11 Instead of soft and silken stuff
You have but hay and straw so rough
On which as King, so rich and great,
To be enthroned in royal state.
12 And so it pleases You to see
this simple truth revealed to me:
That worldly honor, wealth, and might
Are weak and worthless in Your sight.
13 Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled,
A quiet chamber set apart
For You to dwell within my heart.
14 My heart for very joy must leap;
My lips no more can silence keep.
I, too must sing with joyful tongue
That sweetest ancient cradlesong:
15 Glory to God in highest heav'n,
Who unto us His Son has giv'n!
While angels sing with pious mirth
A glad new year to all the earth.
Revelation 22:12"Behold,
I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he
has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the
beginning and the end."
14Blessed are those
who wash their robes,[e] so that they may have the right to the tree of life
and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and
sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who
loves and practices falsehood.
16 "I, Jesus,
have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am
the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."
17The Spirit and the Bride say,
"Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the
one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without
price.
Luke 2: 1In those days a decree went out from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first
registration when[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3And all went to be
registered, each to his own town. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from
the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered
with Mary, his betrothed,[b] who was with child. 6And while they were there,
the time came for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son
and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was
no place for them in the inn.
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today are the last verses of the hymn, along with the reading
from Revelation 22, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me,
to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first
and the last, the beginning and the end."
Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ, Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.
We are almost there, Christ is almost here. You can imagine that at this very time Joseph
and Mary are on their way to Bethlehem.
Mary is very pregnant, and Joseph is worried about arriving safely
before she enters labor. But the travel
is slow, and the distance is great to travel.
And when finally they arrive, there is no room for them at the inn.
There should be a big
celebration awaiting them shouldn’t there be?
They should roll out the carpet, pull down the palm branches and shout, “Hosanna
to the coming king!” “ He arrives
tonight!” But there is no room for Jesus
to be born, and there will be no welcome until He rides in to die. As our hymn says, “Instead of soft and silken
stuff, You have but hay and straw so rough, On which as King, so rich and
great, To be enthroned in royal state.”
They should be
ashamed, shouldn’t they, to welcome Jesus in such a way. And yet, how do we welcome Jesus? We so often have no room for Jesus in our
lives either. Between our kids athletic
events, work and keeping up with the Joneses, we hardly have time for even a
quiet moment by ourselves, let alone to welcome Jesus, to receive from him his
gifts.
Do you have the time
to spend in prayer every day that you should?
Do you read God’s word as often as you should? Do you attend church every week, or only when
you feel you have to?
What about this
Christmas season, in the midst of shopping, baking, caroling, working, decorating,
and spending time with family, do you have room for Jesus? Or do you relegate him this Christmas season
to the back door, to the shed behind your house where you keep all the other
overburdening things.
“Behold I am
coming soon,” Jesus says, whether you have room or not. I am coming, and I am bringing you good news
of great joy, whether you are ready or not.
Jesus is coming, because even if he is not important to you sometimes,
you are always important to him. He
comes to this world when we have no place for him because of our sin. He comes to this world, when we are too
preoccupied with our own lives to care.
He comes to this world to defeat the sin and death to which we give all
we can to. He comes, and is coming soon.
And Joseph also
went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of
David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for
her to give birth. And she gave birth to
her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger. He came, and today he continues to come.
He comes in his
holy word, read and preached to us sinners, to tell us we need him, and that he
will do all that is necessary for us. He
comes to us in the water of baptism, where he invites all who thirst for righteousness
to drink of the water of life without price.
He comes with his very own body and blood, that which laid in a manger,
and that which hung on a cross, to eat and drink for forgiveness life and
salvation. He comes to live with us,
forever, without end. He comes to take
away our sin, even if we are not ready.
Ah, dearest Jesus,
holy Child, Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled, A quiet chamber set apart For You
to dwell within my heart. My heart for
very joy must leap; My lips no more can silence keep. Glory to God in highest heav'n, Who unto us
His Son has giv'n!
Christmas is here,
and it brings your salvation with a child in the manger. From heaven above to Earth, God has come, to
bring good news to every home. Amen.
