Isaiah 9:2-7

Christmas Eve | December 24 AD 2022 | Isaiah 9:2-7 | Andrew Weisner |

 Isaiah 9:2-7

²The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined.  ³You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. ⁴For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. ⁵For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. ⁶For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Psalm 96

Titus 2:11-14

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, ¹²training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.  ¹⁴He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

Luke 2:1—20

¹In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.  ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.  ³All went to their own towns to be registered.  ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.  ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.  ⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.  ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. ⁸In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  ¹⁰But the angel said to them, „Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:  ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.  ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.“  ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ¹⁴„Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!“  ¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, „Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.“  ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.  ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child;  ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.  ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.  ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Homily

         In recent weeks (during the season of Advent, but even before by a few weeks ), through songs and prayers, we have been praying a lot of „thanksgiving“ prayers: i.e., praying a lot in thanksgiving for the opportunities to do good that the good Lord has put in front of us. Saying prayers of thanksgiving for people not being damaged any worse than they were by hurricanes and storms.  We have prayed in thanksgiving for disaster response teams. Some people have „prayed“ in thanksgiving with their own hands as muscles as they have worked on behalf of others who are suffering for a variety of reasons. We have prayed in thanksgiving for the Lord having blessed us with an abundance of resources, and opportunity to do good for others.

         We have prayed that the Lord God, having come down from heaven to earth, might give peace where there are nations and regions in conflict. We have prayed for peace in our country, in cities and places that are rife with gun violence.  We have prayed for peace in Ukraine and Russia and that region of the world; peace to the hearts and minds of war-lords and terrorists anywhere. We’ve asked God to come to bring peace to our families and our homes, and to provide for victims of natural disaster, poverty, and others in need. At home and at church we pray for God to come down from heaven to help us and people we know in our personal lives (in the messes we make of them, or in the messes that other people make of them, sometimes with, sometimes without, our help).

         We pray during this season: “O come, O Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel… O come, O come, thou Lord of might… O come in cloud and majesty and awe; … disperse the gloomy clouds of night, deaths’ dark shadows put to flight;” also we pray, “Savior of the nations, Come!; show the glory of the Son”.

         We pray for the Lord to come – to come with power, to help us, to bring in his glorious kingdom. And, indeed, the Lord and his kingdom come … but not as we ask for it, not as we wish for or expect it.

         We hope for the sky to be rent open, for flashing lights, for the almighty power and might of the Lord to come to be on our side! And what we get – what we got, approximately 2,000 years ago – is a meek little baby, born in a barn, lying in an animal feed-box (which, for those who do not know, that is what a manger actually is: an “animal feed-box”).

         Did God not hear us? Does he not respond? We ask God to “COME!, a warrior!, with great power and might!!” And what we get: a baby.

         Indeed, he hears us, and he comes. Yet, in his coming, he tells us: “I am going to accomplish what you ask me to do, but I’m going to do it in ways you do not – did not – expect. The kingdom of God will, indeed, break into your troubled world, to right wrongs, to accomplish your – and my – good purposes; but I, says the Lord, am going to do it in small, subtle ways. I will not use flashes of lightning, peals of thunder, earthquakes, storms, or earth-shattering events. For my kingdom to break in, I will use you – a meek, mere-mortal human being – using your love, kindness, patience, and perseverance; and I will change you, in order to use you, my servant, for my kingdom to break in.”

         Furthermore, by the way the Lord chose to come to us 2,000-plus years ago – his first coming, that this Christmas Eve we remember and celebrate – in his first coming, he shows and informs us (if we can notice): In that manger in Bethlehem, in that animal feed-box,  there were splinters; and even there – where the glory of God lay in a manger, radiating the presence of God – even there it was cold and the darkness of night. You will encounter the discomfort of splinters, the crudeness of the world, and worldly, earthly limitations. And there will even be the suffering of sickness, pain, and death. Yet, by my coming into the world, says the Lord, by the coming of this child into the world, I – as God and human – shall overcome those earthly limitations, I shall even overcome death; eventually, love, kindness, patience, and forgiveness will prevail. These will eventually overcome any hardship you encounter; I, says the Lord, working through you, through human means, shall overcome the sadness and separation in the world.

         That God did, indeed, respond to us, hear our prayers, and come to us, even in a way we did not expect; and that he did, as God and man, overcome the suffering and darkness of this world, even death on a cross. This is what we remember and celebrate this and every Christmas; and with our celebration of God becoming a human being, we remember also and rejoice that he promises to accomplish his purposes through us!

         And now, in addition to a manger and a mother, in other ways quite ordinary, through simple human means: human food, bread and wine, God promises to make an appearance again, giving us the strength to persevere and to be his presence in the world: as we receive – and become – the presence of God by receiving into ourselves the Body and Blood of Christ.

         Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

The Rev. Andrew F. Weisner, Ph.D.,
The North American Lutheran Church (NALC)
Antioch Lutheran Church, Dallas, North Carolina