Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Silent night. Holy night.
It is a quiet night, is it not? No,
not in the normal way of thinking. There
are still trains that will go by and honk their horns at 1 in the morning, as
you awaken to hear the rumble of them down the tracks. The neighbors dog may still bark, the kids
will probably shriek with delight upon seeing the presents under the tree. There will be the normal din and noise
tonight. But still there is a peaceful
silence – the silence that overcomes the noise and din of your sin.
Up until that first
Christmas, your sin and guilt was ever crying out to condemn you before your
heavenly father. There was so much sin,
and so much racket in your life, its impossible to even keep track of a small
portion of it. The cries go up! You’re an adulterer. You’re a thief. You curse, swear and lie. You seek and desire after the things that you
think will make you happy in this life more than you care about your
neighbor. You’re self-centered gossips. Yes, those words are spoken about you and the
cacophony of sin that fills your life.
Your life is not peaceful and quiet, your life is not serene. Instead there is sin at every corner
crouching like a lion seeking to devour us.
That sin for as
long as we can remember has sought to destroy our lives, and more dangerously,
to destroy our faith. That sin has often
had its source from your own heart. It’s
been your evil desires at times that have created the noise of sin in your
life. It’s been your fault, as we
confess each week, your own fault, your own most grievous fault that you’ve
sinned. Its your guilt that makes up the
noise of this sinful world.
But not
tonight. Tonight it is quiet, tonight it
is peaceful. Tonight, on this Holy
night, the accusations against you no longer ring forth. Instead before God there is a peace that can
only be won with blood and suffering.
There is calmness for the battle between man and sin is won.
How? The birth of Christ. On this night, so many years ago the cries of
a young woman in labor were heard in the town of Bethlehem. And after the cries of the birth pains were
over, a baby boy was born of that blessed virgin, and laid in a manger to
sleep. And this babe would be one for
the rising and falling of many. This
babe would be the sin atoning sacrifice for you, and me, and all the
world. This babe was born to die on an
old rugged cross outside Jerusalem, to bear all the wrath of God against the
clamor of your sin. He is your blood
brother, whose blood will set you free from sin forever.
And this ordinary baby
is truly not an ordinary babe at all.
For within his human body - with its miniature fingers and the lub dub
of its tiny heart – the fullness of God’s only begotten son lies hidden. (deus absconditus). The God who existed before time itself was
created by him, lays nursing at the breast of his human mother. He has placed himself into the care of sinful
people, knowing that they will one day mock him, beat him, and kill him. For he knows that is the only way that he
will save them.
This baby is
Jesus, true God and true Man. He is your
Lord, who has redeemed you lost and condemned people, purchasing and winning
you with his own blood so that you may finally be at peace with God.
And so tonight is
silent. Tonight is calm. Tonight is holy, and you too, in Jesus alone,
are you too holy forever. He is yours,
and you are his. He is the Son of God,
love’s pure light. Sin is defeated. Death and the grave can no longer clamor for
you, for they are broken. In the baby
born tonight, Jesus, you are at peace with God, even forever. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
