SAINT LUKE
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF WATERTOWN
Christmas Eve,
December 24, 2001
Luke 2:10-12
And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Children of our Heavenly Father—precious in His sight for Jesus’ sake:
What’s the hottest Christmas present this year? One year it was Cabbage Patch dolls. People were literally pushing and shoving and knocking people down for one of those little dolls that came with adoption papers. One year it was a Tickle Me Elmo doll. Push the button and he would wiggle and giggle. One year it was a Sony Playstation video game. People stood for hours in the cold in the dark so that when the doors opened they could plunk down hundreds of dollars and get one! What’s hot this year? It was expected that people would buy hi-tech gifts—DVD players, digital cameras, digital big screen TVs, cell phones, palm pilots, X-boxes, computers with faster and faster Internet collections. But I read the other day—ever since September 11th people are buying warm fuzzy things. They are buying jammies—warm fuzzy feet built in jammies from stores called Sleepyheads! They are buying pajamas and soft warm robes, blankets, quilts and comforters. Get it? Comforters! They are buying old-fashioned stuffed animals. They are buying music and movies from the past. They are surrounding themselves with the things and stuff that remind them of a time when at least it seemed—everything was safe and warm and cozy and comfortable. And there’s nothing wrong with that! But the fact remains—peace—real lasting peace of mind, peace of heart, peace of conscience—eternal safety is not for sale—at the Mall of America—or at e-Bay on the Internet or at any store at the Outlet Mall. Peace—precious peace is the gift of God—to be found in a manger in the stable at Bethlehem. Peace is ours tonight—because the little Christ-child came into our sin darkened and sin spoiled world to die to wash away all our sins.
An angel—a holy messenger sent from God the Father told frightened shepherds, “Fear not: for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord.” The shepherds were afraid—sore afraid—so afraid that it hurt! Their chest hurt—their heart hurt—their head hurt. They hurt from the fear—the knowing deep inside that they were horrible sinners! There was a robber—a thief the other day—who broke into an office building. He found a safety box—a huge heavy locked box. He stole that box—dragged it as fast as he could—as far as he could from that office building. Then he spent the next hours busting—breaking into that box. What he found inside were worthless papers—papers—lots and lots of papers that weren’t worth anything. That robber—that thief called the police and said, “Come and arrest me. I am a robber and I’m not even good at that!” We are sinners—and we are not even good at that! People who lived a few houses away from me when I was growing up got robbed on Christmas Eve. Somebody broke into their house and stole all their presents. They scuffed through the new fallen snow—just a few doors down—dropping ribbons and nametags on the way. They went down in their basement. You could see through the basement window—they sat their opening their neighbors’—their stolen presents. That’s where the police found them! People drink too much Christmas cheer—and give themselves a self-inflicted 24-hour stomach flu and head ache. People tell lies—and have to tell more and more lies to try and cover up their lie until they are caught in their lie—and their credibility is almost forever lost. People are unfaithful to their spouse—thinking they will find the sweetest and most exciting kisses—and end up destroying everything! People sacrifice their marriage and health—chasing after money and all the things and stuff it can buy—only to end up far more rich and far more miserable than their neighbor. All that matters is heavenly riches—where moth and rust cannot corrupt—where thieves cannot break in and steal. Our treasure and our heart are in the Christ child!
Unto you is born this day in the city of David a
Savior which is Christ the Lord! I heard the
other day that some 28 million Americans have hearing loss—to a greater or
lesser extent—28 million Americans—that’s about 1 out of every 10 people in our
country have trouble hearing. There is this little grandpa named Ben—who
invented this hearing aid kind of thing. It is kind of long—and it crescent
shaped—and it hangs around your neck. And it’s got these little tiny like
microphone—like amplifiers—three of them—so you can hear. It made it so this
lady who had never ever heard anything before could now hear. She said she
didn’t know that refrigerators made noise. She didn’t know they made noise
until she got this invention so she could hear. She never heard the birds
sing—early in the morning. And she said the sweetest thing she heard so far was
her father’s voice. The little grandpa who invented this hearing
invention—almost started to cry when he said he was so thankful that anyone
would benefit from his invention. Your Father’s voice! That’s what you hear in
the Christmas Gospel—your Heavenly Father’s voice saying, “I love you. I love
you so much—I have given you the first and the best—the forever Christmas gift
of my one and only Son. He will live with you and beside you and for you. He
will never ever sin. Then he will die to wash away all your sins. For now you
will hear my voice in Scripture. One day you will hear angels sing. And you will
hear my voice—when you are home—home in Heaven!
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord. Bethlehem is a very small place—even 2000 years after baby Jesus was born there—Bethlehem is still a small cream-colored city. Today there is danger all around Bethlehem. Helicopters fire rockets and machine guns. People climb onto busses—explosives wrapped all around them—and blow up the bus and all the other passengers. People throw rocks and stones—and tear gas canisters back at the soldiers that shot them in the first place. Tanks fire huge shells—and children as small as those who are sitting all around me lose their lives. Once upon a time—such terrible violence was literally halfway around the world. Today there are fear mongers who talk about the possibilities of nuclear, chemical and biological terrorism—even as they are forced to admit the difficulties of such attacks are great—and the likelihood is exceedingly remote. And so there are people everywhere afraid. The dangers that threaten our faith are exceedingly real! Safety, security and peace are ours. Not through some missile defense umbrella anchored in outer space. Our safety and sanctuary is to be found in a manger—in the person of one small Jewish infant—born of the Virgin Mary—He is Christ the Lord! He alone will keep us safe. He alone will bring us home to Heaven! Amen!
To God alone all Glory!