Sermon 12242012 Early Christmas Eve Service

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray!  O God, You have made this Holy night to shine with the brightness of the true light, Jesus Christ.  Grant all of us gathered here to behold the earthly mystery of our Savior, the Light of the World and embrace Him with the fullness and joys of our hearts as we gather around the manger with all of the animals.  For His birth fulfills the promise of the Messiah for all of mankind, including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this Christmas Eve.  AMEN.

In a lowly manger, because there was no room in the inn, our Savior, Jesus Christ was surrounded, not by royalty in fine linen, but by the animals created by His Father and our God.  With humblest of beginnings the animals that Adam named as he looked for a mate, looked down upon the Savior of the World.  Whether it was the roosters, cows, the ox or the donkey, the pigs or the sheep, each animal provided a different perspective of the love, not only of the Savior, but of adoration of Jesus Christ laying in the manger wrapped in swaddling cloths.

For in complete fulfillment of the prophecies of old, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus Christ into this world in the city of David, Bethlehem.  From the humblest of beginnings, laying on the straw that was used for feed for the cattle and sheep, Jesus Christ entered this world in the humblest of ways, but heralded the greatest changes for all of mankind.  Jesus entrance was the beginning of the fulfillment of the plan of salvation.  It was the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament and the prophets of the coming Messiah.  Jesus Christ came to set we the captives free from sin, death and the devil and all of this began with His laying in a manger, because there was no room in the inn surrounded by the lowly animals.

The animals that surrounded Joseph, Mary and Jesus, not only witnessed the greatest mystery of life a child’s birth, but the divine mystery of how Jesus Christ, Son of God and our Savior entered into relationship with humanity.  With His humble birth, the relationship with humanity would take on infinite dimension even with His parents, the animals and with each of us gathered here tonight to celebrate His birth.  The relationship of Jesus Christ with mankind was not of potential, but fulfillment for each of us.  Jesus Christ comes to each of us and as we look upon the manger, unlike the animals who used it as a feed source, we who gather tonight see the manger as the source of the heavenly food of Jesus Christ presented unto us.

Jesus Christ present to us tonight is that we celebrate our personal relationship with Him with His entrance into the World.  It is the offer of this relationship that we partake of when we come on bended knee at the manger and the altar and call upon Him with our every need.  No matter if it is sickness of the body, the soul or the spirit, God in Jesus Christ coming in the manger came to carry our burdens for each and every one of us.  Jesus Christ carried all our burdens right to the Cross of Calvary and offers each of us the personal relationship with Him and the promise of life and salvation for all of mankind.  This offer of relationship comes from a stable full of animals surrounding Joseph and Mary and a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger.  For Jesus Christ came into the World to have a personal relationship with all of mankind, especially all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel on bended knee around the manger this Christmas Eve.  AMEN.

Sermon 01012012 1st Sunday After Christmas

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight O Lord, our rock and our redeemer!!  AMEN!!

Let us pray!  Lord Jesus Christ, we have celebrated Your Holy birth.  Your Word has been fulfilled and we have beheld Your Glory in a babe in a manger.  For in finding in the manger the beginning of the fulfillment of the plan of salvation we now can with Simeon ask that You let us depart in peace according to Your will.  For Your coming into the World was for all of mankind, including we saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

It is interesting that this morning, January 1, 2012 the beginning of the new year we gather to celebrate the dedication of a babe in the temple in Jerusalem.  Seven days ago, we gathered and heard the celebrated Christmas story of Luke and opened Christmas gifts, ate turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls and all the fixings.  Yet now, we come to celebrate the dedication of a child according to the “Law of Moses”.

In the temple Mary and Joseph meet a man named Simeon, who is a devout and righteous man, upon whom the Holy Spirit rested.  Being led by the Holy Spirit to come at the same time as Jesus parents, Simeon had been promised “not to see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ”.  And now is fulfilled the promise of God to Simeon.  In his arms he holds the Messiah, Jesus Christ!  For me as Pastor, when I hold children that God has used me as towel holder to baptize, I can begin to understand Simeon’s joy in beholding the Gift from God of a child.

Yet this was not any child, this was the Messiah, the Christ.  We heard Simeon’s ballad we know as the Nunc Dimittis or “Song of Simeon”.  This canticle used in the liturgy is a result of the reformation and its influence upon the liturgical canticles and songs used in worship.  What is imparted, besought and received is a peace that Simeon receives in holding the long foretold Christ Child.  For the words, “mine eyes have seen Thy salvation” apply clearly to Simeon’s life and now the fulfillment of the scriptures is taking place.

But what does that matter for us today here in Goodland, KS, with snow on the ground, a cold wind blowing off the prairies and now the first day of 2012?  What matters is that the peace that Simeon felt at holding the Messiah we can feel as well.  This canticle is used most often during the Vespers service at the end of the service.  It is to be a stark reminder for us of the peace that God gives to us through the birth of His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.  In the lowly manger, because there was no room in the inn, Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ Who came into a world of His making to save and redeem mankind from sin, death and the devil.  In this one act the plan of salvation came into action and we now are partakers of it through our partaking of His precious body and blood.  As we eat His Body and drink His Blood the peace that Simeon felt is given to us as partakers of eternal life.

We celebrate the Glory, Honor and praise of Jesus Christ as we remember His being brought to the Temple in Jerusalem in fulfillment of the Law of Moses.  Yet, in His birth, being brought to the temple and His sacrificial death on the cross for all of us on Calvary, Jesus Christ sets us free and gives us the greatest peace we could ever hope to feel, a peace that Simeon felt when He saw, held and sang his canticle of praise.  May we celebrate with Simeon, Mary and Joseph and understand that this peace is given to all people, including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel on this January 1, 2012.  AMEN.