Christmas Eve
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 10:33
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At that time 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 fear (Luke 2:8–9). When the glory of the Lord appears to us poor sinners, our first response is always pure, visceral terror. As fallen creatures, we are not prepared to stand in the burning presence of our holy God. This is the shame that sent Adam and Eve into hiding after they had eaten from the forbidden tree. This is the dread that caused the Israelites to cry out to Moses, “You speak to God for us. But do not let him speak to us directly, lest we die” (Deut 18:16). This is the terror which seized the prophet Isaiah when he saw the throne of God, saying, “Woe is me! For I am a man of unclean lips…and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Is 6:5).
From the very beginning, the Lord God has desired to live in and among his people. This is why he created us. But ever since the fall, we have been running from his presence in fear. It’s the original version of hide and seek, but this is no game. The nearness of our Lord’s coming should be cause for great rejoicing, but as with Adam and Eve, who heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden and were afraid, so the Advent of Christ terrifies the guilty conscience. Our Lord is coming, and we are not prepared to meet him.
The Jewish people are still today waiting for their Messiah, believing that he will come only when they put away all sin and live according to the Law of God. In other words, they expect God to visit them when they have succeeded in cleaning their own house. And we too might say, “Lord, we’re not ready for you. We are still too sinful. We aren’t worthy—not yet. Give us time to mend our ways. Let us work our way back into your good graces. Let us make ourselves worthy of your love. Let us climb the ladder up to heaven. But do not come down to us now, lest we die.”
And so it was that when our Lord did come down to his poor, lost, wretched people, when the glory of the Lord shone round about us, we were filled with fear. The whole human race was caught, as Adam and Eve, naked and ashamed, defiled by sin, and unable to cleanse ourselves. It had been four-thousand years since the Messiah was first promised, and had we succeeded in all that time in preparing our hearts for him? No, we had not. If anything, our capacity for evil had increased with time. The darkness of sin had only grown deeper. The chasm between God and man was greater now than ever before. And yet, ready or not, our Lord descended to us. Nothing could bring more terror to the sinful heart than the coming of God Almighty.
Now, perhaps, you can understand the fear of the shepherds, the same fear you would have felt had you encountered the glory of the Lord in that way. So then, maybe you can begin to understand their wonder and amazement at the words, “Fear not! For behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all people” (Lk 2:10). This is quite literally the last thing we could have expected to hear from the mouth of God’s messenger. Joy beyond belief. Hope when there was no hope at all. “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk 2:11). God had come to be among his people, but he had not come with the judgment and punishment we expected and deserved. He had come to bear the full punishment of our sins himself. He had come to make peace with his own body. Immanuel, God with us, peace on earth—not peace as an abstract concept, but peace in physical, bodily form.
This is the gospel, the good news, first proclaimed by the angel to terrified shepherds. But from the beginning of time, this was always the heart of God toward his wayward children, toward you. The incarnation of Christ was not an emergency plan of action in response to the Fall, it was God eternal counsel from the beginning. Revelation 13:8, “The Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world.” And even as the angel finished delivering his message, 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 men, with whom God is pleased” (Lk 2:13–14). The company of angels, who had been restraining their joy seems suddenly to have lost control. One angel certainly was sufficient to deliver the message, but the heavenly host could contain themselves no longer and burst out into joyous song, “Glory be to God, who has come down to earth to make peace with his children!” The mystery of salvation, which had lain hidden for centuries, was revealed at last. Christ in and among us, the hope of glory, the salvation of the earth, good news of great joy for all people!
Christ did not wait for us to make ourselves ready for him. If so, we would all of us have been lost forever—you would have been forever. No, you could not have climbed Jacob’s ladder to heaven. Another thousand years to prepare your heart would not have helped. You needed a Savior, and on this night that Savior was given. God himself descended to you and for you. He did not spurn his fallen children, instead, he joined his fate forever to ours by becoming a man as we are. Just as every sinner must die, so Christ who bore the sins of the world also died, for he bound himself to our fate. But by the same token, just as Christ was raised from the dead, so we too will be raised with him to eternal life.
This is why we need not fear. The sentence of death that hung over the human race since the Fall has already been carried out. The sting of death has been swallowed up by the death of God who is now also become man. The Christ-child has purchased our peace with his broken body and his poured-out blood. This gospel message, which begins with the words, “Fear not,” is not another commandment to add to the list of those we have failed to keep. “Fear not” is the announcement of the new reality that Christ has brought into this world. “Fear not” is God’s absolution of the human race. Every sin is forgiven, every cause for fear is removed. The gap between God and men has been bridged, and the door to heaven stands open to us. No, we could not climb up to God, but in boundless mercy, He descended to us. We, who walked in darkness have seen a great light; we who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on us has that light shined (Is 9:2). For to us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Amen.