Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text for this morning’s sermon comes to us from the Gospel lesson, Luke Chapter 7, focusing in on the rejection of Jesus:
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
... (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)
Thus far the text.
Dear friends in Christ,
Keep Christ in Christmas! That is the cry we hear this time of year. It’s usually coming from well-meaning Christians who are moved to shouts of protest when they get angry about the secularization of that most holy day, that day our Lord Jesus was born into this world, that day when the Virgin Mary looked down at the baby laying in her arms and saw that He is the God who created her and yet the baby that she created in her womb.
What greater thing can there be? Of course we all want to keep Christ in this Christ’s mass, this Christmas. Is this a good cry? Yes! Keep Christ in Christmas! But are we doing it? Are we keeping Christ in Christmas? Can we?
In the text today, John the Baptizer, imprisoned by King Herod for decrying his marriage, the marriage that Herod began by seducing his sister-in-law away from her husband, his brother, sends his disciples to Jesus. It’s funny, isn’t it? We only really think about Jesus having disciples, followers learning at His feet, but John, the man that Jesus says is the greatest man who had ever lived, was a man who, by the very Word of God and the baptism he performed, was a dynamic preacher. John was a man who told people exactly who they were, sinners against the Holy God of Israel who must repent and trust in this God.
And when John sees Jesus at Jesus’ baptism, he cries out that this man, this man who was born as a baby and yet who is God Himself, he cries that this Jesus is the Lamb of God, the sacrifice of God, God Himself, who will take away the sins of the world, who will make all things new!
But yet, John now languishes in prison. So, he send his disciples to Jesus to ask Him if He truly is the One, the One God sent to do these things. Was John tired? Was he beaten down? Was John worried that his ministry was in vain? Maybe. It seems that John just wanted final confirmation. John knew that he was going to die. And he will. His head will be chopped off and served up on a silver platter to Herod’s party. Where was Christ there? Couldn’t Jesus have stopped it all? He’s God, after all, right? Why didn’t Jesus save John?
Jesus answers the disciples sent by John, “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.” These are the signs of the Messiah! They had been foretold by Isaiah and now Jesus is saying that the sign is fulfilled! It gives John comfort, just as it gives us comfort to know that Jesus fulfilled every prophecy, and so we, like John can trust that Jesus is the Messiah, the one anointed by God to save us all from our sin, just as John himself proclaimed.
But then Jesus adds in this very strange phrase, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” What’s that supposed to mean? The one who isn’t offended by Jesus? Who could possibly be offended by Jesus? He’s making blind people to see again, the lame are walking because of Him, lepers are cleansed from their disease and their skin is made new. The dead are raised out of their slumber! Families are reunited again! How great is that?! And moreover, the poor hear the good news of Jesus preached to them! Who could possibly take offense at that?
Seriously, let’s consider, who could take offense at that? People that aren’t healed? People that aren’t raised? No, all that saw Jesus and asked of Him were healed, all that came to the Savior received what He had to give. So who would take offense at Jesus? People who reject Him, of course. Why would they reject Him? Because of the very last thing Jesus says, the poor receive good news preached to them.
So these people who reject Jesus, They don’t think they’re poor, they think they’re rich with the trappings of their lives or the philosophies of their dreams. They don't think they're poor, they give to the needy. They don’t think they’re poor, they think they’ve got it made because people think well of them. They don't think they're poor, they don't judge others. They don’t think they’re poor, they think they’re reasonable people who scoff at religion and don’t believe in a god because they can explain the universe rationally. They don’t think they’re poor, they think they’re generally good people who don’t really have sins. They haven't murdered anyone, they haven't committed adultery, they keep their oaths, they're inclusive. They don’t think they’re poor, they think they’re getting by and don’t need Jesus.
Huh. Sounds like there are lots of reasons they reject Jesus. Same today, right? Our society doesn't think that they’re poor, they get more and more stuff and more and more toys. Our society doesn’t think they’re poor, they come up with humanistic philosophies for selfishly serving their fellow man or follow after false religions that only lead them to hell. Our society doesn’t think that they’re poor, they take the creation and think they can figure out how and why all things are without God. They don’t think they’re poor, they think they’re good people who will go to heaven because they do more good than bad. They don’t think they’re poor, they think they can remove Christ from the world and get by without Him.
