St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church – Watertown, WI
Pastor Mark Gartner
Sermon for Christmas Day -- December 25^th, 2004

Dear Children of God,

Just over 2000 years ago an angel of the Lord came down to a field just outside of a little town of Bethlehem. He came with a simple and yet very wondrous message, a message that gives us the most happy and joyful reason to celebrate this special time of the year. Today our hearts and minds can show a little extra peace and joy as we think about the message that the angel gave to those shepherds. The message that the angel gave was very simple; "I will bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." This message is the cornerstone of our faith. It is a truth that we read about throughout God’s Word. It reminds us why we have nothing in all the world to fear. And it was to a group of Shepherds that this message first came.

No sooner had God’s heavenly messenger and his hosts of angels left the shepherds, then they said, "Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby; who was lying in the manger." They wanted to go and see firsthand what the angels had so beautifully proclaimed. It is no wonder, then, that our hearts and voices should be lifted up on this joyous day and all the days of our lives just as it was for the shepherds living and working in the fields around Bethlehem.

There had been a lowly birth in a little town in Judea. It had occurred amid some tough times, in a place where cows and animals lived, where the child could not be clothed except by cloth strips, where the baby’s cradle was in a feed box out of which the sheep and other cattle were fed. But was that something so remarkable as to send an angel from heaven to announce it and to set the whole universe upside down? But let us remember that is not the first message that was told about this special baby. His entry into the world might have been humble and insignificant, but this baby has been the one central Person around whom the Bible and the entire Old Testament story since the beginning of Creation turns.

Remember way back, when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God himself promised to send someone to crush the head of the Devil. Here was that person. And throughout the Old Testament, the people of Israel found hope and comfort in the promises that God gave them about the coming Messiah. Isaiah prophesied about Son being born and his name being called Mighty God and Micah tells us of the birthplace. The people of Israel knew that God would send someone to save them.

And we no that there is nothing more wonderful than a promise fulfilled. Nothing is more inspiring, uplifting than Christmas, which marks the fulfillment of all those thousands of years of Old Testament prophecies. That is why the shepherds returned from seeing Jesus the baby with the feeling that they had to glorify and praise God for keeping his promise to send a Savior.

Let’s back up again and see what the shepherds saw. They saw a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Well, was that something to praise and glorify God for? But as we said before, that Child was no ordinary child. Did not the very fact of the angel’s appearance prove that? Did not the glorious light that accompanied that angel’s message give them more evidence? And what about the hosts of angels that praise God, when suddenly there was with the announcing angel a great company of the heavenly hosts, singing in songs such as no choir has ever sung? Don’t you think that this helped confirm what they saw in that manger? This was not an ordinary Child!

Then who? Remember what the angel said, "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." We look; we listen; we wonder, for we are in the presence of the greatest miracle of time. The Messiah is in a manger; The Lord of Lords is in a stable; the almighty Maker of the world is living in just about the most humble condition found on this earth. The Son of God is in the form of a little, human body. As we look at this we can only be in awe. Think about the depths of this mystery! God is among us in the flesh!

Then, too, can we imagine a more humble birth? Why didn’t God have Jesus enter this world in a more visible manner so that more people could see his coming? Why didn’t he come with big parades like a King marching before all people? Why did God send Jesus in such a humble and simple way? It is this great miracle that has filled our hearts as we have gathered here to celebrate one of the greatest miracle of our Christian faith. It is a miracle, which is beyond any human mind or understanding. It is beyond any person’s intellect or reason. It is the miracle by which we know that God sent the Savior for this world’s sin. The perfect Son of God became human. He was now 100% God and 100% human. He was the perfect Savior.

What for we might ask ourselves? Was this really necessary? The angels told the shepherds that it was very important. Did you catch the little word that the angels told the shepherds? "A Savior has been born." Here lies the strength and foundation of the shepherd’s faith and the faith of all believers. Jesus came into this world to do more than to cast great Christmas cheer. He didn’t come to give us a reason to exchange presents and to have a time of the year to celebrate friends and family. He didn’t come to give us reason to decorate our homes. We realize as the shepherds did that this day is wonderful, because it is the day that we celebrate one of the greatest events in the history of this sinful world

We realize very quickly that the significance of Christmas is much deeper than the things we often times celebrate this time of year. We must dig much deeper than all the festivities we just listed. We must dig to the very depths of our heart to appreciate that baby in the manger. WE must dig the root and core of the reason that baby entered this world. He came into this world to save ME, a lost and condemned creature. We have to dig through all the wrapping paper and all of the lights and all of the parties to the very core. That baby that the shepherds saw that first night was their Savior and he was our Savior.

Once again, to whom did the angel come? To the kings and wise men of Israel, the wisest and mightiest of our race, residents in beautiful homes in the heart of the big city? No, He came to the simple shepherds outside a small obscure village who were watching and protecting their flocks from the wolf and the robber on the lonely hills. Simple, humble as they were, they were men worthy of the honor, for they believed the message and obeyed. They did not sit down to rationalize and try and figure out exactly how this could have happened. They didn’t try to figure out why God would have came to them who were only lowly shepherds. They didn’t say that this sounds too far fetched so let’s ignore it all. Instead they went and worshipped the newborn Savior of the world. They then went on to tell everyone what they had heard and seen. Their joy and happiness could not be contained. The glorified and praised God for all the things that they had just witnessed.

As we gather around his Word to celebrate Jesus’ birth one more time, I pray that we realize what a privilege and joy it is to gather to worship again the Savior of the world. I pray that we never take for granted the simple message that the shepherds hear over 2000 years ago. What a miracle. A miracle that was promised throughout the Old Testament. It is a miracle, which cannot be explained by human wisdom or knowledge. It is a miracle by which your sins and my sins. May we always glorify God and praise God. This is not just for Sunday mornings or while we are in Church. This is for everything. We have every reason to be joyful during the Christmas Season and throughout our days on this earth.