Controversies come and controversies go. One month
people are riled up that there wasn’t any evidence for the weapons
of mass destruction Saddam Hussein supposedly had in the Iraqi
arsenal. A few months later they’re upset because the federal
government didn’t move quickly enough to provide relief for the
victims of Hurricane Katrina. It seems like our excitable human
race is always getting stirred up about something.
The latest controversy in the United States is
about what we’re going to call the early-winter holiday known for
nearly 2,000 years as Christmas. In the pluralistic culture we
live in the word “Christmas” has apparently become offensive to
some people. Wish the wrong person “Merry Christmas” and – who
knows? -- you could be facing a lawsuit. On the other hand, a
store is liable to lose business from Christians if its
salesclerks avoid the “C-word” and greet customers with the
generic, one-size-fits-all “Happy Holidays”.
Newspapers and television news have reported on the
controversy. Public opinion polls have tried to uncover how
Americans really feel about Christmas. Some Christian
organizations have organized boycotts against Target and other
stores for not mentioning Christmas in their ads. It will all die
away by January, of course. But for now it’s a question that
seems to be on everyone’s mind: What are we to do with Christmas?
Will we stick with the greeting, “Merry Christmas,” in honor of
Jesus Christ, the One whose birth is celebrated on Christmas Day?
Or will we go with the more generic “Happy Holidays” so that Jews,
Muslims, Hindus, and pagans won’t feel excluded and be offended?
To tell you the truth, I’m not greatly concerned
about what our society decides to do with Christmas. If the
celebration of Christmas were to be evicted from the public square
entirely, it really wouldn’t bother me. If our citizens decide
that they want to observe the Winter Holidays only, and let it go
at that, that’s okay with me. I’m more concerned about what
the Church does with Christmas. I’m more concerned about the
attitude we Christians take toward Christmas. Have we become
acculturated in the way we observe the Festival? Is our focus
more on the parties, the gifts, the decorations, the hustle and
bustle that are so much a part of the way that we Americans mark
Christmas? Do all the preparations, all the hoop-la, all the
stress and demands and obligatory expectations of fun and
merriment crowd out what the Christmas festival is all about?
Let me ask you a question. Why are you here? Why
have you come here, to this Church, tonight? Are you here out of
a sense of obligation? Are you here because it’s always been a
family tradition to attend the Christmas Eve Candlelight service
at Mt. Olive? Are you here because it makes you feel good to sing
the old, beloved carols and hymns, “Silent Night” and “Oh, Come,
All Ye Faithful”? Why are you here?
That’s a question that could have been asked
multiple times by the characters in tonight’s reading from the
Gospel according to St. Luke. Why are you here? The
people of Bethlehem could have asked Mary and Joseph why they were
there when they showed up in town with Mary obviously in an
advanced state of pregnancy. The shepherds could have asked the
Angel of the Lord what he was doing there when he first appeared
to them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. Mary
could have asked the shepherds that question when they came to the
stable to see and worship the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger.
Why are you here? Why
did the Magi follow the star that appeared in the east and led
them to Jerusalem and Bethlehem? Why did Anna and Simeon approach
the Holy Family in the temple in Jerusalem when Jesus was
presented there on the fortieth day? Why did John the Baptist
appear in the wilderness proclaiming a Baptism of repentance for
the forgiveness of sins? Why were the sick, the sinful, the
suffering and sorrowing drawn to Jesus throughout the days of His
ministry? And why did the Son of God come into our sin-stricken,
fallen, benighted world in the first place instead or remaining
aloof and indifferent, far above it all, in the heavenly glory
that was His native element?
Why are you here? Mary
and Joseph had come to Bethlehem because that little,
insignificant village was where God had promised centuries before
that the Christ would be born. God had declared through Micah the
prophet, But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to
Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of
old, from everlasting. Mary was there because nine months
earlier she had miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit – even
though she was a virgin – and the holy Child she carried in the
temple of her womb was the Son of the Highest, to whom the Lord
God would give the throne of His father David. Mary was the
vessel through which God Incarnate would enter our world of space
and time for us men and for our salvation. Why were Mary and
Joseph there in Bethlehem? They were there because of Jesus.
Why are you here? The
Angel of the Lord was there for the shepherds to bring them
good tidings of great joy which shall be for all people.
