Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Isaiah 52:7-10
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  December 25, 2020

You finally got a job? I’m so glad to hear! Employment is nothing to take for granted these days. But I wouldn’t celebrate so quickly. Who knows what your coworkers will be like. And we all know that the type of boss you work under can make life wonderful or miserable. Also don’t forget, beyond the normal stressors,  you still have to find out if you’re capable of handling all the work. Getting a job is great, don’t get me wrong, but don’t rejoice just yet… You retired? Congratulations! You deserve it. You must be filled with pride. But I wouldn’t get ahead of yourself. It is hard to travel in our current Covid climate and good luck seeing friends. Not to mention making sure you’re all set financially and the stress of dividing your inheritance and setting up your will. Plus, you can’t guarantee that the next years of freedom aren’t going to years of declining health as well. I’d wait just a bit on your celebrations, if I were you… Did you hear there’s a vaccine? Great news! But don’t expect the restrictions to lift tomorrow. They say that most of the population won’t be able to get the vaccine until mid-summer or early fall. So until then, don’t plan on getting back to normal. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s not time for the noise-makers and party hats just yet…

Did you hear that it is Christmas Day?  What a day to celebrate! God’s people had waited down through the dim millennia. They had prayed with the prophets, “God, come down and save us!  Show us your glory.”  But all they got were hints.  Just glimpses.  There was a great gap between the expectation of the promise and the joy that is the fulfillment. “I will come,” God promised.  “I will not leave you desolate. I will save you.” And yet the world waited.  Then, in the middle of a quiet night in Bethlehem, there was a baby’s cry.  Light shone from a star and the heavens split open in songs of angelic joy.  Messengers spoke of “glad tidings,” awestruck shepherds gathered, and there was great joy for all the people.  Promises fulfilled! Deliverance! Salvation! Peace on earth goodwill toward mankind! Think about that celebration!

But Christmas is a bit different in 2020, isn’t it? This year, relatives may not be visiting. And with the added stress of a pandemic, many people are finding Christmas more of a burden than a blessing. Not to mention, having to clean up everything and get back to work. Plus, January brings bills, and the darkest, coldest days of winter.  Perhaps we moved too quickly to the joyful songs last night.  Maybe we should have waited.  Maybe we should temper our rejoicing this morning.

What is there about us that makes joy so difficult?  Why is complete, unrestrained, uninhibited joy so hard for us?  I see my children often just bursting with joy and I wonder, when did I lose that capability. Why, even, on Christmas, do we struggle to celebrate? Is it because there have been times in all our lives where we’ve been pumped up about something only to be let down? We’ve heard promises before but never saw them fulfilled.  Perhaps we’ve learned to defend against that ever happening again by not allowing ourselves to get too hopeful in the first place. We learn to hold back. We become prudently numb. Even in the most joyous of occasions, we are waiting for something bad to happen. We are thinking about anything else, besides what we should be celebrating. We all have this dark side to us that can’t stand to be happy.  We almost look for something to complain about…something that isn’t quite right. Therefore the time seems rarely, if ever, truly right to rejoice. The sin which has so infected our world has also wormed its way into what should be the best and purest parts of our lives. Our sinful nature doubts God’s promises and wants us to feel anything but joy today on the anniversary of our Savior’s birth.

But sin cannot stop us today.  I like the way the apostle Paul says it, “When the time had fully come God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law to redeem those under law” (Ga 4:4). “When the time had fully come!”  What a wonderful way to say it.  The “not yet’s” are no more!  The “maybe later’s” have been set aside. The time has fully come! As Isaiah has told us, those who bring good news have arrived and they are saying, “Your God reigns!”  The watchmen today are shouting for joy. Can you picture the scene from Isaiah 52?

A watchman on the wall kicks a piece of rubble, stirring dry dust into the air, he wipes his face off and rubs his eyes. He is exhausted and demoralized. If they had won the war, if their God was with them, the runners should have returned long ago, and if they lost, well he was just wasting his time and should start mourning. But just then, in the distance, he sees what looks like a tiny shadow flying over the hills. Could it be? A horse with a rider! He can’t believe his eyes! The horses’ corded muscles glint in the morning light as it opens to a full gallop. The rider begins to wave the flag of victory. The watchman finally snaps out of his trance. He reaches for the ram’s horn and blows. As tears of joy fill his eyes he begins to shout! The other watchmen catch the strain and proclaim the news to all the people. Let me read to you again  in Isaiah’s words: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of a herald, who proclaims peace and preaches good news, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God is king!” The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voices. Together they shout for joy, because with both eyes they will see it when the Lord returns to Zion.  Break out, shout for joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, because the Lord is comforting his people. He is redeeming Jerusalem.  The Lord lays bare his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation from our God.

That is the picture that the Lord wants to fill our hearts on Christmas morning. Today is a day of joy, pure joy.  Full and large and unrestrained. It is joy that comes when prayers have been heard and answered. It is joy that comes when what is hoped for is fulfilled definitely. Joy comes to us as a baby, a Savior. God has come to stand beside us and to be for us, and live in us through faith. God has come in love, and in grace and mercy has redeemed us from sinful devastation, and has purchased us with his blood to be his forever.

It’s time to celebrate: the King has come! Regardless of what is going on in the world right now. Regardless of what is going on in your life right now, you have something to celebrate today. Not in a reserved way, not in a partial or possible way. Isaiah says, “Break out, shout for joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, because the Lord is comforting his people. He is redeeming Jerusalem.” It’s time to celebrate!

Today, in this Christmas Day sermon, I have nothing for you to do.  I have no good works to urge upon you.  I’m not calling on you to improve. I’m not telling you to get out there and do something inspirational for someone.  I’m simply telling you now’s the time to rejoice. Today, I just get be a herald! Today, I just want to remind you that your God reigns! I want to remind you, that because of your Savior each day is filled with grace and promise, and our future is bright. I’m here to tell you that we are not alone. God has been born among us, as a baby … a Savior, Christ the Lord! 

My dear friends, the world is full of reservations. And yes, Christmas carol sentimentality often doesn’t match sober reality.  But don’t hold back. Not today. It’s time to celebrate: your King has come!