Luke 2:1-20; Titus
2:11-14; Isaiah 9:2-7
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
“When all was still, and it was
midnight, Your Almighty Word, O LORD, descended from the royal throne.” Christians
have chanted these words from the Apocryphal book of Wisdom on Christmas Eve or
at Epiphany since at least the seventh century. Thus, when we sang them this
evening, we joined our voices, our thoughts, and our prayers with the multitude
of believers before us, with centuries and millennia of saints in Christ, in unified
confession of the beautiful and the awe-inspiring truth that, while we were
still sinners, God acted, Christ was born, and Christ died for us that we may
live in and through Him.
Stillness and silence are extremely
difficult to come by these days, are they not? The shopping, the wrapping, the
decorating, the baking, the cleaning, the laundry, the cooking, the family, the
friends, the fights, the disappointment, the hurt feelings, the loneliness, the
sadness, the despair – you’ve been caught up in this since, when, Black Friday?
Halloween? Before that? Maybe you never recovered from last year?
Be still. Be still this silent and holy
night. Be still and know the Lord your God. His gift to you this night is
stillness, silence, peace, and rest. Rest from all your striving to appease
Him. Rest from all your fretting and anxiety over what to wear and what to eat.
Rest from all your fear of your enemies, from fear of your friends, from fear
of tonight, and from fear of tomorrow. Only after He had prepared all things
for you in the beginning did He create you in His image and set you in His
creation as its Lord. Only after He had done all things necessary, and it was
very good, did God take rest from His labors. Your Lord God and Creator took
rest from His labors that you might take your rest in Him. He declared that day
the Sabbath, a day of rest.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.” This is God’s Word to you this night. This is
God’s Word made flesh for you in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Sabbath rest of God
in whom He invites you take rest from your striving, from your anxiety, worry,
and fear. Our First Parents rebelled against the LORD’s Sabbath by refusing to
take rest in it. Instead, they strove to take for themselves what was not
given, they were anxious and unsettled about what they thought was withheld,
about what they thought they might be missing out on, about what could’ve been,
should’ve been, or would’ve been. They did not fear, love, and trust in God and
His Word above all things, but they feared they were being short-changed, they
loved the wisdom and knowledge the adversary deceitfully promised them, and they
trusted in his word, and in their wisdom, rather than the LORD and His Word.
Thereafter, their lives were fraught with busyness and restlessness, with
striving and toil, with fear and anxiety, so that, even while they were idle,
they could find no rest, no peace. And, is not the same true for you as well, O
Sons of Adam, O Daughters of Eve?
Your restlessness, striving, anxiety,
and fear are primordial. And yet, they are needless, foolish, and senseless,
for it is finished, declares the Lord. What is finished? All that was necessary
for you to have rest and peace once again. Do you strive for basic necessities
– for food, and clothing, and shelter? Jesus’ body and blood are your true food
and drink. Jesus’ righteousness is your true clothing. And, Jesus’ body, the
Church, is your true shelter, the very temple of the Holy Spirit. Are you
anxious and worried about tonight and about tomorrow? Your LORD invites you to
be still, to be silent. Then you may take account, not of the things you want,
or the things you think that you need that you do not have, but of the
blessings that you do have, most of which you wrongly take for granted and
consider the fruit of your own labors. For, Sabbath rest is about viewing the
world and your life in it differently, as a gift from God. The Sabbath rest of
God is a release from enslavement to the desires and pleasures of your flesh
and to the pursuit of material goods and worldly values that have no life and
are passing away. Or, are you anxious and fearful of wars and rumors of war, of
terrorism, both international and domestic? “Do not fear those who kill the
body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and
body in hell.” And, do not be a fool; that one is not the devil, but it is your
God, your heavenly Father and Creator of both your body and your soul. “Behold,
He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.”
Be still. Be silent. God does His
mightiest works when you are doing nothing at all. In the beginning, God
created the heavens and the earth ex nihilo, that is, out of nothing. He spoke
His creative and life-giving Word into the nothing, and it was so. And, God
sustains His creation by His ongoing breath, Word, and will. When He withdraws
it, that will be the end, and all of creation will be undone, as it was first done
in the beginning. Similarly, God began His re-creative work, not in a virgin
universe, but in a virgin womb. Once again He spoke His creative and
life-giving Word, and the Word became flesh and made His dwelling here in time,
under the Law, among us. How did Mary receive this Word from God? She was
still. She was silent. “Lord, may it be to me as You have said, according to
Your Word.” On the cross, God’s Word made flesh spoke the final Word that need
ever be spoken, “It is finished,” and then came the Sabbath. Once again, God
rested from His labors in re-creating humanity in His image, and the world. The
LORD has made His Son Jesus to be your Sabbath rest. Be still. Be silent. And,
know that the LORD is God.
It is your sinful, fallen, corrupt human
nature that will not rest, but it insists on busying itself, striving,
worrying, and fretting. Anxiety, worry, and fear are the worship you give to a
false god that cannot save. Addicts know this all too well. Whether it be
alcohol or drugs or food or sex or whatever, when they hit bottom, when they
finally can see and think clearly, they universally confess, “Let go, and let
God.” Just stop. Be still. Be silent. “The devil will find work for idle hands
to do?” Perhaps, but to take Sabbath rest is not the same as doing nothing at
all. On the contrary, you are not alone in your Sabbath rest, but your rest is
in Jesus, who is the Sabbath of the LORD. Be still. Be silent. Stop doing. But,
take your rest in Christ, who has done all things well for you.
We are gathered here this silent and
holy night, to remember, to give thanks for, and to celebrate God’s gift of
rest for us in the incarnation and birth of His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Jesus is God’s Sabbath rest and peace incarnate, in human flesh and
blood, as our brother, as our Bridegroom, as our Redeemer, our Savior, our
Lord, and our God.
Jesus is your comfort and your peace. He
is God’s pledge that your warfare with Him is ended, that He has given you
double in grace for your sins in His Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. Therefore,
you may rest from your labors, you may rest from your striving to earn His
favor or to work off your debt to Him. It is forgiven. It is finished. And,
there is no need for worry and anxiety, for restlessness and fear, for the LORD
your God is the Creator, Redeemer, Re-Creator, and Sustainer of your life, the
universe, and everything in it. Not a hair can fall, not a breath can be taken,
not a life can be given or taken apart from His will. Therefore, do not give
yourself over to the idols and to the false gods of worry, anxiety, and fear.
“For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be
upon His shoulder, and His Name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and
of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to
establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this
time forth and forever.”
Soon it will be midnight, literally the
middle of the night. God has already acted. God is acting still, for you –
always for you. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all
people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our
blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus
Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify
for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.”
Tonight Bethlehem, the “House of Bread,” has come to Pawling, New York. Be
still. Be silent. Stop. God’s Almighty Word incarnate descends to you here at
this altar. Only, He does not leave heaven behind this time, but He brings
heaven with Him to you, with its angels and archangels, and with all its
company. “Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate Deity. Pleased
as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.” Let us enter His Rest together and
live in His Peace. Blessed Christmas.
In
the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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