The Feast of the Holy Nativity of Our Lord – Pr. Faugstad exordium & sermon

Festival exordium:

What would your life be like without the church? Let’s say you woke up tomorrow believing everything you believe now, but the church building is gone and the congregation you were a part of no longer exists. No pastor. No worshiping together. No services on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. No Saturday evening or Sunday morning opportunities to hear the Word, receive the Lord’s Supper, and enjoy fellowship together.

Because we have congregations and church buildings, we don’t have to think about these things. We expect they will be here for us, just as they were for our parents, our grandparents, and others before them. I pray that our congregations will continue for a long time. But we are also witnessing a decline in church attendance throughout our country, as people shift their time and attention to other pursuits, other priorities.

We can learn something from the Bethlehem shepherds today. As impressive as it was to see the heavenly hosts fill the sky and the Baby lying in a manger, they were more impressed by what they heard. After visiting the Christ-Child, “they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.” They told everyone what the angel told them: “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.”

“A Savior is born for you!” they shouted in the streets of Bethlehem. That message is as important today as it was 2,000 years ago. You and I need a Savior, our neighbors need a Savior, people all around the world need a Savior. If our churches suddenly disappeared, this message of salvation would bring us together. Once you hear the good news, you can’t un-hear it. Once you know what Jesus came to do for you, you can’t keep that news to yourself.

This is why we keep coming together. We come here to wonder at the glad tidings of salvation we have heard from God. We come to ponder and learn what Jesus has done. And we come to be strengthened and renewed through His Word and Sacraments, so we are ready to glorify and praise God in every station of our life, wherever we are and in everything we do.

A Savior is born—born for you—Christ the Lord! Let us rise and sing our festival hymn, #142:

Rejoice, rejoice this happy morn!
A Savior unto us is born,
The Christ, the Lord of glory.
His lowly birth in Bethlehem
The angels from on high proclaim
And sing redemption’s story.
My soul,
Extol
God’s great favor;
Bless Him ever
For salvation.
Give Him praise and adoration!

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Sermon text: St. Luke 2:8-14

In Christ Jesus, who hides His glory in humble means, so you can receive His forgiveness, His righteousness, and His life, dear fellow redeemed:

Just another day on the job, or rather another night. The shepherds were in the fields around Bethlehem protecting their sheep from predators that might be lurking about. It was an important job, but perhaps not one that everyone wanted to have. The night shift is a long one. It is difficult to stay awake and alert when the body wants to rest. But for the shepherds on this night, that weary feeling was about to go away.

Out of nowhere, an angel of the Lord appeared to them. I suppose they had never seen an angel before, but since he was accompanied by the glory of the Lord shining all around, they were able to put it together. This was an angel from heaven, a messenger from God! We get a sense of what “the glory of the Lord” was like that night from a few references in the Old Testament. When Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Law from God, the LORD’s glory was there in a thick cloud. To the people of Israel watching from a distance, “the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain” (Exo. 24:17).

Some time after this when Moses finished building the tabernacle, “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled [it]” (Exo. 40:34). The same thing happened many years later when King Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem (1Ki. 8:11). On these two occasions fire came from the LORD’s presence to consume the sacrifices offered (Lev. 9:24, 2Ch. 7:1). So “the glory of the Lord” was hidden in a cloud and accompanied by fire. Anyone who witnessed these things trembled at the power of God and fell down before Him.

This is how the shepherds reacted—“they were sore afraid.” They were filled with a great fear as the glory of the Lord surrounded them. But there were still more surprises coming. The angel announced that he was bringing “good tidings of great joy,” a wonderful message intended not just for the shepherds but for all people of all time. “For unto you—FOR YOU—is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

“Christ” means “anointed one,” the same title in the Greek language as “Messiah” in the Hebrew language. The child born in Bethlehem was the anointed One, the One chosen by God to redeem the world of sinners. Here was the Offspring of the woman first promised to Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:15). Here was the son of Abraham, the son of David, the son of Mary. Here was the eternal Son of God wrapped in human flesh. Just a little baby, and yet the Lord of heaven and earth. Just a lowly manger and yet the King enthroned on high.

