From The Pulpit

Dear Friends in Christ,

    I don't want to shock you, but I have a confession to make; I'm not on Facebook. A lot of people have invited me to be on Facebook, and on Linked-In, and they tell me all the wonderful reasons to be there: You can connect with all your old friends. You can even rediscover people you never thought you'd be able to connect with again. Distance isn't a factor, because Facebook is on the world wide web and that means you're global. It means you're out there and in touch with everyone far and near, no matter how far away they truly are.

    Preparing for the Advent services this year made me come close. I came this close [ ] to setting up an account on Facebook; because every Wednesday night in this Advent season we kept singing 'away in a manger' and Jesus started to seem pretty distant to me, pretty far away; in time … over 2000 years, and spatially too; because he was born in Palestine, a long way away. I came this close [], and then I remembered:

    Jesus is not merely “away in a manger,” He's right here in our Church. As we've seen throughout Advent, the Church has become the cradle in which the Lord Jesus chooses to be present. The Christ child, who's so little that He could be nestled at the breast of His mother, Mary, invites us to receive Him in His littleness on the lap of our mother the Church. Heaven has come down to the manger. And Christ's manger is here.

    Isaiah puts it so simply. To us a child is born. You know, a birth announcement is one of the simplest announcements we humans know how to make. What proud father doesn't say, “We have a baby!”

    Mary had a baby. Heaven came down into the darkness. But, as simple as it is to say, "To us a child is born," this isn't the announcement of the birth of a simple child. We need to recognize who this Child is. This is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, as the Nicene Creed says. This is no ordinary child.

    And so at his coming, the people who sat in darkness saw a great light. The Christ Child brings light where once there was only darkness. Those who walk in darkness walk in pain and suffering as they trip over obstacles and run into walls; they walk in ignorance of the path before them until the light comes bringing them wisdom. This light brings true wisdom, because this light is the One who is wisdom in the flesh—Christ, the great Light. Christ is not merely a great luminary; He is the very source of light.

    Here in the Northwest, we know the power of the light; we know about light … and the lack of light, all too well. In the winter it's dark when we get up for work and it's dark again before we even get the chance to go back home. But, in the summer, the blinding light can wake us at four in the morning and make us think it's still early at ten o'clock at night.

    When Jesus, the powerful Light, was born in the dark of night, the stars were overwhelmed by his arrival, the arrival of the true Light that “enlightens everyone”. Christ, the Light of the world, overcame the darkness and brought true joy. Because the Light has come and abolished the darkness, joy has been poured out on the people who walked in the darkness.

    In the birth of this Child, the battle began, the battle between darkness and light; but the battle didn't last long. In our Savior's birth, the darkness of the oppression of sin has been broken. The victory of this Child is swift, shocking, and complete, just as in the day of Midian. Do you know what happened in the day of Midian? In a battle that predated the Spartans at Thermopylae, Gideon's three hundred stunned the Midianites with a crushing defeat. They appeared weak, but they defeated the power of the many as “the Lord [gave] the host of Midian into Gideon's hand”. Don't let the human “weakness” that clothes this Child born of Mary fool you, this man Jesus is also true God and he is strong to save His people from their sin.

    God's Son is given, not merely handed over, but given. He is given to us! How strange that the God who made us and who possesses us gave Himself to us, to sinners! Even today he continues to give himself to us; in his Word and sacraments.

    God's Word's been given to us, and in that giving the Word Incarnate gives Himself to us. The speaking of God in His Word conveys what it says. His speech doesn't merely tell us about Christ. It does not merely relate the beautiful story of a child born in unfortunate circumstances so that we might be delighted or filled with nostalgia. No, God's Word is an ever creating Word, unlike human words or speech, and because his Word creates faith in us we believe that from the “manger” of our altar tonight, the Child serves us with His own body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.

    The Prince of Peace who occupies an eternal throne has come down from heaven to rescue us. Through Him peace is granted to those who know their sin. To them God says that because they are justified by faith in Christ, they have peace with Him. This peace isn't wishful thinking or faint hope. This peace is a reality that our Prince defines in His own person. Jesus is peace.

    And we have that peace because unto us a child is born. He is ever with us as he promised. He's not away in a manger after all, he's here.

Amen.