Bringing Christmas Together

Text: Luke 2:29-32 “29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.””

We come to the nearly forgotten day of Christmas weekend A.D. 2021. (I’ll be honest: I had to keep reminding myself yesterday afternoon that it was Saturday and that I had to work today.) And yet this is the day that brings it all together.

The past two days we’ve sung of the One lying in a manger beneath a stable’s roof who is also the one who built the stary skies, who, throned in height sublime, sits among the cherubim. We’ve called on creation to sing out with joy because the Lord is come. “Let earth receive her king, let every heart prepare a room and heav’n and nature sing....” We’ve invited all the faithful to “come and behold him, born the king of angels…,” called on the choirs of angels to “sing in exultation” along with all the citizens of heaven above and give glory to Jesus, “Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.....”

The past two days we’ve joined the angels in singing “‘Glory to God in the highest’ and ‘peace on earth, good will to men.’” We’ve sung about the blessings of the newborn king that now flow “far as the curse is found.” We’ve sung about the “News of great joy, news of great mirth, news of our merciful King’s birth.”

The past two days you’ve heard all the promises attached to His coming: the sign that God is with you; the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace; the kingdom where “ [6] The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6, ESV) because of the one born in little, forgotten Bethlehem, who is, nonetheless, to be ruler in Israel— who will “stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And [cause His people to] dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. [5] And he shall be their peace” (Micah 5:4-5).

And now, on this nearly-forgotten day of the Christmas weekend in the year of our Lord 2021, all of it comes together. Everything that the birth of Christ promises— the hope, the peace, the joy, the love— all of it is wrapped up in a single package and given to you, personally.

Otherwise, how dare you sing those words: “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word...”? Those words were spoken by a man who literally held in his hands the Son of God. “This is He whom seers in old time chanted of with one accord, whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word” (“Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” Lutheran Service Book #384, stz. 3). “The hopes and fears of all the years are met” in the little boy that Simeon holds in his arms. How dare you and I appropriate those words for anything less? How dare you and I claim those words for ourselves for anything less than holding that same God in our hands?

You don’t.

In fact, you have more claim to those words than Simeon did. He held a 40-day-old baby in His arms who was the fulfillment of centuries of promises, but still had His earthly work ahead of Him. You are given the very body and blood of that same Jesus Christ, but you receive the body that has now been given on the cross for you. You receive the blood that was shed for you. You receive Him not physically, but sacramentally— the true body and blood of Christ (not just a symbol or a representation, but the real thing!) and, along with them, everything that He earned for you on the cross.

The One who built the stary skies, who, throned in height sublime, sits among the cherubim, is no more ashamed to come and to be found here in little, forgotten Unionville, than He was to be born in Bethlehem. Creation is called upon once again to sing out with joy because the Lord is come to you here on this altar. You are invited, not just to come and behold Him, but to take and eat, to take and drink, as you join your voices with angels and archangels and all the citizens of heaven above and give glory to Jesus, “Word of the Father,” now appearing in, with, and under bread and wine.

If you don’t think that the angels are singing “‘Glory to God in the highest’ and ‘peace on earth, good will to men,’” at His coming to you, here this very morning, then you don’t understand what He’s giving you here. Right there on your altar, “He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found”— all the way to you.

Through this eating and drinking, you are given not just the body and blood of Christ but, with them, all the promises that you’ve heard over the past two days. The one born in Bethlehem is now your King, who “stand[s] and shepherd[s] [you] in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And [causes you] dwell secure, for now he [rules] to the ends of the earth. [5] And he [is your] peace” (Micah 5:4-5). This eating and drinking is the sign, the seal, the assurance that God is with you— the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace gives to you, again, His kingdom where “ [6] The wolf [dwells] with the lamb, and the leopard [lies] down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6, ESV). All of it is wrapped up in a single package. And your Lord commands you/invites you to take and eat, to take and drink.

In that promise, you go forth from this communion rail with the peace of Christ ruling in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; rejoicing, with the word of Christ dwelling in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs— including the words of Simeon— with thankfulness in your hearts to God; doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

It may be the forgotten day of Christmas weekend, but today your eyes see His salvation that He has prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to His people Israel. Merry Christmas.