+ Nativity of Our Lord – December 25th, 2024 +
Series C: 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.
Just this last Sunday after bible class a half dozen of our junior high and high school youth, and a few parents, were standing around after bible class. We were all gathered in a circle. Hovering in awe and wonder over a stroller. Inside, sleeping soundly away, was our newest baptized member, little Eleanor. And I thought to myself, what could possibly bring teenagers to a dead stop on a Sunday morning after downing too many Christmas cookies? Well, a child changes everything.
Parents know this well. One day, one moment, everything changes. Your plans. Your schedules. Your wants and needs and priorities. It all changes. What you eat and drink and buy. When you eat and drink and sleep. What you watch on TV: the endless episodes of Bluey. Paw Patrol. And a parade of Disney princesses. What you want to watch? Well, you’ll just have to let it go. Your house is no longer quiet. Not always clean. And you find yourself talking about the color and consistency of poop over dinner that you scarf down in a few minutes. And yet, you wouldn’t change a thing. Because a child changes everything.
Country artist, Faith Hill, had a Christmas song about this very thing a while back.
Teenage girl, much too young
Unprepared for what's to come
A baby changes everything
Not a ring on her hand
All her dreams and all her plans
A baby changes everything
She can feel He's coming soon
There's no place, there's no room
A baby changes everything
That’s the good tidings of great joy that is Christmas. This child born for you, changes everything. Here is the Child promised by Isaiah long ago. How beautiful are the feet of him who is born to bring good news in the manger of his birth all the way to the mountain of his death. With swaddled cloths and a bed of hay, your God reigns and comes to rescue you from the shroud of death and an endless sleep in the grave. We join the angels and Mary in bursting forth in song. Glory to God in the highest, who has come down to dwell with the lowest. Peace on earth, for God is pleased to dwell with you and for you. The Son of God has become a child so that through him, you become a child of God. The Lord lays bare his holy arms even as he is held in Mary’s arms and cuddled on Joseph’s chest, for one day those same infant arms will be full grown arms of a man stretched out in love on the cross for you.
Because of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, a child changes everything.
This is great joy and wonder and good news, yet also a gracious, divine mystery. For at Christmas the Creator of the world comes to bear the curse of our sin. The Lord of all comes to be the servant of all and give his life for all. Here in the arms of Mary his mother, who carries him, changes him, burps him is the One through whom all creation is upheld. Here is the uncreated God yet found in skin and blood and bone. And there is not a drop of blood in Mary or in you that he does not make and preserve. He is the eternal Word and yet he is made flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone and sheds his blood for you on the cross.
As Augustine once said…”Man’s maker was made man, that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother’s breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that the Truth might be accused of false witness, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die.”
Because of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, this child changes everything. It’s the greatest Christmas gift exchange in the history of the world, and it’s all here in this child born for you. You bring him your guilt, and he gives you his grace. You bring him your sorrow, sickness, and sin, and he brings you joy, healing, and forgiveness. You give him your despair and death, and he gives you eternal comfort and joy and new life.
And you know what, he wouldn’t change a thing. Because Jesus’ birth at Christmas means this child changes everything for you. And that is why he is born.
This child sends shepherds on a midnight run to a manger.
This child sends magi on a journey covering hundreds of miles.
This child turns the world upside down by being lifted up on a tree to save you.
This child is the eternal Word made flesh to dwell with you, save you, and call you his own.
Because of this child the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, the darkness is overwhelmed and everything has changed for you.
For Today the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Today your infant Redeemer has come to rescue you.
Today we join the angels and sing
Glory to the newborn King
This child, Jesus, changes everything.
A 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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