St. John 1:1–18
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
If we weren’t mostly selfish, if we weren’t mostly concerned with our own happiness, or the happiness of the people who make us happy, then we might wonder, “Can we really have a merry Christmas? Is it really okay to have so much fun, when so much of the world is in so much pain?”
Over 3 million children die of hunger every year. And some of us have so much money that we can let food go bad in the fridge. We might not want to waste it, but it happens, because we simply were not hungry enough to eat it, we didn’t need it. Let us also consider all the children who come from or live in broken homes. It’s almost too hard to count the ways home and marriage are broken now. And do not forget those children who will not be wrapped in swaddling clothes, they will not even be given the dignity of a manger for a bed, but they will be literally discarded with the clinic’s garbage. And sorry, I’m not done yet—so many people are abused, children as well as adults. Others do abuse to themselves. Some people are overcome by depression and they don’t have the strength to wish you a Merry Christmas. And there are others who are drowning themselves at the bottom of their bottles. There are people, all kinds of people, people you might not even suspect, who have messed up so many times, or have had so much evil happen to them, that they never hear anyone say anything like, “I love you. You matter. You are precious to me,” or even, “You are precious to God.”
If we seriously consider this broken world—this world that we have broken by our sins against God and against each other—can we really justify this month or more of feasting? Is it really appropriate? Don’t we have serious work we should be doing? The Bible says we do have serious work.
Be sober-minded (1 Peter 5:8).
Be wretched and mourn and weep (James 4:9).
Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause (Isaiah 1:16–17).
Give to the needy (Matt. 6:2).
O you who love the Lord, hate evil! (Psalm 97:10).
Deny yourself and take up your cross daily (Luke 9:23).
That is the Word of the Lord. In other words, stop tinseling over the pain with a holly jolly Christmas. You can’t ignore the depravity of this world. And isn’t it strange how Christmas is probably the most noticeable time when reality doesn’t meet expectations. As hard as we try to make it picture–perfect, things have a way of spoiling. That’s what happens in a world broken by sin. And even when we know the real reason for this season, that we’re supposed to be celebrating the absolutely greatest thing to ever happen: God come in the flesh—even then, it often doesn’t feel quite that great.
If you came to church this morning just to hear something nice so you can forget about all the problems for a while, and pretend there’s nothing wrong… I’m sorry. That’s not going to happen here. That can’t happen in a Christian Church. We deal with sin honestly. Even on a happy day like Christmas, we began our service with painfully familiar words: “I, a poor, miserable sinner.” This is God’s judgment: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil (John 3:19). That’s you and me. Our works are evil. We love darkness. This world’s brokenness is our fault. But then in a Christian Church, we also hear about the real cure to all these injuries, the real answer to all these problems. Christmas is actually the answer. And Good Friday and Easter. Jesus is the answer. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Now, there is also a cheap, false Christmas, that the world certainly celebrates, and that we might also fall into. But we can get the real Christmas back. Because the world really IS full of pain and suffering, hunger and abuse. And Christmas exists BECAUSE of that. Christmas wasn’t invented by men to just paper-over the evil. Christmas is real because of all the evil things we have done and all the evil things that have been done to us.
The real Christmas is the only real way to deal with the pain and suffering. The right place for us to go, the healing place, is to a shack in Bethlehem where a little boy was born to a mother and a step-father who weren’t even in their own home, and weren’t entirely sure what would happen next. And then what happened was soldiers tried to kill their baby, and succeeded in butchering many other little baby boys. That’s Christmas: the birth of a Savior, right in the middle of our pain, our darkness, our death.
Now, follow that baby boy into Egypt; then back to a little town where He had to grow up, hearing the tongues wagging about that illegitimate son of the carpenter. Follow Him as He lived and suffered the way you do. Follow Him to the very end, where everyone hated Him, where the lips He had made for praise spat on Him and called Him a liar, where the hands He had made for good works seized Him and nailed Him to a cross. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.
And now remember that Jesus came into this evil, broken world, and suffered in this horrible way, to save this world. The whole reason Christmas exists at all is because Jesus came to suffer all that this world and our sinful hearts could throw at Him. He came here, to us, and over this broken, nasty world, the angels of heaven sang “peace on earth, goodwill toward men.” When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy. He saved us. And to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the authority to become children of God. That means, He saved us… by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
That’s what we’re celebrating: Jesus’ birth in the flesh, and your rebirth into heaven. That’s what all our lights and trees and family gatherings and church services ought to be about. So, in order to really celebrate—to cut through the lies and broken promises and disappointed expectations—we do need to look hard at the darkness of this life. We need to own it, confess it. And then, marvel at the fact that God was made a man. I don’t have to paper things over. I don’t have to paste on the smile, make merry, and carry on. I don’t have to blast the carols just to drown out the world’s problems. I just need what Christmas really gives.
Real Christmas—the right place to go, the healing place to go—is right here. Christmas Morning Divine Service is all about the healing, the cure, the answer for all our hurts, all our evil. That is why we have here our own Christmas feast. It’s quite different from what you might enjoy at home—no ham or cookies—just a bit of bread and a sip of wine—a memorial of death. But also more than a memorial: the very body and blood that died on that cross and rose from the dead. The very same body and blood that was born in Bethlehem. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And here He is! At our altar, for you.
Jesus came to this evil world to save it. And He still comes, to you, poor sinner, to save you. In this greatest of Christmas feasts, we see His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. More than we deserve, more than enough to heal us and bring us into His new and unbroken world to come.
Now THAT is a reason to party. That is the reason to sing as loud as you can. That’s the reason to enjoy the decorations and the rich food. How can you not? We magnify this Day, even though there’s not enough electric lights in the world to celebrate what our God has done. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us… And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace… upon grace. Now that’s a Merry Christmas.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA & Immanuel, Charlotte, IA
