December 31, 2023                                                                                    Text:  Matthew 2:13-18

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Christmas can seem like a nice break from reality.  We revel in tradition and leave our diet plan.  Then it is over and back to the real world.  The stress of work or school or family rears its ugly head.

            We thank God this day that we don’t put our confidence in nostalgia or family gatherings where so often things go unsaid for the sake of harmony.  Christmas is our comfort in the midst of all this.  This week after Christmas on Dec. 26, 27, and 28 the church commemorates three martyrs who suffered and even died for the faith.  It doesn’t ruin the holiday it just grounds us in reality.  Tinsel and “Silver Bells” don’t take us away from suffering and death.  It does remind us that Christmas joy comes in the One who conquered death:  Jesus, our Emmanuel. 

            If Christmas is such a joyful time, why does the Church commemorate deaths of the faithful in December?  Good question.  Life is not all candy canes and being jolly.  It is a reminder that . . .

“CHRISTMAS CAN BE BRUTAL”

            The first of these martyrs is Stephen, remembered on Dec. 26.  Stephen was chosen by the apostles to distribute food.  It wasn’t his acts of mercy that enraged the church’s enemies.  It was the fact that he confessed Jesus as Lord.  He was charged with blasphemy, but he didn’t remain silent.  He boldly gave a witness about the Righteous One and how Israel had rejected Him.  A mob stoned him around A.D. 35.  Stephen’s dying breath echoed Christ’s words on the cross:  “Receive my spirit…Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

            Stephen was the first martyr after Christ’s ascension.  Like Stephen today’s enemies of the Church aren’t bothered by the Church’s acts of mercy.  Confess Jesus as the only truth and Savior of all and then see them squirm.  Like Stephen we see heaven open.  Jesus was not just a baby for us.  He is a man standing for us at God’s right hand.  He still cares for the Church and the saints.  No raging foe can stop Him.

            Dec. 27 is for St. John the Apostle.  He was an eyewitness to the life and death of Jesus.  He wrote a Gospel, three Epistles and the Book of Revelation.  This witnessing didn’t bring death but isolation.  He was exiled to the island of Patmos and died an old man in Ephesus around A.D. 100.  John suffered for the faith.

            John fits nicely with Christmas:  “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (Jn. 1:14). His epistle proclaims Jesus, “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands.” (1 John 1:1)  He reminds us Christmas is about love.  Not love of traditions or love tarnished by broken promises, absent loved ones or dysfunctional family gatherings.   God loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, and the blood of this Son cleanses us from all sin.

            The last remembrance is a group and our text for today – we call them The Holy Innocents.  They are the baby boys two years and under in Bethlehem who were killed on the orders of Herod.  What senseless violence.  Yet, it is as nonsensical as God becoming man or the King born in a stable, as tragic as creatures who kill their Creator and Savior.  In our world, violence and evil continue, even during holidays.  The killing of children unborn and born continues and it should give us pause.  We once dwelt in a crib and a womb.  That could have been us.  Christ sanctified all life by His conception and birth.  It could have been Him:  in fact, that was the whole idea.

            These babies died for the One who came to die for them.  Their deaths show how cruel man can be and the lengths the world will go to stop Christ and the Christian faith.  This is the world we find ourselves in.  Peace on earth is found only in Jesus’ blood.  His death was the true martyrdom, bearing witness that our salvation is accomplished.

            Christmas for all its joy, can be brutal.  The days following can be even harder.  We thank God this day that Christ is the center of our Christmas.  God in the flesh who redeemed us by His blood.  If not for that, how could we stand up to the real world?  We have such a Savior and because of that we don’t fear dark days, in-laws or even a martyr’s death.

                                                                                                                        Amen. 

December 25, 2023 – Christmas                                                                    Text:  Romans 5:15-17

Dear Friends in Christ,

            I am well known around my house as one who makes the remnants of Christmas disappear quickly.  The wrapping paper gets put in a trash bag.  I take all my gifts and put them where they need to be.  Tags are cut off of clothes and either put in the laundry or I see if I can get one wear out of them before washing.  Socks and ties go to the appropriate places.  Then a bag is put together and set by the stairs because those gifts need to go to my office.  Christmas?  Who had Christmas here?

            What about you?  Are you like me and you don’t like clutter?  Or do revel in the clutter and the paper everywhere for this one day?  Do you place your gifts under the tree and not put them away until the new year?  Well, my sermon advice is going against my grain, but you will understand by the end of . . .

“DON’T PUT THE GIFTS AWAY”

            In our text we have the words “free gift” mentioned five times.  Do you think Paul is trying to get through to us here?  I think so to.  The “free gift” is the one that we don’t put away.  It’s stays with us forever.  No box.  No closet.  No drawer.  It is a part of who we are.

            Let’s take a closer look.  “But the free gift is not like the trespass.  For if many died through the one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.”  The free gift is God’s grace in Christ.  Why is it needed?  Because of the one man’s trespass, and that man was Adam.  His sin is our sin.  But another man, Jesus Christ gave us the greater gift that “abounded for many.”

