The Nativity of Our Lord, Christmas Eve

Luke 2:7-14

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, what a blessed night for we get to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who was born for our salvation, sent from heaven by God to take on human flesh, and to save his people from their sins, and open the way to heaven. It is no wonder that angels this night break forth in glorious song and tell the shepherds of the great and wonderful works of God which has come for all people.

The angels had waited with joyful expectation for this moment that the Son of God, the one whom through whom all things were made, who they knew in heaven has now been born as savior of the World. The angels had been witness to God’s plan, and brought messages from heaven to earth for centuries, point ahead to this moment.

They had guarded mankind from the tree of life, that the Son of God might make death into a portal by which mankind would be reunited with their Creator, and that mankind might join with all the heavenly host singing praises to the one through whom all things were made.

Is it any wonder that they break forth in glorious song this night with praises for Him through whom, and for whom all things were made? For at the name of Jesus every name in heaven, and earth, and under the earth will break forth in joyful song! So an angel appears to these shepherds to prepare them for this great and wondrous message that will be not just for the people of Israel, but for all people!

Who better to illustrate that then these shepherds on a hillside? The angels didn’t appear to the priests, to kings, or rulers, to the wealthy or any like that, but the angels appeared to shepherds at night who left their sheep behind to go and see what bring forth angels in the night singing, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!

They’re ordinary regular folks for Jesus came to save all people. This is what God had foretold in the days of Ezekiel, that

Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

There laying in a manger in Bethlehem, the city of David, the King who was shepherd boy himself, is God in the flesh. God has come to seek out his flock to rescue them and save them. So Jesus who is the life and the light of men, is born is here to call these shepherds to himself. Little did they know that tonight they were the sheep, and were coming because their shepherd was nearby.

That is what calls Christians to gather around the Word of God. Not just on Christmas Eve but all throughout the year. We want to hear our shepherds voice, we want to be in communion with Him. For He came into the world to seek and to save the lost sheep of Israel. That’s who we are.

Jesus was born not just to save the Israelites, but all mankind. For all of mankind had fallen because of Adam’s sin, and so death spread to all of us. Not just physical death, but spiritual death as well. The evidence of that is in our actions, our words, our thoughts, and even our feelings. That is why we are in such darkness.

We are aware of it, and the world tries to find the answers. That’s what all the other religions promise and what they seek, but all of their teachers died and remained in the grave, and are not able to lead us through the valley of the shadow of death, for their plans and their wisdom died with them. So their words may encourage or inspire us, but they are simply flesh and blood like you and me, which means they are dust and to dust they shall return. That is a dark place to be, because it means all of us will be shut into the grave, and banished unto hell forever.

This child offers to us hope in a world wrapped in darkness. That’s why angel’s sing, and why shepherds abandon their flocks, but this is the savior of the world. Death has no power over this child, and He grants to the world hope. For the wages of sin is death, but Jesus is God’s gift to mankind to save us from our sins, that instead of being subject to God’s wrath, we have peace with God and everlasting life.

So my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us join in with the angel host, let us run with the shepherds to go and worship the Savior of the World. This child that was born of Mary is no ordinary child. He is God in the flesh, and He has come to seek out the lost and to bring back the strayed, and to guide them through even the valley of the shadow of death, to a place of green pasture and still waters. This child is Jesus Christ, Our God and Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.