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Pastor Jeremy Schultz
December 24, 2011
A very blessed Christmas to each and every one of you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Well, have you noticed all of the television ads this Christmas season? There are ads telling you what you should buy, what you deserve and what will make you happy. There are funny ads and heart-warming ads and ads that have you singing songs. But no ads cost more or make more of an impact than the ads shown during the Super Bowl each and every year. That's because for Super Bowl 2011, a record 111 million sets of eyes were glued to the TV. And not just for the game! It's the one game where more people prefer to stretch their legs during the action and find the comfortable couch for the commercials. The advertisers go into an all-out blitz to make each of their 30 seconds count! But none did better by the city of Detroit than Chrysler.
Behind hypnotic music and the backdrop of refineries and the Joe Lewis Fist, a powerful voice spoke of hard work, know-how and the commitment of generations. It asked the question, What does this city know about luxury? What does a town that's been to hell and back know about the finer things? And then, in no uncertain terms it said, “more than most.”
The slogan “Imported from Detroit” was like an electric shock to the heart of our community. A community that was the first to feel the recession, the first to experience the housing crisis and the first to experience layoffs. The first one and by far the hardest hit! But “Imported from Detroit” said that we were going to make it. And that everything was going to be ok. It brought hope and spoke promise into a collective pain experienced by us all.
You don't have to look very far in the Christmas Bible reading to find people with real problems. The famous Peace of Rome was in effect, but that peace came at a price for God's people. They were not free to rule themselves and were subjected to heavy taxation. It was the occasion of a census therefore that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. But this too would be a great burden, filled with many potential dangers and problems. First the journey was long - 80 miles! The fittest man or woman back then could probably cover 20 miles a day on foot, but Mary was not fit. She was very pregnant and was expecting the birth of her son at any time. And besides, they would not have even been able to take a direct route from Nazareth to Bethlehem. That's because a direct route would have taken them right through Samaria. And Samaritans and Jews were not friendly with one another. Had Mary and Joseph traveled through Samaria, they would have put themselves at risk for attack and they certainly would not have received any help or lodging. So the trip was much longer. What did they eat? Where did they stay? Did they travel alone or in a caravan? We don't know any of these details! Only when they come to Bethlehem do we realize how their troubles have multiplied. Apparently with the village swelling in size due to the census, there was no shelter for the expectant couple, with the exception of a stable. There was no bed to lay the newborn, only a manger. And who had the light? And who had the knife to cut the cord? And did they have clean water and rags? Was there a midwife who came to their aid? Or did this young, frightened girl have to give birth all alone, except for the aid of her equally frightened new husband? Oh, these people had real problems. Problems that are real to everyone...and symptomatic of something worse!
Let me ask you something...is it really the recession or the housing market collapse or the layoffs that's caused all of our troubles? Is that really it? Is that why churches as well as factories are closing out there and why families are facing so much tension and strife and pain? Not at all! It's something more!
It's not just that we're down on our luck; the hard truth is that we're dead in our trespasses. It's not just that we've fallen on hard times; it's that we're all fallen under the immense pressure of the law. The reason we sometimes feel judged and beat down is because our sins have hit us hard. But unlike a product or a city that can regroup...can reinvent or can remake itself, there's no amount of hard work or the know-how of generations that can help us out. In fact there's absolutely nothing we can do and no fancy slogan that's going to change the reality that we're doomed. Just one thing!
The Christ Child! The Christ Child is the solution to your problem of sin! The Christ Child is answer to the pressure you're under according to the heavy weight of the law! The Christ Child is the answer to your deepest need! Jesus, imported from heaven for you!
In that Chrysler ad, the clear voice went on to say, “when it comes to luxury, it's as much about where it's from as who it's for!” Well, I'll tell you the same thing is true of Christmas. Only I'll say, “When it comes to Christmas, it's as much about where it's from as who it's for!” And who it's for is you! The angel told you clearly in tonight's reading. “For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord!” For you! And it's so important that it is for you! For you are the people that have experienced real problems. You've experienced the effects of greed and selfishness and indifference to the plight of others. You've experienced the harsh effect of sin both as culprit and as victim. But for you is born this day...a Savior who is Christ the Lord!
He is a Savior who would experience the real problems of humanity. He would know loneliness, sickness, hunger, cold, sadness and death. He would experience injustice and would become defenseless. But He would carry the weight of this world's sin to the cross where He would suffer and die. Imagine, this tiny child was born for you. For this moment in time where He would die for all your sins that you might experience the thrill of being released from all that weight and from all those burdens and all that sin. You are who this gift is for! But heaven is where He's from!
Jesus is God's own Son born into this world. As a child I used to imagine that when God wanted to rescue humanity, He looked around heaven and asked all the heroes of the faith, who would volunteer. I imagined that He asked Adam and Noah and Abraham and on and on. But when none of them were willing, God sent His Son to carry our sins and suffer in our place and die on the cross. In reality, that was only a child's way of looking at things. Because as God knew only He could rescue us, because only God could live a perfect life and become the perfect sacrifice. This is the gift from heaven...for you!
The story is told by a Lutheran pastor. On a Sunday morning at 6:30, the patter of the feet came into the kitchen. It was dark in our kitchen except for the light above the kitchen table. He was putting the finishing touches on the Sunday sermon, and the little child came in half asleep, and he said to him, “Where's the scissors, Dad?” He was given the blunt scissors and the child went over to where there was a chain which was made of paper, a paper chain link for each of the days of Advent, and he went and cut off the chain and he said, “Dad, one more day to Christmas!” And then that little boy got up into his father's lap, and he put his arms around his dad's neck, and he just sat there and hugged his dad, for what seemed like five minutes of stillness and five minutes of love. And so the father put his arms around his son's little body and “that child,” he says, “was my very own, my very own child, belonging to the world, belonging to my wife, belonging to his family, belonging to God, but also, belonging to me, my very own.” And there was an inner glow of satisfaction deep within him.
And when you finally realize that Christ is your very own, come here just for you! Not only for all the world, not only for Mary and Joseph and all the inhabitants of Bethlehem. But when you realize that Christ has come here for you, then...at that very moment, your burden is lifted. Your sin is forgiven. Your biggest, truest problems are solved.
Christ is the gift...imported from heaven for you. Because when it comes to Christmas, where it's from means as much as who it's for. Amen.
© St. Paul Lutheran Church 2011