2009 Christmas Eve
Luke 17:1-7
The message from our 2009 Christmas Eve service.
The sun has gone down, night is upon us, and we have reached another Christmas Eve. In a few hours we will nestle snugly in our beds and awake on Christmas morning. We will continue to enjoy all the things that ordinarily go with Christmas: our time off from work; all the colorful lights and decorations; the exchange of gifts; and the special time spent with friends and family. But if we stop there, we miss Christmas.
In the midst of the lights and colors, the warmth of family and fancy meals, and the excitement of presents, there lies a jarring reality about Christmas. It would be meaningless if not for One who took on flesh, who was born into this world so that he could die for our sins.
As we consider the Christmas story we remember all the amazing aspects. God sent an angelic messenger to common folk, Mary and Joseph, proclaiming to them that God was about to do something the world had never seen. The virgin would be with child and this child was Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, come to take away the sins of the world. We see in this story the obedience of Mary and Joseph. Mary, submissive to the will of God and willing to endure possible humiliation. Joseph, faithful to God’s commands and loyal to Mary despite her bearing a child not his. Along the way we see shepherds and wise men, commoners and royalty, come to worship and pay homage to the new born king. To their eyes he would not have looked like much, just another babe and this one lying in a manger, a feeding trough, but still they worshiped and offered gifts and went and spread the word that Messiah had come.
Why Messiah? Why God in the flesh? Why Christmas? Some thirty years after his birth people would continue to ask these questions. In Luke 15:1-7 Jesus tells us why he came.
Luke 15:1-7
We see that the child did not remain a child. Born in a manger, he grew to be a man who drew attention. Many came to hear what he would say or see what he would do next. The religious leaders did not like him. He challenged their authority and contradicted their teachings. When they saw him speaking to people they considered dogs and lowlife, they challenged him. So he told them a parable of a shepherd who goes into the wilderness in search of lost sheep. He is the shepherd, and we are the sheep.
Not the righteous, sinners Jesus came to call. Later, in Luke 19:10, after he encounters the hated tax collector Zacchaeus, Jesus tells us, For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Now we see why the babe was in the manger. It was not to give us an excuse to take a vacation from work or decorate our houses or spend time with family. Jesus came because there are lost sheep in this world and he will seek and save the lost.
But the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were like so many people today. They felt confident that they were good enough, that they were already accepted by God, that they had done everything necessary for salvation. So when Jesus comes along offering salvation, they do not believe they need what he gives. They have forgotten the words of Scripture, where in Psalm 14:1-3 we learn that no one is right with God: The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
Christmas is about tax collectors and sinners, prostitutes and thieves, murderers and swindlers. Christmas is about you and me and our desperate need. Who are the lost sheep Jesus speaks of? Isaiah 53:6 tells us, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way… We are all among the lost and left to ourselves we would be doomed because a righteous judge will execute justice against everyone who breaks his law. So we are told in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death.
Christmas is about God who loves his creation and redeems his people from their sins. Looking back at Isaiah 53:4-6, let’s see the full picture of what this child in a manger would do for the lost sheep: Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Two thousand years ago a child was born who would bear on his back the sins of his people. He would die for transgressions he did not commit. He would do this so we would have life. After his death he would defeat death and rise from the grave, giving us the hope and promise that death is not the final answer. And in John 14:1-3 he tells us that he is preparing a place for us and will one day call us home.
Christmas is a Christian celebration. The world can celebrate the holidays all they want but here is the only true meaning of Christmas: the Son of God came to seek and save that which was lost. To truly enjoy Christmas you must belong to Christ, being united to him by faith, calling out to him and trusting in him for salvation as you confess your sins and turn to obey the commands of God. When once you have done that you will realize it was not you who found him, it was your shepherd, Jesus Christ, who has led you to himself.
So merry Christmas. Be merry indeed! Be merry because God took on flesh and made his dwelling among us. Be merry because though we were dead in our sins, Christ died for us. Be merry because the greatest gift of all, eternal life with God, has been given to us through Jesus Christ. So tomorrow morning, and the next, and the next, and throughout your years, do not forget to spend the day celebrating the One who came.