Tag Archives: Born

The Word & Children of God – Sermon on John 1:6-13 for Midweek Advent 2

John 1:6-13

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

These verses make the Advent and Christmas seasons feel like the coming of Spring. And I know we just had our first major snowstorm. We’re currently in meteorological Winter, but astronomical Winter is still eleven days away. Daylight keeps getting shorter. I get it. But even though the coldest days of winter are, probably, still ahead of us, this text fills our sanctuary with a hint of Spring. Can you smell it?

Jesus, the Eternal Word, was there at the beginning of creation with God and as God. All things were created through Christ. In Jesus was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. That Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Jesus, the true Light has arrived, not as a conqueror from a far, distant country, but to rescue you from the darkness of death. The winter of sin is passing. Jesus, the Word made flesh, has come. And the Life that Christ brings is budding all around you even now. Dear saints, because Jesus has come, you now live in the never-ending Spring of the new creation (2 Co. 5:7).

John the Baptizer came as a herald to point to Christ, the Light. John was there calling everyone into Jesus’ Light. But then, when the Light burst through the darkness to shine on everyone, many sank further into the shadows (Jn. 1:10-11). And sadly, this is still too often the case. The Light can be rejected. In Jn. 3:19-20, we learn why it is rejected, “Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his works should be exposed.”

Light reveals the things hidden in darkness. That’s why, when Jesus came as Light, it seemed to many as though judgment had come. But Jesus was not sent into the world to judge the world. No. He came in order that the world would be saved through Him (Jn. 3:17). Jesus came to give Light to the world, to take away sin, and to give eternal life. But His coming felt like judgment because His presence exposes the darkness and filthiness of sinners. In the Light of Christ, there is no hiding. So, the Light is a threat to the will and the way of every sinner. That’s why sinners hate and reject the Light. Even though the darkness cannot overcome the Light (Jn. 1:5), people can love and choose the darkness instead of receiving the Light (Jn. 1:11).

But to all who did receive the Light, to all who believed in His Name, He gave the right and the authority to become children of God (Jn. 1:12). That’s you, dear saints. You, believer. You are rightfully children of God through faith in Christ. And this idea of being God’s child here in Jn. 1 is so rich and unique. But first, we need to recognize what that phrase ‘children of God’ doesn’t mean – at least not in these verses.

The Bible does talk about all humanity being children of God by virtue of our creation. Because Adam was created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27), he is called the son of God – lowercase ‘s’ (Lk. 3:38). Since your first ancestor is God’s son, you also are a child of God. Malachi 2:10 says that since God created us, He is everyone’s Father. In Act. 17:28-29, Paul says that all people are God’s offspring. So, yes, we are God’s children by virtue of creation. The Bible does teach that. But we have a severe problem if that’s the only kind of childhood we have because our sin has totally and completely alienated us from God. It isn’t a stretch to say that we divorced ourselves from Him by our sin. So, being God’s child by virtue of creation is not the childhood John has in mind here.

Better than the childhood that comes by virtue of your creation is the fact that the eternal Son of God took on flesh and became one of you. So, Moses in our Old Testament reading (Dt. 18:15-19) could rightly prophesy that God would raise up a prophet like him “from among you, from your brothers.” By virtue of Jesus’ incarnation, He has become your Brother. Since Jesus is your brother, you share a Father with Him, which means that you are a child of God. And this is amazing news that we will be pondering for all eternity. But even as wonderful as that is, it still isn’t the kind of childhood that John talks about here.

Dear saints, here John says that you are a child of God by virtue of a birth. None of us here can say that we chose to be born. You didn’t cause your birth or make it happen. In the same way, it isn’t your will, or the will of any other human, that causes you to be born of God. James 1:18 says this plainly, “Of [God’s] own will He brought us forth by the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” (also 1 Pet. 1:23).

So, John is not talking here about a physical birth. It wasn’t anything that nature can accomplish. It’s a miraculous birth that God Himself brings about by the means that He has established. And Jesus teaches about this birth in Jn. 3 when He sheds His Light as He talks with Nicodemus at night. It is a birth that comes from above (Jn. 3:3). It is a birth of water and the Spirit (Jn. 3:5). It is your birth that God has given you through your Baptism. That kind of birth from and of God is solid and sure. God Himself caused it. It’s His action, His working, His doing (Jn. 15:16, 19) that has made you His child.

The Light, which gives light to everyone was coming into the world, and because of what Jesus has done by His death and resurrection, you are born as God’s own child.

Dear saints, again, can you smell it? The winter of sin and death is passing away. The never-ending Spring of the new creation has dawned in Christ. As His Light shines on you now, receive it again. Let it expose and scatter the shadows in and around you. Always cling to the sonship that you have been given. You are God’s child. And in the Spring of Light that He has brought, you will bloom forever in His unending grace and mercy. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Pleased – Sermon on Luke 2:1-20 for Christmas Eve 2024

Luke 2:1–20

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 

14 “Glory to God in the highest, 
and on earth peace among men, with whom he is pleased!” 

