2ND CHRISTMAS DAY

Lord Jesus! The only begotten Son of the living God, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God; you did not only descend from heaven for our sakes and for our salvation to become a man like we are; but in order that the salvation you brought from heaven might be given to all men, you have also commanded that it be preached to everyone. And during these days we have also heard this amazing, sweet, blessed sermon. Praise and thanks be to you today and in all eternity for your inexpressible love. Lord Jesus, we also beseech you that this preaching may not be in vain for any one of us. Ah, you know very well that we not only did not know by ourselves how we could be saved, but that after you devised the means and revealed them to us, we cannot by our own reason or strength even understand and accept them. Oh, therefore, open our blinded eyes, that we perceive the wisdom of your counsel for our salvation; fill our dead and powerless heart with life and power so that we may also follow your plan. Guard us that we do not belong to those about whom you complain, "Seeing they see not; and hearing they hear not." Mt 13:13. Guard us also against

being satisfied with merely hearing the preaching of your amazing and gracious birth with a passing joyous wonderment only; but help, oh, help us Lord Jesus, that whatever is preached to us these days may fall like light and fire from heaven deep into our heart and kindle there the light of true faith and the fire of ardent love. Ah yes, if yesterday our souls remained dark, desolate, and dead, then let Christmas enter them today, a Christmas full of light, life, and joy. Amen! Amen!

The text. Luke 2:15-20.

My dear hearers, whom God has so highly honored and loved!

What a sermon we heard yesterday! - Ah, what a sermon! - Of a truth, when today we recall it, we must say what Christ once said to his disciples, "Blessed are the ears which hear the things that ye hear; for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them," Lk 10:23,24. For what did we hear yesterday? It was a sermon not from the mouth of a man but an angel.

And its content? A miracle of miracles, a joy above all joys. For what was the angel's sermon? It went as follows: God the Lord himself, the eternal almighty Creator of heaven and earth, has descended from heaven, took upon himself your nature, and became a man, a man like you. Oh, what a miracle of miracles! What other miracle can be compared with this one? What is even the miracle of the creation of the universe out of nothing in comparison with the miracle that the infinite Creator of the universe becomes a man?

But even more. According to yesterday's sermon by the angel, God did not only become a man but in becoming a man he also became our Savior. What does that mean? Oh joy above all joy! That means that by his incarnation God himself has become the perfect Redeemer of all men from all their temporal and eternal woes, the Righteousness of all men to cancel their sin, the Life of all men to cancel their death, the Salvation of all men to cancel their damnation.

Yesterday you all heard this heavenly sermon of wonder and joy; but did you also hear it to your salvation? Did it attain its purpose in you? Ah, to hear such a sermon in vain is something frightful. Mightily, with all the power of his love, God had knocked at the door of your heart, but you did not open to him; in free grace God opened the heavens wide but you did not enter through the open door of grace.

However, my dear hearers, no matter what your attitude toward yesterday's Christmas sermon was, even though in the ecstasy of earthly Christmas joy you completely missed hearing it until this very hour, the Christmas season has not gone by; the stream of grace still flows in undiminished strength; a few precious hours of this gracious period are still left; oh, do not let them also fly away without having received the Christmas blessing!

Yesterday's Gospel contained the Christmas sermon itself; in today's Gospel the first true hearers of this sermon are presented to us in the shepherds of Bethlehem. From their example permit me to answer the question

WHAT SHOULD HEARERS DO TO RECEIVE A BLESSING FROM HEARING

THE GRACIOUS CHRISTMAS SERMON?

I answer: according to the example of the shepherds of Bethlehem they should

I. Above all BELIEVE it. but also

II. Seek to EXPERIENCE it in Their Hearts, and finally,

III. By Its Power also Start Becoming Living PREACHERS OF CHRISTMAS.

I.