This Angel was a messenger of the Gospel, a preacher of Good News
to these lowly, smelly shepherds, that a Savior had been born, who
is Christ the Lord. The Angel of the Lord was there to make Jesus
known. He didn’t come to dazzle the shepherds with a glorious
display of celestial pyrotechnics. He didn’t come to strike fear
into their hearts and bring God’s judgment upon their sinful
ways. He came to tell them, fear not, for the
Savior had come. He came to tell them that in this Baby whose
birth he announced God’s peace and good-will were extended to our
sinful human race. Why was the Angel of the Lord there? He was
there because of Jesus.
Why are you here? The
shepherds came to the stable to see this wonder, this marvel, this
miracle that the Lord had made known to them. They didn’t come
just to see a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a
manger. They came to see the Word made flesh, the Creator of the
universe who had condescended to become a lowly creature, the One
who filled heaven and earth and yet humbled Himself to be
encompassed by Mary’s womb, and suckle at her breast, and wear
diapers just like any other human baby. They came to see the
Christ, God become Man. They came to see the Savior of the world
who would one day die on a Roman Cross in payment for the sins of
all mankind.
This holy Child was the one Mediator between God
and man. This wee little Baby was responsible for the world’s
salvation. He would crush the ancient serpent’s head. He would
free our human race from its captivity to sin and death and
condemnation. He was the Sacrament of God’s forgiveness and mercy
in human vesture. In Him was life eternal, given freely to all
who trust in Him and who in penitent faith eat His flesh and drink
His blood. He was the light of God shining in a sin-dark world,
the one bright beam of hope in a universe hurtling headlong into
hopelessness and despair and extinction.
Why were the shepherds there in the stable, gazing
with awe-struck wonder on the tiny squirming miracle lying in the
manger? They were there because of Jesus.
And Jesus was there – in the stable, in the manger,
in the flesh -- because of you and me and all of the fallen sons
and daughters of Adam. He was there as the grace of God that
brings salvation to all who believe. He was there as the kindness
and love of God in human flesh and blood. He was there because
the road to the Cross began at the manger. He was there because
you and I, sinners that we are, are helpless to save ourselves
from sin and death and the judgment of God. It took a little Baby
to do it. A Baby who was God in the flesh. A Baby who would keep
God’s commandments perfectly on our behalf and die in our place to
take our sins away forever. The original Christmas Gift. That’s
what this Baby was. That’s what He is. God’s gift to you. Not
just tonight or tomorrow. But each and every day of your life,
from the font to the grave, to the resurrection and beyond. Your
future, your welfare, your life, your salvation are guaranteed by
Jesus alone. He, the Lord Incarnate, is your life and your
salvation.
Do you know what the word “Christmas” means? It
means “Christ’s Mass” – that is the celebration of the Sacrament
of the Altar by which the Church observes Christ’s Nativity. In
the Sacrament our Savior gives His Body and Blood for the
forgiveness of sins to all who partake in faith. Faith in Jesus
isn’t just a Christmas thing. It’s not an attitude of “coming-to-church-on-Christmas-Eve-really-puts-me-in-the-Christmas-spirit.”
The Christmas spirit without Jesus is idolatry.
It could be said that they celebrate Christmas best
who celebrate it their whole life long, who come to the Divine
Service week after week, month after month, year after year,
because through Word and Water and Bread and Wine the Savior who
is Christ the Lord is present for them in the Divine Service. Why
are we here tonight? Because of Jesus, I hope. To celebrate His
Mass. If we’re here because of Jesus we won’t limit our
attendance at the Divine Service to one night a year, or even a
couple of Sundays a year. We’ll want to be here where Jesus is
every chance we can. If we aren’t here because of Jesus we may as
well have stayed home.
Christmas is Christ’s Mass, Christ’s Supper,
Christ’s Eucharist, Christ’s Sacrament of the Altar. Who cares
what the world does with the word Christmas. The world doesn’t
have the Mass. In its pursuit of other things it doesn’t have
Christ. Let the world around us call Christmas the Winter
Holidays all it wants to. Let it deny Christ. We Christians know
better. For us there is no controversy. As the Scripture says:
And without controversy, great is the
mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in
the Spirit, seen by angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on
in the world, and received into glory.
So Christmas isn’t about presents and visions of
sugar plums. It’s about the mystery of God manifest in human
flesh. It’s about Christ. To have and make regular use of
Christ’s Word and Sacraments is to have Christ. It’s to have
Christmas. We have forgiveness, life and salvation through faith
in Jesus. No one can ever take these things away from us. That’s
why the Son of God was born. That’s why He’s here in Word and
Sacrament, not just tonight, but Sunday after Sunday, festival
after festival, year after year, until the end of your life and
the end of the age. That’s what Christmas is all about.
In Nomine Patris. . .
