What I Believe About Christmas: The birth of Christ and the worth of my soul

A Holy Night In War

Legend has it that on Christmas Eve 1871, in the midst of fierce fighting between the armies of Germany and France, during the Franco-Prussian War, a French soldier suddenly jumped out of his muddy trench. Both sides stared at the seemingly crazed man. Boldly standing with no weapon in his hand or at his side, he lifted his eyes to the heavens and sang in French,

“O holy night! The stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior's birth! Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.”

After completing all three verses, a German infantryman climbed from his hiding place and answered with, " From heaven above to earth I come To bear good news to every home; Glad tidings of great joy I bring, Whereof I now will say and sing:" the beginning of Martin Luther's robust "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come."

The story goes that the fighting stopped for the next twenty-four hours while the men on both sides observed a temporary peace in honor of Christmas day.

Placide Cappeau is the author of O Holy Night.. Using the gospel of Luke as his guide, Cappeau imagined witnessing the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Thoughts of being present on the blessed night inspired him.

Moved by his own work, Cappeau decided that his "Cantique de Noel" was not just a poem, but a song in need of a master musician's hand. Not musically inclined himself, the poet turned to one of his friends, Adolphe Charles Adams, for help.

The son of a well-known classical musician, and a man of Jewish ancestry, for Adolphe, the words of "Cantique de Noel" represented a day he didn't celebrate and a man he did not view as the son of God. Nevertheless, Adams quickly went to work, attempting to marry an original score to Cappeau's beautiful words. Adams' finished work pleased both poet and priest. The song was performed just three weeks later at a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Cantique de Noel is what we know as O Holy Night.

There is something about this Holy Night, the night the Savior of the world was born, that moves the soul to feels its worth. It moved a poet to write lyrics that inspired a Jewish musician to write music that has been adored for 176 years. Their mediations on the birth of Christ compelled two enemies to stop their fighting and pursue peace for at least twenty-four hours.

Today, we live in a period of time where peace seems so fleeting and the fighting keeps raging on. Americans are constantly at each others throats for everything between politics and policies to public health and pronouns. Add to that Families are burdened by poverty, substance abuse, wayward children, divorce. There is a war of your peace this morning and it feels like the enemy is winning. Long lay the world in sin and error pining. When Jesus appeared, however, the soul felt its worth. What a remarkable lyric. The world is dark, filled with fighting and injustice. Jesus appears as the light of the world, exposing its sin and error, and the result is my soul feels its worth.

What is it about the birth of Christ that makes the soul feel its worth?

Meditating on the birth of Jesus, we can see three ways your heart feels its worth.

I believe Luke 2:8-14, provides three provocations that move you to lay your weapons down.

The Glory of God makes your heart feel its worth (Luke 2:8-9)

Luke 2:8–9 ESV

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

In verse eight, Luke begins with the setting. It is ordinary. It’s late in the evening, maybe even early morning. The sheep are in the field grazing. There is a rainy season in Jerusalem from the end of October the month of March. There is a break in this season from the end of December to February. During this time, there is enough foliage for sheep to graze. So, it makes sense that they are out there. The shepherds are guarding their sheep against natural predators and thieves. They are a salty bunch of men. They are dirty, poor, and known for being scoundrels. They are more than likely stationed at different points on the field.

Overall it is an ordinary night. The sky is clear. The stars are present. The moon is giving enough light to see the shadows move around in the gray backdrop. Everything is well until heaven crashes into humanity like a head-on collision with all the shock and awe of a car accident. Verse nine brings us to the crash.

“Then an angel appeared…and they were terrified.” Luke has given us three accounts already of an angel appearing(Luke 1:11; 19; 26). In all three accounts, the angel appears, and fear is the first response. Anytime heaven collides with earth fear is appropriate. Heaven is light. The world is dark. Heaven is holy. Earth is sinful. The angel is a resident of heaven. The Shepherds belonged to the world. Also consider this, on the one hand, Jesus is born as a baby in a stable and put laid in a feeding trough, while in a field miles away, the skies split and angels declare God has come to bring peace on earth. This child is the king of heaven who is worshiped by angels and heavenly beings and should be greeted by kings and nobles, and yet when he arrives on earth he is only greeted by shepherds and later magi from the east. Instead of being worshiped by the king, Herod seeks to kill the Son of God. The birth of Christ comes at you with all of these out of this world contrasts, both glory and yet humility, judgment and yet joy, fear and yet peace that your heart is overwhelmed, beside itself, and fear is the result. The whole thing forces you to prostrate yourself with your head between your knees.