            We are a broken people.  Our once-perfect tie with God in the Garden of Eden was broken long ago.  At times our lives can be a shattered mess.  A broken marriage.  Kids breaking away from the church.  A disease that splits our nice little life apart.  How can all of this be put back together again?  The incarnation of a baby in a manger who as a man mends our broken hearts when He dies on the cross for our missteps.  As our text says, instead of the trespass bringing condemnation, the free gift brings justification.  Jesus brought the broken relationship of God and man back together again.  Don’t put that gift away.  Enjoy it every day that you awaken.  Celebrate it when life looks a little dark.  Remember the light – the light of Christ that shines for you.  An eternal union that Christ made possible for God and man.

            One reason we don’t put the gifts away is because life is not over.  I heard a doctor recently tell a patient who has disease in his body that they want him to live.  Enjoy life.  Life is in front of you, this no death sentence.  Verse 17 echoes the same thing, “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”  The free gift of righteousness is Christ’s work in death and resurrection.  Even though we have death in front of us, it is the gateway to an eternity with Christ. 

            At this time of year, we think of loved ones not with us.  We miss them, but that falls on our heart.  Their gift of eternity is not put away.  They are enjoying no more broken pieces, no wars or rumors of wars, no Pope going off the rails, no infighting around the Christmas tree.  They are the blessed.  That is the same gift we carry around with us.  Christ unwrapped it and gave it to us free.  How can we not be thankful for the hope that we have? 

            Don’t put the gifts away.  Christmas isn’t over, it really has just begun.  A Blessed Christmas to all of you.

                                                Amen.        

December 24, 2023 – Christmas Eve Evening                                                           Text:  Romans 3:23-24

Dear Friends in Christ,

            What is a Christmas memory that lasts?  Every year as a kid it was the holidays in Wisconsin.  Christmas Eve on mom’s side and Christmas Day on dad’s side.  Before my organized sports and when my parents were both teachers we would stay up there until the New Year.  This all changed on December 24, 1983.  Oh, the usual plan was in place but . . . a snowstorm hit.  Blizzard conditions.  We left and traveled through the country from Argenta to Maroa.  Could barely see the road.  The 10-minute trip took 45 minutes.  We took many trips to Wisconsin in the snow, but this was different.  My parents made the wise decision to head back home.  That day many of you will remember that Illinois played Kentucky in basketball with high school referees wearing players high tops because the regular refs couldn’t get there.  I don’t remember any of my gifts that year, but I do hold that memory.

            What about the shepherds this night?  Routine, right?  I don’t think so, my friend.  They were probably sitting around jawing, “Bill, are you going to see your family for Christmas?” and then an angel appeared and made it a night they would never forget.  The reason for that?  They were going to see a gift wrapped in a manger.  They were going to realize as I pray we do that . . .

“SOME GIFTS LAST”

            Many of our Christmas gifts do not last.  Get a box of chocolates or fruit and it usually gone before Epiphany.  Clothes might work for a while, but then you binge on some cinnamon rolls, and you are looking for an alteration store.  A book is well read and then becomes something you have to dust around.  Calendars are nice . . . well, you know where this is going.

            This gift lasts because it has always been.  This gift is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  This gift was prophesied for hundreds of years and now here He is in the flesh.  The Godhead see.  That’s the gift of the Savior born today.  No past promise was thrown away, they all came true as this gift lived His life and went to His death for us.  This gift lasts because it is what the world needed, what it needs, and what it will need.

            Why do you and I as part of the world need this gift?  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God?”  You do fall short, don’t you?  No one can live the holy life.  Scripture shouts everywhere that we are far away from the perfection that the Law of God requires.  Wouldn’t life be more peaceful if we could live the holy life?  If certain issues faded or we repented or are worries were carried away?  God has the answer.  We are in God’s caring hands.  He surrounds us with His love.

            While we fall short of God’s glory, He doesn’t leave us hanging.  “We are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”  This gift is always useful, this is why it lasts.  Sin, yes thank you, every day.  Grace, yes thank you, every day.  Justification, yes thank you, every day.  Redemption, yes thank you, every day.  Christ Jesus, yes thank you, every day.  Christ is always there, because we always need the gifts that He provides. 

            Every day we get up could be the day of our death.  But that shouldn’t concern us.  When God sent this gift down to earth, He knew He wouldn’t return for about 33 years and 40 days.  His Son had a job to do.  His Son was obedient to His Father.  He was gift giving.  He lived the perfectly holy life.  He didn’t fall short.  He healed.  He did miracles.  It was a wonder.  Then He suffered.  Then He died.  Was the gift dead?  No, it was a wonder.  He came back to life.  This gift appeared to many.   He unwrapped a plethora of blessings for us.  We are forgiven.  We are loved.  We have an eternal home that awaits us.  The gift of Christmas lasts and lasts and lasts.  It has no end. 

            Maybe tonight or tomorrow you will get a gift you remember for a while.  But then the memory of it begins to fade.  Christ is born for you.  He will never forget you.  You are most precious to Him.  Jesus and His grace is the gift that lasts.

                                                                                                Amen.