FOR YOU—TODAY!
a sermon based on Luke 2:1-20
by Rev. Richard Thompson

     I can still remember counting down the nights before Christmas with my brother, with whom I shared a bedroom.  Each night from early December on, we’d have a little harder time getting to sleep.  And then, on Christmas Eve, we’d say to one another at bedtime, “Tonight’s the night!”, and fitfully doze off, bursting with anticipation of what we’d find under the tree on Christmas morning!

     How many of you know any children are wound tight as drums, so full they are of excitement?

    Well, “Tonight’s the night!”  The magical night is finally here!  The day has finally arrived.  IT’S CHRISTMAS EVE!

     Families have traveled long distances to be together.  Feasting and exchanging gifts add to the joy and spirit of the holiday.  And the church is all decked out in its finest: the beautiful Christmas banners and garlands and bows; the colorful nativity scene; the soft, warm glow of candlelight; the brilliant poinsettias.  And there is music—lots of wonderful music, to add to the gladness and festivity.

      For most of us, it’s an incredible evening, Christmas Eve!

     But that wasn’t the case on the first Christmas Eve.  Those shepherds were out in the field, just doing their job.  They were poorly-paid, members of a lowly-regarded, disgusting occupation.  Shepherds couldn’t find decent jobs.  They were all assumed to be liars and thieves, so their testimony was not allowed in court.  And they were outcasts among the Jews because their work prevented them from worship in the synagogue or temple.

     There they were—lowly, scorned, disrespected, outcast shepherds.  Just out in the field, doing their jobs.

     But then something incredible happened!

     Walter Wangerin tells it like this:

     “God turned to the angel, and said, “Gabriel”.

     And the angel answered, “Yes, Lord?”

     And the Lord God said, “Go down.  All of the people must know what I am doing.  Tired and lonely and scattered and scared, all of the people must hear it.  Go, good Gabriel.  Go down again.  Go, tell a few to tell the others, till every child has heard it.  Go!”

     And so it was that the angel of the Lord appeared to weary shepherds.  The dark was shattered, for the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were sore afraid. 

     The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid.”

     But the light was like a hard and holy wind, and the shepherds shielded their faces with their arms. 

     “Hush,” said the angel, “hush,” like the west wind.  “Shepherds, I bring you good news of great joy, and not only for you, but for all the people.  Listen.”

     So shepherds were squinting and blinking, and shepherds began to listen, but none of them had the courage to talk or to answer a thing.

 

     “For unto you is born this day in the city of David,” said the angel, “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

     Suddenly the sky itself split open, and like the fall of a thousand starts, the light poured down.  There came with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:

                        Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace—

                        Peace to the people with whom God is pleased!

     But hush, you shepherds.  Hush in your wonder.  For the choral singing is soon ended.  The hosts ascended, and the sky was closed again.  And then there came a breeze and a marvelous quiet and the simple dark of the night.  It was just that, no terror in that then.  It was only the night, no deeper gloom than evening.  For not all of the light had gone back into heaven.  The Light of the World himself stayed down on earth, and near you now.”[1]

     So writes Walt Wangerin.

     It’s incredible!  Incredible that shepherds should be the first to hear, incredible that they obeyed, incredible that they told what they had seen and heard, and incredible that their testimony was received, treasured, and pondered! 

     It’s an incredible night, and an incredible message: A Savior, Christ the Lord, is born—FOR YOU!  The Light of the world has come to dwell on earth!

     Imagine that: born for shepherds!  Shepherds, who’d only received the scorn of others, now receive the message of the angels: “Shepherds, a child is born—a child from God—born for you!  For you!”

     And not only for shepherds—but also for you!

     In the delightful story The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, the Herdman children—the ones from the wrong side of the tracks—wander into the first rehearsal, and become interested in the Sunday School Christmas pageant.  The story is so new and fresh to them that they want to hear it, absorb it and, eventually, live it.  To the dismay of the adults whose children were supposed to star in the pageant, the Herdman children end up with most of the main roles.

     Most are certain the pageant will be a disaster.  But in one memorable scene, little Gertie Herdman steps forward as the angel, announcing the holy birth.  She points to the shepherds—her brothers among them—and shouts, “Hey!  Unto you a Savior is born!”

     With that one important line, she’s supposed to be finished.  But now Gertie is on a roll.  For once in her life, she’s got center stage, and she’s caught up in the story, and she just keeps going in her excitement.  “Hey!  Unto you a Savior is born!”—and she begins pointing to people in the congregation.  “Unto you…and you…and you…and you…AND YOU!!”

     To lowly, stinking shepherds, to the Herdman children from the wrong side of the tracks—and, yes, to you and I!—a child is born; a divine, holy, life-giving child!

     That’s right—unto every one of us, TODAY, a Savior is born!  A Savior from the darkness of sin and evil and death.  A Savior from the darkness and fear they create in our world, in our lives.  A Savior from the loneliness and discouragement and emptiness that are too often our companions.  A Savior from all that makes us less than God intends us to be.  A Savior is born!

     God’s incredible, awesome gift is now given to us!  A child is born, a Son is given, a Savior, Christ the Lord—given TO US, TODAY!

     And what an important word for us who would follow God and know the life God makes possible—that little word, “today”.

     We’ve been waiting these past weeks—waiting to fully celebrate, waiting to sing the carols together, waiting to hear again the angels’ wonderful announcement.  We’ve been waiting.

     Perhaps we’ve been waiting for a long time.  Waiting for life to make sense.  Waiting to discover a reason to hope.  Waiting to know that we are loved by someone—any one!  Waiting for a little peace in a violent, chaotic world.  Waiting for a little taste of joy.  Waiting.  The waiting gets so long, and so hard, and so, so heavy.

     But today—today it’s different!  Today, the waiting is over!  Today, there is good news—enough good news to last a lifetime, even an eternity!  Today there IS reason to hope, and laugh, and rejoice!  Today there is reason to love—because we are loved by God with a deep, lasting, eternal, certain love!  Today there is GOOD NEWS: A Savior is born; a Savior is born FOR YOU!

     For years, Alan’s wife had been inviting him to the annual Christmas pageant at the church, and for years he had resisted the invitation.  But this year, to keep peace in the family, and to show them that he cared, Alan decided to attend.  He arrived, feeling like a fish out of water, hoping to just quietly slip in and out, without being noticed.

     But Alan was greeted by a friendly church member at the door, and graciously ushered to a seat.  Someone nearby introduced herself, and said, “It’s so nice to have you here”.  The children filed in for the program, and Alan’s kids’ faces beamed when they saw their Dad.  In their special way, the children proclaimed the forgiveness and love of Jesus.  The music was bright and heart-warming.  And, to his surprise, the amazing message touched Alan deeply.  This dad who was only doing his duty was strangely wrapped up in the event.  That night Alan came to a new awareness of God’s presence, God’s power, God’s forgiveness, God’s incredible love.[2]

     And, today, I offer that same news to you.  Today, I offer you the news that changed Alan’s life: A Savior is born!  Today, a Savior is born!

      For you…and you…and you…and you…AND YOU!

[2]. Source unknoiwn.