It’s not just the overwhelming contrasts of heaven colliding with earth that causes fear. God’s presence is a fearful thing to be in the midst of. Consider a couple of things the shepherds were dealing with in this event.

First, Gabriel said he stood in the presence of God (Luke 1:19). No human being can do this and live. In Exodus 33:20, God tells Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no one can see my face and live.” Habakkuk 1:13 says of Yahweh, “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong…” The angel was pure, holy, acceptable to the Lord. He obeyed the Lord with precision and joy. He was right enough, or pure enough, to stand in the presence of God. He was part of the light that conquers darkness. to see Gabriel had to be fascinating.

Second, it was not just the angel that the shepherds feared. Verse nine says, “and the glory of the Lord shone around them.” This is the manifestation of God’s presence among his people. God has often presented himself in fire and smoke. Consider the Exodus story. God appears to Moses as fire in a bush that did not burn. When God delivered Israel out of Egypt, he was a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. While in the wilderness, the Lord consumed an entire mountain with smoke. When he met with his people at the tent of meeting, he consumed the tent with a cloud of smoke.

The shepherds saw the angel accompanied with blazing heat and light and smoke that consumed them. They feared for their lives. Maybe Isaiah 6:1-5 came to mind as they gazed at heaven:

“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Fear is entirely appropriate when we encounter the God of heaven. He is not like us, nor should he be. He is God. He is not the big man upstairs, the head honcho, the guy in the sky, your buddy or your wise grandpa. He is the living God, the maker of the heavens and the earth. He knows every star by name, and they know him. Mountains melt like wax before him. He is holy and righteous. There is much to be afraid of.

It is appointed for man to die once and then face judgment. God’s holiness indicts your rebellion. He cannot remain in evil. His holiness and justice will not allow it. This is why the Israelites had to stay away from the mountain when God descended like smoke, lest his righteousness break out against them and many of them perish (Exodus 19). The shepherds knew this and freaked out when he came to them.

In my mind, this is what makes Christmas so mysterious. If God is the essence of purity and holiness, how in the world does he give us versus10-12? “Fear not, for a look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today a Savior, who is the Messiah Lord, was born for you in the city of David.” How does God lower himself, even allow himself, to be born like a human baby, becoming like us, in order to save us? How can his holiness dwell within our wickedness? How can a holy child be born of a sinful woman? This is a divine mystery. I don’t know how he does it. But I do know the why. The why is because God so loved the world that he was going to do whatever it takes to provide a way for us to dwell with him, even send his one and only son into the world, as a baby who would one day grow to die for the sins of his people. At this great news, your fear of God begins to mingle within it great joy and your soul feels its worth.

The Joy of the Salvation of the Lord makes your heart feel its worth (Luke 2:10-12)

Luke 2:10–12 ESV

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

The good news is that God has provided a way for us to be reconciled to him. Long ago, before the foundation of the world, God decided that he would redeem a people for himself by sending his son into the world as a baby, born into poverty, swaddled in humility, and destined to be a savior for his people. That is what Messiah means. Savior.

He is also called Lord, sovereign one. God’s sovereignty means he exercises complete control over all things; even genealogies. Jesus being of the house of David is no accident. It was established that the Messiah would come from a particular family line, from the line of Judah, the root of Jessie, the house of David. God controlled every aspect of it, even when it was messy. Jesus’s line if full or scoundrels and prostitutes. In light of that, it seems fitting that he would be born in a stable and put in a feeding trough. From the very beginning, Jesus identifies with the broken, the nominal, the hurting, the outcast. That is why is not presented to the king or the priest first, but to shepherds. All of this is God’s design, under his sovereign care. God is sending us a message. I have come to save the broken, the humiliated, the poor of heart, those who know they are sick. I’ve come to you. No longer will your sin separate us. You could not come to me; I will come to you.

How will he save his people and give them great joy?

Jesus will be a ransom for their sins. Jesus told his disciples that he did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom from many. Paul tells Timothy

1 Timothy 2:5–6 ESV

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

The Baker Encyclopedia is helpful in helping us understand the notion of ransom. It says the idea of ransom refers to the price for redeeming or liberating slaves, captives, property, or life. Jesus describes his entire ministry as one of service in giving his life “as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45). Hence “ransom” is closely linked to such terms as “redemption” and “salvation,” to the satisfaction Christ made in atonement for sin.” The ransom Jesus paid was his blood on the cross to atone for your sin. He satisfied the wrath of God on your behalf so that you can be at peace with God, no longer his enemy, but a son or daughter. You are no longer a slave sin and death. Jesus paid your debt so you can be free to live abundantly in His kingdom forever. Hell no longer awaits your arrival. Jesus pulls you out of its fiery pits and puts you safely in the kingdom of light. If you place your faith in his work on the cross and his resurrection, you can have your sin debt paid in full.

