December 25, 2020 – Christmas                                                 Text:  Matthew 2:13-15

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Baby Jesus has been born – Hallelujah!  Now His life begins and we have got to get him home.  But it is not as easy as it sounds.  Come along then, but watch out behind you, there are those who want to kill Jesus from the beginning of his life.

“COMING HOME”

            What do you recall about taking your child home from the hospital?  Do you remember the weather?  Warm, cold, sunny, rainy?  Maybe you had a struggle getting them in their infant seat?  Was your child sleeping or fussy?  And at least one of you in the organ loft brought your child home by airplane.  We all have had different experiences.

            Toni and I discussed this the other night at dinner.  We believe, if our brains are still working that we only stayed overnight with each child.  Bringing Karson home in December brought sunshine but cold temperatures.  What we recall about bringing Holden home was of course a brother there to greet him in the hospital and at home.  Both trips were quick.  In Overland Park, Kansas we just lived 35 blocks from the hospital and here in BloNo we made coming home in 15 minutes.  Once we got them home, we didn’t hunker down.  We had them in church the next Sunday and they went where we went.  Yes, life changed, but nothing can compare to Joseph and Mary getting Jesus back to Nazareth.

            The wise men have made their visit and it is time to set up their new home but not so fast my friend.  Herod.  Oh no, Herod.  He doesn’t want to see Jesus live past the first few weeks of his life.  The only way to prevent this in his sick mind is to kill all the male babies in the region around Bethlehem who were two years and younger.  He didn’t know where Jesus was, so he planned this mass murder to eliminate him.  It was a hellish time.

            The Lord again uses a dream to communicate with Joseph.  “’Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’   And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt.”  Toni and I don’t remember the exact details of coming home and maybe you don’t either, but I bet Joseph never forgot.  He was asked to travel 175 miles southwest of where they were.  For us that would put us between St. Louis and Rolla Missouri.  How long would it take to walk that?   Joseph obediently followed the instructions and it saved his newborn baby.

            Do you see it?  Do you have a proper understanding of the life our Lord?  From the lowly manger to the tomb cut in the rock our Savior was the object of the bitter hatred of evil men.  The Savior comes to confront sin and death, this unbelieving world and the power of the devil.  He faces it all.

            We live in a time where it looks like the forces of evil are marching to victory.  We see religious freedoms being eroded.  People living for themselves instead of all mankind.  It looks like from our perspective that they are having their way.  Scripture warns that their power will only increase as we approach the second coming of our Lord. 

            God knows all this.  We call it foreknowledge.  He knew everything before creation.  There isn’t anything – not one thing of your life that God doesn’t know.  As it was with Joseph and Mary and Jesus in their escape so it is with your life and my life.  God provides all things in order to achieve His holy will and purpose in us.

            The holy family remained in Egypt until the death of Herod.  How long they were there is not known.  God knew all this – “This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’”  The Lord had called Israel “my son” whom He had called out of Egypt at the time of the exodus.  Jesus is here named as God’s one and only Son, who was the representative and substitute for all Israel.  God would also call this Son out of Egypt to redeem his sinful people.

            The promises of God cannot be stopped.  They don’t stop when you struggle with pain and suffering.  They don’t stop when you participate in your own brand of evil.  They don’t stop even when you think God doesn’t care about your life or the life of the world.  Remember what he left with us, “I am with you always to the end of the age.”  His love for all mankind and us has no limits.  His mercy and grace overcome our shortcomings.  His foreknowledge trumps our worry.  He is in control and always has been.

            Are you coming home?  Are you on the path that leads to Him?  We are traveling a life route with many dangers and roadblocks but we don’t travel alone.  An angel helped a family way back when and they assist us today.  We don’t know how far we have to travel to our eternal home.  We know its there.  We know it will be our dwelling forever.  We know it will take us away from the killing of babies and the other evils that surround us. 

            Think of what Jesus has done for you.  Nothing can stop Him – coming home!

                                                                                                                        Amen.     

