In most public buildings, in order to gain an occupancy permit, you are required to have all the exits in your building clearly marked with “Exit” signs. Now our church building was built before that became a regulation, which is why you don’t see Exit signs here, but if you did, there would be one above each door along the side aisles here, and one toward the back of the sanctuary. Now in telling you this, I don’t want you to panic, I don’t intend to preach for so long tonight that it will increase our chances of a natural disaster happening here. I also understand the danger for a preacher in starting off a sermon by telling you how to leave the building.
But the point is, whenever you see an exit sign, what do you expect to find there? An exit right? You know that when you see an exit sign by a door, that when you open it, you’re not going to be facing a brick wall. The sign and the exit go together, the sign points you to the exit. It’s the same way with the church sign that’s next to the building outside. It tells you that this building is Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, so people will know which church this is and what time we worship. Again, you’re not going to see the sign for Our Saviour’s in the courthouse lawn, because the church isn’t in the courthouse.
Tonight, you’re here to gaze with the eyes of faith upon a sign, a sign that was first talked about by the angels to the shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem that first Christmas night over 2000 years ago. And it was a strange sign indeed. So let’s spend our time this evening talking about that sign the Christmas angels are pointing us to tonight, so that we can understand the sign of Christmas, and what it’s all about.
It was a seemingly ordinary night in Bethlehem when it started. Not a whole lot was out of the ordinary, except there were a lot more people in town than there usually were. Caesar Augustus, ruler of the known world, the Roman Empire, had issued a decree that all the world should be registered in a census. In order to register for this census, each person had to go to their ancestral town or city to register for the census. Bethlehem was best known as the City of David, the great King of Israel from years gone by. There were several descendants of David, so they would have all had to come to Bethlehem to be registered. One young couple, betrothed, were among the descendants of David who making their way to the little town of Bethlehem. They seemed like an ordinary couple at first glance, just starting their lives as husband and wife, and there was even an addition to the family coming, as the bride was quite obviously expecting. They weren’t rich by any stretch of the imagination, Joseph was a humble carpenter, and they came from the little insignificant village of Nazareth, a place where no one really thought anything of value could come from.
This young couple get into town, and then, the moment all expectant parents anticipate, but don’t always quite seem to be prepared for, happens. “Joseph, it’s time”, Mary says to her husband. Now panic sets in. They’re far from home, and haven’t made lodging arrangements. Joseph goes to every inn there is, but there’s no room. One innkeeper takes pity on the couple, and offers his stable. The couple take him up on their offer, and its there, in the least ideal of conditions, that a baby boy is born. The baby is wrapped in swaddling cloths, and since there isn’t a baby bed there, the baby is laid in a manger, essentially an animal feeding trough. Quite a humble beginning, one that could be described as a bit out of the ordinary.
Out in the fields that night, things started out pretty ordinary as well. Shepherds were tending to their flocks, just as they had for countless nights like this one. But, soon, their night would turn from ordinary to extraordinary. Out of nowhere, an angel of the Lord appears, and the glory of God is shining all around them. This sight puts these humble shepherds in a state of fear. No wonder, it’s not often you’re surrounded by a physical display of the glory of God himself. God’s holy, man is not, thus, to see these shepherds trembling in fear, wondering what’s happening, or more to the point, what’s going to happen to them, is the only logical behavior to expect. But, as with any appearance of angels, they have a specific message. ““Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” (v. 10-12)
Did you hear that? A savior is born! And in Bethlehem! Wow! It’s really happening. All those promises of a savior are finally being fulfilled, tonight, in Bethlehem. That part had to have been exciting. Indeed, the angels were right, this is good news of great joy. It’s the reason we sing “Joy to the World” yet today. But not only that, the angels also gave these shepherds a sign that this had happened. And that great, miraculous sign is…………a baby.
Oh, I know what some of you are thinking. A baby? Baby and Savior don’t quite seem to go together, do they? We’ve all been around babies before. They all are about the same. They’re cute, they’re cuddly, but they’re also pretty helpless. They need to be fed and changed on a regular basis. Why make such a big fuss out of a newborn baby? Why would a baby be the sign of all these great things that the Savior was going to do for us?
This pretty much sums up where the world cuts off the Christmas Gospel these days. They’re willing to look at the Christ child, and the scene of his nativity, but not as a sign of something important happening; they see it only as a seasonal decoration. In fact, you’ll start to see a lot of people starting to put that away come December 26th. They look at the baby, see a baby, and think, “That’s cute, but I need something else.” So they stop listening, and look to other things to try to find joy, peace, and goodwill. If we want to focus on that, a baby doesn’t quite cut it. Those of you who have had babies know that when the baby doesn’t get his or her own way, you’re not going to find much peace in your house. And when you do get a few moments of peace and quiet, you know how fragile it is when the phone rings or someone makes a loud noise. So the world says no, a baby won’t quite cut it. Instead, let’s come up with a jollier fellow, maybe old enough to have some white hair, including a white beard, and a bit of a belly on him. Let’s then dress him up in a nice, festive outfit of oh, say, red and white, and sing songs about him. His job? Well, he finds out who’s been good or bad this past year, and rewards good behavior by giving gifts, and for those who haven’t been so nice, well, forget about the gifts, because all you’re getting is a lump of coal. Yup, the world already came up with one of those characters. Each passing year, it seems he gets more publicity than the baby in the manger.