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Grace, mercy, and peace is yours this night from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The one thing you should learn from Christmas is that God’s greatest, most earnest desire and purpose is to be with you. That’s the “true meaning of Christmas.” Hollywood will give all sorts of other answers about what the “true meaning of Christmas” is – hope, joy, giving, family togetherness, whatever. To one degree or another, those are only related to God’s desire to be with you. Each of those things is only on the fringe of the purpose of Christmas. The birth of Jesus proves that God doesn’t want to be far away or disconnected from you. He wants to be with you. Each day. Every day. God wants to be with you, as close as possible – even within your own heart (2 Co. 1:22).

I say that because of how Luke records the event. The actual birth of Jesus only takes up a tiny fraction of the reading from Luke 2:1-20. In the first five verses, Luke tells us about the census that Caesar Augustus decreed. All the details in those verses – about Augusts, the fact that it was the first registration while Quirinius was governor in Syria, the fact that Joseph was from Nazareth but had to go to Bethlehem, etc. – all of that seems to be there because Luke wants you to know that what he records has been carefully researched. He’s paid attention to the details. He wants you to know that he got all of this exactly right.

Then, Luke simply records Christ’s birth. It is while Joseph and Mary are in Bethlehem that the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth, wrapped the Infant Jesus in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in the only place available – a manger – because there was no other place for them to be, except in that stable.

It’s remarkable, the way God inspired Luke to write this. The most important thing that has ever happened or will ever happen in all of history – the birth of Jesus – is simply stated. “She gave birth.” That’s it. The thing that gets the most focus, and what we will focus on tonight, is the announcement Jesus’ birth, which starts at v. 8.

Some shepherds are nearby watching over their flocks that night. It was an otherwise normal night for these shepherds. We don’t know how many shepherds there are, but we do know the number of angels that appear to them. At first, it’s one. One angel appears, but that angel isn’t the only thing that appears. The “glory of the Lord” also shines around the shepherds. And because of this, the shepherds are afraid. They are filled with a great (the word in Greek is μέγας), a mega fear. Why?

The source of their fear wasn’t that single angel. No, they are afraid because the glory of the Lord was shining around them. That’s the closest reference to their fear. Why would they be so afraid of God’s glory shining around them? Well, they’re afraid because even though God’s glory is a beautiful and wonderful thing, but it is only wonderful if sin isn’t part of the equation. When there is sin, we can’t stand in God’s presence. In Scripture, sinners are always terrified when they find themselves in God’s presence (Ex. 20:18; Jdg. 13:22; Is. 6:5).

Now, I’ll admit that the text doesn’t mention sin. God didn’t inspire Luke to tell us that the shepherds were filled with mega fear because they remembered that they were sinners. Sure enough. But Luke didn’t need to tell us they were afraid on account of their sin because he records what the angel tells them.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great (there’s that word μέγας again). Good news of mega joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:10). 

This angel gives two reasons for the shepherds to not be afraid – the two “for” statements. The first because the angel gives to not be afraid is, “Because I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.” The source of this great joy is now (present tense) for these shepherds, but it’s not for the shepherds alone.

The angel makes it clear that this great joy that will be (future tense) for all people. That includes you! The good news was given to those five or ten or however many shepherds then, but the good news of mega joy continues to be given throughout the millennia. What the angel said then still echoes to all mankind, even right now, even as you are hearing it.

The second reason the angel tells them to not be afraid is, “Unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Remember that the shepherds fear because God’s glorious presence makes them keenly aware of their sin, but the angel is quick to announce to them that there is a Savior from sin. So, let’s shorten the entire message from the angel. “Don’t be afraid; you have a Savior. He’s just been born.”

That proclamation is the solution to the shepherds’ fear. For the shepherds, the message was that very night that their Savior is born. For you here tonight, you also have nothing to fear because your Savior was born, about 2,021 years ago.

Every one of you here has a Savior. Maybe, you have believed that as long as you can remember. God be praised! Maybe, you used to believe that, but don’t believe it anymore. Maybe, you’ve never believed it. Your belief or unbelief doesn’t change the fact that your Savior is born, and I’m here tonight to tell you to believe it. Believe it because that’s how it benefits you.

Next, this one angel gives the shepherds a sign as proof that their Savior is born. They’ll find a Baby swaddled up and lying in a manger. And at the end of the text (Lk. 2:16-17), the shepherds find exactly that. There, swaddled up in a feeding trough, was the Savior of the whole world. What the angel announced to those shepherds and what that angel is announcing to you now is true. The sign proves it.

