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We Have Seen His Glory

Vicar Kirk Hulvey
December 25, 2012

“Come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!” Merry Christmas to you all! Today we rejoice that a Savior, who is Christ the Lord has been born to us! The Word has become flesh. God Himself has taken on human flesh, real flesh and blood, born of a virgin. He has become a man and has dwelt among us! What a glorious mystery we celebrate this day! What an awesome reason to come and behold Him, born the King of angels!

And you have come to church this day to do just that: to praise and glorify God for the coming of your Savior. You are among the faithful, the ones who believe in the World Made Flesh, Jesus Christ. You come to sing the familiar carols. You come to rejoice with one another. You come to soak in the wonderful story of Baby Jesus coming into the world.

But do you always come to Jesus in this way?

Often times, I think we come to adore Jesus, but we get distracted. We may have every intention of coming to adore Jesus and to give Him glory. But that's not what actually ends up happening. We lose our focus on Him. For one reason or another, our attention is drawn away from the Word made flesh. Maybe we get distracted in church because we get a text on our phone. Maybe we come to Christmas Eve service at 5:00 and we wonder how the Lions are doing, wishing we were back on the couch instead of in the pew. Maybe we get side tracked in personal devotion because we're thinking about our next meal or about a recent argument that we had with a family member. Or maybe in Bible class our mind wanders because the topic does not seem to apply to us, so why do we need to listen? Or maybe even this morning, we're thinking more about the gifts we got last night or this morning, or will get after church. In these ways we lose focus, and our coming to Jesus no longer glorifies Him.

Or maybe it's that we come to Jesus, but we come not to adore Him. We come for other reasons. Maybe we come only to beg things of Him. Maybe with think that when we come to Him at church or in prayer, we will be able to persuade Him for the things we want or need by our coming. “Jesus, if I only had such and such my life would be so much better!” Or maybe we come to Him to justify ourselves and plead our case: “I know I've sinned against you, Lord, but it's not that bad, is it? You understand what I'm going through, so I know you know that it's ok that I continue to live and act this way.” Or maybe we come for positive reasons-like to receive the forgiveness of sins and to be strengthened in our faith-which are excellent reasons to come to Jesus. But the point is: when we come, we don't come to adore Him, to give Him the glory He is due.

Or maybe we come to adore Jesus every once in awhile, but we don't give Him the time and attention that He truly deserves. This would be the difference between seeing Jesus and truly beholding Him. For example, when I see Jesus, I notice Him. He pops up on my radar, so to speak. I witness what He's done and I know things about Jesus. But when I behold Him-when I stop and allow His glory, His love and His grace to sink into the depths of who I am-that's when I not only see Him, but I also trust Him and believe in all that He has done for me. I'll be honest: I don't always slow down enough to take the time to truly behold Jesus for who He is in my life. I skim over Him, and I think that's enough. But I would imagine this happens in your life as well. I know that you are here today on this most holy of days. But I would imagine that you don't always take the time to look at Jesus intently and allow Him to impress upon you the full gravity of who He is and what He's done for you. You don't come and behold Jesus in all His glory.

But thankfully it's not dependent upon our coming to Him.

The glory of God has come to us! The Word made flesh-come as Baby once again this Christmas-reveals God's glory to us. He came and dwelt among us. He actually lived on this earth and lived as we live. He ate as we eat. Drank as we drink. Slept as we sleep. And yet He was without sin. What a glorious mystery that has been revealed to us in the Word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ!

He comes to us! Even though the hymn says, “Come, let us adore him,” it's really Jesus who takes the initiative. He's the one who came to Bethlehem. He's the one who came to reveal Himself to us through His miracles and earthly ministry. He's the one who came to die on the cross for you and for me.

That's where we behold His glory the most. His glory is not so much who He is, although His attributes are surely important aspects of His glory, but it's what He does! His saving action was shown most clearly on the cross. The glory of His work for you and for me was vividly displayed through His suffering and death.

Now don't get me wrong: the death itself-the blood dripping from His hands and His feet, His spear-pierced side and His whip-torn back-was not glorious. In fact, it was horrific! But the love, the grace, the steadfast mercy and faithfulness that He demonstrated toward us through the cross is more glorious than we could ever comprehend! The forgiveness that He won for us and the life that He gave to us so freely by His resurrection three days later reveal to us the very essence of who His Father is: a loving, caring God. A God who does not want any of His children to perish but for all people to come to a knowledge of the truth! (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4) In the cross of Jesus Christ, we behold the glory of God!

Today, you behold God's glory once again. God's glory comes to you not only today at Christmas, but also in the Holy Meal that we are about to share. Here at the rail, you behold God's glory in the bread and wine, in the body and blood of your Savior Jesus. The Word made flesh comes to you in this meal as you receive His very body and blood. The Word enters you; you behold the glory of the Word and you take it all in. And in your eating and drinking you receive the very glory of the Father, full of grace and truth!

The fullness of this grace and truth is overflowing. It's not simply limited to this Christmas Day. It's not even limited to the upcoming year that we will embark on next week. The fullness of God's grace and truth is a fountain of love and grace that never ends and never runs dry, and it lasts unto all eternity for you.

The grace that Jesus gives to you is the forgiveness of sins. “Take and drink, this is my blood, shed for you, for you for the forgiveness of sins.” By means of His very self, He reconciles you to the Father, and forgives you of those times when you get distracted, when you come to Him for the wrong reasons, when you simply do not glorify Him. His grace is that He gives you His righteousness as an underserved gift. Through Jesus, God justifies you and calls you His own.

The truth is the reality of how this all takes place: through Jesus' cross and resurrection, through the power of the Word become flesh, through your baptism and the meal we receive. Those are the truths of God, truths that radiate God's glory, truths which you receive again this day!

“O Come, All Ye Faithful” is a beautiful hymn, and one that we should sing every Christmas if not throughout the entire year. But John 1:14 reminds us once again this Christmas that is not so much our coming to Jesus, as it is His coming to us. It's not so much the glory that we ascribe to Jesus, as it is His glory revealed to us and for us. On this Christmas Day and always, we give glory to God because in Jesus-the Word made flesh-we have seen His glory!