Even today, as our country reels from the news of yet another horrific massacre of children, this time in their own school as they go about their education, our country rejects God. We ask, where was God in this? Or we think that if only we had more laws, less laws, more restriction, less restriction, more oversight, less oversight, less bullying, less anger, more help, more love, if only we, we could do something, then this massacre wouldn't have happened. To focus on this, we miss that we ourselves are evil, just as the gunman was evil. We miss that the answer to evil is not more restriction of evil, but more Jesus, more forgiveness. But our country, our society doesn't want Jesus. They want answers and they want it their way.
Huuhhmmm. I do this a lot. I reject Jesus a lot. I live in this society, and I can easily criticize all that we do, but at the same time, I do the same things. I sin. I treat people badly. I gossip. I complain. I don’t go to God with my concerns; I think that I can handle my life on my own. I explain God away when I sin, thinking He can’t see me, can’t hear me, can’t smell me, can’t do anything to me. And I have this sneaking suspicion that you do, too.
Keep Christ in Christmas? Bah humbug! I can’t even keep Christ for a second! Keep Christ in Christmas? I can’t even be truthful with Him. Let’s be honest, shall we? I am heartily sorry for my sins? I sincerely repent? Come on! I can’t do that, even when I want to! I’m lost. I can’t turn to God. Can you? I can’t get anything from Him.
Except... Well, is that true? If it were up to us, it would be. But it’s not up to us. It’s up to Jesus. In the text, we see that when Jesus says these things a whole bunch of people, even tax collectors, the most evil of IRS agents, declare that God is just, that God is righteous, that what God in Jesus Christ is doing is good and right and salutary. And why do they do this? Because they have been baptized! And so have you! And this, even though our country mourns, this is cause for great joy! Even though evil occurs around us, the Church celebrates together our baptisms, our lives in Jesus Christ.
We have been baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, just as those who were following after Jesus had. Our lives have been upset, turned upside down, turned completely around in our baptisms. Keep Christ in Christmas? He’s already inside of you! Keep Christ in Christmas? He’s already present in this church! Keep Christ in Christmas? He’s already given us His real body and true blood in the Lord’s Supper and we will celebrate this continually until He comes.
No one can take Jesus out of Christmas! We can no more separate Christ from Christmas than we can remove Him from this church, from all the churches. As long as the Church continues to celebrate Christmas, as long as the Church continues to gather in God’s presence, Jesus will be here. We should not be surprised that the world, just like the pharisees and the legal experts of Judaism, reject Jesus. We should not be surprised that they want to tear down manger scenes and say happy holidays and celebrate the Winter Solstice and remove God from all mention in the world. We should never be surprised at the evil that exists around us, even when children are slaughtered. King Herod even slaughtered innocent children right in front of Jesus trying to kill Him. People rejected Jesus all the time, even right in front of Jesus!!! We shouldn’t be surprised by any of this because we do it, we reject Christ, all the time!
We shouldn’t be surprised by the world kicking Christ out of Christmas. We should expect it. Jesus offends them. They don’t need Him, they think. But they do, they do need Jesus. And because we keep Christ in Christmas, because we celebrate Christ here each week, because we are strengthened by Christ in our vocations, because we have been baptized in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we are in a prime position to bring Jesus to the world. We keep Christ in Christmas, not by forcing our society to set up manger scenes, not by making them say Merry Christmas, not by railing against how Christians and Christmas aren’t welcome in the world. We know we’re not welcome in the world. Jesus promises this.
Jesus says, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
So this Christmas, before the face of the world, love people. They may hate you for it. Show them Jesus in your words and actions. They may hate you for it. Rejoice in your baptism, your salvation. They may hate you for it. Be poor in spirit, for yours in the Kingdom of Heaven. They may hate you for that, too. But more than anything, more than anything you do or you are, celebrate the gift of God this Christmas that He has given to you in Jesus Christ. Celebrate it each and every day, in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit. And know, that if the world hates you, it’s because you are no longer of the world, but have been saved from it by Jesus in the very baptism by which you have been received into the Church. Keep Christ in Christmas? Absolutely, the Church will continue to do that and you can get Him right here any time you want and rejoice. That’s Jesus’ promise. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Now may the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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