Opening Prayer
Lord, let the message of Your joy permeate our hearts. Amen.
Text: Luke 2:1-14
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 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, good will toward men!”
Devotion
The blessed angel hosts praise God for what He has done for us mortals. It is our joy which causes heaven’s angels to rejoice, our song of praise they join, our thank-offering they present before the throne. That’s why they too have come down to earth and make it their temple. For to us God has given His Son. He has become our Brother, our Lord and Savior. He is born on earth. He has become a Man. What was decided in the eternal counsel of the Trinity, prepared for millennia and promised through the whole time of the Old Testament, it is done today: God’s Son is born of a woman. We let ourselves be deceived. We sold ourselves to the devil, and should be eternally lost. But now we are redeemed and shall inherit eternal life. God Himself became our Savior. The earth will no longer be the devil’s kingdom, where wrath, lying, and murder from hell reign, but the home of the saints, where God is worshipped in spirit and truth, and where love, peace, and God’s good will abound. For here is He who frees our conscience from the bondage of fear, opens our eyes to know the truth, cleanses our hearts, pours out God’s love, and unites us with the holy and blessed God. When we believe the love with which God loves us, then it enters our soul. We love Him because He first loved us (1Jo 4:19). So He comes to live in our heart.
God’s Son becomes Man for all people. He is born of a woman to give His life for all. Hear this, all people: God’s Son has come for you. He wants to save you. Turn to Him, seek Him in the manger, that is, in the Word and Sacraments of the Church. Seek Him diligently, to be saved from sin, and you shall find Him, and He shall save you.
But you, poor sinners, who grieve over your sin, heartily longing for grace and looking for purity, do not fear, but rejoice with great joy. You belong to the people to whom the angels’ message applies. The blessed joy that fills the heavenly host is really and truly yours. For all who humble themselves, confess their sin, and sincerely want to be saved, they are saved now. All the poor and wretched who hope in the Lord are His people and they possess this “great joy.” No one can describe your happiness, and no one can rob you of your salvation. Love, eternal, heavenly love is yours, and as it is given to you by Him who has power to give it, so it is kept for you by the very same power and faithfulness. You possess a glory that is greater than that of all the angels. We speak of this with reverent fear, for glorious and great are Michael and Gabriel and the seraphim before the throne, so glorious that we sinners cannot look at them without fear.
But God Himself, before whom they hide their faces, is our Brother, and to look into God’s plan for our salvation is their highest desire (1Pe 1:12). These pure, radiant, heavenly spirits who stand before God rejoice over our joy, and join in the gladness that is given to us by God’s eternal good will. Their blessed work is to serve His good will, to act as messengers between heaven and earth, and to praise the Lord with us. Aren’t our glory and honor great! They are overwhelmingly great, and with blessedness they humble our heart, uplift it, and elate it. God loved me so much from eternity and loves me so much now and to all eternity, that He gives me His only-begotten Son. Therefore I love Him in return and will love Him forever in this heavenly love. God is my God, and my heart is His forever. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!”
Hymn
Our thanks we offer Him today,
Although a poor oblation,
Alleluia! Our joyful lay,
Shall sound through ev’ry nation;
Now in our camp the Ark we see,
Therefore we shout the victory
With joyful hearts unfearing;
We sing of peace, the peace profound,
That hell shall tremble at the sound,
Our Christmas anthem hearing.
That God has laid His anger by,
He by His gift hath shown us;
He gives His Son for us to die,
In Him He now doth own us;
These joyful tidings tell abroad,
That Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
From sin doth us deliver;
Who then should not be glad today
When Christ is born, the sinners’ stay,
Who is of grace the giver?
Brorson: In this our happy Christmastide L 134:3-4 ELH 150:3-4 tr. C. Døving;
tune: Der Tag der ist