If God would have caused, the news to be preached to, us that He Himself became a man and our Savior, but if he would not have revealed, to us what we must do in order :that the greatest deed of his love would not be preached to us in vain, we would indeed have to wonder at the mystery of Christmas; but then we

would not be able to have true Christmas joy. For then we would have to think, The greater the gift which God offers us, the more difficult would that certainly be what God would demand of us. But see, in his great love to us God has not only told us what we must do, but he has even shown us by. living examples, so that we can see it; they are the shepherds of Bethlehem.

Now what is the first thing which we see in them? Nothing else than a firm, undoubting, childlike faith in that which was preached to them. How did they speak after the angel of the Lord had ended his Christmas sermon, the heavenly hosts had finished singing their hymn of praise, and finally all these heavenly Christmas guests had returned to heaven? According to our text they said, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the LORD hath made known unto us." V.15b.

See, they do not say doubtingly and uncertainly, "Let us see this thing" which is supposed to have happened, but "which IS come to pass." So, in their hearts they are absolutely certain that that which the angel preached to them had taken place.

They also do not say of the things preached to them: Which the angel has made known unto us, but "Which the LORD has made known unto us." They therefore do not consider the sermon of the angel merely the words of the angel, much less the words of men, but the words of the "Lord," hence, the eternal, true, genuine Word of God, and the angel merely as God's messenger and servant.

And still more. The shepherds did not say, Which the Lord has made known unto men or the world, but changing the little word "you" which the angel had used into the little word "us," they say as though in triumph, "Which the lord hath made known unto US," They appropriate completely the wonderful message of joy which they had heard and mean to say, "Oh, we are blessed people! For unto 'us, us' is announced great joy that 'unto us, unto us' is born the Savior." Oh, what a glorious faith!

Or, if they had wanted to follow their reason, would they not have reason to doubt? Yes, indeed, reason enough! We see from the conclusion which they drew, that even though they were not educated people, they were wise enough to doubt. According to their reason they could have thought, when the glory of heaven disappeared and it suddenly became night about them, Ah, what we thought we heard and saw was just a lovely phantasy, a short sweet dream, from which we have again awakened.

Following their reason they also could have thought, If we are not being deceived, why should not this glorious, heavenly appearance have been made before the great, the rich, the wise, the priests and chief priests at Jerusalem, or to the king and his officials rather than before us poor-simple despised shepherds of Bethlehem? Why should not such great grace and honor have been experienced by a holy prophet rather than by us poor, great, unworthy sinners, who, feeling our sinfulness, became frightened when we saw the angel?

Following their reason, the shepherds could also have thought, What? A child wrapped in wretched swaddling clothes lying in a manger should be the promised Messiah and King of Israel? that should be God the Lord himself? our Savior and the whole world's also!?

Yes, indeed; that is the way the shepherds would have had to think and speak, if they would have followed their reason. But what did they do? They give doubt no room; they believe. Is that not amazing? What is the answer to this mystery? Simply this: whereas the glory of the Lord with which the angel

had been surrounded merely frightened and blinded them, and whereas the celestial melodies of the heavenly host merely delighted their ears, the word of the angel's sermon, on the other hand, had entered their hearts with such power of God that no offence could rise; only a faith which nothing could extinguish began to shine in them like a heavenly light kindled in their souls.

There, my friends, you see the first thing which hearers must do so that they may not have heard the gracious Christmas sermon in vain! Not one's own righteousness and holiness is the prerequisite, nor any merit or worthiness of one's own, nor a great, difficult work, no, not any work whatsoever great or small, easy or difficult, but only - faith.

Oh my friends, do not through unbelief rob yourselves of the Christmas blessing which God has intended for everyone of us. Oh, do not be satisfied with merely diligently having heard the Christmas sermon, or with becoming filled with a joyful amazement; for we are also expressly told in our text of the unbelieving inhabitants of Bethlehem, "And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds." No, follow the example of the shepherds. Join them in believing: What the angel of the Lord once preached certainly and really happened. Join them in believing that it is the Lord himself who has made known through the angel the miracle of the ages. And finally join them in believing that the Lord has mad© that known also unto us.