The is great joy because no longer will you fear the presence of God like Israel did at Mt. Saini. The Messiah, this child wrapped in swaddling cloth, will provide for you the confidence to enter the holy places by his own blood, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, we can draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith into the presence of God. No longer will we be at war with God, but he will give us peace. If you receive his gift, then joy should fill your heart at the birth of Jesus. He is your Messiah, your Savior, your life! Now your soul sees glory and is inspired. Now your soul sees the love of God and his salvation work, and your soul is inspired to feel its worth!

The Peace of God’s Eternal Kingdom Makes Your Heart Feel its Worth (Luke 2:13-14)

Luke 2:13–14 ESV

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

In verses 13-14, the angels respond to the news of the child being born. They praise God saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors.” Since the fall in the garden, people, the descendants of Adam and Eve, have been at war with God. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they committed cosmic treason on heaven and earth. It was a declaration of war. The serpent seeks to destroy the seed of the mother of the living. It is a fight of good verse evil. And everyone who is not of God is of the serpent and fights for the serpent.

The fruit of Jesus’ atonement for your sin is you are no longer an enemy to God. Notice the last part of verse 14, “among those whom he is pleased.” For those whom Jesus’s blood covers there sin, God is pleased with them. He no longer looks at you as an enemy. He sees you as his son or his daughter. He sings over you. He cherishes you. He loves you with an ever-lasting, never-stopping, always and forever love. His love for you is completely grounded in his Son, Jesus. Because God is pleased with his Son, he is pleased with you.

I was an enemy of the cross. I fought against God’s rule over my life. The crazy thing is that I thought I was okay with God. I was not a militant enemy. I never confessed a hatred for God or for Jesus. I just lived my life in a way that said he had to tell me right what to do. I made up my own Jesus. I made up my own God and called him Jesus. My Jesus satisfied my flesh. My Jesus allowed me to cuddle with sin. My Jesus said white lies were not lies at all. My Jesus said sexual immorality was just part of being human. Jesus said my anger was justified. My Jesus said if the situation called for it, stealing was appropriate. My Jesus allowed me to hate my neighbor and hate my enemy even more. My Jesus allowed me to have multiple affairs with other gods. My Jesus was no Jesus at all. And God’s wrath was on my soul. His judgment was looming over me, and if I had died, I would have gone right to hell because my Jesus could not remove the condemnation.

But Christmas reminds me that God extended his hand of peace. I am no longer his enemy. He does not hate me, but is pleased with me because I have his Son as my Savior, my ransom. Christmas moves me to see that the child born of Mary would bring to all men who would believe in him peace with God. That is why the angels rejoiced. God has provided a way to bring everlasting peace on earth, the Messiah, the Savior, the Christ. My soul magnifies the Lord! I am not worthy of such grace, yet my soul feels grateful for God’s grace.

Christmas Reveals The War is Over!

War is part of humanities history. We have moments of peace, like the 24 hours between the French and Germans. The fear of God, the joy of salvation, and the peace of Christ, briefly moved int he hearts of those men to quit their fighting and celebrate a Holy Night. But the fighting resumed and still resumes. The fighting can make you feel like your soul is worthless because life seems worthless. So you turn to the things of this world to find purpose and meaning.

But like the soldiers, you miss the greater story of the birth of Christ. Christmas reveals to you that your soul was so valued by God that he sent his one and only son into the world to die for it. The child born in Bethlehem covered in the blood of his birth, would one day die covered in the blood of his sacrifice. He was buried and Satan and death thought they won the war. But God raised him from the dead, defeating , sin and death, and he now sits at the right hand of God. That was the decisive blow. The enemy is defeated. Now we wait for the second advent, Christ’s return, when he will restore everything back to its proper place. And we will have nothing to fear, and live in eternal joy and peace. Christmas reveals that the war is over. God has fought and won decisively won. Settle the angst of your soul in His grace. Open your heart to see His glory, embrace his joy, and feel his peace offered in Jesus Christ, the love of your soul.