St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church

Pastor Mark Gartner

Sermon For Sunday School Christmas – December 18^th, 2005

Dear witnesses of the Bethlehem manger. Amen

What was the best gift that you ever received at Christmas as a kid? I’m sure that most of us have some good ideas what this gift might be. Maybe it was a certain toy or maybe it was something that meant a lot to you or maybe it was something that you had really wanted or needed. As you think about this gift, you realize that this gift stood out amongst the many gifts that you have received over your past Christmas gifts. One of the gifts that I received, as a kid that I remember was an action figure named "Johnny West". Johnny West was a western action hero. He had a number of different items that came with him like a gun and water canteen and chaps so that he could ride his horse. I also received a horse named "Pancho" so that he could save the west from the bad guy named "Sam Cobra" who I also got. Sam was all black and looked real mean. I also got the Indian named "Geronimo" and my brother got "Cherokee" and the good gu! y name "Captain Maddox" who was a captain in the United states Cavalry. What a Christmas that was.

However, for Christians the height of our Christmas joy is in another Gift. To us this Gift remains precious and priceless. It is the one good and perfect gift, which comes down from above from the Father of lights. It is an enduring Gift, which brings to all constant happiness and peace. It is the Gift to which Paul refers in our text when he writes: "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift." In order that we may recapture for ourselves a greater appreciation of this wondrous divine blessing and really experience Christmas joy to the full, we go now to Bethlehem in spirit and learn to

Our text for today is very short; yet it says more to us about Christmas than a quick reading would at first indicate. It gives us a picture of Christmas that is well worth remembering. It says: "Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift."

We are accustomed in our day to wrap specially, carefully, and attractively the gifts that we present to others. Whenever this is not done, we almost feel that something is lacking. God in His own way also presents us and all men this day with a beautifully, attractively, and carefully wrapped Christmas Gift. Let me speak of that for a moment.

A great many years ago, a man from Nazareth, Joseph by name, took his wife to be, Mary, to the home of their ancestors in the little village of Bethlehem in Judea. It was a rather long and tedious journey for them. It was especially not easy for Mary to undertake the trip just at this time, because she was awaiting the birth of her first child. Much to their dismay the little village was overcrowded, so much so, that every available place of lodging was filled. Naturally the officials of the Roman government, who were there to conduct a census and to collect taxes for the Emperor, were given the best accommodations. Then the keeper of the inn, took the opportunity to reserve the rest of his rooms for the more wealthy and prominent citizens, making it almost impossible for anyone else to secure lodging. Very likely Joseph canvassed the entire village to find shelter for his wife and himself. At every place he was met with a refusal. There was no room. At last th! e innkeeper relented enough, because of Mary, to allow them the use of his stable. Here in these lowly surroundings, in the quiet of the night, Mary's Child was born. She wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and quietly laid Him in the manger, a makeshift crib, but one which served its purpose.

This is the Christmas story. In our time it has been filmed many times, has been dramatized over the air, has caught the fancy of poets and hymn writers. At least once a year at Christmas time, much of the world makes time to remember this story. If you ask me why this is so, then I can only say that this is the "gift wrapping" selected by God for His Gift to men. God wanted this Child to be born in just these surroundings and under just these circumstances in order to make certain that men would never forget this event. He used just these things to obtain and to hold the attention of men. What He really wanted to accomplish was that men might remove those gift-wrappings and find the real Gift that was inside, the Christmas Gift from heaven. It is not the stable, the manger, the innkeeper, nor even Joseph or Mary that add to any importance. It is the Child! For that reason I ask you to join me in gazing upon this Infant, and while looking upon Him recall, "th! e grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that yet through His poverty we might be rich." By doing that you will truly know that He is God's indescribable Gift!

Only two people really knew that night when the Child was born that it was God's indescribable Gift. Mary, His virgin mother, had heard it directly from the heavenly messenger, the angel Gabriel, who told her the Savior would be born from her. A similar message had come from Heaven to Joseph. The Lord had told him explicitly that Mary would give birth to the one called Jesus, the true Savior. These two people knew and believed that the Child lying in the manger was not an ordinary child, but that by way of a miracle the Son of God had taken on human flesh and blood and was born into the world. Moreover, they knew that in this Child were fulfilled all the wonderful promises of God for the salvation of the world. Just looking at the Child as He lay in the manger, they could not see that "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." When they looked with the eyes of faith, however, they beheld ! in the Babe the sinless Son of God, their Lord, and their personal Savior. They rejoiced in the indescribable Gift of God which had brought them eternal Christmas blessing.

