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December 24, 2004
Christmas Eve
Luke 2:11
Pastor Robert Raasch

Jesus the Savior is Born!

1. Born in the Town of David
2. Born to be Our Savior

I have a question. What are we doing here today? I mean, weren't there enough other things going on today to keep us busy? We couldn't all be sitting around the living room, watching the game or opening presents or munching Christmas cookies? What in the world prompted you to leave the warm confines of your house and venture out on a cold December night to sit here in a crowd of people, some of whom you don't even know? As if there weren't enough things going on this week, you chose to add one more thing to the schedule. Why?

Now, if I were an outsider looking in, I might come up with a number of theories concerning why you are here tonight. Maybe you're here because, "It's tradition." Your family always goes to church together on Christmas Eve. Or maybe you're here because of the music. You know we're going to sing some of your favorite Christmas carols, including one by the light of candles. Maybe you're here because you know the church is going to be decorated so beautifully.

Obviously, those are all possible reasons to be here today. But things like tradition, music and atmosphere also reasons why people attend everything from rock concerts to Packer games. Is there anything that sets this event apart from those events? What makes this event so special? What is at the heart of a Christmas Eve service? Well, I believe that the essence of this service is an announcement. An announcement made by a lone angel in the sky over Bethlehem. An announcement that serves as our text for this evening: Luke 2:11, "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Why are we here today? Because:

Jesus the Savior is Born!

From the angel's announcement we learn two things about the Christ child. He was:

1. Born in the Town of David
2. Born to be Our Savior

Boy, talk about the world's most historic birth announcement, here it is! When my wife and I brought out first child into the world, we sent out this little card to announce our big news. It contained important information like where and when our daughter was born and how much she weighed. When God wanted to announce the birth of his Son, he didn't rely on a piece of paper or the postal service. Instead, he sent an angel to announce the news. But his announcement contained some of the same information that our birth announcements contain, namely, when and where the baby was born. What does the angel say? "Today, in the town of David…"

Now, when you and I hear the term "the town of David," it probably doesn't mean that much to our 21st century ears. But to the ears of 1st century Jewish shepherds, that term the town of David was packed with meaning. The town of David was Bethlehem, the town where the greatest king to ever rule Israel was born. Many years earlier, the Prophet Micah had singled out Bethlehem for a very important purpose. He wrote, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." (Micah 5:2) The shepherds probably knew that passage by heart.

And yet, no matter what the shepherds knew about Bethlehem, there was one thing that they didn't know until the angel told them. They didn't know that: Today, in the town a David, a Savior had been born. Just for a minute think about the impact of that one word, "today." For literally thousands of years, people had been waiting for this day to come. Ever since God promised to Adam and Eve that "someone" would crush the serpent's head, believers had been anxiously awaiting the birth of this child. Just imagine, generation after generation tenaciously clinging to God's gospel promise to someday send the Messiah. And then suddenly for that handful of shepherds, "someday" became "today." Suddenly the future was now. It reminds me of the girl who has been waiting years and years for you-know-who to pop the big question. And then when she's all but given up on ever being a bride, he steps forward with a diamond ring in his hand and says, "will you marry me?" Suddenly, today is the day! It takes her breath away! That must have been what those shepherds felt. Wow! Today!?!

Now I realize that as you and I look back on those words "today in the town of David," we might find ourselves thinking, "Well that was an awfully long time ago. Do those words have any meaning for our lives, some 2000 years after that day? Yes, they do. Those words mean three things for us. First, those words mean that God keeps his promises. 700 years before Jesus' birth, God had promised that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah. Now God was making good on that promise. By having Jesus born in the town of David, God proved that when he says something is going to happen, it happens, whether it's in Jesus' life or ours. When God says that "in all things he works for the good of those who love him", you can take that promise to the bank. When God promises, "Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you," you can believe it. Even if God has to change world history to accomplish it-even if he has to use the decree of some pagan Roman Emperor to make sure that his son is born in Bethlehem, he is going to make it happen. God keeps his promises. That's the first thing you can be sure of because Jesus was born in the town of David, just as God promised.

The second thing that you can learn from the statement, "today in the town of David," is that God chose to carry out his plan for our salvation at a specific place and a specific time in world history. In other words, your salvation was not accomplished in the timeless expanse of eternity. It was accomplished when God had his Son take on human flesh and be born into this world as a little Jewish boy. That's not just a theory. It's not some kind of ancient fable or legend. That's historical fact. Real place. Real time.

