A few years ago in Kyoto, Japan a prominent department store created a window display featuring a Santa Claus nailed to a cross. Now these merchants were not attempting to be sacrireligious nor were they trying to make a cultural statement. In Japan, where less than 1% of the population is Christian, Christmas is still celebrated as a time of gift-giving. The merchants knew that Christmas had something to do with Santa Claus, a man who died on a cross, and the exchange of gifts. And so in their marketing of the season they put together a display that combined a grain of history with a rather large dose of fantasy. We may get a chuckle over the way those Japanese retailers were confused over the meaning of Christmas, but the confusion is not limited to Japan. In our own land, our children can no longer sing Christmas carols in what was once known as "Christmas concerts" in public schools. And we are reminded that it is politically incorrect to wish people a "merry Christmas"; the correct greeting is now "happy holidays." And a recent survey reveals that 44% of Christians believe that the most important aspect of Christmas is not the celebration of Jesus' birth but time spent with family.
Our culture celebrates Christmas in much the same way as those confused Japanese business owners-a strange combination of history and fantasy. How different is the Christmas we hear of in those timeless words from St.Luke's Gospel. There is no fantasy here as Luke narrates for us the things which took place when Caesar Augustus ordered that a census should be taken, "that all the world should be registered." As Luke notes in the opening verses of his Gospel, he is compiling a narrative of the things that were delivered to him by those "who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word."
On this Christmas Eve, we turn our hearts and minds to that first Christmas. There is so much to ponder in these 20 verses of St.Luke's Gospel, but we will focus this evening on those first celebrants of Christmas, the shepherds and from them learn how to rejoice in the birth of the Son of God, our Savior.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul writes "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence" (I Cor. 1:27-29). And so it is to shepherds that God announces the birth of His Son. The news of the birth of the Good Shepherd is not delivered to the royalty assembled in Caesar's court or to the high priest in Jerusalem's temple, but to shepherds. These rough characters who were viewed with suspicion and often with contempt as little better than cut-throats and robbers are the first to receive the good news of Christmas.
And it is good news that they receive on that Christmas night. It was totally unexpected news. As this band of shepherds attended to the needs of their sheep, they were visited by an angel and were encompassed by the Lord's own glory. Surrounded by the bright presence of the holy God, the shepherds "were greatly afraid" says Luke. They were terrified for what sinner can stand in the presence of God and live? Like Moses who was confronted by God's presence in the burning bush as he tended his father-in-law's sheep, these shepherds are in the presence of the Almighty God. But God has not come to destroy them. The angel says "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
"Do not be afraid" says the angel. Those are words of sweetest Gospel to the shepherds and to you. This is good and glad news not for the shepherds alone but for all people. Do not be afraid for there is born to you "a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." The Prophet Isaiah had announced "To us a child is born, to us a son is given." That prophetic announcement is brought to fulfillment. A child is born. A son is given. Not just any child. Not just any son. But the Son of God, "a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." The Son of God who will go to the cross to save us from the condemnation which we deserve. The Son of God who will take our sin and give us His rigtheousness. The Son of God who will die our death and give us His life.
The angel says that this Son "is born to you." He is born to be your Savior. He will give to you when you most need to be given to- when you are oppressed with guilt and pressed down by your past. When you are afraid of life and when you are afraid of death. He "is born to you." He is given to you to be your Brother and Savior. What Luther says of the Sacrament in the Small Catechism is true of the Christmas Gospel "for the words for you require all hearts to believe."
And the shepherds did believe the words of the angel. They took to heart the angel's sermon: "And this will be a sign to you: You will find the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." They heard and believed that heavenly hymn which pierced the stillness of the Judean night: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." They believed God's Word as it had been preached to them by an angel and they went to the place where Christ was present in His flesh.
The shepherds did not reason that they could just as easily worship God out on the prairies under the open sky. They went to Bethlehem to find God where He had put Himself for them and for us. They went to kneel at the manger bed of a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths for that baby is God. From the shepherds, we learn to worship God where He puts Himself for us. Martin Luther spoke of the Holy Scriptures as the manger which contains Christ. God has put Himself in His words. When we come to hear the preaching of God's Word and when we come to receive His body and blood in His Supper, we are coming to Bethlehem. For our incarnate Savior is here just as truly as He was lying in that crib in Bethlehem. We need not make a pilgrimage back to Bethlehem. Instead we have our Christmas here around pulpit and altar as we enfold Christ into our hearts by faith.
The shepherds did not stay in Bethlehem. Simply and starkly, Luke reports that "when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child." The shepherds returned to their shepherding "glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them." That is the way of faith. Faith speaks of the Christ who has been preached to us. Faith speaks of what God has done in the crib of Christmas and on the cross of Calvary. Faith glorifies and praises God for what He has given. And He has given us his only begotten Son, Christ the Lord. From the shepherds learn to rejoice in His birth. Blessed Christmas. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.