But, let’s think about this guy for a moment. Is he really a nice guy? Is he someone that you want to put your trust in for giving hope, peace, and everything else you’re looking for? He’s a pretty stern kind of judge. There’s only two categories with him, naughty or nice. And if you do so much as get angry at someone, that’s enough to get you pulled from the nice category. How many of you have been angry with someone? How many of you have said or done things you wish you could take back? How many times have we let ourselves get so wrapped up in the world around us, that we lose sight of our families, or those who are in need in our own community? The truth is, if we were to base things on what we do, let’s just say our only hope at Christmas would be that if your house is heated on coal, you’re not going to have to stock up on it anytime soon, because you’ll find quite a bit of it in your stocking this year. So when you really look at it, this guy isn’t really a great person to put your trust in for deliverance from everything this Christmas season.
It’s the same with our gift giving. From the day after Thanksgiving to today, retailers do their best to try to entice you into their stores. They run commercials that tell us we need to give some great gifts, throw that memorable Christmas party, and in order to get these things, you have to go to their store to buy them. It seems as if I’ve seen more and more ads this year than ever before, and part of that may have to do with the fact that a lot of retailers needed strong sales during the month of December in order to help boost what was a sagging bottom line. From what I have been reading, it doesn’t seem as if that will happen, and that, if anything, consumer spending, even during this time of the year, is at an all time low. Not only that, but have you ever had a year where you were expecting something big; something you really wanted, and it wasn’t under the tree for you that year? Disappointment sets in, and becomes what we remember about that Christmas. That was the Christmas I didn’t get my Nintendo Wii, or Guitar Hero, and instead, I got a package of socks. You won’t find a lot of joy when you don’t get what you want at Christmas.
Not only that, but how many times have you bought a child a toy at Christmas, only to have it break a couple hours after they played with it? Or got that nice outfit you were wanting, only to have it catch on a sharp edge of the filing cabinet and have it unravel? For some of you, maybe you didn’t put up the lights or do other things you typically do, because your body is telling you it’s time to slow down, and you can’t do a lot of the things you used to enjoy doing. Things of this world break and wear out, including our own bodies, reminding us that we can’t trust them.
What about traveling to be with our families? A lot has been made in the news over the last few days about all the winter storms that have made their way through and the travel headaches it’s created. There are several people who are facing the prospect of facing Christmas Eve stranded in an airport, wondering when they’ll be able to see their loved ones, if at all this year. One stranded traveler put it best when he said “It spoiled our Christmas, sure.”
That pretty much sums it up when we lose our focus at Christmas. The world’s ideas, the world’s signs of Christmas joy will leave us disappointed. But the sign in the manger, the baby…that’s a different story.
You see, there’s a reason those shepherds dropped what they were doing to see that Baby. You see, that Baby was Immanuel, God with us, in human flesh, to save us from our sins. That baby is headed one place, the cross. He takes all those times we got angry, all those times we looked out for ourselves instead of others, he takes all those times we don’t listen to God’s Word for us and go out on our own, he takes all of our sins, every single last one of them onto himself, and dies for them at the cross. In the hymn “What Child is This: we are reminded of that when we sing: “Nails, spear shall pierce him through, the cross be borne for me, for you.” (LBW #40, v.2) That baby, Jesus, is our Savior from sin, death, and the devil, and that’s why we have joy this season. Even when we don’t get what we want for gifts. Even when our gifts wear out or break. Even when we can’t be with friends or loved ones. Even when we sit down for our family Christmas celebration, and are saddened because we’ve lost loved ones this past year.
You see, the baby isn’t just a sign of peace, and good will. That baby is the peace, goodwill to men. That baby is the reason we give those gifts, as reminders of the gifts of forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation that He has won for us and has to give to us tonight through Word and Sacrament. We remember that the manger is only the first stop for this baby ;that He is on a journey to the cross and the empty tomb. When we look with the eyes of faith at the baby in the manger, we see the sign that God has remembered His covenant with us, that He has sent us a Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil. We remember God’s great love for us in this gift, this baby born in the stable of Bethlehem.
I certainly hope and pray that this Christmas, you will receive some wonderful gifts. But as you go about your Christmas celebrations, I pray that you will do so by remembering that sign the angels declared to the shepherds that first Christmas night, the baby in Bethlehem. Remember that moment marks just a stop on his path to the cross, where He has some even greater gifts to give, forgiveness, life, and salvation. May you rejoice in those gifts which are yours for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
