The Passage<\/p>\n
\u201cIn those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.\u00a0 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.\u00a0 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.\u00a0 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.\u00a0 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.\u00a0 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.\u00a0 And the angel said to them, \u2018Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.\u00a0 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.\u00a0 And this will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.\u00a0 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, \u2018Glory to God in the highest, and earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!\u2019“<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, \u2018Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.\u2019\u00a0 And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.\u00a0 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.\u00a0 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.\u00a0 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.\u00a0 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.\u201d [English Standard Version]<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people\u2026to redeem us and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.\u201d\u00a0[Titus 2.11, 14]<\/p>\n
In the Name of Christ + Jesus Our Lord<\/p>\n
Earlier today, during the hours leading up to noon, there were probably millions of baptized people throughout the world who either spoke or sang the opening line from Zechariah\u2019s song of praise \u2013 \u201cBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free!\u201d\u00a0 This phrase (from the father of John the Baptizer) provides an excellent background for the Son\u2019s Incarnation which is being observed this evening throughout the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church in a world that is shot through with a shallow confidence and a stubborn anxiety.<\/p>\n
The word, \u201cblessed,\u201d used rather thoughtlessly these days, literally means \u201cto speak well of.\u201d\u00a0 Thus, when the phrase, \u201cLet us bless the Lord,\u201d is used in the Church\u2019s liturgies, we are being reminded to \u201cspeak well of the Lord,\u201d and for good reason \u2013 he has pulled us away from the crushing realities of this world\u2019s life!\u00a0 The word, \u201cblessed,\u201d definitively reminds us that the thousands of gods in this world, while making their attempts, cannot begin to match up with the LORD God of this universe.<\/p>\n
When Zechariah points out that this overwhelming and compassionate God has \u201ccome to his people,\u201d he is recalling the Incarnation of the Son, the One who came into, grew, and then emerged from Mary\u2019s body.\u00a0 \u201cSetting them free\u201d points to the freedom the Son has given all people from the realities of sin, Satan and death, realities that stir up all the trouble in the world\u2019s life, realities that keep it mired in an unending cycle of senseless living.<\/p>\n
This night, then, when we \u201cspeak well of the Lord\u201d points us to the holiest night of the year, the night before Easter Day, when the Liturgy of Holy Saturday startles us with the reality that the Son is breaking free from his crucifixion the previous day!<\/p>\n
The Gospel for this evening revolves around three paragraphs in Luke\u2019s second chapter.<\/p>\n
As we turn into it, it is striking how Luke has the world on his mind as he describes the birth of Mary\u2019s Son.\u00a0 This comes out in the setting for Jesus\u2019 birth.\u00a0 The emperor of Rome, Augustus, has thrown the whole country into motion with the order to have everyone register themselves in the places from which they have come.\u00a0 What catches our attention about this is that Augustus, a powerful and skillful leader, is currently being hailed as the world\u2019s savior!\u00a0 He has brought peace to the entire Mediterranean world and is being thought of as a god!\u00a0 Luke, however, audaciously details how the real Savior of the world is beginning to make his way into it and the world has no idea this is occurring!<\/p>\n
In the middle of this motion and turmoil, we see a barely known husband and a teen-aged, pregnant wife making their way to Bethlehem.\u00a0 Because of Mary\u2019s pregnancy, the journey is difficult and dangerous.\u00a0 They, along with all the other people (which includes the wealthy and the poor) are traveling in response to the government\u2019s order.\u00a0 So they come to Bethlehem and settle into a stable.<\/p>\n
This raw setting, though, marks fulfilling of the Lord\u2019s promises over the centuries:<\/p>\n
First, Bethlehem is the city of David, Israel\u2019s greatest king and the head of a family line from which the Messiah would eventually emerge. Second, the word, \u201cBeth-le-hem,\u201d<\/p>\n
means \u201cHouse of Bread\u201d; Jesus, who is \u201cthe Bread of Life,\u201d is being born into this house.\u00a0 Third, the bands of cloth wrapped around Jesus\u2019 body show the Lord\u2019s people (through Mary and Joseph\u2019s actions) receiving and caring for the Messiah.\u00a0 Fourth, the manger (mentioned in Isaiah 1.3) shows the place from where the LORD God is choosing to dwell with his people.<\/p>\n
Luke still has the world on his mind as he describes the Lord\u2019s announcement of Jesus\u2019 birth to the shepherds out in the fields.\u00a0 Biblical teachers suggest that these people were keepers of the sheep that were sacrificed in the Jerusalem temple (if so, Luke may be<\/p>\n
pointing to Jesus\u2019 crucifixion).\u00a0 It is night and they are doing their work when the Lord\u2019s<\/p>\n
appearance through an angel startles and terrifies them.\u00a0 This is somewhat surprising because shepherds are a hard and rough group!\u00a0 The Lord\u2019s angel calms them, telling them that this birth is the fulfilling of the Lord\u2019s promises to his people through the centuries.\u00a0 This angel is joined by others and they burst into a song (an eruption that has surfaced in the Liturgy as a hymn of praise, \u201cGlory to God,\u201d for thousands of years since this birth).<\/p>\n
