Pastoral Perspective: The angels' message

^“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

“'And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'” — Luke 2:8-14

The story of Christmas truly is amazing. Like most of you, I certainly do look forward to all the festivities and celebratory nature of this blessed and unique time of year.

However, with all this said we can truly miss the importance of the message of Christmas by simply looking at it as merely a celebration. Christmas is certainly a great celebration, but the scriptures surrounding it are filled with heavy theological importance if we dig into them and leave behind our levity and preconceived notions.

Perhaps, one of the weightier themes of Christmas can be found in the message of the angels to the shepherds. The church once recognized the theological importance of the Christmas story, though sadly we have rescinded the weightier matters of Christmas theology for overt commercialization and secular meanings.

Martin Luther, in his famous “Sermon on the Afternoon of Christmas Day,” (Dec. 25, 1530), delves headfirst into the message with a diatribe fitting this theological icon. He rises above the images we have of little children dressed as shepherds and sheep and their cuteness that melts everyone at the annual Christmas Eve pageant. With this image firmly ensconced in our heads it is no wonder we flippantly race past this important message to our own detriment.

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” This simple line is vitally important to the whole of Christendom. The message, as Luther points out, is personal. It is as well one of overarching importance for the entirety of humanity, but its personal nature is drawn out here with resounding thunder.

“Unto you,” every one of the billions of individuals who have ever drawn a breath on this planet could place their name here as the angel’s message is focused on each of us with laser like accuracy. What a blessed message from the angel, that the God of the universe, creator of all cares for me enough to send His Son “unto you,” (insert your name here).

Certainly, on Christmas we will all receive something, however, all pales in comparison with the gift of Jesus unto us.

Now that we know who Jesus Christ was born unto, the question remains for what reason? “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior.” Yes, a Savior.

Jesus came to save us from the ailment which infected all of humanity from virtually the beginning. It states in Isaiah 53: 4-5, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”(KJV)

He Saved us from our sinful and fallen nature and with this made us heirs with Him of eternal life and resurrection hope. We no longer are separated from God but have once more been reunited with our creator from whom we fell. Jesus our Savior redeemed us from the hold of death, hell and the grave freeing us from our bonds that we may live anew in Him.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ButGod, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” — Ephesians 2:1-10

Luther goes on to remind his listener that Christ did all that was necessary for our salvation. This is perhaps the greatest treasure of all that Jesus Christ gave Himself and all of Himself so we could gain the unmerited favor, grace of God by His works not of our own. This truly and most certainly is good news and true.

Also, we can take solace in the location of Jesus’ birth. The Hebrew meaning of Bethlehem or the City of David as it is known, can be broken down this way, “The House of Bread.” Isn’t it fascinating to consider that the “Bread of Life” (Jesus Christ) comes from the house of bread?

Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone.” We may have all the things money can buy; we may have food to burn as they say, but without Christ our life is nothing more than a shell of what it is with the Bread of Life living in and through us.

Lastly, “Unto you is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Most people desire Christ as their Savior; however, he must be Lord also. He is our creator and our God and it is He who must increase and it is me (us, you) that must decease.

Christ as Lord is not here to hinder our lives but to increase who and what we are in Him. It is one thing to have Jesus as your Savior but it is an entirely different life that has Him take control as Lord. He said in Mark chapter 8 that he “must suffer,” must being the operative term, and He also states that those who would come after Him would have the “must” fall on them as well.

“And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.'

^“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.'” — Mark 8:31-38

This Christmas let us truly take the message of the angel to heart. “Unto you is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Rev. Carlin Ours pastors at the First Lutheran Church, Pontiac

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Rev. Carlin Ours Pastoral Perspective: The angels' message