[Christmas Day Sermon- Pastor Fischer]
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Where do you find the glory of Christmas? There are plenty of examples of that glory around us. Walk through your neighborhood to see the lights gleaming in the darkness. Walk indoors to discover the soft glow of Christmas lights. Look under the tree to discover the bright colors of wrapping paper. Gather around a decorated table with a freshly carved ham. These are the pictures of Christmas glory presented to you through TV and radio, in books and in movies. When these things are missing, something just doesn’t seem right. Yet you know these things aren’t the real glory of Christmas. That is why you are here this morning. There is something more to the glory of Christmas. As you look at the Christmas accounts found in Matthew and Luke, you also see the glory of Christmas shine forth. The angels appeared to the shepherds and the glory of the Lord shone around them. They break forth in songs of jubilation and praise. The shepherds are terrified, and then marvel over all they see and hear.
All of the excitement, all these displays of God’s glory, it’s all there on Christmas night. But now the angels have left. The shepherds have returned to their flock. The sun has risen and cast the last shadows of night away. But the glory of Christmas remains. It is not just the things we see, but also the things we don’t see that reveal the glory of Christmas.
It was hidden as the Word became Flesh:
The Christmas morning sun brought a new picture for the town of Bethlehem to see. You can almost see the glow on Mary’s face as she holds her new infant. The new mother was in her glory, caring for her newborn child even though she was probably tired from all the events of the day before. Forget animals and fodder in the stable. Forget the dirt and the grime and the smell. None of that mattered anymore. She held her firstborn. She was able to care or her son. Even though we can imagine the glory of a new mother, there is another glory, hidden and unassuming in the room.
Anyone who holds an infant in their hands holds a miracle. Mary held in her hands her infant. Even though Mary’s miracle looked like any other child, there was something different, something hidden. In her arms Mary holds the magnum mysterium—the great mystery! In her arms lay the divine Word! Christ himself has clothed himself in humanity! God himself became an infant! The all-powerful God is a helpless child! The creator of the world is now born of his creation. This is the great mystery we marvel over on Christmas day. It is in this great mystery that we begin to find the hidden glory of Christmas.
John refers to Christ as the Word as he describes Christ’s divine existence before he was born. Then he declares: The Word became flesh. These words describe the mystery of the incarnation—that God took on flesh and blood. But when Christ took on flesh and blood, he did more than zip a costume on for a few years. When the Word became flesh, it encompassed everything that makes us human. He took on our wisdom—he grew in stages and his mind developed like any other child learning to be discerning and rational. He had the same desires that we have—he would grow hungry and experience parched lips. There, hidden in the mediocrity of humanity, is the glory of God, looking as ordinary as a day in December.
Yet even though this glory is hidden for a moment, we will someday see it with our own eyes in all its brilliance. This is our joy and delight at Christmas. Jesus himself became a man. He hid his divine glory as he took on flesh and blood so that we would someday be able to see his glory. For not only did he take on himself our humanity, he also placed himself under the very law he requires us to live under. Only he did not sin. Through his perfect life he redeemed us from the demands of God’s law. He did this so that we would become an heir of heaven. There we will see his glory—no longer hidden but fully revealed. And we will rejoice with the angels who announced his birth as we praise God with the song of the angels, Glory to God in the highest.
It was hidden as the Word dwelt among us:
What does it look like to have someone dwell in the same home as you? You probably see their clothes lying on the floor. There will probably be wrapping paper with their name on it strewn throughout the house. You see them, you care for them, you know they are there and their wants and needs. What about God? What is it like to have God himself dwell with you? Does he leave his clothes on the bedroom floor, or forget to brush his teeth? Does his voice raise as he talks to others. It is hard to imagine. Yet on Christmas, The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us. Christ dwelt among us! Let me repeat that in case you missed the profoundness of that statement. God himself lived in a home as we do, he walked the earth as we do, he interacted with people as we do. And the people around him did not run screaming from him and his glory as he did so! What a contrast to the way he revealed his glory in the past.
In the past God dwelt among his people as a pillar of cloud and fire. He appeared in his glory, covered by smoke at the top of Mt. Sinai so that Israel wouldn’t see it and die. The sinful people of Israel trembled in fear of the holy God. But there was no trembling in fear on Christmas morning. Mary didn’t cringe and cover he face instead of holding Jesus. Joseph didn’t flee from the presence of God. No, the glory of God was set aside and hidden. Now the Word lived as a helpless child.
But where is the glory in this? As Christ made his dwelling with us, he “moved in” with his creation as it stumbled and bumbled its way through each and every day. He ate with them and talked with them and endured their smelly odors and put up with their foolish actions and tolerated their nonsensical conversations. He suffered under the scorn of others and felt the tugs of temptation, only he did not stumble and fall into the dark clashes of sin. It doesn’t seem very glorious at all. But in this way we find his glory. For he dwelt in the world and experienced the same temptation we experience and endured the same type of hardships and persecution and rejoiced when things went well and mourned when things didn’t. Now he is able to comfort us in trouble, to help us in temptation, to rejoice with us when we rejoice and mourn with us when we mourn. He is able to do all this because he hid his glory and was born of a virgin and dwelt among us.
Where do you find the glory of Christmas? AS you go home today, you will probably enjoy some of those familiar pictures of Christmas glory—the gifts given by loved ones, the gathering with friends or family, the chance to sit down and rest for a few hours. But do not allow these things to overshadow the hidden glory of Christmas. Marvel once again at the great mystery of Christmas—that God himself set aside his glory and became incarnate, taking on flesh and blood, so that he could bring you into glory with him for all eternity. Amen.