Oh no, you cannot give yourselves this faith; God alone can do that but he wants to do that, and alas, you can prevent it. Imitate the shepherds in also not listening to the voice of your reason but in hearing only the word of the Christmas sermon; than this word will enter your heart with divine power and without any assistance from you kindle in you the heavenly light of a faith which no world can extinguish; then you will also rejoice with the shepherds, Oh, what blessed people we are! Oh, what great joy! Unto us, yes, unto us, is born this day the Savior! Hallelujah today, hallelujah in eternity!

II.

From the example of the shepherds we see that those hearers, who do not want to hear the gracious Christmas sermon in vain, but receive the full blessing of it, must also seek to experience it in their hearts. Permit me secondly to speak to you about this.

Now why did the shepherds go to Bethlehem? Evidently, not to see first and then to believe; they believed before they saw; as we have heard, they expressly said to one another, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which IS come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us." They do not say, Let us go in order to convince ourselves of the truth of what we heard; let us see whether the thing may have happened; no, in firm faith they say, "The thing which IS come to pass." Neither did the shepherds go to Bethlehem because they had been sternly commanded to do so. For although the angel of the Lord had presupposed that they would do this in that he said, "You shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger," he had not commanded them to do this by a single word. They went of their own free will, and went with ardent longing and tumultuous joy of heart; for we read in our text, "And they came with haste." In the dark of night, over hill and dale they hurried as though in a foot race; not a one wished to remain behind; neither did anyone wish to be the last; everyone wanted to be the first. And why? Our text tells us that when it states, "And when they had SEEN it." that is, the Child, "they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child....And the shepherds returned." They wanted to see the new-born Child in whose gracious and joyous birth they already believed, in order to feast their eyes upon him. This alone and nothing else had driven them to leave their

flocks and hurry to the city of David; for after they had seen the Child and undoubtedly contemplated him with inexpressible joy, they soon returned mightily strengthened in their faith.

That, my friends, that is the second thing which hearers must do in order that they may not have heard the gracious Christmas sermon in vain but share in its full blessings. They must also go to Bethlehem. Not that as the shepherds they must make a pilgrimage to that holy place. Ah, no! The heavenly Child is no longer cradled in a dark manger but is enthroned on high at the right hand of God's omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and majesty. No, what a true hearer must then do after he has accepted the Christmas sermon in faith as the shepherds did is that he must hurry in spirit to Bethlehem; he must try to experience in his heart what he believes.

Yes, it is wrong not to want to believe until one has experienced, felt, and discovered in his heart what one is to believe; Jesus once reprimanded Thomas for doing just that in the words, "Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." Jn 20:29. But it is no less wrong when many suppose, and thus want to justify their dead Christianity, that a true believer is a person who dares never experience, feel, and discover in his heart what he believes; that would be emotional enthusiasm. True Christianity is supposed to be merely a matter of reason. But that is not so. As the Scriptures say, the kingdom of God is first of all righteousness, but then also peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Therefore as a true believer hungers and thirsts after righteousness, so he also hungers and thirsts for this sweet peace and this blessed joy; David, feeling his sins, not only implores, "Renew a right spirit within me," but also, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation." Ps 51:10,12.

Whoever, therefore, joins the shepherds in hearing the heavenly Christmas sermon and believing it, he cannot stop there; without being commanded to, he must also hasten to Bethlehem in order to see in spirit the little Child Jesus in whom he already believes, to feast his eyes with the blessed sight, in short, to see and taste how good the Lord is. If after the Christmas sermon he feels cold, dark, hard, dead, and empty, he does not doubt that the new-born Child is also his Savior and Pardoner; he says, I believe what Jesus' Word promises, whether I feel it or not; yet it pains him that his heart is so cold and unfeeling. He, therefore, is not satisfied that he has merely heard the preaching of Christ's birth in church; when he has returned home, he also seeks in God's written Word, in joyful songs and devout meditation whether He will let Himself also be felt and found by him; or he looks up a Joseph and a Mary, who have Jesus in their midst and refreshes himself by talking over spiritual matters with them; or, he kneels in his closet and prays, O Jesus, my Savior, in whom I believe, oh come, oh come also into my poor heart! And see, for the most part, although not always, his prayer will finally be granted as he wished; his closet will be changed into a Bethlehem, his heart into the manger in which Christ lies. He then observes such blessed hours that he thinks he is already in heaven; hours in comparison to which he despises all the goods, joys, honor, and glory of the world.

