Quirinius. Jesus is crucified
under Pontius Pilate.
So, if you want to know
what God looks like, look down into the manger. Behold, the face of God. And
behold, the face of the first man of a new humanity. Jesus’ birthday becomes
our new birthday. We are born again in him.
The Word became flesh
because we are flesh. The Second Adam is born for all of us, sons of Adam and
daughters of Eve. Jesus is born under the Law to redeem us who are under the
Law. For us, children of wrath, conceived and born in sin, God becomes a
child.
The Word became flesh and
dwelt among us. In Jesus, God has hair. Fingers. And tiny hands that reach out
to his mother, merciful hands that touch leprous skin, sacrificial hands that
bleed from nails, and loving hands that baptize us and feed us week after week
at the altar.
For us, “The Master took on
the form of a servant. For he became Son of man, who was God’s own Son, in
order that he might make the sons of men to be children of God. (Chrysostom).
Jesus’ birth is one small step for God, one giant leap for mankind. A fresh
start for humanity. New birth. New life. The Son of God became human to be what
we are, and being what we are without our sin, He came to save us. Jesus is
born as a child to we might become children of God. In a world of pain, suffering,
sin, and death, Jesus is, as the old carol goes, “born to raise us sons of
earth, born to give us second birth.” That makes the waters of your Holy
Baptism your very own Christmas, where you are born again. Born from above in
Jesus who was born for you.
For us, The one who made
the wheat and vine comes in bread and wine to you this very day. The Word who
became flesh for you gives his flesh and blood to you.
Today, the one who gave us
earthly life has come to give us new birth and new life in his life. Today,
Jesus’ birthday is your new birthday. Today we are born again in him who was born
for us.
A merry Christmas and a
happy new birthday to each of you…
In the Name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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