Good morning & introductory remarks

Introduction

Tiny Tim

Tiny Tim is one of Charles Dickens’ most loved characters.  He is the small disabled boy in A Christmas Carol who brings joy to everyone who meets him.  Tim’s father, Bob Cratchit, and the rest of his family love Tiny Tim.  Two of the most meaningful scenes in the story are when Ebenezer Scrooge is peeking through the windows of the Cratchit home.  The first time, Scrooge is there with the ghost of Christmas present, and we see a joy-filled home, with loving, generous people.  The family has gathered to share Christmas Dinner and they are very thankful for what they have.  The Cratchit’s are poor, but they are rich in love and family and happiness.  It is heart-warming.  Tiny Tim is at the centre of this family picture, with his exclamation: “God bless us every one!”

The second time we visit the Cratchit household, along with the ghost of Christmas future, things are very different.  Tiny Tim has died and the entire family is grieving.  They are quiet and subdued.  They are still faith-filled, but their loss and pain are evident.  It is Christmas, but things are not the same without Tiny Tim.

Tragedy at Christmas

This scene is especially tragic because suffering seems even more terrible at Christmas.  At Christmas time we want and expect the world to be full of joy, family, comfort, good food, laughter, and generosity... that makes suffering, sin, and death, all the more jarring.

But for many, Christmas is especially difficult.  Some are away from home and long for their friends and family.  Others are alone and find Christmas a reminder that their arms feel as empty as their home.  Some have experienced tragedy this year and are trying to get through the first Christmas without a loved-one.  Others are filled with bittersweet memories of friends and family who passed away years ago.  Those who struggle with depression may find it aggravated by the sugary happiness they see all around them.  Still others are struggling with poverty that keeps them from putting presents under their tree. 

It doesn’t make sense.  How can we live with this when Christmas is supposed to be Merry?

Advent... Lamb of God?

There’s something else that doesn’t make sense this morning – it has to do with our Advent Readings.  This Advent we have been talking about Jesus, the Name Above All Names.  The first week, we heard about the Son of David, which fits well into the Christmas story.  After all, Jesus was born in Bethlehem because he and Mary and Joseph were descendents of King David.   Then last week we talked about the Prince of Peace... that name is part of the passage from Isaiah 9 that is read almost every year at Christmas time... For to us a child is born, to us a son is given...  But this week’s name comes from the gospel of John and it doesn’t seem to have much to do with Christmas.

John the Baptist 

John the Baptist was a prophet who was preaching and baptizing at the beginning of Jesus ministry.  Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that Jesus was baptized by John at the beginning of his public ministry.  God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus.  One day, when John was preaching by the Jordan River, he saw Jesus coming toward him.  At that moment, God spoke to John and John stopped, and pointed out Jesus to everyone around him, saying, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

Lamb of God

Jesus, the lamb of God... but what does that have to do with Christmas?

It would have sounded strange then too.  This chapter is the only place where the phrase “Lamb of God” is used in the Old or New Testaments.  Some of John’s hearers might have heard that kind of language before, but not many of them.     What does it mean to say that this man is the Lamb of God?  This lamb-language isn’t really a pretty, peaceful image of baby animals playing in green fields in the spring-time.  For first century Jews, lambs were associated with sacrifice.  The lamb was a picture of innocence... and many sacrifices required the blood a perfect, spotless, innocent lamb.  Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world... that idea of taking away sin might have reminded people of the sacrifices required on the Day of Atonement.  Those sacrifices usually required bulls and goats, but they were the way that God provided for the people to deal with their sin.  On the Day of Atonement, through the sacrifices, God covered over the people’s sin and he carried it away from them. 

The Lamb of God is also a reminder of the Passover lamb that was sacrificed each year.  Passover was very important to the Jewish people.  The festival, and particularly the sacrifice, reminded the Israelites that God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt and had saved them by bringing them safely into the Promised Land.

Lamb of God... it’s a picture of sacrifice... a reminder of redemption.

It’s hard to tell what John’s Jewish listeners might have thought he meant,  but to say that Jesus is the perfect sacrificial lamb, sent by God to be killed in order to take away our sin, free us from slavery, and save us from death... that starts me thinking about Good Friday and crucifixion.

Isaiah prophesied about the Servant of the Lord, who would come and suffer on our behalf.  Isaiah 53 tells us more about this servant:

4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ... 10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.  (Isaiah 53:4-7,10-12, TNIV)

Jesus is the one who was pierced for our transgressions, the lamb who was led to the slaughter, the one who bore the sin of many... Jesus is the Lamb of God.

Christmas and Good Friday

Christmas and Good Friday... the manger and the cross...  there seems to be a world of difference between them... but you cannot have one without the other.  Christmas is the celebration of God’s coming into the world... it’s the story of joy and hope and peace... it’s a miracle... but in the midst of our celebration, we must not lose sight of why Jesus came.  He came to become the Lamb of God...  he came to suffer... he came to die as a sacrifice in order to take away our sin...Jesus came for the cross. 

God's Response

Christmas is God’s response to suffering, sin, and death.

God saw our pain... God came... Jesus became Immanuel, God with us.  The Lamb of God became sacrifice and takes away the sin of the world.

Peter spoke of this redemption in his first letter:

18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.  (1 Peter 1:18-21, TNIV)

We have been redeemed!  It is through Jesus and his sacrifice that we are saved, and that we believe in God.  This is the gospel... this is the reason for our hope and our joy.  It’s a gift that came at the cost of Jesus’ life.  We have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

This is God’s master plan... God’s ultimate response to human suffering, sin, and death.

Jesus’ suffering is God’s response to our suffering... In the midst of deep suffering, most of us have cried out to God, asking “Do you know?  Do you care?  Where are you?”  There are no simple answers to those questions.  And when the world around us seems to be celebrating, the questions are even more painful.  The only possible answer is the Cross of Christ... Jesus truly knows what it means to suffer and he understands our pain...he cares, and he is present with us. 

Jesus’ sacrifice and death is God’s response to our sin... Our sin separated us from God, and  God knew that we could never overcome our sin on our own.  So, when we were still sinners, Jesus died for us and through his blood we have been justified before God.  This is grace... God took the consequences of our sin on Himself, because He knew we weren’t able to do so... and because He loves us so much.

Jesus’ resurrection is God’s response to death.  The curse of sin is death and apart from redemption our death would have been total and final.  But through Jesus’ resurrection, He has conquered death and we get to share in his victory... and in his life.  We will die, and so will our loved ones, but because of Jesus’ resurrection we know that we too will be raised to new life.

Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Without the baby in the manger, there could be no lamb upon the cross.  Without the crucifixion and resurrection, we would never celebrate Jesus’ birth.  Christmas and Easter are intertwined.

That is why the Lamb of God has something to say to those who suffer at Christmas time.  God sees our suffering.  He knows what it means to be poor, lonely, and grieving.  God desires us to know Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

So God came... to be born in Bethlehem... to live among us... to die for us

And God still comes... to enter our hearts and lives... and comfort us... and draw us to Himself... and give us His Joy.  It’s a Christmas present that God gives us every day of the year.

Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Will you let him come to you?