Christmas 2015
Dear friends in Christ! Christmas is such a wonderfully different time of year. The stores are all nicely decorated and Christmas carols play in the background. The streets are decorated with lights and garlands. Not to be outdone, homes are decorated inside and out with lights, tinsel and all the trimmings. The homes are filled with the wonderful smells of cookies, cakes, and all sorts of Christmas specialties. Especially think of the joy and wonder that Christmastime brings to children as they see all the lights, hear all the favorite Christmas songs, smell the cookies and cakes baking. And of course, there’s the presents: what’s inside all the presents wrapped with care waiting to be opened? The anticipation and excitement grow with each passing day for children and also adults.
But really, what are presents? They are simply reminders to us—both when we receive them and when we give them—of the greatest gift that God gave us all that first Christmas, His Son: There is born for you this day…a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. When we give a gift we are reminded of God’s love and care as we try to find the “just perfect” gift; when we pay for it, we are reminded that that love for us came at a price to Him; when we wrap it, we make sure it is perfect—the paper and bows as best as we can make them. Of course, presents point us to Christ when we receive them and are reminded of the kindness and love the giver has toward us—especially when the gift is unexpected.
1. Yes, Christmas is a wonderful time of year; it fills us with wonder and amazement. And as Christians it should, because Christmas is really all about a Present, the Present—Christ Jesus, the Son of God, sent by the Father into the world to be our Savior from sin, death, devil and hell. Christmas fills us with wonder because of the beauty of the Gospel, because of the beautiful way that God gave us the gift of His Son. The giving of that Christmas gift is a beautiful and the “natural way” for God to express Himself. A gift, so lovingly wrapped up, means what? A surprise! That’s why it’s wrapped up: so you can’t see it and figure it out. To be sure you can shake it and maybe get an idea of what’s in it but you are never really sure until you unwrap it and take it out of the box. To put it all a different way, God is a God of surprises. He likes/ delights in surprising us in how He acts and deals with us. What more beautiful way than at the first Christmas?
Long before, already to our first parents, Adam and Eve, when they had sinned, God had promised to send a Savior from sin. All throughout the long centuries after that God kept telling the people that the Savior from sin and death was coming. He fleshed out the promise giving details like the Savior would follow the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David; that the Savior would be born of a virgin in Bethlehem; etc. And like with children growing in anticipation of the present as Christmas approaches, so too the OT faithful grew in anticipation for the birth of the Savior. But that present was wrapped up! The God who likes surprises was working on another: right when it seemed most unlikely, that’s when He gave the present. That’s when He unwrapped it/ revealed it to the world that first Christmas. How? And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God.
On that silent/ holy night, in that little town of Bethlehem, God unwrapped/ revealed the very first Christmas gift. Surprise! It’s a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. But the next surprises? God announces the birth of His Son to shepherds: there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night; by an angel: And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. Not only was there one angel—if that weren’t enough—but heaven was opened and these shepherds got a glimpse into heaven: And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Heaven had come to earth! What a glorious surprise and what an extraordinary gift!
When heaven had closed up again, what did the shepherds do? They said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. They checked out this gift! They saw God’s surprise! They were filled with wonder—the wonder and amazement of Christmas. But they didn’t stop there: And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. They told all the people they saw and ran across that day and certainly beyond about the Baby Jesus, that He is the long awaited Savior; that the Messiah had come; that an angel had announced it; that they had seen and heard the angelic choirs praising God. What an impression that scene and these events must have certainly had on them. The wonder and amazement for the shepherds that first Christmas!
And not just for them, our text: And all those who heard were amazed at those things which were told them by the shepherds. The beauty of the Christmas account filled them with amazement, wonder and awe. Even looking at it just superficially, on the surface, the beauty of it causes wonder—angels, heaven, the Savior, a baby.
Even down to this very day, people are filled with wonder at these events; Christmas holds a special place in the hearts of many people; it is a time of wonder—but sadly it is just superficial: angels, shepherds, even a baby all sound wonderful but soon that wonder begins to fade. It is really for many nothing more than a fleeting emotion. Scripture doesn’t say and we have no way of knowing but it is an interesting question: how many of those who heard the Christmas gospel and all the events actually believed in and not only believed it but remained in the faith, kept that true sense of Christmas wonder? What does that mean for us?