We need to go back, though, to what happens just after the shepherds hear this good news of mega joy. Right after the angel’s announcement, there appears with that one angel a huge army of the heavenly host.

The text doesn’t say that they this angel army came, arranged themselves into a choir, and began to sing. Instead, this army of angels appeared to the shepherds. From this, we are to understand that that massive troop of angels was there in that field the whole time. They just weren’t visible to the shepherds for a period, but now they are. This angelic host was present because they wanted to be there and listen to that one angel announce to the shepherds this good news of mega joy.

Angels aren’t like God. God is everywhere all the time. But angels aren’t; they aren’t omnipresent. But it is true that there are angels all around us even though we can’t see them. The Bible has all sorts of examples of angels being around people, but those people can’t see them (Num. 22:31; 1 Kg. 6:17). The night of Jesus’ birth, that angelic army choir wanted to watch as all humanity receives her King.

That angel army sings, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men, with whom He is pleased!”

This song reveals that God is pleased with all mankind. The Greek word there for ‘pleased’ is εὐδοκία. It’s two words combined together. The first part is εὐ, which means ‘good,’ and δοκία, which means ‘thinking.’ In other words, the birth of Jesus proves that God is thinking good toward all humanity – every man, every woman, every boy, every girl. You. Everyone. God is pleased with you, and you can know this because He has sent a Savior to become one of you. That is your peace. Your peace is that you have the goodwill, the good-thinking of God in heaven.

Now, I don’t know all of you here tonight. I don’t know if all of you believe this or not. But I’m here tonight to tell you from God’s Word, from the mouth of God Himself, this message: The eternal, almighty, holy, all-powerful, all-knowing God has come to dwell among you in your flesh and blood to save you from your sin. You can believe it without a doubt.

God thinks good things about you. Even though you have sinned against Him and others whom He loves, God isn’t disappointed with you. God should be. Without a doubt He should be, but He isn’t. He isn’t shaking His head and regretting that He created you. No! He is pleased with you. He loves you. That’s why He comes to save you.

Jesus, God in the flesh, your Savior, has come to you, and that is why the angel choir sings.

Again, each one of you here tonight, if you know anything, know this: God doesn’t want to be far away or disconnected from you. He wants to be with you. Each day. Every day.

Your Savior is born. He is born to shed His blood, to redeem, to ransom, and to rescue you from your sin. God is pleased to save you, to remove your sin and my sin. He has come to remove your guilt and my guilt. That is why and how you can know that God is pleased with you. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

A Great and Mighty Wonder – Sermon on Luke 2:1-20 for Christmas Eve 2023

Luke 2:1–20

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 

14 “Glory to God in the highest, 

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Life is often repetitive and mundane. It fills up with schedules, to-do lists, and errands. You make plans to get everything done as efficiently as possible. You get up, get ready, and get yourself to work or to school or to that appointment. You do what is required of you. Then, you go to bed and sleep only so you can get up tomorrow and do it all over again.

In your efforts to be efficient, organized, and keep it all together, you get into a grove – or, sometimes, a rut. Like a horse pulling a carriage, you put blinders on yourself so you can focus squarely on the next task at work, planning the week’s meals, finishing that big assignment, whatever it is that needs to get done. 

But from time to time, something wonderful happens. Your professor cancels the final. Your adult kid surprises you by coming home. The doctor tells you that the cancer is gone, and you don’t need any further treatments. These wonderful things pull us out of our monotonous lives. And those wonderful things remain wonderful. Five minutes after it happens, it’s still wonderful. If an hour passes, it’s still just as amazing as when it happened. A week, a month, a year, later still has zero effect on the wonder of the thing. Sure, the memory of exactly how it happened might fade, but the wonder stays.

When Sarah and I were dating, I remember meeting her grandma, Hazel. I don’t remember the context of our conversation, but she told me a story of when her kids were young. The family was having serious financial troubles. Hazel didn’t know how she should put supper on the table. There was no food in the house and no money to buy anything. She bumped into one her friends that afternoon who stopped her and asked, “Have you come down from cloud 9 yet?” Hazel didn’t have any idea what her friend was referring to, so her friend told her she had won a drawing at the local grocery store. The prize was a used car that was full of groceries. Suddenly, supper was covered – as well as the next several days of meals. She packed up her kids and picked up the prize. And Hazel told how my father-in-law rode home in the back seat of that car eating cookies and chips that were part of the prize.

When Hazel told that story to me, her voice was excited and filled with wonder. I could see the tears of joy welling up in her eyes. It didn’t matter at all that the food was long gone and the car in the junk yard because it had happened decades before. The wonder of that event hadn’t faded one bit. Hazel would retell that story to me many more times. It wasn’t as though she had forgotten that she had already told the story to me. She just loved telling it, and every time she shared that memory, the joy and wonder the whole thing was still as fresh as though it had happened yesterday because time is irrelevant to the wonder of a thing.

