Bible Text: Luke 2:1-20 | Preacher: Pastor Christian Preus
It dawned on me the other day that How the Grinch Stole Christmas is just a retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It has exactly the same theme. And since these stories are now the most popular stories told on Christmas, up there with Rudolph and Santa, this theme is what captures the “Christmas spirit” for most today. You have a bad guy, who obviously because of social factors that aren’t his fault, how he grew up, how others treated him, is very ornery and lonely and unkind. And so he lashes out at people. And those people, whether it’s the Whos down in Whoville or the kindhearted Cratchit family, show kindness and love despite being treated so badly by the bad guy. And what happens? The goodness that is still deep down in Ebenezer Scrooge or the Grinch blossoms, the Grinch’s heart grows three times that day. All the joy and contentment and kindness of the Whos draws out what was always there, deep down, in that Grinch. He becomes good because others are good to him.
That is a heartwarming story. And it does happen, that when you show kindness even to the grumpiest people, they may just have a change of heart. The Proverb says, “A kind word turns away anger.” And there is something Christmasy about this message – it’s why we read these stories to our children – because (if we just read into the story a bit) the reason the Whos can be happy on Christmas without their presents and roast beast and the reason the Cratchits can be happy in their pain and poverty, is because they have something greater, what surpasses material possessions, a peace and a joy that no evil man can take away. And that message at least combats the sad consumerism of the secular Christmas, where the purpose of Christmas is to buy things you don’t need and can’t afford.
But the story you just heard from God, the Christmas story, of the baby Jesus born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger, this is not a story of human potential or the goodness that lies deep down in everyone, even in a Grinch and even in a Scrooge. It’s not that God shows us kindness on Christmas and this activates the kindness that was in us the whole time. And the problem this Christmas story addresses is not in social factors, not in an unfair system that hasn’t allowed us to succeed. It’s not in bad people being bad to good people, and it’s not solved by good people being good to bad people.
The message the angel preaches is that a Savior has been born. Saviors save. And they save people who need saving. When the angel Gabriel appears to Joseph, he tells him to name the baby Jesus, which means the Lord saves, because “He will save His people from their sins.” Not from other people’s sins. Not from social evils. Not from the system that oppresses you. From your sins.
Because your problem is not with a Scrooge or a Grinch. Your problem is not outside of you at all. It’s in you. And that means it’s not a problem that you can solve. You need a Savior. It’s self-evident, obvious, that there are troubled and sad people out there and if you focus on them, you may just think that with enough kindness and love, you could change them. If only they see how generous you are, how respectful, gentle, kind, compassionate. But then take a look at what is not so self-evident to sinners, take a look at your own life and your own heart and see that whatever evil and unkindness and meanness you see out there dwells also in you. See that the reason for the lack of peace in our lives is not really because of him or her, it’s because of us. And then hear the words of the angel who announces that a Savior has been born to you in the city of David, who is Christ the Lord.
Look, with the shepherds, at this Savior. They’re not afraid of him. They were afraid when a single angel appeared to them and the reflected glory of God shone round about them. They were sore afraid. The Greek says, “They feared a great fear.” Because the glory of God is God’s righteousness and they saw in it judgment against their sins. It was obvious. He is holy, we are not. So they were afraid. But now they look God himself in the face, as he lies a baby in a manger, and there is not a hint of fear. Because He comes as their Savior. The sin that deserves His punishment, He comes to bear it Himself. The kindness and purity and innocence that novelists dream of but that you can’t find in yourself or in anyone else, you find in Him. And He is your Savior. God becomes a baby, takes on your human nature, so that there will be finally a man who is pure and holy and innocent, and He is pure and holy and innocent for you. He gives it all to you. That’s what you see with that baby lying poor and lowly in a manger.
God declared war on Christmas. Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a heavenly host. That word “host” is in Greek the word for army. God marshalled his troops. He declares war not on you but on your enemies. On the sin that distresses you, on the death that pursues you, on the devil who accuses you, He declares war on them all. But it is like no war ever fought. It is waged by a baby. It is as good as won when this little child shows his face. Because God is with us. He is not against us. He is with us.
The angels sing glory to God in the highest. That too is a war term. You win glory in war. This same word, glory, is famous in Greek literature, in the Iliad. It’s what all the warriors are trying to get by fighting. They want glory in victory. And God’s glory in this war, is to become one with us, to live for us, to die for us, to bear our pain and our poverty and our misery, and to win us as His own forever.
And the angels sing peace. That’s also a war term. The whole point of waging war is to accomplish peace. Even Putin, even the terrorists in Gaza, think that in waging war they can accomplish peace. But the angels do not declare a far-off peace, a future peace. And they don’t declare a worldly peace. It’s a present peace, and it’s peace between you and God. Our sin is at war with the righteous God, and He wins the war and brings peace between us and Him not by fighting us but by fighting for us. He joins the ranks with us. He becomes a man, and the sin that is our enemy because it is killing us, becomes His enemy and He kills it and along with it all death and sorrow forever. And He replaces it all with His goodwill, His mercy, His love toward sinners, His life, His eternity.
And so He is our Savior. That finally is the great war term. The great kings, Caesar Augustus himself, claimed this title when they won their victories, Savior of the people. They saved people for a time from war and poverty, but bad times always came back, and the reason has always been our sin. But our Savior ends the war with sin forever, gives us the riches of His innocence that will not be taken away from us. He establishes a Kingdom that has no end, where we reign with our King, join in His army, rejoice in His peace, share in His glory, because there is born unto you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
That is the great story of Christmas. If there is any talk of our kindness this Christmas, our generosity, as we give gifts to one another and love one another and have the great satisfaction of seeing children and loved ones radiant with joy, it starts right here. With the story of kindness and of goodwill, found in the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. God is with us in human flesh. He loves us. There is no doubt about it. The angels preach this story, the virgin keeps all these things and ponders them in her heart, the shepherds glorify and praise God for all the things they have seen and heard, and we join them, singing glory to God in the highest and peace, goodwill toward men.
Merry Christmas. Amen.