Advent Midweek IV:
“Savior of the Nations, Come: Are You Ready?”[1]
December 21, 2016
Text: Luke 2:8-20
It is
no accident that our Lord’s birth is first announced to shepherds. This is God’s plan. These men were chosen by God for this
purpose. It is no accident, but neither
is it obvious. After all, who are these
shepherds to receive the announcement of Almighty God’s birth in the flesh? Shepherds are common laborers, and these particular
shepherds are the lowest of the lower class, for they are working the night
shift out in the fields of backwater Bethlehem.
There they keep watch over these dirty, stupid, defenseless animals. Out in the cold and the dark, with little
comfort, they are charged to protect their sheep at all costs. Remember young David who once worked these
very hills, defending his flock against lions and bears, wrestling them with
his hands or killing them with his sling.
Dangerous work, shepherding could be.
And thankless. Some were in it only
because they needed the work. You can
always tell a real shepherd from a hired hand.
When danger arrives, the hired hand runs for his life. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep. Of which category were these shepherds of whom St. Luke writes
in our Holy Gospel? We don’t know. But we do know one thing: While they may have
been ready for lions and bears and wolves and robbers, they were not ready for
the appearance of the angel in the glory of the Lord. Needless to say, they were terrified. In spite of the effeminate representations you
put on top of your Christmas trees, angels are always a fearsome sight for
sinners. But this angel bears good
news. “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”
(Luke 2:10-11; ESV). No, the shepherds
had not expected this. They were not
ready for the appearance of the angel, and they were not ready for the Gospel
he proclaims. Nor were they ready for
what happened next: Heaven torn open by a heavenly chorus, the angels and saints
who had gone before singing the first Christmas hymn, which we still sing today:
“Gloria in excelsis deo!” “Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
(v. 14).
The
shepherds were not ready for Christmas.
The Gospel has about it this quality that it always comes as a surprise. God is a man.
He is born of a virgin. This baby
is God. He is born to die. He is risen from the dead. He lives and reigns with the Father and the
Holy Spirit. He will come again to raise
you from the dead and to give you eternal life.
In the meantime He gives comes to you in the flesh in Words and water,
bread and wine. These are all scandalous
statements. And the great surprise is
you believe every one of them. The whole
business of the angel appearing to shepherds tending their flocks by night is a
great surprise, and it is scandalous. But
more surprising still, the shepherds believed it. And they dropped everything, left it all
behind to go and see this thing that the Lord had made known to them. What were they to do with this great Gospel
news? Go and find the Baby where the
angel said He would be. Go and find God
in the flesh where He is for you. Find
Him wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. They go, and so they find Him, and they tell
everyone who will listen about the sermon the angel preached. They tell everyone who will listen about Jesus,
the newborn Savior and Lord. Then they
return. They go back to work. But everything has changed. They take up their shepherd’s crooks with
renewed vigor, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as
it had been told them.
It
is no accident that the Gospel is first received by shepherds. Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and He lays down
His life for the sheep. He lays down His
life for you. He was born for this very
purpose. You are His beloved sheep, and
Jesus is no hired hand. Like His
forefather David, He faces all the enemies that would harm you, rob you from
His flock, and kill you. He takes on sin,
death, and the very devil, and He protects you at all costs. He does not run from danger. He embraces His cross and He willingly dies,
for His death means your life. In His death,
death is defeated. His blood washes away
all your sin. And the devil? The devil has lost his grip on you. He once held you with claw and fang. Like a roaring lion, he sought to devour
you. But now the Good Shepherd has
wrestled the satanic hellcat with His own pierced hands. He has triumphed over him in His cross. The Shepherd’s heal was struck, but the serpent’s
head is crushed.
Jesus
is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep, and now He is risen
from the dead, and still tends His sheep here in the sheepfold of His
Church. He tends them by His Word,
proclaimed by His undershepherds. “Pastor”
is a Latin word that means “shepherd.”
We learn a lot about what it means to be a pastor from the Bethlehem
shepherds. Pastors are to keep watch
over the flock and protect the sheep from predators and robbers at all
costs. Dangerous work, pastoring can
be. It is fraught with perils. Many are the pastors who have fallen to the
enemy in battle for the lives of the sheep.
Some only do it because they need the work. When danger comes, they are exposed as hired
hands. They run for their lives. But a true pastor lays down his life for the
sheep, in the confidence that his life will be returned to him by the Good
Shepherd, the Good Pastor, even Jesus Christ.
Like the shepherds of Bethlehem, a pastor must first hear the
preaching. He must first receive the
Gospel and believe it in order to preach it.
He is a sinner, and he needs the Good News proclaimed by the angel: “Fear
not! Unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ
the Lord. Go and find the Lord where He
has promised to be for you: in the swaddling cloths of the Scriptures and in
the manger, the feeding trough that is the altar, where you feast on His true
body and blood. Then preach. Tell all who will listen, and even those who
won’t, the saying that has been told you concerning this Child. Get to work.
Tend the sheep. Glorify and
praise God for all you have heard and seen.”
And
then there are the sheep themselves.
That is to say, then there is you, Jesus’ little lamb. The Good Shepherd loves you and tends you
Himself. And He sends His pastor, His
undershepherd, to care for you. By preaching. By pointing you to the place where Jesus is for
you: The swaddling cloths… the Holy Scriptures; the manger… the altar. The pastor is to shelter you and your fellow
sheep in the grotto of Holy Church, and feed you with Jesus.
Mary
is the picture of the faithful Christian in this Gospel. She hears the shepherds’ preaching, and what
does she do with that Word? She
treasures up all these things and ponders them in her heart (v. 19). What are you to do with this incredible,
surprising, scandalous Good News of great joy proclaimed by the angel to the
shepherds, and by the shepherds to Mary, proclaimed in the Scriptures and by
your pastor to you? Treasure it up. Ponder it in your heart. Keep it always before your ears and eyes as
that which is most precious. Cling to it
for your very life. Wonder. Worship.
And speak it to others. To all
who will listen, and even to those who won’t.
For this Gospel first proclaimed to lowly shepherds is now proclaimed to
you: “Unto you is born a Savior,
Christ, the Lord.” Rejoice. Emmanuel comes, now, in the flesh, to you
dear child of God. He advents. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son
(+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] The theme and some of the
thoughts in this sermon are from Savior
of the Nations, Come (St. Louis: Concordia, 2009).
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