It’s a topic that perhaps drives you nuts. Is it “Merry Christmas,” or “Season’s Greetings”? “Blessed Christmas,” or “Happy Holidays”? Which greeting do you prefer? I believe most Christians would say they like a greeting with the word “Christmas” in it. After all, the reason for the season is Christ’s birth. But what exactly do you mean if you say to me, “Merry Christmas!” Are you expressing your hope that I have a good time opening presents with family? Oh I think we Christians can do better than that. The Son of God didn’t take on human flesh and endure a birth in a barn so that we could look forward to unwrapping a doll or a new tablet under the Christmas tree. His birth has brought so much more meaning to our lives than that. The Apostle Paul helps put this birth into perspective by offering his readers a greeting which could be described as God’s Christmas greeting: “Grace and peace are yours!” Let’s find out why that greeting is worth sharing.
“Grace and peace are yours.” That’s a greeting Lutheran pastors often speak from the pulpit. Because we’ve heard it so often have we stopped thinking about what those words mean and treat the greeting like the starting gun for the sermon? It was a greeting that the Apostle Paul loved too, and included in twelve out of thirteen of his epistles. His use of this greeting in his letter to the Romans makes it clear that this was not just a throw-away phrase. The Christians in Rome could be certain that grace (undeserved love) and peace from God was really theirs even though Paul would also say to them: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (Romans 1:18). God is angry, explained Paul, at our sexual impurity, our envy, gossip, and the disobedience we show our parents (Romans 1:29, 30). These were just a few of the sins that Paul specifically pointed out in his letter to the Romans.
But does such talk about sin get tiresome – especially at Christmas? Aren’t we supposed to be talking about cheerful things like sugar plum fairies, eggnog, and presents under the tree? If that’s what we think, then we are like the people of the prophet Isaiah’s day. God said of them: “They say to…the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. 11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!”… 15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it” (Isaiah 30:10, 11, 15).
God wants your pastor to talk about sin because he loves you. He’s like the doctor who subjects you to various medical tests and then tells you everything that’s wrong with your body, not because he gets a kick out of seeing you squirm, but so that you will take action before the bacteria and viruses lurking in your body can do fatal damage. So friends, don’t treat your sins like the salt and grit you track into your car at this time of year. You can shrug off that mess because what can you do about it? That’s life in Canada. Keeping your car mats clean at this time of year is impossible so why waste time worrying about it? Likewise we sin every day, often committing the same sin several times in an hour. What can we do about it? Just shrug it off? No. God says that every sin is a problem, for it has the potential of forever separating us from his love. God’s message to us this morning is to be sorry for those sins – the way you would be sorry if you tracked mud across Mom’s clean kitchen floor whether you meant to or not.
But being sorry for my sins doesn’t repair my relationship with God any more than being sorry I muddied Mom’s clean floor will make the floor clean again. Action must be taken…but not by us when it comes to the matter of sin; God must act to restore the broken relationship. God did act in the person of Jesus. Paul said of Jesus in our text: “…who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:3, 4).
Jesus is like no one else in this universe. He has human ancestry, yet he is God from eternity. Ponder this mystery with me for a minute. When Jesus was brought to the temple eight days after his birth, he was at the same time eight days old…and older than the dirt on which his parents stood. At that point in his life his legs weren’t even strong enough to support the weight of his tiny body…and yet he was powerful enough to keep earth from being pulled too close to the sun and scorched. Later in his stepfather’s wood shop he learned for the first time how to nail two boards together…while at the same time was the one who had put hydrogen and oxygen together to make water on Day 1 of Creation.
We ponder this mystery because it shows how much God loved us - so much that he came down to us. He took on a shoe size and shirt size – not just to hang out with us but to save us (John C. Jeske). He did that by diving into this manure pit of sin, wrapping his arms around us, and then pulling us out by climbing the ladder of the cross. The result is that Paul could write to the Romans and now to us: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7b). Grace! Not grapes of God’s wrath. Peace! Not punishment. This is good news indeed and this is God’s Christmas greeting to the whole world. Paul put it this way: “Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith” (Romans 1:5).
Like every Christmas, people this year are looking for something to make them merry and jolly. Some hope that Christmas parties will do that for them. But the buzz from the beers won’t last. Others hope that for once the family would get along when they get together for Christmas. But what hope is there for people who by nature believe the way to happiness is to insist on having things their way? A Christmas tree with presents stuff underneath seems like a sure way to joy, but how do you feel after all the presents have been opened and there’s nothing left under the tree except shredded wrapping paper? It’s a lonely feeling isn’t it? Still others hope to find peace in giving instead of getting this Christmas. And so they buy tons of presents, even for people they may never meet. But if they do this to attract attention and love, they’ll be disappointed on that front too. Thank you cards are often late in coming if at all. But this Christmas can be different. You be the one to tell these people: “Grace (underserved love) and peace are already yours! You have heaven. You have eternal life! That’s what God has given you through his Son, Jesus.”
Please understand, I’m not suggesting that it’s wrong to wish someone a merry Christmas. But let’s not forget what makes Christmas merry - not presents, family, or turkey. God gave us the reason to rejoice when he sent his Son to save us from sin. Share the reason for your joy with those who think there is none. For God’s grace and peace are not just for you; they’re for all. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
Why is it surprising that the Apostle Paul would tell his readers that God’s grace and peace was theirs?
Why should we be glad that our pastor talks so much about sin in his sermons?
Fill in the blanks: “Jesus took on a _________ size and shirt ________ – not just to hang out with us but to ___________us. He did that by diving into this manure pit of _______, wrapping his arms around us, and then pulling us out by climbing the __________of the _________.”
So what makes Christmas such a joyous time of year?