Luke then describes the shepherds rushing off to Bethlehem, finding a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger.\u00a0 Their finding signals that the Lord\u2019s people are finally coming to know the Lord\u2019s manger, reversing Isaiah\u2019s lament that, while animals know where they are supposed to be, the Lord\u2019s people do not!\u00a0 After the shepherds report the angel\u2019s message about this baby, the first reaction is one of \u201castonishment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luke tells us that it is Mary alone, the Mother of this baby, who keeps these events, interpreting them in her heart.\u00a0 This suggests that it is Mary who is retaining what is being heard.\u00a0 The shepherds are now allowed to depart.\u00a0 Shepherds are pointers of future believers who will glorify the LORD God for what they have heard and will praise the LORD God for what they have seen.\u00a0 The shepherds are believers of Jesus\u2019 birth, but it is Mary who is the bridge to the Son\u2019s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.<\/p>\n
The events of this holy birth are bewildering to Mary.\u00a0 An angel has proclaimed \u201cthis day\u201d as one of salvation \u2013 the sign has been given, heavenly hosts have appeared, and shepherds have made their way to the manger.\u00a0 These are puzzling events that Mary keeps in her heart.\u00a0 She will interpret them fully after the Son\u2019s ministry when Jesus ascends to eternity, returning to the Father from whom he came, completing the work of salvation.\u00a0 We, in turn, remember that Mary was not only present at the Son\u2019s crucifixion and ascension but also at the pouring out of the Son\u2019s Spirit on Pentecost.<\/p>\n
It is no wonder, then, that everyone in the world-wide Church are \u201cspeaking well of the Lord\u201d this evening.\u00a0 The LORD God is slipping his Life into the world\u2019s life!<\/p>\n
This evening, then, while most people gather in their own clusters of families and<\/p>\n
friends, there are groups of the baptized and ordained who gather in the presence of the Father, Son and Spirit to be reminded of how their Life is slipping into this world\u2019s life.\u00a0 Through the Son\u2019s Incarnation, the redemption (the rescue) of the world\u2019s people is getting underway.<\/p>\n
Why?\u00a0 This compassionate and gracious action is THE rescue from ourselves, it pulls us from the life given by the world at birth.\u00a0 Such a rescue is needed and vital because the software given us at birth has a major glitch in it.\u00a0 That birth gave us the instinctive drive for one\u2019s self, the desire to be like God, the notion that everything in this life revolves around what we think and do.<\/p>\n
Underneath the world\u2019s life, this glitch mars everything, it confounds the life and work of our parishes, it unsettles the lives of those who are baptized and ordained. Thus we are not surprised by the realities of the world\u2019s life: its tendency to be negative; its inability to see beyond itself; its \u201cgift\u201d of political leaders who cannot be trusted; its creation of government structures that bog down and become ineffective; its unwillingness to honestly confront the hatreds rolling out from the souls of the world\u2019s people.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this glitch leaks into the lives of those who are baptized and ordained.\u00a0 This is why parish communities are often confounded about the ministry given them by the LORD God.\u00a0 We skip over the natural drive for self.\u00a0 We encourage parishioners who honestly think we are to give others what they want.\u00a0 We school pastors who think the ministry is all about them.\u00a0 We control our behaviors so they don\u2019t make the local news. We organize our parishes so they look successful by the world\u2019s standards.\u00a0 We consider social media to be the solution to the issues we confront.\u00a0 We work the Church\u2019s life down so that others may be inclined to throw their lives in with ours. We exercise too much creativity with the traditions handed down to us.<\/p>\n
This glitch in human nature is a highly dubious \u201cgift\u201d from the realities of sin, Satan and death, marring the world\u2019s life as well as the lives of those who are baptized and ordained.\u00a0 Tonight, though, the Lord\u2019s people recognize he is slipping his Life into our own so as to free us from that dubious \u201cgift.\u201d \u00a0He does this from his Holy Writings as well as through the Sacraments of Baptism, Forgiveness and Eucharist.<\/p>\n
Those who cluster on their own this evening are many more than those who gather in the Lord\u2019s presence.\u00a0 But it is the baptized and ordained who are seeing the full impact of the Lord\u2019s Life making its way into their own.\u00a0 We are not better than others, but we have seen what happens when the Son\u2019s Incarnation makes its way into our lives.\u00a0 It frees us from the instinctive grasping for self, it pulls us from the world\u2019s life, it replaces the realities of sin, Satan and death with the realities streaming from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!\u00a0 They are slipping their Life into the world this evening, making it possible for us to \u201cspeak well of the Lord\u201d for what he has done and will continue to do!<\/p>\n
Now may the peace of the LORD God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus Our Lord<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Pr. Carl A. Voges, STS, Columbia, SC; carl.voges4@icloud.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Christ Mass Eve (Revised Common Lectionary) | 12.24.23 | Luke 2.1-20 | Carl A. Voges | The Passage \u201cIn those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.\u00a0 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.\u00a0 And all went to be registered, each to his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,157,853,173,545,108,110,636,349,3,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-19230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lukas","category-beitragende","category-bibel","category-carl-a-voges","category-christvesper","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-02-chapter-02-lukas","category-kasus","category-nt","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19231,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19230\/revisions\/19231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19230"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=19230"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=19230"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=19230"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=19230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}