Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Hebrews 1:1-2
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  December 25, 2022

Do you want to hear God speak? Have you ever said in a moment of frustration, “God, can you just give me a sign? Anything? I need to hear your voice—just once!” I have said these words myself. And I have found the Lord patient with me and gracious when he corrects my presumption. One such rebuke is found in our text from Hebrews 1:1–2. What these two verses teach very plainly is that our God is not silent. Yet they also teach, not least of all, that our ability to know God is grounded in his desire to make himself known. Our God is not withdrawn and uncommunicative—he simply communicates in a way we don’t always appreciate. Suffice it to say: We can only hear God if we understand how he chooses to speak.

Our text begins: “In the past, God spoke to our forefathers by the prophets at many times and in many ways.” God wants people to understand him, to hear him speak! In fact, the whole reason we exist is because he speaks. He spoke the universe into existence, he commanded our very breath and life. And the many times and many ways he spoke through the prophets, through the Old Testament, are evidence that our gracious God has gone out of his way to break through our sinful, dull, and distracted ears. He spoke in promise and prophecy. He communicated through smoky rituals and visions at night. He sang in love poem and rescue story. He shouted in sacrifice and fire. He shook the mountain. He whispered in a still small voice. He answered in miracles and wonders. But ultimately, all this speaking fell on hardened hearts and deaf ears. So God decided, in unfathomable mercy, to deliver the message himself. The constant repetition in the Old Testament of “Thus says the LORD,” culminated in Jesus Christ who came as the divine Word made flesh, God’s own dear Son. As the writer to the Hebrews continues, In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. In these last days, in our time right now, God’s final Word is Jesus. That’s what we celebrate this morning! God’s final Word became flesh—Jesus was born to save sinners like you and me. So what does God’s Final Word say to us this Christmas morning? How does God speak to us in Jesus? I have 6 points for you to consider.

1. God’s final Word is enough.  In the past God spoke by the prophets, but now his final word is given through his Son. This first warns us against the mistake that Islam and others make when it comes to Jesus. Jesus is not a mere prophet. He is superior to the prophets. He is the eternally begotten Son, without beginning and without ending (Hebrews 7:3). Who Jesus was, what he said, and what he accomplished by dying and rising from the dead is God’s final Word to us. This is what God has said, and what we need to listen to far more earnestly than we do. Every time I begin to complain that God is silent and that I need God to speak to me, at that moment I should stop and ask myself: Have I so quickly forgotten about the Word made flesh?” Ask yourself: “Is the aching of my soul and the confusion of my mind really due to the fact that I have exhausted this Word? Has it become so much a part of me that it has shaped my every thought and action? Does it direct my love and all that I possess? Or have I treated my Savior lightly—skimmed him like a news article, dipped in just my toe instead of immersing my whole self?” Lord, forgive my flakiness and my wandering heart! Your final Word—your Son’s life, death, and resurrection in my place—is more than enough for me to read, and learn, and love for all my days. And even then I will only know just a fraction of how wide and high and long and deep your love is. On my final day I will say, “Speak to me one more time about Jesus.” God’s final Word is enough.
2. God’s final Word is truthful. The Bible says that every promise of God is “Yes” in Christ Jesus. Biblical scholar Alfred Edersheim found 456 Old Testament verses referring to the Messiah or his times. Some have found even more. But conservatively, Jesus fulfilled at least 300 prophecies in his earthly ministry. In other words, Jesus proves unequivocally that God’s Word is true! When God speaks to us in Christ we know that he speaks truthfully. Even as John writes in our Gospel today: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. When you see Christ in the manger, you know that all of God’s Word to you is true. You know that though every other voice in the world may be a liar, your God is true. Those who build upon Christ, build on the solid rock. God’s final Word is truthful.
3. God’s final Word is humble. At Christmas we celebrate the fact that God became a man. And this is not just a way of speaking. For us Jesus, the heir of all things, the Creator of the universe, the Lord Almighty, is the one who is so small here, who is hidden here in a corner, who enters into the plainness of the world, who meets us in the helplessness and defenselessness of a child. And he doesn’t do it for fun, or because we find it so touching, but he comes in humility to show us who he is and where God does his work—and from this place to judge and devalue all human pride. Recognize the humility this teaches us as well. The throne of God on earth is not in a palace, but a manger. The king is wrapped not in an expensive robe, but the blood and fluid of birth and strips of swaddling cloths which protect him from rough straw. If you want to celebrate Christmas correctly, lay down your own importance and pride. Lay down your selfish ambition and arrogance at the manger. Look at this baby and see God’s glory precisely in his humility. And isn’t that exactly where we want him? In those moments where we are wondering where God is, when we are down in the dumps—we don’t want a God far away on some lofty throne—too far away to listen or care. We need a humble Jesus in a manger. We need a God who hides his glory to show us mercy.
4. God’s final Word is merciful.  God, in extraordinary kindness, hid his glory for a race which, in its fallen condition, could not survive his unveiled presence. No man may see God and live. And so what we often take for granted in the manger, far different from the modern complaint about God’s seeming silence—Christ’s humble hiddenness—is an act of unspeakable mercy through which he accommodates himself to our limitations. He hides himself, he masks his glory, where only faith can find him. In tender mercy, he is willing to appear less than he is, even making himself capable of being denied. My point being, is that what we have in Christchild, so small and weak, is far, far better than what we often think we want in our demand that God would speak. This is the Word from God we should desire, because it is the Word we need. And mercy upon mercies! This child was not just born for me, but was born to die for me, to take my sin and give me his holiness. I can hardly bear it! This holy child is born for us; this Son is given to us. The Son of God belongs to me and I to him. This is love beyond all knowing. God’s final Word is merciful.
5. God’s final Word is powerful. Bringing  Jesus into our world at Christmas is from God’s point of view, the most powerful way to communicate his message to us. God didn’t send a text message. He didn’t send a Christmas card. He didn’t even do a video chat. He came in person! God’s  final Word took on humanity…to touch it; wear it; relate with it; be tempted with it; feel its pain, suffer in it, and die because of it. That’s what our gospel writer John experienced. He lived with Jesus; walked with him; he saw him get tired and hungry; he saw his courage and compassion; he saw him whipped and spit on; he saw him bleed when the nails pierced his hands and he was in the room when Thomas traced those marks after Jesus rose from the dead. This communication is what moved him to write and give his very life for the sake of Christ’s message. And, through faith, it is this in-the-flesh communication that allows the Word of God to move and convince our hearts today. My friends, no one can leave the manger indifferent. Either you kneel in worship or you scorn the gift of God. You leave only either redeemed or condemned. The final Word is that clear. It is that powerful. 
6. God’s final Word is pure joy. God’s final Word is not a word of law, something we “shall not” do. Nor is it a word of command, something we now have to do. No. God’s final Word is simply Good News and as such it is nothing but pure joy. What did the angel say? “Today I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Lk 2:10) I feel like a little kid at Christmas who didn’t buy any gifts, but I get to hand them out to the family. My dear friends, my family at Eastside: Listen with both ears, above the clatter and business of this season, your God is speaking to you through his Son. He speaks a Word of pure joy to you this Christmas day: Christ is born for you. May this Word resound in your heart and mind forever.

Amen.