Homily For Christmas Eve
Who may come to Jesus? Who may appear before the Lord? This is the most important question that one can ask. The writer of the Psalms (24) says it this way -
3Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
Who may stand in His holy place?
4He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear deceitfully.
5He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from the God of his salvation.
6Such is the generation of those who seek Him,
who seek Your face, O God of Jacob.
The King born in Bethlehem is now the Ascended Lord of all creation. Who can come to him? All who come to Him in humility and faith.
Our Gospel tonight will be familiar to many. It is in the second chapter of St. Luke. In the previous chapter we have the story of God’s plan of redemption - God became man in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
Chapter one is about perplexity, faith and confirmation. Perplexity in how a woman can become pregnant apart from the normal course of events; faith, in that Mary submitted her will to the Lord, embracing the scandal of appearances for the sake of obedience, faith in that Joseph received the word of an angel and took Mary to wife despite the apparent contradiction of her burgeoning belly.
Confirmation - that God in in his mercy, gave Mary the testimony of Elizabeth - being filled with the Holy Spirit and the leaping of the impossibly conceived John the Baptist in her womb at the mother of her Lord’s appearing, corroborating what the angels had announced, that she would bear the Messiah.
Now, our Gospel for tonight is the Second Chapter of St. Luke where we read of Christ’s birth - he comes in the midst of Roman domination. Christ was to be born in Bethlehem and God in his providence took the ambitions of Rome and used it to place Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. Rome wanted a census so they could get a headcount for taxation purposes. In the fullness of time, Joseph, a descendant of David, was required by Caesar to be in Bethlehem so that the true Lord could be born where the God of all history said so.
We read that this happened in the most challenging of circumstances. To a cave, which served as a stable, came the King of all glory. The livestock and common animals drew near to our Lord while most of humanity remained ignorant of his coming. We should note who received the good news first. It wasn’t the high priest, it wasn’t Herod, it wasn’t the Sanhedrin or any of the elites.
The voice of the angels was not heard in the Temple, in the midst of Jerusalem, where God’s people normally associated God’s presence. Instead, it was in the midst of the fields, beneath the stars, that the voice of angels was heard. The greatest news that humanity could ever receive was proclaimed in sight and in sound, by voice and by the light of God’s glory to a bunch of shepherds.
Shepherds were among some of the least desirable sorts in Jewish society. Shepherds were a despised class of people for their work kept them from participating frequently in worship at the Temple. They had a reputation for stealing and this reputation for dishonesty prevented them from being able to legally testify in court. Yet, these are the sorts of people who hear the Good News, they are the ones who will obediently apply themselves to what God tells them. The angels declare - good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
The good news of this newborn Saviour is not just for the shepherds, nor is it just for the Jews. His coming is for all people; He is the one who can save people from their sins; he is the Christ, the Messiah, the appointed one to lead them out of captivity to sin and death. He is the Lord, the eternal ancient of days, who existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit before time began, and He has now come to His creation to rule.
Notice the obedience of the shepherds. The angels revealed God’s purposes in the announcement and the shepherds believed the good news and received confirmation of their faith. The angels said “this shall be a sign for you”- in other words, you will receive a strengthening of your faith through finding the Saviour as we describe Him. This was necessary because Jesus was hidden away only to be found in great humility. He comes wrapped in swaddling clothes, the same strips of cloth used to wrap the finest sacrificial lambs at their birth.
He will be found in the feeding trough of common animals. Jesus, the bread of heaven, whose body, which in some mystical sense, is the source of life itself, is to be found among the fodder of the farm animals.
“The sign” for the shepherds is the shorthand for his life and ministry. He comes into poverty and obscurity. He comes into a questionable situation, with an adoptive father who is a carpenter and a mother who is a humble but blessed virgin, mysteriously made pregnant. He is raised in Nazareth among the clamor of the carpenter shop - the mundane rhythms of village life. His public ministry was only 3 years - where he served, taught and loved. He died for our sins and was resurrected for our eternal life, which is found in Him.
What we celebrate tonight is his coming. Born in humility to save all who will turn to him in faith. One’s circumstances are never an impediment to the salvation of God. His first witnesses were common shepherds with nothing to commend them to society. The first to believe outside the Holy Family were those who rarely went to temple. This is the general pattern of his saving work in the Gospels. Read who comes to Jesus: prostitutes, greedy grifters called tax collectors, the deformed, the sick, the desperate, the demon possessed. The poor, the hungry, they came because they are the sort that would hear his offer, who could see his power and knew that he could save them. The comforting words, the good tidings of great joy for us tonight is that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, which is each and every one of us.
Truly, God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whosoever will believe in him will be saved. The qualification for salvation - the greatest gift ever offered to us - is the willingness to admit one’s need - that we need a Saviour.
That we have no hope apart from him. But “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” That by faith in Him we can be deemed worthy to be called the children of God through His perfect life and perfect sacrifice. Beloved, receive the Good News this Christmas Eve. Come to this celebration of Holy Communion with the fullest conviction, the surest faith that Christ welcomes you to come to Him. Amen.