Luke 2:8-14.                                        A Saviour has been born to you!               25/12/14

 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”

 Here we are again at this most wonderful time of the year: a time that promises us so much: a time that most people look forward to, to give their lives a lift. But sadly for so many, Christmas ‘comes up short’ again and again. Despite all the promises Christmas for many does not deliver what they hope for: Instead of, peace, joy and happiness they find less than that, and sometimes the very opposite.

 So often we see and experience that which makes us fearful and even terrifies us. Here it not just those who have experienced in a personal way the siege in Sydney last week, but those who have their own personal losses and hardships; their difficulties or personal hang-ups and ‘demons’; strained and broken relationships. Peace, joy and happiness are the last thing on many people’s minds. And our thoughts and prayers go out for them.

 At the same time there are many who are let down by Christmas because the peace, joy and happiness is all too often associated with the wrong things: The presents that we receive from under the Christmas tree; the family get togethers; the Christmas cheer; the break from work, can often fail to be there or be what we want it to be, or it certainly does not last. When we look for the good end results of Christmas without taking into account the real message of Christmas we shouldn’t be surprised when it fails to deliver.

 After all we are living in a sinful, selfish world where things will fail and go wrong; where others and we ourselves don’t do the right thing. So when we look to the things of this world to give us peace and happiness we shouldn’t be surprised when it doesn’t work out as we would like.

However tonight/this morning we again have the angels from God give us the real message and promise of Christmas. “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

  In this message our focus of Christmas is shifted from the things around us to something else. Instead of finding and trying to create our little bit of peace, joy and happiness, it comes to us. Instead of looking to presents, family and the things of this world that are tainted by sin and weakness, we are directed to something far greater.

 The angel’s presence at Christmas reminds us that God has come with a special message for the shepherds and for us. Christmas is about God coming into our messed up, sinful, dying world. In the midst of our desire and longing for peace, joy and happiness, but not being able to find it or have it, God send his messengers with earth shattering news.

 So we are reminded just as the shepherds were that we do not need to be afraid. The shepherds were afraid because God’s angels had broken into their lives. For them this was not good: it was scary; but also they were people living with the consequences of sin and selfishness all around them and so they thought God’s coming into their lives would mean big trouble.

 So also today, people don’t want God too close to their lives for that is a reminder of their many short-comings and the judgement that they deserve. They are fearful at the thought of God coming near to them; both in terms of judgement, but also the loss of freedom to do as they please. So we are happy to have Christmas as long as you don’t bring God in to the picture. We look for peace, joy and happiness in everything else but God’s presence in our lives. Never-the-less the end result is of course the opposite.

 Here though, of course, we need to remember that God did, and had to come, and punish our sin. Being a holy God he cannot overlook our sin or fail to carry out what his justice requires. This is an absolutely scary and fearful thing. However this is what makes this Christmas message so amazing. The angels said “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

 How can there be joy – great joy - when a holy God comes to confront and deal with our sin. Yet, this is what the angels said; so we need to be all ears about what comes next. There has to be something in this that is absolutely incredible.

 And the next verse gives us this most wondrous Good News: Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. There is born one who is going to save us from this mess and disaster that we have brought on ourselves. And this one is that which was promised over and over again throughout much of the history of Israel. Here was the Messiah - the one who was going to be ‘the Lamb of God who take away the sin of the world.’

 And even more incredibly, this one is The Lord himself. The Almighty God himself is come, but, he comes in an amazing way.  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. God comes as a human being – born in a stable and laid in a manger as a little babe. The Almighty himself is come into our world in this way and will be the one who takes our sin on himself and allows himself to be punished so that we wouldn’t be.

 God’s justice determined that a sinless human being must alone be the sacrifice that can redeem the world. A perfect human being must be punished if there was to be any salvation for us. So the Lord himself comes as one of us to be this sacrifice.

And of course we know that this Jesus went on to grow up and prove through his teaching, preaching and miracles that he was God almighty himself.  Then he takes our sin on himself and goes to the cross and is punished in our place. Absolutely incredible! Absolutely amazing! Then so that we can be sure, he rises from the dead three days later. This is God at work and he has done this for the salvation of us all.

Surely now we can join with the angels and sing: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” Now we can have peace, hope and joy in the midst of whatever we are facing. And this peace, hope and joy will last all year through.

 Now we know that we are loved and forgiven, even though we are sinful and unclean. Now we know that he doesn’t just overlook our sin, but through Jesus death he forgives us and gives us his own righteousness.

What a Christmas present that is for us today! What a gift God himself has extended to us. No wonder the world has continually celebrated this wonderful event year after year. Christ – mas  - Christ with us is the greatest thing that has ever and could ever happen to our world. Since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden there has never been anything that has or could happen for the good of our world.

 Now we have something positive and lasting to focus on in the midst of the difficulties, tragedies and death that we face in this world. Now there is peace between God and us, no matter who we are. Now there is a sure hope for us, that this world’s troubles are not the end of the story. Now we have the sure hope of eternal life in heaven which will go on for all eternity with the very best of everything. Now there is also a deep joy within us, even in the midst of our earthly sadness’s: The joy of knowing that everything will work out for good in the end.

 So now we have every reason to celebrate: every reason to look to God and take on board all that he has said and done for us. Now this Christmas can be truly one of peace, hope and joy; and this can go on through all the rest of our days. Now we can sing; “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”

 A blessed Christmas to each and every one of you. Amen.

 Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish