Christmas Eve - The Nativity of Our Lord

St. Luke 2:1–20

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There is a good reason Christmas pageants and Live Nativities are so popular. And it’s not just because the kids are so cute or the camels are so cool (although both of those things are also true). But the real reason is also why Martin Luther’s Christmas hymn is so good: From Heaven Above to Earth I Come. Like a pageant, this hymn puts us into the story!

It starts with the angel of the Lord making his announcement, bringing his good news of great joy.
From heav’n above to earth I come
   To bear good news to ev’ry home…
To you this night is born a child
   Of Mary, chosen virgin mild…
This is the Christ, our God Most High,
   Who hears your sad and bitter cry;
   He will Himself your Savior be
   From all your sin to set you free. (LSB 358:1,2,3) 
The angel’s hymn stanzas paraphrase the message from that first Christmas night, but now they are sung directly to you. You are on the receiving end of this great gift exchange. You play the part of the shepherds:
How glad we’ll be to find it so!
Then with the shepherds let us go
To see what God for us has done
In sending us His own dear Son. (6)
And in heart and mind, you even make the journey to the manger in Bethlehem. You imagine greeting the Christ Child Himself.
Welcome to earth, O noble Guest,
Through whom the sinful world is blest!
You came to share my misery
That You might share Your joy with me. (8)

Now what makes this hymn even better than a pageant is what just happened in those last couple lines. It’s not just make-believe. It’s personal—it applies the birth of Jesus directly to you, to me. “O Jesus, You came to share my misery That You might share Your joy with me.” Not only was Jesus born long ago in a land far away, not only was the meaning of His birth told to the shepherds, but the news is still told today for you. And even His birth, even way back then, was already for you.

Listen again to what the angel said: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord—Unto you! That wasn’t just for the shepherds. Jesus wasn’t born only for the people of Bethlehem, not only for the people who lived at that time, not only for the Jews. That “unto you” includes all people: rich and poor, young and old, male and female, Jew and Gentile, sinner and saint, believer and unbeliever. Jesus was born for them all. And yes, the Son of God was even born for you.

Isaiah said it long before the angel ever did: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given (Is. 9:6). The Lord Himself said to Adam and Eve that He would come as a child, the Seed of the Woman, and save them, and so through them, our first parents, this Lord said it to all mankind. And still, the Lord sends His messengers to tell all people. He won’t stop with just telling some, or just those over there, or just us here. He sends angels, prophets, and pastors, all so that He can keep saying, For you, for you, for you… 

You’re the one who is in bondage to sin and death. You’re the one who has sorrows and worries that no one else can take away. You’re the one who needs a Savior. And the good news of great joy is that the Savior is born for you. And hearing, receiving that message for yourself means that you have exactly what it says: you have this Savior. You have His salvation.

The Gospel does not only teach the history about Christ; not merely the facts of the matter: the manger and the hay, the shepherds and the angels. All of that is true, but it’s not enough. Of what benefit would it be to me or to you if Christ had been born a thousand times? Or if the news of His birth were sung daily into our ears with the most lovely songs? What benefit would that give if you never heard that He was born for you and was to be your very own? The birth of Jesus would have done you no good if you were never told He was born for you. Not even the death of Jesus, or His resurrection, could do you any good if you did not hear that He died for you and rose for you. The mere facts are not enough. The Gospel, the good news of great joy, is that all this was done for you.

That’s where and how we get the forgiveness of sins. In God’s Word and Absolution, the Gospel tells us He is our Savior and our sins are canceled out. In Holy Baptism, the Gospel washes us with the holy Name of God, and so washes our sins away, clothes us with Christ, and brings us to our heavenly Father. In the Lord’s Supper, the Gospel feeds us with The Everlasting Life Himself, exchanging our sin for the Lord’s holiness. We get the forgiveness of sins when we hear and believe those words: “for you, for me.”

Not only was that holy Child born for you, not only did that Divine Man die and rise for you, but that Savior lives for you, He comes to you, and He dwells with you.
      Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
      Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
      Within my heart, that it may be
      A quiet chamber kept for Thee. (13)
No make-believing there.

And the Gospel reveals to us that all of this brings God’s glory. The forgiveness of sins is God’s glory. Pardon for sinners, an eternal home for His enemies, life for the dead—that’s what gives God glory. And that is also what makes peace on earth and gives God’s goodwill to men. The Savior born for you means peace for you, God’s goodwill and favor for you. Now nothing can separate you from your God. He’s with you because He is for you. Pageants and hymns are wonderful. They are even fun in how they let us join in the story. But make no mistake, none of this is just a play. The Savior born for you is here, and you really have come like the shepherds, hearing the good news and worshiping your Lord.

Merry Christmas + in the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.


Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA & Immanuel, Charlotte, IA

The Nativity of Our Lord - Christmas Eve

St. Luke 2:1–7

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. At least, all the civilized world, all the territory surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, held by the power of the Roman legions, and ruled over by the first Emperor of Rome: Caesar Augustus. Basically his name means “Magnificent King,” and he thought he would brag a bit about how big his dominion was. So, he sent out a decree that everyone should be registered. He wanted to count heads. He wanted to learn just how big his kingdom was and how best to control it. 

But Caesar was a bit like Caiaphas, who would be high priest later when Jesus was arrested and crucified, who would prophesy, without knowing it, that it is better that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish (John 11:50). So also, Caesar Augustus, without knowing it, was really fulfilling the Scriptures, as all things must. God is not only at work at the specific, obvious moments described in the Bible. God is always at work, hidden but directing the course of human history. Caesar didn’t know it, but he was merely playing the part that God had for him in the great drama known as the salvation story.

So, when Caesar’s officials went out and recorded all the people of the known world, they eventually recorded something like this entry: Registered three: Joseph, son of Heli of Bethlehem of the tribe of Judah, betrothed to Mary; one child—Jesus. There inscribed in ink, on the list with all the other men, women, and children, was the name given to a baby boy by Joseph, who had been directed by an angel—the name, Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21).

Even in infancy, the Christ was obeying His true Father and was reconciling the world in His newly assumed flesh. There on Caesar’s list, the Son of God was numbered with the children of Israel, numbered with the descendants of Adam and Eve—the perfect Son of God numbered with the transgressors. This is the Good News of Christmas. Our God became a Man—He was numbered as one of us. And it IS good news because if God is Man, then Man cannot be killed. Man cannot be lost. Man cannot be left to decay and to the destruction of death and hell. If God is Man then God must love Man, and Man must be saved as he is loved by God. If God is Man, then there is hope for us all.

And even more glorious than Him being numbered with the transgressors is that the transgressors are numbered with Him who knew no sin. Jesus became like us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Though Jesus was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Caesar thought he was numbering his subjects, but really, the heavenly Father was numbering His children. Caesar thought he would bring glory to himself and to his Empire (and from a human perspective, the names of those Judean peasants have mostly been lost to the dustbin of history, while the names of illustrious Caesar and Rome live on). But at least three of the names of those Judean peasants have been preserved for the ages: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, because in truth, God has brought His glory to all people.

Your name is also recorded, not on Caesar’s list, but in the Lamb’s Book of Life. You that are baptized in His name and cling to Christ by faith, you are registered among the citizens of heaven. The Holy Spirit has made you a dwelling place for God. The Son has counted you as His brothers and sisters. And Christ’s Father is your Father.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Most of this is from Rev. Mark Lovett, Christmas Eve 2017.