+ Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols – December 24th, 2021 +
Genesis 3:8-15, 17-19; Genesis 22:15-19; Isaiah 9:2-7; Isaiah 11:1-9; Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:1-7; Luke 2:8-20; Matthew 2:1-12; 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.
One of the walls at our local doctor’s office is covered with little ginger bread men. As you look closely you’ll see handwriting. Little notes left by patients. One of them, in particular, stands out. It was written by my son, Jonah, “What’s your favorite part of Christmas?” the sign says. “Gifts and Jesus,” he wrote.
Pretty good summary of Christmas if you think about it. Gifts and Jesus.
From our Lord’s first “Let there be light” in Genesis to his final “I am coming soon” in Revelation, God reveals himself as the God who gives. He gives us life and breath and daily bread; he gives us redemption, forgiveness, grace, and eternal life. All through Jesus. Gifts and Jesus.
Ponder that for a moment. Everything, from the tippy top of the hats and rooves that cover our heads to the bottom of the socks and shoes that cover our feet, is a gift from God. Not some. All of it. Body. Soul. Earthly possessions and so on. It doesn’t matter how long or short the list is. It’s all gift from our Heavenly Father through Jesus. That’s what makes Christmas Christmas. God gives us gifts in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That’s what the angels in Luke declare to us tonight.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
That same theme runs like a brilliant red Christmas ribbon through each of tonight’s Scripture readings as well. From Genesis 3 to John 1, we hear about God’s gifts and Jesus.
Now, when it comes to opening gifts, there are usually two schools of thought. There’s the rip-it-open-in-a-maelstrom-of-wrapping-paper approach. And then, there’s the deliberate, methodical, gentle-pulling-each-piece-of-tape-and-wrapped-corner approach. Tonight, in our lessons and carols service, we’ve take the slightly slower approach, as our Lord opens his Word to us in Genesis, Isaiah, Luke, Matthew, and John, that we might see, receive, and rejoice in His gifts in Jesus.
Already in Genesis 3, God unwraps his gifts in Jesus for us and all creation. Though at first it does not look like a very Merry Christmas in Eden. After everything God gave Adam and Eve - His word, blessing, made in his image, and even the trees tree that were pleasant to the sight and good for food. God’s perfect paradise all too quickly spoiled. Corrupted. Broken. Dead in sin. And yet, in the middle of a curse to Satan, God makes a promise. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
Jesus is the Seed, the child, born of the woman, Mary. Born to stomp and crush the head of sin, death, and the devil like a Christmas bulb under your Adidas. It’s the ancient promise of gifts and Jesus.
Isaiah the prophet unwrap the corners of God’s gift in Jesus a little more, giving us a sneak peek into God the Father’s Christmas workshop. In Isaiah’s day it wasn’t exactly a holly jolly Christmas in Jerusalem either. Israel suffered one wicked king after another. Tragically, God’s own people made matters worse; they decked their halls in darkness, false teaching, and idolatry. No wonder Isaiah refers to the once great people of Israel as the stump of Jesse. Yet, just when Israel looked hopeless, God speaks a word of promise. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.
God promised Israel, and all nations, light in the darkness, rescue in a child born for you. God’s Christmas promise of gifts and Jesus.
In Luke 1, Gabriel opens the gift even wider, announcing to Mary…behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. YHWH, the Lord, saves.
By the time we read Luke 2, the wrapping paper of God’s gifts is flying across the Judean countryside. Angels break out in song. Shepherds make haste to Bethlehem. Good news of great joy erupts in the night sky. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
In Matthew’s gospel, too, God’s gift of Jesus is opened to the gentiles, the nations, revealing a newborn king who reigns, not in Jerusalem as the magi and Herod expected, but in little, lowly Bethlehem. From the least comes the Greatest. From of the royal halls of the Virgin’s womb and a feeding trough comes forth the King of kings and Lord of lords. And the magi bring gifts to him who is the gift of God incarnate. King. Ruler. Redeemer.
St. John, too, invites us to celebrate God’s Christmas gift in the mystery of Christ’s incarnation. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Here at last, God’s Christmas plan of salvation is finally unwrapped and opened. Or should we say, rather, wrapped for you in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. This is where all the true and beautiful stories of God’s salvation finally lead. From Adam and Eve, clothed and given a promise of the birth of Jesus outside of Eden, to Isaiah and Israel, awaiting the Messiah in a divided kingdom; all the way down through the ages to Bethlehem. Into the arms of humble Mary and Joseph. A lowly savior for lowly shepherds and lowly sinners.
Christmas isn’t about whether we’ve been naughty or nice…cause we haven’t. It’s not because we deserve his gifts…we don’t. That is the gift of Christmas, Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Mary, God in human flesh, comes to save you.
Christ’s birth for you is pure gift. 200 proof grace. Why? Because his birth for us gives way to his crucifixion for us. The punishment we had coming, Jesus took. The death we deserved, Jesus died. You see, the greatest gifts of Christmas aren’t the ones under our trees at home, but the one who adorned the tree of the cross for you.
The grand miracle and wonder of Christmas is not only that God promises and gives his gifts of life and salvation, but that he himself becomes the gift for you.
That’s what Christmas is all about. Gifts and Jesus.
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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