+ Nativity of Our Lord – December 25th, 2020 +
Series B: Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-14
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,
Be honest. When’s the last time you thought about feet on Christmas morning? And I don’t mean your favorite cozy socks or the stockings hung by the chimney with care. Just plain old feet.
I’m guessing there aren’t any foot ornaments on your tree, unless it’s a baby foot print from a child or grandchild. I highly doubt any of us painted our Christmas greetings with our toes or stamped our footprint on our family Christmas cards. And chances are, like me, you probably hadn’t thought about feet at Christmas at all, until of course, Isaiah put his feet – and Jesus’ feet - in our ears this morning.
We tend to ignore feet, until of course, we stub our toe or drop something on them. Feet as hairy, smelly, and dirty. But beautiful? Probably not for most of us. But that’s exactly what God sent His prophet Isaiah to say.
How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
This Christmas morning, the prophet Isaiah draws our attention, of all places, to the beautiful feet of Christmas; the feet that bear the good news of Jesus our coming King. And the feet of our Lord himself, born to save you.
In Isaiah’s day, God’s people were in need of Good News. Mighty Israel had fallen into idolatry. God’s people had forgotten his covenant, and walked in the ways of darkness. God’s kings had forgotten their true King, YHWH. The once united kingdom was divided. The northern kingdom would soon be conquered. Judah was not far behind. Israel’s future looked bleak. Assyria came. Then Babylon. Then exile. Judah had no political power. No military might with which to repel Babylon.
Today, we find ourselves, like the saints of old, in need of Good News. Though we’re not in exile in Babylon, life in 2020 has sure felt a lot like an exile. Separation from loved ones. Closures. Quarantines. A global pandemic and countless other events this year, totally out of our control. Like Israel, we’re just barely hanging on to God’s promise, looking for some sign of hope, a ray of light on the horizon. Like Israel, perhaps we too have forgotten God. All we like sheep have gone astray, each to our own way. Israel wanted a king. The world wants a king. Our sinful flesh, too, thinks we are our own king. But in the end, in our sin, all we are is usurpers, king nothings, rulers of an empire of dirt.
Like Israel, there’s only one King, and it’s not us. YHWH, the Lord himself is our rightful, and faithful, and good King. And that’s why the Lord sent Isaiah to Israel.
Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, With their voices they shall sing together; For they shall see eye to eye When the Lord brings back Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, You waste places of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has [made bare His holy arm In the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see The salvation of our God.
This is what makes the prophet’s feet beautiful. Not their designer sandals. Not their pedicured toes. But the good news their feet carry. The beautiful feet of Isaiah, and prophet after prophet who declared the good news that YHWH, the true King, was coming. That YHWH would restore his people. And stretch out his mighty arm to save. In part, this good news came when Cyrus the Persian had defeated Babylon. When exiled Israel began to return home. When the temple was rebuilt, the walls, reconstructed, God’s people restored.
But it was not until the day when the Lord planted the feet of John the Baptist in the Jordan River and proclaimed the arrival of Him whose sandals he was not worthy to stoop down and untie, that this good news finally came to pass. God’s promise long foretold and long-expected had finally come to pass. At long last, YHWH, the King, had come.
The Lord God who spoke his promises through the prophet Isaiah – who declared beautiful the feet of him who bears good news – dipped his two very human feet in the Jordan River, and before that, in the Virgin’s womb, for you. God put his foot down, not for judgment, but for your deliverance.
The Lord God came to walk, not just a mile in our shoes, but a lifetime. The beautiful feet that Isaiah proclaimed bear the legs, and arms, and head of a man, Isaiah’s Lord and ours. Jesus, the Theanthropos, the early church called him. The God-Man.
Isaiah foretold his coming. John’s Gospel declares, “He’s here.” Isaiah announces that YHWH is King. John tells us this King, YHWH, made his home among us, literally, tabernacled, dwelt among us.
Isaiah glimpsed his glory in the heavenly throne room. John says that in the face of this man Jesus we behold the glory of God incarnate. Isaiah’s beautiful feet proclaimed God’s Word, the good news of his coming. John declares that Jesus is the very Word of God made flesh for you.
How beautiful are the feet of him who not only bears good news, but is Good News enfleshed for you. God becomes man for you. He is the one through whom all things are made, and yet he is made man for you. He is very God of very God, yet born of the Virgin Mary for you. Born with eyes to see your need, ears to hear your cry, lips and mouth to speak comfort, hands and fingers to heal, legs to walk, and yes, even feet. Beautiful feet. In Jesus, God himself has feet. With toenails. Joints. Tendons, bones, callouses and all. Ordinary, yet beautiful feet that did some extraordinary things to save you…
Feet that kicked and wiggled in Mary’s womb. Feet that were wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger. Feet that grew and walked in His Father’s footsteps for you. Feet that walked on water, brought healing, and good news on every mountainside and town he walked into. Feet that journeyed to the cross, were pierced for you, and three days later stood on the cold ground of the tomb and walked out of the grave for you.
How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion,
Who says to you this Christmas Day, that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
A blessed and merry Christmas to each of you…
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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