The angels could not contain their excitement. God parted the veil separating heaven from earth to let the shepherds hear their heavenly praises. The night sky filled with the angels of God’s army, as “a multitude of the heavenly host” appeared. They sang about what the coming of this Savior meant. It meant “Glory to God in the highest,” and it meant “on earth peace, good will toward men.” Jesus was born to give glory to God the Father by following His holy will throughout His earthly life, and to bring peace between God and man through the shedding of His blood.

So the shepherds had seen the glory of the Lord all around them, an angel had spoken to them, and then an entire host of angels appeared to sing God’s praises. But there was something still more amazing, still more wonderful, for them to see this night. They immediately set off to find “the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And they did find Him just as the angel said, with Mary and Joseph by His side.

It is a strange contrast—the glory of the Lord filling the night sky with the dimly lit stable, the angels arrayed in heavenly garments with a baby swaddled in strips of cloth, the heavenly host singing for joy with the quiet breathing of a baby asleep. The shepherds had never seen anything like it. No one had. For all the poverty of the surroundings, this little baby was more than met the eye. When the shepherds looked at Jesus’ face, they were looking at the face of God. When they heard His little cooing noises, they were hearing the voice of God.

Human reason says, “This can’t be! How can God be a baby? How can He require the care of a human mother and the protection of a mortal man? How can this poor, helpless baby do anything for us?” The shepherds might have thought the same thing if the angel hadn’t said, “[This] is Christ the Lord.” God calls us today to look through their eyes, to see what they saw. This was no ordinary baby lying in a manger; this was God incarnate.

He took on flesh for you. He was born for you. He humbled Himself to be Your servant, to take your place under God’s holy Law, to accept the punishment for your sin, to die your death. He came so that one day you could see the glory of the Lord with your own eyes and hear the angels singing the praises of God in heaven. He came to save you from this world of darkness, to shine the light of His grace into your heart and your home.

But it is natural to wonder if these things are really so. How can we be sure? How can we know that everything in the Bible happened just as we are told it did? If the angels appeared to the shepherds to bring them good news, why don’t they do the same for us? Why doesn’t God give us a glimpse of His glory? These things would go a long way, we think, toward addressing our doubts, calming our fears and anxieties, and giving us strength.

But what was the sign the shepherds were told to look for? Not a royal procession of the saints and angels marching before their King, and not the Son of God descending from heaven in a blaze of glory. The sign was this: “Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” They found the Christ-child, with His glory hidden in baby skin, swaddling clothes, and straw.

And so it is true for us today. Jesus is not found in a great mansion or palace hanging out with the rich and famous, or even where religious institutions appear to be most impressive and successful. Jesus is found where He tells us He is, wrapped up in His Word, in Water, in Bread and Wine. He is present for us in His holy means of grace, the Gospel message in His Word and Sacraments.

Our sinful reason says that this cannot be! How can eternal life come to us through the preaching of a weak pastor? How can Jesus’ righteousness be placed on us at the baptismal font? How can the forgiveness of sins come to us by eating and drinking bread and wine? Here is the key: the means Jesus instituted to give us His grace offer no benefit to us if we just go through the motions, if we view them as nothing more than empty rituals or silly traditions.

My preaching does no good, the application of water has no benefit, eating and drinking at the Communion rail gives no blessing—without faith in the Word of Jesus, without believing that what He promises, He gives you. And that faith is not a choice you make or a work you do. Saving faith is a gift worked through the Word by God the Holy Spirit, who moves you to repent of your sins and to believe that these sins are forgiven by the One who took on flesh to save you.

The angel’s message was not just for the shepherds. It was for you and for every sinner. God wants you to know that you have a Savior. Christ was born for you. He came to atone for your sins. He came to rescue you from this world of darkness. He came to bring you to His kingdom of light, where His glory will surround you, and you will not be afraid forever and ever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

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(picture from “Adoration of the Shepherds” by Gerard van Honthorst, 1592-1656)