Today, for us, just because we are filled with wonder and awe this Christmas, once again hearing the Christmas gospel—perhaps the first time in a long time even—the devil is not too worried. In fact, he may use it to lull us into security that we are really good Christians because we are filled with wonder and awe by the Christmas account we hear today. Satan is happy if we are just filled with wonder and amazement, after all it is a fleeting emotion and life goes on. And because it is a fleeting emotion, it will be gone soon enough—and like Frosty will come back maybe next Christmas, but just for a spell—and soon replaced with something else. So, yes, Christmas should and does fill us with wonder; it is a beautiful account: And all those who heard were amazed at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But there is an even deeper and more beautiful and awesome beauty of the Christmas account. Mary shows us that. Our text: But Mary continued guarding all these words, continuing to ponder them in her heart.
2. Mary didn’t just stop with the wonder; instead she continued guarding all these words, continuing to ponder them in her heart. The way the text reads, all those who heard were amazed, it seems like a one time/ short time thing. But, to the contrary, Mary continued to treasure what the shepherds had said; she continued to guard their words—guard them so they couldn’t be taken from her heart. And she didn’t just hear them once but she continued to ponder them/ turn them over in her heart, and like a good Lutheran asking What does this mean?
The real joy and wonder of Christmas, the true beauty of the Christmas Gospel is not just hearing about the angels appearing to the shepherds; it’s not even hearing the angelic choirs singing praises to God; it’s not even hearing the angel’s announcement There is born for you this day…a Savior, who is Christ the Lord; instead, the true beauty and wonder of Christmas is when we guard and ponder the gift, the surprise of God that first Christmas—that our Savior was born.
What wonder fills our heart when we ponder and reflect on Christmas thinking of what St. Paul writes to Titus [3.4], But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared—that’s Christmas, Jesus came; and [Titus 2.11]: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people; or as St. John [3.16] records: God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son… Here’s the why of Christmas. God’s love of sinners—us sinners who by our sin rebel against God and His good and gracious will, who by nature are enemies of God, opposed to Him, who by our sins earn/ deserve only God’s eternal wrath and damnation. As we continue to ponder this/ turn it over and over in our hearts—how we are then filled with the greatest wonder—and the foundation of Christmas: God loves us sinners. And then we apply it to ourselves personally, that not only was Jesus born that first Christmas but He was born also in my heart, that He came to me in the waters of holy baptism, as St. Paul continues on [Titus 3.5, 6]: he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. See that glorious connection between baptism and Christmas?
At Christmas we see God’s grace to us; and as we ponder that, what a deep awe and wonder fills our souls! He doesn’t treat us or give us what we by our sins earn or deserve. Christmas is the long awaited fulfillment of God’s promise to send humankind a Savior from sin and death. Christmas shows God’s faithfulness to us and to His promises to us. That means that what He says and promises, we can be certain of—that He will keep us in the faith; that He is working all things in the best way for us; that our sins are forgiven; that heaven is open to us. Just as the Lord gave His OT people promise after promise, generation after generation, assuring them that the Savior is coming; just as the Lord, through the shepherds, assured Mary that what Gabriel had said to her—that she, the virgin, would be the Mother of the eternal God, who would come to be the world’s Savior; so too, in His word and Sacrament does He come and assure us of and actually give us the forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
Of course, as we treasure and ponder Christmas, the incarnation—the very fact that the true God, for us and our salvation, became also true man—fills us with the true wonder of Christmas. The eternal God stepped into time; the holy God came to this sinful earth; the Creator became also a creature; the Infinite took on the finite; in Jesus God and man are united; in Jesus God died for my sin. Too inexpressibly great is this mystery to ponder fully. All we can do is humbly receive it in faith, give the Lord all thanks and praise for it, and be filled with the wonder of Christmas.
Dear Christian, this Christmas and beyond, be filled with the wonder of Christmas but don’t stop there but like Mary keep guarding and treasuring the Christmas account as you ponder it and what it means and so learn Jesus, your Lord and Savior better. Merry Christmas! Amen