Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Sermon for Christmas Day, 25 December 2011


The Rev. Paul J Cain
John 1:1-14 (15-18)
Became Flesh
The Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas Day, 25 December 2011
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, WY

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Today’s Gospel text from John was read last evening as the ninth among nine lessons and carols for Christmas Eve. Only the Gospel accounts according to Matthew and Luke specifically mention Christmas. St. John provides insight into the mystery of the incarnation.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Darkness cannot overcome the light of Christ. There are days when all seems dark and dreary, when things aren’t going your way, when finances fail, patience wears thin, and health is of concern.
The same God who created all things still oversees and sustains all things. In Christ is your life, your Light.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
St. John the Evangelist writes to us about John the Baptist. Both witness to the Light of Christ, but John the Baptist has prepared the way for Jesus’ coming.
Time is a strange thing this time of year. The Church over the centuries has been very creative in choosing Bible texts to be read to prepare us for the birth and the return of Christ. We have the prophecies and work of a very much grown-up John the Baptist announcing the coming of Christ. We rewind to the prediction of John’s birth and of Jesus’ birth six months later. We think of Jesus today as the babe lying in a manger. He is eight days old next Sunday. By January 6th, Epiphany, Jesus could be as old as two when He meets the Magi, and by the Sunday after the Epiphany, Jesus is full-grown, thirty years old, being baptized by John in the Jordan.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Jesus Himself participated in creation. He is the Word who was in the beginning with God, the Word who was and is God. He made everything in all of the universe, and His own creation did not recognize Him. His own people did not widely recognize His birth according to prophecy. Some did and rejoiced at His coming. To them, Christ gave the right to become children of God, some genetically of father Abraham, some not. These children of faith are born of God, not merely of blood or the will of the flesh. John Chapter 1 focuses on God’s grace in calling and gathering a people—you—to Himself.

But today, Christmas Day, is all about John 1:14.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The meaning of Christmas is summarized in this one Bible verse. Jesus, God Himself, took on your flesh and dwelt with us. His glory is revealed in the angels’ announcement to the shepherds, the arrival of the wise men, the persecution of Herod, and ultimately, in His Good Friday death and Easter Resurrection.
We Praise You, Jesus, at Your Birth    LSB 382
1          We praise You, Jesus, at Your birth;
Clothed in flesh You came to earth.
    The virgin bears a sinless boy
    And all the angels sing for joy.
        Alleluia!

© 2006 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100013208.; © 1978 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100013208.

What is it like to be you? What is it like to wake up in the morning in your house, get up out of your bed, get ready for the day with your morning routine, put on your clothes, get in your car, and get your work accomplished each day. What is it like to spend a day in your skin?
Your spouse may have the best picture of what it is like to be you. After that, your children, best friends, and coworkers will probably have the most realistic idea of who you are, what you do, and how you keep on doing it. Only the Lord God Almighty has a better picture on what it is like to be you. And it is not only because the good Lord knows all things and sees all things.
Jesus took on human skin. He was conceived, He was born, He was hungry and thirsty, He slept, He wept, He suffered, and He died. God is spirit, Scripture says. Scripture also says that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
As Hebrews says, we have a faithful High Priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, yet one who never sinned and never succumbed to temptation. He is grace and truth in the flesh wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, grace and truth in the flesh wrapped in burial cloths and laid in a new tomb. Because of Jesus’ victorious resurrection from the dead and Ascension into heaven, you know for certain that our High Priest is your advocate before the Father’s side. Human flesh has entered heaven itself, and one day, you will also because of Jesus.

[(John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.]
We Praise You, Jesus, at Your Birth    LSB 382
7          All this for us our God has done
Granting love through His own Son.
    Therefore, all Christendom, rejoice
    And sing His praise with endless voice.
        Alleluia!

© 2006 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100013208.; © 1978 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100013208.

Amen.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.