Unto You

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This evening we gather to hear the words of St. Luke, recording the birth of our Lord, and the angel's proclamation to the shepherds of the great tidings. Listen again:

Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

One might say that this was the first Christmas sermon ever preached. It was delivered from heaven to earth by the angelic messengers of the Lord Himself. And the angel's message continues to be preached year after year, because we can never get enough of hearing it.

The angel's sermon was necessary, because what good would it have done anyone for Christ to be born, if it were not announced to the world? What good is it to own a great treasure, if you do not know that you possess it? A buried treasure is a useless treasure. If the angels had not heralded the Nativity from the heavens, no one would have learned of it, and no one would have treasured it and rejoiced in this miracle.

Thus, the first point over which we might rejoice is that the angel proclaimed the birth of Christ to the shepherds, as to the whole world, so that we might be left unawares of the great gift which God has given the world. God does not hide His gifts, but displays them for all to see and for all to take hold of them. Thus, we may rejoice in the words: “Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.”

These are important words, and an essential opening for the angel's message. For he appears in the midnight sky, frightening the shepherds with blazing, heavenly radiance and the voice of the Word of the Lord. They are laid low by the appearance of this glorious being, and by the knowledge that whatever is coming, they are not worthy of this great and holy visitor.

Sinful man is not worthy of the Lord's visitation. Throughout the Scriptures, you are warned that no one may see God and live. The holiness of God is all-consuming, and cannot be adulterated by the presence of man's sin. Were the Holy One of Israel to come to you right now in all His divine glory, you would be snuffed out like a candle by His presence. Therefore, even the visitation of the lowliest of His messengers causes great distress among men.

But this angel speaks an absolution. He says “Fear not!” I have not come to destroy you. I have not come to judge you for your sins, or bind you over for punishment. I have not come to wipe you off the map or fling you into hell. I have come to you because the one who is going to make you worthy to receive the Lord Himself is here today. He is born for you, upon this earth. Your sins are taken away, because the One who will bear them is here to take them from you. Therefore, fear not!

And notice that the angel does not simply proclaim, I come to tell you something nifty, or, I come to tell you about a great thing God did. He says, “I bring you glad tidings of great joy.” The tidings are indeed glad, because they announce that God has been born a man, and they are a wondrous work that brings us great joy. This is not simply news, not just another tweet or Facebook update. God is born this night! Your God is now your brother! This proclamation is not useless, but is overpowering glad tidings that bring great joy. The angel's proclamation is given to make us rejoice over the birth of Christ. It is the birth of Jesus that brings great and exceeding joy to all nations.

And why is this such glad tidings of exceedingly great joy? Because the birth of Jesus is the end of death. The devil had subjected all mankind to all sorts of terrible, indescribable grief because of sin. He led us into original sin through his temptations in the Garden, and bound us with him into death. He incited and inflamed man to hatred, warfare, violence, lust, debauchery, jealousy, and all manner of evil against himself and against his brother. He saw to it that no man was safe in his person or property for any time at all. And those whom the devil was not oppressing, he was enslaving and using as his own instruments for the torture and ill-treatment of our own brothers. And so it continues yet to this day, even among us.

But if you rightly contemplate it, all this misery is but a light and momentary affliction in comparison with the ineffable joys which the angel proclaims. The most heart-rending tragedy, the most soul-crushing affliction, the most pitiful calamity cannot compare to the riches and all-surpassing joy of having a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, born for us men and for our salvation. The devil breaks into the Judean night to divert your eyes from your own misery and misfortune and refocus you upon the Christ-Child, the newborn God-Man who has come to set you free.

Therefore, if you wish to overcome the devil's poison and lies and be safe from his cunning and deceit, then rivet your attention on the wonderfully comforting words of the angel: “unto you is born a Savior.” When this conviction reigns supreme in your heart, then the victory is already won. So you can say, Though the devil choke the life out of me, though he infest my life with sin, though he inject me with his poison and seek to bring me under God's eternal judgment, I will not and cannot be overcome, because I have a Savior who is born this day, Christ, the Lord. For no evil of the devil is greater than the grace of God which He gives in Jesus Christ our Lord. God is man, man to deliver; that is something the devil can never say. He will never share your essence like God does.

God has drawn much closer than the devil ever could. The devil is what He is – an angel. He cannot become man. He can possess and control men, but he cannot become one. Which is his loss, because God is Man, and is the Savior of all men.

God became a man, not simply so that He could tour this world, but so that He could be what the angel proclaimed Him to be: the Savior. This is the glory of God which brings us great joy. His glory is made perfect in weakness. And what weakness is there greater in life than being born? You have no choice about the time and place. You have no choice about your parents or siblings. You have no choice about being alive. And God willingly subjected Himself to all this. For you. To be your Savior.

And this child whom the angel trumpets from heaven, has not simply come to be adored. But He has come to bear the sins of the world. He has come to be rejected, to be mocked, to be beaten, to be disfigured, to be murdered. He has come to die. He has come to take in Himself the worst the devil could dish out. And worse yet, He has come to take the worst the King of Heaven could do to Him. And He took it all willingly, for you. This is what the angel means when he proclaims Christ the Savior. He means that this little babe will, by His death, destroy death and free you from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. He means that this holy infant will crush the devil's head and undo the curse laid upon Adam and Eve.

The fact that God now shares in the flesh and blood of all mankind ought to change the way you look at your neighbor. Each person you meet is God in human flesh, albeit hidden behind a mask that you call husband or wife, child, co-worker, or neighbor. Whatever you do to the least of one of these, you do to Christ. If that notion really took hold in your heart, you would have no occasion to hate your brother, to become angry with your neighbor, to betray your spouse, to exasperate your children.

But let us return to the words “unto you is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” He is born unto you. To you. Into your flesh. Into your world. Into your sin and grief and shame and brokenness. Into the gaps in your family gathering. Into the chasms between you and your loved ones. Into the heartache of painful memories. Into your death.

Unto you is born this day not just a Brother, not just a Judge, not just a new Moses. Unto you is born this day a Savior, the Lord who saves His people from your sins. He does not come for cows or sheep or deer or hogs. He does not come for the mighty and exalted angels in heaven. He comes FOR YOU. We should write the words “for you” with letters of fire into our hearts and minds, and learn thereby to welcome the Savior's birth most gladly, with exceeding joy and mirth. This one who is born is called Jesus, for He will save His people from your sins.

This very Christ and Lord has now been born, the angel tells the shepherds. He will put all things in order, freely bestowing the gifts of righteousness, everlasting life, and salvation which were lost in the Fall, and making heaven and earth new and at peace again. The Lord and King is born! Be comforted and undaunted, be brave and glad, be renewed in courage by Him, for it is not Gideon or David whom you have, but the one and only Savior, who is Christ the Lord indeed. He will not cast you into hell, but rescue you. He will not judge and condemn you because of sin, but will forgive you your sins. He will not be angry with you, but will greet you with friendly laughter.

He is your brother and kinsman, and on top of that, your Savior, King, and Lord. He dies for you, redeems you from sin, death, and the devil. Whoever believes on Him and rejoices in His birth is saved. Glory to God in the Highest!

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.