12/3/02 Capsule Sermon

"What child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet while shepherds watch are keeping?"

The words of this familiar carol raise a very potent question for us this season. Who is this child Who adorns store windows and house lawns? Who is this baby whose birth we celebrate from the Friday after Thanksgiving until the end of December?

(Galatians 4:4, 5) But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

From the moment of His conception by the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary, Jesus, God and man at the same time, is the fulfilled promise of restoration to God. Without the incarnation (becoming flesh), humanity is under the Law of God, doomed to face the punishment for our daily sins, but this child changes all that!

"This, this is Christ the King, Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;"

The coming of the Christ (anointed one, ie. chosen for a special job) means that God has in fact kept His promise to bring us forgiveness. Jesus was born under the Law to fulfil the Law as we could not, so since He not only kept the Law perfectly on our behalf, but also died the punishment we deserve, we all have the free gift of eternal life. He came to  be one of us, flesh and blood, from conception and birth to death and resurrection, and through His resurrection, we have the same promise: flesh and blood eternal life! There is no greater gift!

"Haste, haste to bring Him laud, the babe, the son of Mary!"

Rev. Dale Critchley
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Delaware

12/10/02 Capsule Sermon

(Isaiah 7:14, NIV) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Immanuel: God with us. What an amazing gift! During what is for many the most lonely month of the year, God has given His promise to be with you!

But what does that mean? Hearing a relative far away call and say, "We're with you in spirit," isn't the same as having them really with us. What does God mean when He promises to be with you?

While God is spirit, His promises are very solid and concrete. He became a man, Jesus Christ, to "dwell among us" (John 1:14). God's loving arms are real flesh arms, and His nail-pierced hands are constantly carrying you with the comfort of complete forgiveness. He knows loneliness as no one else ever has, and because Jesus was forsaken on the cross for you, God will neverleave you nor forsake you. He is always with you, every day! He is with you through His Word, speaking to you with love and comfort. He is with you through your Baptism, pouring out His grace (undeserved love) daily through His Spirit, and His presence in the Lord's Supper gives you the assurance of the forgiveness of all of your sin through the same body and blood given and shed for you on the cross. When God promised to be with you, it wasn't just a platitude: He meant what He said.

What an amazing God we have, and what amazing love He has shown to us in so many ways! In the midst of all the fancy decorations of Christmas, know that a simple manger was home to God, who has come to be with you, and that He is still and always will be Immanuel: God with us.

Rev. Dale Critchley
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Delaware