“The Day Has Come”

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

I think that for every child, and for every child that is hiding within every adult (!), Christmas can be both a day of great anticipation and a day of disappointment. When I was growing up, my brothers and I had our Christmas list together a month in advance, and we hoped that Mom and Dad would actually refer to it when they went shopping for our gifts. We never listed socks and underwear though, but we always seemed to get them; and we always had one gift on our list that was beyond the resources available to purchase it. But regardless of what we received, Christmas always seemed to be a magical day.
I tried to remember what gifts I wanted desperately over those early years but didn’t get, but not a single one came to mind. Many came to mind that I did get, though – there were lots of books that I usually had devoured before bed time came, a bicycle that served me well for many years, a toy missile launcher that my brother and I aimed so well that from the opposite end of the room, we put a missile directly through a Christmas ornament that was hanging on the tree, and, of course, there was always the obligatory package of socks and underwear and mittens.

But the one “gift” that always came, but was never considered a gift, was the worship service that began at 11:00 on Christmas Eve. (Aren’t you glad it’s earlier now?) And even though I heard the message proclaimed every year, it would be many more years before I would come to appreciate the fullness of Christmas. The promise of the day has been with us since the earliest days of creation, but how many of us tend to live from one Christmas to the next, instead of from one end of eternity to the other?

But maybe we need to be reminded of the need for Christmas – of the story that goes back to the earliest days of Genesis, and what God has had to do about it.

The created man Adam had been told that he was responsible for everything in the Garden, and that it all was for his good, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was off limits – and if he ever ate it’s fruit, he would die. (Genesis 2:15-18, 20-22) Then the woman Eve is brought into the picture, and shortly thereafter, the Satan appears. He quickly deceives the woman into thinking that the fruit was forbidden only because God didn’t what them to have knowledge like he has, and both the man and the woman eat some, and the deed is done.
And even though they try to hide from God - something that they have never done before - they are found out. The man blames the woman, and she blames Satan – and no one takes any responsibility for the downfall. Then the Lord speaks to them all:

Read Genesis 3:14-19

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;”. This means that they will have hatred and antagonism for each other for the rest of this time. But God knows that the woman’s hatred for the evil one can only go so far in setting all things right, and that the man can never work off his debt, so some definitive measure must be taken by God to allow humanity – the woman and her offspring – to get back in the good graces of the Almighty. And so the Lord continues in proclaiming his curse on Satan: “he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
He – a singular offspring of the woman – will be Satan’s demise. Note that this particular “offspring” isn’t from the created man – it is only the woman who will bring this Divine Condemnation into play. Satan and his minions will antagonize the people of earth, and will, at some point, cause a minor wound to the singular Avenger. But in the end, this Righter of Wrong, the One who would bring retaliation on the cause and source of all death, will put all things right.

Does the story sound familiar? It should – it hasn’t changed a bit in these last several thousands of years! But the retribution against Satan is yet to come, and one day, it will come. But in the meantime, the woman’s great pain in childbirth will continue, and her domination by men will continue, and the man’s unreasonable toil will also have to continue. None of these curses existed prior to the sin – Childbirth would have been pure joy, the man and woman would have lived as equals, and toil? Not in the Holy Garden! All would have been provided by God. And there is nothing that humanity can do about our “curse”, except to live with it until Christ comes to deal, once and for all, with the unholy Accuser.

But didn’t the One already come? Didn’t the Offspring who will crush Satan come, and then, tragically, die as a common human thief on a Roman cross? Yes, but that wasn’t the end – there is still so much more to come! Christ would rise from the grave, and his resurrection would be the death toll for Satan – but he is only staggering for now, and is in the process of being counted out, and he will continue to show his hatred for humanity until his last moment of existence. But his final day will, most assuredly, come.
And us? What about the woman’s offspring? We still have time left to serve on our sentence, but the day of our release is drawing closer every day. Easter announced Satan’s impending demise, but what about us? What about Christmas?

Christmas is the day when the angelic announcement proclaimed that the sentence of eternal toil will soon be lifted, that the pain of childbirth will be soothed into blessed joy, that the struggle in subjugation will be no more, and that the gates of God’s Garden will once again be thrown wide open for all who will turn to the Holy Offspring for hope. The promise had been made almost as soon as the sin was committed, but the message has had to be repeated over and over for eons by God’s faithful.
Isaiah was given word upon word, sign upon sign to share with the people of earth, but how many believed them? Micah would offer the age old hope in his prophecy, but how many would listen? John the Baptist would clarify the word in John 3:36 , when he said “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on [them].” The promise of relief is sure and certain, and assurance of its truth has come to us over and over. But do we listen? Do we believe? Do we really live as Christmas people?

What do you believe about Christmas?

Do you see it in the light of John 3:16-17? Listen to the words! Jesus’ humble birth in that stable out behind the Bethlehem hotel was the offer of salvation for all of humanity. But it is only an offer, only an invitation - it is not guaranteed until you have accepted it. We need to be Christmas people!

Do you see Christmas in the light of Romans 8:1-4? Listen to the words! There is no hope in doing good – not even in following God’s Law perfectly! The only hope we have is in the One and Perfect Son – the Offspring, the Avenger, the Destroyer of sin. We need to be Christmas people!

Do you see Christmas in the light of Matthew 7:21-22? Listen to the words! It isn’t enough to say the name of Jesus, it isn’t enough to come to church and do all of the religious things of faith. It isn’t enough to say that we are Christians! We need to do God’s will and be Christmas people!

Do you see Christmas in the light of Zechariah 3:1-9? Listen to the words! There isn’t a single thing that Joshua, or we for that matter, can do to merit God’s mercy. Only the command of Jesus can do that. There isn’t a single thing that we can do to break Satan’s hold on our lives. Only Jesus can rebuke him. We can do nothing to cleanse ourselves of the condemnation of sin – only Jesus can forgive it and destroy it. And he will remove the blight of sin from all who are Christmas people!

Are you truly a Christmas person? Nothing else about your life matters any more – not your religiosity, not your good works, not your spoken words, not your age, not your ancestors, not your church membership (don’t let the Bishop know I said that, though!) – the only thing that matters anymore is whether you have claimed the Child of Christmas for your Savior, and have committed your life to following him. The Birth in the Christmas stable changed everything, and in that, everything has been made new through the Holy Child.

Is it any wonder that the angels proclaimed “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” God’s favor rests on those who live as Christmas people. The day of decision has arrived, my friends. Are you ready to decide?