Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

Theme: Reflections on a Silent Night, revisited

For those who have been dreaming of a white Christmas, you can wake up now. . . . Here it is - just for you. And so, on this snow-covered Christmas Eve, as has been our custom, we gather to behold the new-born Christ child in that stable in Bethlehem. And as we have done these past few years, let me invite you to ponder a few reflections on this Silent Night based on our lessons. They are filled with contrasts that invite us to be amazed as we reflect some on the miracle of Christmas.

John relates to us about the Christmas event: In Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:4) . This great Light and the Life of the Christmas gift comes to us, ironically . . . in the dead of a cold winter’s night . . . a cold winter’s night that reminds us of where we sit right now . . . its is a long way from paradise. What a contrast between setting of our first lesson in Genesis 3 and that of Christmas story in Luke 2. The first Adam was placed into a springtime paradise, but through his transgression, he brought death and destruction into the world and to his own kind - yes, even to us. He was there in the springtime of the world, but cast us into a winter of sinful discontent. In Adam, a cycle of life to death - ashes to ashes, dust to dust - was universally unleashed. And, is it not true: we often sense and feel the curse of the ground - God’s judgement on sin - most when the days are short, the nights long, and when current events all around us shout that we are a far cry from the people we ought to be. Look around you . . . The season in which we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord, the Life and Light of the world, is a time of shadows and darkness with the skeletons and monuments of past life all around us. You can see them this time of year in our desolate farm fields and our cemeteries. And in addition to these signs, we are reminded each year that the twelve days of Christmas mark the season of record suicides as the sounds of Joy to the World slam up against the reality of empty lives marked by strife, alienation, and despair.

But what a contrast between this wintery backdrop and the Gift that to us has been given. The Second Adam, who arrived on a midnight’s clear, entered the cursed ground of paradise-lost on a cold winter’s night. With Him are tidings of great joy. A reversal of the curse has been set in motion and a cycle of death to life - dying to sin, dying to live - is poised to make a way back to paradise for us. As He will die to sin, so shall we. As He will be raised up unto newness of life, so shall we. As He will conquer all the powers of Satan and his seed, so shall we. In the stark cold season of winter, God’s peace comes to us bearing gifts of forgiveness and righteousness and new life.

The curse of the offspring of Satan has bruised the offspring of Adam mightily through the ages and the ground that we continue to walk upon is a stark contrast to the hope and joy that the seed of the woman is poised to bring us in the baby who is born this night. We come to worship Him this night, do we not, filled with hope for a better day? Only the hope that the Christ child brings turns a cold winter’s night into a holy night of hope. God is born in Bethlehem. He has come to us in the winter of our human condition - the winter of our malcontent - not to buck us up with words of encouragement and empathy, not to be the man among men . . . but to be that seed of the woman who would be for us our Champion - here, to crush the head of the serpent; here, to execute the justice of God; and here, to lift the curse and fulfill the promise of paradise-regained.

As you travel with the shepherds this night to see this thing that the Angel announced, you will need two sets of eyes. On the one hand, your ordinary eyes can behold what the prophet Micah foretold about a woman in labor who will give birth to baby boy in Bethlehem (Micah 5:3). You do not need any specially trained eyes to take in the ordinary props of the traditional creche scene - the stable barn, the domestic animals, the feed trough complete with mother and child. These elements of the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke can be seen by anyone who will make the journey. But it will require the eyes of faith to see and appreciate God’s penchant to use common worldly props and opposites to reveal Himself and carry out His redemptive work. In and with straw, and clad in diapers, you are invited to behold and worship the One Isaiah prophesied; the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Here in these mundane elements the Glory of the Lord is revealed. Can you see it? The seed of the woman is the eternal Word of God - made flesh and here to dwell among us. The glory of the Lord is here in this Little One who cannot yet control His bladder. The words of St. Paul in Philippians 2 gets the right description about these details: He humbled himself, he made himself nothing (Phil. 2:6). Opposites indeed! If you think about it. . . as we sang Oh Little Town of Bethlehem . . . How silently how silently the wondrous gift was given. The event of the Creator entering His creation was probably witnessed by more animals than people. This is indeed a telling of the story fit for children’s Christmas programs of every age. Nothing frightening or alarming here.

This story of Immanuel, God with us . . . is not just His story, it is our story also. We are taken up into it and we become a part of the Christmas story as the Word that has become flesh has also become fruitful. This Righteous One of God has come here to be your Savior . . . to suffer and die for your sins; to win your battles against sin, death, and the devil; to fulfill and overcome the curse of the Law for you, and then to prepare a place for you in His heavenly family and Kingdom. From the dead of winter, He has come to act out his story given to him by the Father and then to make that story yours as well. He has come to take you out of the winter coldness of your sinful condition, and by the power of the Father’s planted Word - its springtime! The branch from the stem of Jesse has born fruit. He is both the seed that has brought forth new life in you, and he is the Bread of life beckoning you to come and eat and be hungry no more. In His life you have hope and in His death, you have life.

So here in the winter season of cold deadness, here in the Silent Night . . . pull up a chair - eat, drink, and be merry. Feast at the Church’s high Feast of the Blessed Nativity. And let all the images and metaphors of Christmas fill you with wonder and joy. In the Eden of the Church, he has raised up a Second Adam to lead you from the cursed ground back to paradise; from the land of thorns and thistles to the land of plenty; from the valley of the shadow of death to the green pastures and the still waters. He has raised up the Son of David, the One who is both his and your Lord and King, to reestablish His Kingdom and you as his subject in a reign of God that will know no end. Here in the Silent Night of a winter season . . .He just does not bring a thaw, a momentary relief from the numbing cold of your falleness . . . but, by the warmth of His life and light, He raises you up unto newness of life, unto the righteousness of His grace and forgiveness . . . alive, growing, and fit for fruitful living. Merry Christmas to you all . . . and to you all, a very good night.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A-men.