Remember that the next time somebody tries to tell you that the real meaning of Christmas is found in the feeling of love and good cheer. Or that Christmas is the "spirit of giving," or that it's merely a time for peace and good will toward men." While all those things may be associated with Christmas, Christmas in its essence is the acknowledgement of an historical event. It's the celebration of the birth of him who was born the Son of God and the son of Mary.

There is one more thing that you can take home from those words, "today in the town of David." Those words mean that God Almighty cared enough about you and me to actually step into our world and become one of us. Sometimes it's easy to think that God is a million miles away or that he can't relate to what we're going through, or that religion is purely theoretical and is not relevant for our lives. Sometimes we're tempted to think that God can't relate to our hurts, our disappointments, our financial struggles. Wait a minute! Our God was born in a barn! He was laid to sleep in a feed bunk. The first thing he smelled when he entered this world was-well, you know what he smelled in a barn! Where's the glory there? The Bible says that Jesus was made like you and me in every way-only he was without sin. God became a man just like you and me so that he could, in the words of Hebrews 4:15, "sympathize with our weaknesses." The Christmas narrative underscores the fact that God came into our world to relate to our problems and then to ultimately, rescue us from our biggest problem.

In fact, that's really the second and even more important announcement made by the angel on that first Christmas night. After sharing the when and where of the baby's birth, the angel goes on to explain who this child is and maybe even more importantly, what he had come to do. The angel announces that this child was: II. Born to Be Our Savior.

Of all the words in Luke chapter 2, the most important word is probably that one word "savior." And yet, for all the people who have ever heard that word read, or maybe even recited it in a Christmas pageant, I wonder how many really know what that word Savior means. Every time I watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special, where Linus gets up and recites the words of the Christmas gospel, I wonder to myself, "does that boy who is providing the voice for the cartoon character Linus-does he know and believe what he's saying, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

For that matter, do you and I realize the full meaning of that word, Savior? What do you think of when you hear that somebody is going to "save" the world? There are probably a lot of people who immediately think of someone like Superman. He's going to save the world from the forces of evil. Other people probably think of saving the world in terms of saving the planet, by putting an end to pollution or protecting the rain forests or promoting peace between nations. For many people a savior is someone who can rescue people from poverty or someone who bridge the gap between the blacks and the whites or between the Jews and the Palestinians.

And yet, really, that's not God's idea of a Savior. God realizes that all those kinds of human conflicts are merely symptoms of a much greater conflict. The problem that people have in trying to get along with their fellow man is simply a reflection of their inability to get along with God.

Let's face it. The biggest problem in the world today is that human beings, like you and me, at our very core, are completely corrupt. By nature we don't want to serve God, we want to serve ourselves. And we are willing to lie and cheat and hurt other people to get what we want. And even if there's a part of us that doesn't want to hurt anyone, we still do it anyway. The Bible puts it pretty bluntly, "there is no one who does good, not even one" (Psa 14:3). And again, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). And then the Bible goes on to say what the penalty for not doing good is: Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death" and again, "The soul who sins is the one who will die" (Ezek 18:4). That is, die forever in hell.

My friends, that's what we have earned by our sinful behavior. And there is nothing that you and I can do to change that. But there is something that God can do. In fact, something that God has already done. He sent his son to be our Savior. That means that Jesus came and lived the perfect life we could never live. He then offered that life on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. In so doing, Jesus did far more than merely set a good example for us, or teach us how to love one another. No, Jesus literally rescued you and me from hell. He rescued us from a life of bondage to sin and Satan. That's what the angel meant when he said, "Today… a Savior has been born." The one person in the history of the world who can put you into heaven-that Savior has been born.

Is it any wonder that people have been praising God for that fact ever since? Certainly the angels praised God for it. On that Christmas night, a whole army of angels filled the sky saying, "Glory to God in the highest!" The angels praised God for sending a Savior who would make peace between God and man. A Savior who would allow God's favor to rest on sinful mankind.

But not only did the angels praise God for sending a savior, so did the shepherds. After they ran to see the Savior with their own eyes, Scripture says, "They returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen."

The question is: what about you and me? Are we able to do what they did? Are we able to see past all the stuff associated with Christmas? Are we able to see past the Christmas Santa's and the Christmas sales, the Christmas stockings and the Christmas lights? Yes, are we able to see past even the family gatherings and the exchange of gifts and see that Christmas is really about the birth of a baby? A baby who lived and died to rescue us from hell. A baby who has opened the gates to heaven, a baby who has given us a reason to live, a reason to rejoice, a reason to glorify God? My friends, that's why we're here today, isn't it? We're here today because there is nothing we'd rather do that revel in the good news of great joy that is for all the people: "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born; he is Christ the Lord." May that angelic message fill your hearts with joy and peace, today and forever. Amen.