December 24, 2020 – Christmas Eve                                                   Text:  Luke 2:7-20

Dear Friends in Christ,

            “It’s time!  It’s time!”  We have been with Joseph and Mary from the beginning.  We were there when they found out they were going to have a child.  We watched the preparations they made.  Last week we made the trip with them to Bethlehem.  Now it’s time for the apex, the main plot line, the reason we are sitting here tonight.  Step into the manger and witness . . .

“THE BIRTH”

            What do you remember about your son or daughter’s birth?  There are many things that stand out about our boys’ entrance into the world.  Toni doing a great job of pushing as I would count from 1 to 10 and then say Go Illini or Go Cubs or Go Bears.  It wasn’t as funny when I started counting in French!  Karson was born during the Andy Griffith Show episode “The Pickle Story” – my favorite.  Then amazingly Holden was born when we had on Hawaii-Five-O my favorite crime show.  The announcement of their sex was exciting.  We knew right then we had the rehearsal dinner and not the wedding.

            The one thing that does stand out from both births is this:  The excitement of the obstetrician who was delivering our bundles of joy.  In Kansas it was an older male who had delivered probably thousands of babies.  Here in town it was a middle age female who had delivered hundreds.  But in both instances they were as excited as we were.  This surprised me because this was their job.  I guess they treated it as the miracle that it is.  Another of God’s creation has come to be.

            That was the story of the birth we see tonight.  There was no TV on in the background.  No obstetrician or nurses around.  We have no idea what Joseph and Mary said to each other.  But in its most basic form it was the same.  A mother delivering a child.  It was messy and bloody and smelly.  But it was a miracle.

            “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”  Here is one area that baby delivery has not changed in 2,000 years.  Babies were washed, rubbed with salt and possibly olive oil and then wrapped.  Strips of cloth were wrapped tightly around infants to warm and secure them.  Can’t you picture your newborn the same way?

            Now this is where the birth of Jesus has a distinct narrative.  Shepherds enter the plot.  They are just doing their jobs when this happens.  “And the angel said to them, ‘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.’”  I only hear positive thoughts in these verses, don’t you?  “Good news…great joy…for all the people…Savior…Christ the Lord.”

            Beautiful.  But something got left out.  Do you know what words are the most important?  If you are thinking, “unto you,” you have just won a lifetime of Hallmark Christmas movies – congrats.

            The very Creator of all things became a creature.  He entered a human womb, there to grow and develop like any other baby, until the time came for him to enter the world, not in a grand announcement of his glory, but in the ordinary crying of a newborn baby. 

            This gift has your name on it – “unto you.”  Jesus’ perfect obedience was for you.  His innocent death and glorious resurrection – for you.  He came to fill you with contentment and peace that only this baby can give. 

            When you are overwhelmed with questions that seem to have no answers.  When you have an illness that continues to pester you.  When you have fears that churn the stomach or you see a future that has no guiding star look to the Holy child.  The shepherds went in haste, that means quickly.  Don’t just stand there in wonder but never approach the manger.  Don’t just stare in amazement but never come to the altar.  Don’t just see the miracle but touch it, hug it, love it.  May the Holy Spirit guide your heart this night as the Savior wraps you in grace and mercy.

            That is what we all did as parents as soon as we could, we held our child, we hugged our child, we kissed our child, we cried at the beauty of our child.  This child is yours.  More importantly you are His.  He made you His at your Baptism.  This too is a miracle and something I learned from our doctors – every Baptism should be a joyous occasion as if it’s the only one.  It is individual – unto you.  It is personal – unto you.  The Triune God is present and He brings you into His Kingdom.  Prayerfully we can all thank God for the families were born into you.  But the greatest family you are a part of is the Lord’s family.

            His love is never separated from you.  He loves you in good times and bad.  He loves you when obedient…He loves you when you fail.  He rejoices in your faith and forgives you when you disappoint Him.  His birth is your birth.  You are there.  He is here.  Make a place for Him in your home.  Don’t leave Him in the manger – ok?

                                                                                                                        Amen.