Göttinger Predigten im Internet hg. von U. Nembach
Christmas day, 12/25/2008
Sermon on Luke 2:8-20, by Walter Harms
Great Fear; Great Joy The first announcement of the birth of the Christ, the Lord, other than the Holy Family was to shepherds. Just perhaps they were keeping watch over sheep that night which would soon be used in the daily sacrifices at the magnificent temple in Jerusalem, not too many miles away. In that same night they were privileged to view the very Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. I wonder if they saw the Babe in that light. They certainly had other emotions earlier that evening. When the angel of the Lord appeared, they were filled with great fear, great fear! We would assume that anything that broke the night sky would be frightening to these persons on duty 24/7. But it was an angel, somehow recognized by the shepherds that caused their utter consternation and fearful response. They knew that angels, whenever they appeared to people, were not only the messengers of God, but often the appearance of God himself. They were literally, as far as they were concerned, in the very presence of God. No wonder their fear. What was God up to in showing up in the night sky? Was this the time when judgment was going to be delivered on them and all their petty, gross, open, as well as hidden, secretive failures to honor the Majesty of the Creator? Was the ground going to open up and swallow them as it had before when sinners were revealed? In an instant's flash, a hurricane of regrets swirled through their hearts and minds. A tsunami of guilt, shame, and horror washed over them. God was here and what was he going to do to them? And parenthically, what might he do to you if he suddenly appeared before you? Well, of course, here we are assembled in the house of the Lord. Perhaps just tired from all the Christmas stuff that has preceded this day. Perhaps numb from the rush of preparation. Perhaps just glad to have made it to this day. Still perhaps occupied by the need to care for relatives coming or to which you are going. Christmas mornings are, I would say, certainly are not filled with anything approaching fear of any kind as well as not being overwhelmed by great joy. We may just be glad that all of the hustle and bustle of the season has climaxed, and we are on the recovery phase of the last of this year. So how it is then that the angel and then the angelic army of angels proclaimed "good news of great joy for all people," and then could not but burst in an oratorio of "glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, to men with whom he is pleased"? What excited them? I can't recall any other place in all that God has revealed where angels did this kind of thing. It appears they could hardly wait to tell the news of what had happened in a barn over at Bethlehem. And they told it to shepherds. These were not the lower class, or the middle class and certainly not the upper class. They were working stiffs, who often played as pawn shop keepers for "stolen" goods. In other words, people not very high on the list of persons you would invite to your parties. These were people who needed to hear some good news. As so it is with us. We need to hear good news. Stock markets crashing. Terrorist attacks in India. Pirates, pirates mind you, operating again with almost total immunity on the high seas. Automobile companies just a short distance from bankruptcy or worse. Fires on the west coast, drought in the south. Fighting two wars plus a war on terror (which will never end!). Genocide in Africa where there are more Lutherans than in the U. S. A. What could possibly truly be good news to us to make us joyful, filled with great joy? What could take away
our gloom and fears? It does not initially seem that an appearance of angels would be of much help. Perhaps just the opposite. Yes, the opposite as we must confront our greed, our lust for more and more, our lack of generosity, our gluttony and barbaric treatment of people, our derision of others who do not think like we do, our playing with the fire of pornography on our computers, our joy in viewing the opponents being physically battered in stadiums greater than the coliseums of ancient times, our belief that we are superior to at least some other people, our belief that it is ok to hate some people. And God knows it all, knew it all, knows that we would need good news that would give us joy. And the joy he gives comes from the birth of Christ the Lord. God has come down to us. He has entered our arena. He takes on our flesh and blood with its emotions, intellect, and predilections. He comes to lead the war effort. He comes to battle, not with the army of his angels, but with his own self that which gives us fear. He comes to tells us that God is not going to punish us for all the evil, petty, gross or what have you. He has come to remove from us all that makes us unworthy to be in the presence of God. The shepherds could be in the presence of God and not be melted in the heat of his anger over our failures to honor him in all things. And so we also can be in the presence of God because of that Child in the cattle feeding trough in Bethlehem. He came as Messiah, the Christ. He came to fulfill all the promises God had made to his people throughout the ages. If we have bloodied ourselves in combat with ourselves and others, we shall become whiter than snow through Christ the Lord. He is Lord, not somebody in Washington or somebody in another country. He is in charge of all. He is Lord. He is in control. He is managing this world and our lives so that "all things work together for good to those who love him whom he has called." We may view our world, our society, our personal lives as jumbles, messes. We may be unable to figure out what to do next. But with Jesus in charge, well, believing he is Lord of it all, we can have joy in the midst of the worst we experience.< /div> Even when we fail him, sin miserably, when we are afraid, he is there with us and nothing, nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ Jesus our Lord. Not life, not death, not the things we must face together, not what is coming at us tomorrow or in the new year, not heights nor the pits, no powers of any kind will harm us because Christ the Savior, the Lord is with us. I always have liked the end of Matthew's narrative of Christ's life. Remember those closing verses? They appear so it would seem as an unfit ending to a person's life story. The grown up now, resurrected now Christ the Lord speaks to you and me and says: "All power in heaven and earth is mine! (Praise him for this always!) Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them. And lo, (pay attention now!) I am with you always to the end of all time." Let not fear of God and what he might do to you, or fear of man for what they might do to you, fear of the future or the present, fear of the past, fear of anything be anymore present in your lives. The message of God through the angel is: "Fear not!" Let fear of all kind be gone today and every day, for Christ the Lord, Jesus has been born. Let the joy of salvation be yours-exuberating elation that whatever might drag us down will not, cannot ever harm us. We are forever, forever safe. The warfare is over! We have been rescued forever from the alien powers of sin, death, and the devil. When sometimes it may appear to our mortal eyes that we have been hijacked by alien forces, remember this. There is no life outside of the life we now live by faith in the Son of God, the Babe of Bethlehem, who loved us and died for us. The angels could not but rejoice! The shepherds could not but hasten to see the Lamb of God who once and for all would make sacrifices unnecessary. They could not but tell others what they had seen and heard. And how will it be with us? Are there shouts of joy in your hearts? Is there a joy in seeing and hearing that we need to do nothing to please the Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace? Will we speak of the what we have seen and heard to others? The story of today is about great fear and great joy.=C 2 May your lives be free of fear and filled with the Good News which give, great joy. For you, each of you, for me, Christ the Savior has been born!