Oh, blessed, blessed are those hearers who have such experiences! They have not heard the Christmas sermon in vain.

III.

One more thing is part of the complete blessing of Christmas and it is: that you yourselves also begin to be active preachers about Christmas because of

the Christmas sermon. Permit me to add a few words about this.

Scarcely had the angel chorus died away when according to our text the shepherds, who up till than had listened in speechless amazement, opened their mouths. And of what did they speak? Did they talk about the radiant splendor of the archangel which they had seen, or about the heavenly music which they had heard? No, the sermon, which they heard is the subject of their conversation. It filled their heart so completely that they even forgot about the heavenly glory they had seen and heard, or they did not consider it very important. The angel became silent and they each shepherd became the preacher of Christmas to each other. Encouraging one another, they shouted, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass."

After they had hurried to Bethlehem, the first thing which they do is that they gaze in silent joy upon the heavenly Child lying in the manger; "and when they had seen it," we read in our text, "they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child." V. 17. The shepherds, otherwise so bashful and untalkative, became preachers to all Bethlehem, yes, even to Joseph and Mary; through them the little village experienced a mighty awakening; for we read, "And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Vv. 18,19.

That the shepherds did not now come forward in spiritual pride or with an enthusiastic spirit as the preachers of Christmas among themselves or to others, we see from the concluding verse, "And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them." V. 20. They gave all honor to God alone, him they praised, and they did not consider themselves so highly honored that they could not remain shepherds any more; no, they returned to their earthly calling in order to preach Christ by their daily work in a new life in faith.

Now why would the Holy Spirit close his description of the hearers of the first Christmas sermon like this? Undoubtedly, first of all, that we Christians who have also heard the gracious Christmas sermon may be shamed when we remain silent about the things which we have heard, because our heart has remained so empty that it just cannot overflow, or because we are ashamed to mention the Savior in the presence of others, particularly the unbelievers. Secondly, the Holy Spirit without a doubt wants to enthuse us by the example of the shepherds to become living, zealous preachers of Christmas in word and deed after we have heard the Christmas sermon.

Oh my dear friends, let us not end our Christmas festival this year without starting to become such heralds of Christmas. Now that the simple shepherds have taken the lead, no person can excuse himself by claiming to be too simple to tell the Christmas story, that he carries this blessing in his heart but does not have the gift of expressing it in words. Ah, if our heart is full of Jesus, our mouth will overflow; yes, just as the shepherds forgot about the heavenly splendor and music in thinking about the Christmas sermon, so we also will forget even more the earthly splendor of this season when we recall the Christmas message. During these holy days all vain talk in our homes will cease, and father and mother, spouse and spouse, master and mistress, brothers and sisters, friends with friends, neighbors with neighbors will talk mainly about that which was preached on this day. Then also, like the shepherds, we will remain active preachers of Christmas even after the Christmas season, when we return to our earthly calling and preach not only in the words but also by the deeds of a new life and thus convert our homes, living rooms, dining rooms,

bedrooms, workshops, and business places into churches and chancels of our spiritual priesthood.

Well, now, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, only a few hours - and our beautiful Christmas festival will again be gone, and God alone knows who of us will live to see another Christmas. Therefore at the twilight of this season I cry to you: Praise him with heart and mouth who has granted us both. What a blessed hour it is to think of him. Time during which we spend not thinking of him is wasted here on earth. We are to be saved and live to all eternity. Amen.