Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you from God our
Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Amen
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those
who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
In the Name of Jesus
If you had to describe the
world today in just one word, what would that word be? Broken, lost, evil, sad...
What if you were able to
give the world today a bit of comfort…who would you start with, even better,
where would you start? If you had only a
single word, a sentence, even able to give a 5 minute speech to the entire
world, what would you say?
John had the attention of
a lot of people. He dressed shockingly,
he lived shockingly, he acted shockingly.
But John was given a great opportunity.
He was able to influence a large amount of people with his words of
repentance and a baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
I am not telling you
anything new when I say that the world is in shambles. When family turns against family, nation
against itself, and nation against nation, we have reached a tragic troubled
time.
But are we, in 2014,
anything special? By no means are we the
first generation to have issues. By no
means are we the only ones who have had to deal with war, fighting, and general
unrest.
Life in our time, life in
John the Baptist’s time, life in Isaiah’s time is all the same. It is all tainted by the same stain, all led
by the same prince of darkness, all headed down the same path which only leads
to destruction.
But why is the world, then
and now, such an almost undesirable mess?
I think you can all predict the word which is about to exit my mouth,
sin! Because of the fall into sin in the
Garden of Eden, the world has suffered a collapse of epic proportions.
What once was vibrant is
now dead. What once lived in harmony
with each other now is at odds with one another. What once was created in the perfect image of
the Creator, the Triune God, resembles only evil.
And in the midst of
calamity brought on by sin, in the midst of cruel bondage which the devil has
placed us in, in the midst of distress and despair, what do people look
for? What do they want more than
anything else? Just like a person in the
struggling with a wicked illness, a broken relationship, they want relief! They want to know that they will get past the
struggles and come out on the other side better off. They, and we, want to know that there will be
an eventual end to the suffering.
But it is difficult. It is hard when sin is weighing down upon you
to see anything outside of your struggling.
When you know where your relief stands, when you know where to find it,
and yet fear seizes you and holds you in its deep dark lair.
We discussed this on
Wednesday in school chapel, albeit not so intensely or deeply. Never the less, because of sin, we are left
on the outside looking in. Imagine there
being the biggest party of the year happening right here. But you could not participate. You had to see everyone’s excitement while
wallowing in self-pity because you were not only not invited, but specifically
barred from joining.
Because of the sin which
consumes us, we eternally barred from the feast of heaven. But this is the joyous news of
Christmas. The great message from the
Savior of the World is that he did not come into this world to cater to the
elite. He didn’t come for the 1% so
frequently talked about in the financial world. He didn’t come to for those who didn’t need
saving.
He came for those talked
about by Isaiah. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because
the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he
has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those
who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in
Zion— to give
them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead
of a faint spirit; that
they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former
devastations; they
shall repair the ruined cities, the
devastations of many generations.
The Savior of the World
came for sinners. He came for you and
for me. He came for us so that he could,
on the cross, bind our wounds, mend our broken hearts, and unloose our chains. He came to open the doors of the prison we
find ourselves in each and every day.
Because our Father wanted
so much to have us join him in the feast of heaven for an eternity, he sent his
only son, the Babe of Bethlehem. While
it seems a bit absurd that a Father would willing send his Son to a place that
wold break his son, a place that would bind him in chains, a place which
ultimately would bring this son to his death.
And he did so, so that his Son, the Babe of Bethlehem, would overcome
the one who bound us in chains, who broke us, who caused unspeakable devastation
to a prefect creation.
The Babe of Bethlehem, on
the cross, overcame Satan. And by doing
so has freed us from his frightful grasp.
He has, one and for all, fulfilled what Mary sang of her song of praise,
the Magnificat. My soul magnifies
the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of
his servant. For behold, from now on all
generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in
the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring
forever.
He has come the aid of the
helpless and give us the greatest gift, eternal life. He comes not to aid the wealthy, to those who
don’t think they need to be saved, those who feel they are prefect
already. He comes for us. He continually comes to us who are weighed
down by sin. He continually comes to
bind our wounds, loose our chains, to give us his forgiveness. No more can fear of eternal death seize us
for we are claimed by Christ, the Babe of Bethlehem. The child who lay in the manger did so for
you. He came to earth specifically with
you in mind.
As we live out our days
here on this sin filled earth, we are daily brought to the realization that,
while our God is all powerful and the ruler of all, the devil travels around at
will pulling people away from belief into despair. But dear friends in Christ, we have the words
those in despair need to hear. We have
the words of comfort, of consolation, of eternal victory.
For this is what Christmas
is all about. God sending his son to
become one of his creation. To take on
the form of a humble servant and serve those who sinned against him. He to become lower than the broken, the
prisoner, he came to die under the weight of the sin of the entire world. So that on the last day, we would not be left
looking in on the glories of heaven, but would be ushered in to celebrate for
an eternity around the throne of our heavenly father.
That is the great news of
Christmas. Forgiveness in the midst of
dire sin. This is the
great news delivered already in Isaiah’s time, which John the Baptist continued
in the wilderness of Judea. This is the
great news which sounds forth still today.
Victory in the midst of despair. While this may not be the first item on your
Christmas list this year, it indeed is the first gift and greatest you ever received. Praise God for his most gracious gift which
comes not just once, but daily to world so desperately in need.
AMEN
