Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

Theme: Reflections on the Promised One

Our lessons from Genesis begin the story that reaches it climax this night in Bethlehem. Right from the start, God tells us that it is the seed of the woman who is going to set things right after our first parents trashed God’s grand creation plan in space and time (Genesis 3:15). The seed of the woman will do these things in strange, peculiar ways as can only be orchestrated by our unfathomable God. So up the way, the promise about the seed of the woman is extended to Abraham. He is promised to be the father of a people that will number more than the stars in the heavens and the sand on seashore (Genesis 22:17). Indeed, all the peoples of the earth will be blessed by his seed. It will be worked out through his for-the-most-part barren and now-very- old wife, Sarah. Abraham laughed and so did Sarah at the annunciation of the first seed, Isaac. God would get his program off to its appointed start with a child to be brought forth from two dottering old centenarians. Don’t laugh. God has even stranger things in store for us up the way.

How would he accomplish this promise? First, there would be two elements entailed in the promise that would have to be fulfilled if all the nations of the world would become eligible to receive the Blessing. First, God’s Law would have to be fulfilled by Abraham’s offspring, and secondly, the guilt of the sins of the people would have to be atoned for. As we page through Old Testament history, we learn that the efforts of Abraham and his offspring to fulfill these conditions by their own initiative were not successful. We also learn that the first seed of Abraham, little Isaac, would not qualify as an acceptable sin offering.

Israel thought that if God would just relent and give them a King, they were confident that they would then be able to be obedient to the demands of His Covenant of Law. They were wrong. Nevertheless, ironically, it is the sending of a King that would fit into God’s plans. Through Isaiah, God promised that a Son of King David would shoulder the government and establish God’s justice and righteousness for insufferable Law breakers like the children of Israel . . . and, we might add, he will do the same for those who suffer from the same problem gathered here this evening. We could call this divine trickle-down, for it is the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace who will descend to us and accomplish these things. The seed of the woman is the seed of Abraham, and the seed of David, and the Seed that would be sown in the world by the Father- as we are told by the prophet, Micah - in the city of David; the humble, nowhere, little town of Bethlehem. We do, indeed, see thee lying still as we sing . . . for not much of any note has ever gone on there - until now, that is. We have heard of the man born to be King. Here in Bethlehem, it was a divine condescension. The King, the King of Kings, is born to be man. In the garden we sought divinity and failed. But here, in Bethlehem, God seeks to become man and succeeds. With our efforts to be like God we became sinners. With God’s efforts in becoming one of us, we have been made righteous.

How strange the words spoken to Mary by the Angel Gabriel. She will be the daughter of Eve who will bear the promised One, but the lineage sounds so masculine - He will be the promised son of Abraham and the promised son of David - yet, he will have no earthly father. This is the Sacrament of the Incarnation, the foundational mystery of God upon which all the others rest. God takes up the human flesh that we have sought to discard. God’s Son and David’s Lord has come into the world to establish His everlasting government. Here He will execute justice throughout all the nations, but what is deserving and fair will be overturned. He will rule by grace and truth so that everyone gets what they don’t deserve. He will be declared guilty and sentenced to die on a cross, and we sinners will be declared innocent. Good News! God is not being fair. All who insist on fairness can go to Hell.

All of this is revealed to some shepherds in the traditional Christmas Story in Luke 2 on a Silent Night during the days of Caesar Augustus. But as you have seen, it is a story that begins with the triune God Himself - revealed in His Words and promises throughout the Old Testament, and then after 400 years of silence, brought to life and light in the Holy Nativity of Christ Jesus, our Lord. The eternal Word of God babies among us - poised to grow in wisdom and stature, ready to make his way to a cross to bear your griefs and sorrows, and establish His reign of grace. So this evening you are beckoned to join the shepherds in the field, and the wise men who have seen the Star shining in the dark places of this world; to make your way to the barn in Bethlehem and peer once again into the manger where there is food for sinners, and plenty enough for you. The Bread of Heaven has come down to earth to be a feast for all sinners so that you may hunger for righteousness no more. His name is Jesus, for He has come to you to save you from your sins and bring you back to a forever fellowship with your Creator and Lord. Homecoming, at last!

And reflecting on this evening together . . . Is it not the continual observance of this Christmas story with caroling, children’s programs, and creche displays that are intended to remind us that this is a story that includes ourselves? You are here, but you are no mere observer are you? Jesus has claimed you for Himself and therefore you have become a part of His story as He has made you a child of Abraham, a citizen of the New Israel under the reign of David’s Lord . . . as He has made you a recipient of the blessing to the nations, a member of His body, the Church. And in all of this, He has guaranteed to you the reign of a heavenly government where you as a sinner get only what you don’t deserve - his grace and mercy. As He has become the Son of Man, and by His becoming your champion who has gotten the victory over your adversaries - sin, death, and the Devil. You have become Sons and Daughters of God. In His Incarnation, He has become one with you, and in your baptism you have become one with Him. Your story has been taken up into His story. We are all participants, are we not, in the Christmas pageant that God is putting on this night? He has some lines for you to say so that His peace on earth may reign in your heart and minds this night. Are you ready to say your lines? They are to be spoken as you come and view the Christ child in the manger. Here they are. Oh Lord, be merciful to me a sinner. (SAY THEM!) Truly I say to you, on His authority, you will go down to your home this evening justified. When it comes to the accusation of the Law against your sins, the Christ child brings to you this night . . . a Silent Night. This is the Peace of God that comes to earth this night; that comes to you in the righteousness of the Christ child . . . As the angels sing, peace to you with whom He is well pleased. A Blessed Christ Mass to you all.

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