Now, you can probably see where I’m going with this. Jesus was born two-thousand-twenty-some years ago. But the wonder of God entering creation and taking on a human body is still as wonderful and amazing as it was when it happened.

Now, the devil wants to steal that wonder and awe because it was by the birth of Jesus that Satan’s head was crushed (Gen. 3:15). For the Son of God to die and rise again for the forgiveness of your sin, He first had to be born. But Satan thinks you’re stupid. He wants you to adopt an apathetic attitude toward Jesus’ birth and Christmas for the simple reason that it happened a long time ago. He wants to put all sorts of convoluted ideas about the meaning of Christmas into your head so you start to think, “Why should I be happy or joyful about something that happened in the distant past?” If that is the case for you tonight, or any night, you can tell the devil that he’s stupid for thinking you’re that stupid.

Once, a manger had something in it that was bigger than the whole world (C.S. Lewis). The Creator of the universe, who made all things by simply speaking, squeezed Himself into the 8 lb. (give or take) body of an infant boy, and yet He wasn’t cramped. Or more accurately, God became a baby – who couldn’t feed Himself or even lift His own head. And He did this for you.

Tonight, in an effort to regain some sense of the great and mighty wonder of Christmas, put yourself into the account Luke has given us (Lk. 2:1-20). Imagine it from the perspective of Joseph and Mary. Imagine being there among the animals. Jesus has just been born, so they wrap Him up and put Him in the manger because there was simply nowhere else to put Him.

Every parent should have a sense of awe and amazement when a child is born because every birth is a divine gift and miracle. But Joseph and Mary both knew that this particular birth was especially unique. Mary had been told by the angel Gabriel that, though she was a virgin, she would conceive the Son of God (Lk. 1:35). Joseph was also told that the Child in Mary’s womb was the fulfillment of the prophecy we heard from Isaiah 7. Joseph was told that this Child is Immanuel which means “God with us” and that His name was to be Jesus because Yahweh had come to save His people from their sins (Mt. 1:18-25). They knew all of this, so that song, “Mary Did You Know?” the answer to the title of that song is, “Yes.” Maybe she didn’t know all the details about some of the specific questions that song asks, but by and large, the answers to the questions in that song are a resounding, “Yes. Mary knew.”

And yet, the way the Scriptures record the moment of the birth of Jesus, we get left with the impression that it wasn’t any more wondrous than the birth of any other child. In fact, Jesus’ birth was probably a bit of a letdown. Here in Lk. 2, the actual birth of Jesus gets only a verse and a half of ink (v. 6b-7), “the time came for [Mary] to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn Son, wrapped Him swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger.” In Mt. 1:25, Jesus’ birth is even more understated; it’s just, “[Mary] gave birth to a Son.” It’s as though we are to imagine Joseph and Mary looking at this Child, whom they know is God in the flesh, but they look around at the animals and their surroundings and say to each other, “Huh. There’s no glowing. No halo over His head. He’s supposed to be God, but He’s just a baby. So this is it?”

But then, shortly after, some shepherds arrive, and one of them pokes his head from around the corner and asks, “Excuse me. I know this is a barn, but does there happen to be a baby in here?” Joseph or Mary (you can pick which one responds) says, “Well, um, yes there is.” 

The shepherd responds, “I really don’t mean to bother you, but is that baby swaddled?” 

“Yeah. That’s kind of what you do with babies.” 

“Was He just born today?” 

“That’s right, just a few hours ago.” 

“Sorry. I just have one more question. It’s a bit dark in there, and I just have to know – is the baby lying in that manger there?” 

“How did you know?” 

And the shepherds just bow down to the ground and worshipped.

You have probably gotten so used to hearing Lk. 2 on this night each year. It’s good to hear and read it again and again. But it’s so wonderful. Take your time considering all of it. Slow down, look at the details, and meditate on the fact that God became flesh and blood for you.

Imagine it from the angles’ perspective. Imagine how confused the angels must have been that night. They had gotten a break from their regular patrol and angelic duties and sent to this field where the shepherds are. Those angels look up, and there is God on the throne of all creation. So, they sing, “Glory to God in the highest.” But then they look down into that manger and see God is there too. So, they keep singing, “And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

Luke tells us that those shepherds made known the saying that had been told them concerning this Child and, “all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.” That includes Joseph and Mary. They heard about the angel who announced it, and they heard about the song that the multitude of the heavenly host sang. And they were filled with wonder.

Dear friends, it doesn’t matter how old the story of the birth of God is, Christmas is wonderful. Treasure this great and mighty wonder. Jesus has come, and He has come for you. Tonight and always, ponder in your heart that unto you is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Merry Christmas! Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.