SERMON “Immanuel, God’s Wonder”
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Well, we're here again. We have gathered in church this Christmas eve, once again. Just like last year, just like every year, we've gathered. We sang some hymns, probably some we've sung on a lot of Christmas eves. There's the candle thing. Many people are wearing red and green. And there are a few people who are wearing a tie just like every Christmas eve. Dare I even say we have a few people here we only see at this time of year? I can't say for certain but no doubt there are a lot of people in this world, if not in this room, who are in church this day of the year and only this day of the year, just like always.
Same hymns, same decorations, same people, same clothes – it seems pretty commonplace, doesn't it? Yet there are some elements here, amid all the blinding sameness, which we cannot dare to see as commonplace. There are three essential elements we need to look at without fail. And they are right here in our Gospel reading.
First, people need to be saved from sins. Do we know how radical that statement is in our feel-good, bootstrap world? Let me repeat it so you can soak it up for a moment. People need to be saved from sin. Now before we all nod our heads and agree that all those other people, the bad ones, need to be saved, let's consider the reality of sin. Sin is any accidental or deliberate falling short of God's perfection. In Adam we have all sinned. And we go ahead and play the part of sinners quite well each and every day. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. And God has seen fit to love us while we were yet sinners. We can't save ourselves. Dead people don't raise themselves. People, that is, we, need to be saved from sins. We are corrupt in the sight of God. There's no reforming ouselves, no being good enough. We are the sinners who need to be saved.
Note to myself – put up a church sign that says “for sinners only.”
People need to be saved from sins. Now, next, the message you expected. Jesus is born this day. Does this seem like a commonplace event? Let's run over the details. His birthplace and lineage were mentioned by the prophet hundreds of years before. He is born of a virgin – no father but the proclamation of God in her ear. He is born of a woman who is under sin like the rest of us, but he inherits no sin. Jesus is, in fact, the only perfectly righteous person ever to live. He's fully human yet shows that he is also fully divine. Jesus is the perfect man. His birth is heralded by angels. He has stars that call people from a far country to come and worship.
Jesus is no ordinary baby. He is no ordinary person. He does not simply live a good life. He is God in the flesh. He is God with us. Nothing commonplace about it.
People need to be saved from sin. Jesus, God in the flesh, is born this day. What is our third point?
This is one of the most misundrstood aspects of Christmas. Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, come to save us from sin. This is, after all, what we need. Remember the sign, “for sinners only”? We don't need Jesus as an example of God's love. We don't need Jesus as a person who shows us how to be faithful. We don't need a Jesus who showed us the way to heaven. His showing us things doesn't mean we can do them. We're dead in sin, remember? We don't need another example. If Jesus just came to be an example we may as well hang it up and go home. We dead people don't need examples. We need a savior. We need someone to bring us to life from the dead. We need someone to kill our sin. We need someone to put his perfect righteousness upon us.
This is exactly what God the Son is. He is the one who saves us. He cleanses us. He forgives us. He renews us. And by faith in his name we who were dead in trespasses and sin have passed from death to life. We have been changed by him. We are no longer dead, but by faith in Jesus' work for us we become light and life in Jesus.
Jesus has come to save us from our sins. That's what we need, that's what he did.
Now may Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, grant us his mercy and redemption, creating faith in our hearts that we may receive the light of the Gospel, Christ crucified for sinners, and that we may walk in that light, bearing the righteous, redeeming love of Jesus with us, wherever we go. This I pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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