But God was not satisfied that only they should know of His indescribable Gift. Out on the hillsides around Bethlehem tending their flocks were a group of shepherds. These men were to be the first to see their very own Good Shepherd. Suddenly an angel came to them radiating the full glory of heaven and saying: "I 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." They heard in addition the greatest of hymns by the heavenly choirs: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." They could not wait an instant. They came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. They were not in the least disturbed by the lowly surroundings in which they first saw the Child. With the eyes of faith they saw their Lord and God, their Savior, their Good Shepherd. They knew they were looking upon God's indescrib! able Christmas Gift. They fell down and worshiped Him. It was the most wonderful moment of their whole lives. Back they went to their flocks, but they were new men altogether, the proud possessors of the most glorious Gift ever given to men, the unspeakable Gift of God.

Now you and I are asked by God to draw near also. Let us go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us. Let us look upon a tiny and seemingly helpless Infant in that manger bed. With the true understanding that here is also "Christ the Lord"! When we say that He is Lord, we confess that we are looking at both God and Man. Of this Little One alone can it be said: In him all of God lives because he is God. We see in that gift the shadow of His victorious Cross. Nor can we fail to see here that Jesus is the one who now sits upon His throne in glory, ruling all the world, ruling you and me with His love and grace.

But here is indeed the Wonder of all wonders, God come down from heaven, moved only by love to poor and lost sinners, come to put an end to all their woes, to deliver them from sin, death, and the devil, and prepare for them an eternal Christmas in heaven. Thinking on these things, we, too, must call Him with Paul an "indescribable Gift." Never will we find the words to describe Him and all that He means. All that you and I can do is that, like the shepherds, we kneel down and adore Him and thank God for bringing us to faith in the Christ Child and for keeping us in that faith until this moment. If we see the Gift of God in this manner, then, also like the shepherds, we shall appreciate the Savior by glorifying and praising God for all the things that we have heard and seen concerning the Child.

This is what Paul sees in Jesus. This is why he writes: "Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift." That means more than just saying, "Thank You." To Paul it meant that He would use the Gift of God, Jesus, and that he would serve Him faithfully. Our thanks to God will be more than just our presence in church today, the raising of our voices in the wondrous Christmas hymns. That part of saying "Thank You" is just the beginning. It is a wonderful beginning, to be sure, and one that is pleasing to Him who freely gives us every good gift. We give thanks properly for a gift when we enjoy using that gift, displaying it to others, and showing them how precious it is to us. We will let men know that we have laid our sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God. We will share with them the fact that in our prayers to Him we have always found Him to be the Friend for every need, the Helper of the helpless. For, like the shepherds, we simply are compelled to tell ! others about the real Christmas Gift of God. In other words, our thanks to God will be the surrender of ourselves to Jesus, our time, our talents, our goods, and whatever we may have so that others will have Christ in Christmas. We will let the love of Jesus for us be a truly wonderful gift, and we will let that love radiate from us to others.

Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to listen to the Christmas Gospel being presented by the "Jesus Cares" students over at the Prep Chapel. For those who don’t know what this is. Jesus Cares is our group that serves those who have various mental handicaps. It is like a Sunday School that meets every Saturday. Yesterday I heard the gospel presented by these mentally handicapped students in a way that I will never forget. I won’t forget it. Not because it had the best singing and the perfect readings of the Christmas account. I won’t remember it because things went so perfect as each person did their part. I will remember it, because you could hear it in their voices and see it in their faces that they truly were thankful for the opportunity to worship the Christchild – their perfect gift from God for their sins.

In just a moment you will hear God’s little children from our Sunday School proclaim the Christmas gospel. I pray that we truly recognize what they are doing this morning. They are not performing for us. They are not little robots who will remember perfectly everything that they have learned over the past month or so. They are children of God who are proclaiming a thank you to their God for sending the perfect gift for lost sinners like us. So I encourage you to look past all of the externals today. Look past the fancy dresses and sweaters. Look past the excitement that you have for your child or grandchild who is up here this morning. Instead let us focus our hearts and minds on the message they will proclaim for us. In that way we will truly appreciate Gods wondrous Christmas Gift. In that way we can keep Christmas all the year, because we will keep Christ with us. In wishing you all a blessed Christmas, let me say that I wish nothing more for you than this ! that you can say with all your hearts with me: "Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift."