Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church

All I Want for Christmas is a Sermon

Luke 2:1-20

December 24, 2022 anno Domini

All I want for Christmas is (pause) a sermon.  What? That wasn’t on your list? That it sounds as exciting as getting socks and underwear under the tree. Not only would a sermon be boring, but on Christmas Eve you already know the sermon. It doesn’t get any simpler or clearer than Saint Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth. Seriously, does the pastor even need to preach? Couldn’t he just say “amen” after Luke 2 so we could get home to tear open the gifts and drink some Christmas cheer.

Let me convince you that above all else, tonight you want a sermon, and you want this sermon. Even if I cannot convince you, trust Jesus. He commanded His men to preach, and He commanded you to hear, that you might receive Him and His gifts.

The Shepherds got a sermon for Christmas Eve and they wanted one. Oh, they might not have known they wanted one, but they did. Being a shepherd was a lonely, thankless position. They always worked the nightshift. They were usually taking care of someone else’s sheep. They had very difficult jobs, but they were poorly paid. They lived on the edge of the wilderness and could face great danger.

So, are you anything like those shepherds? Lonely? Unappreciated? Are you a mom who stays up at night worrying about your children, praying for them? Are you a man who works hard but you never get ahead?  Like those shepherds does your work get harder every year while your strength, desire, optimism grow weaker? 

What did those shepherds have that night before the angel appeared? They might have had half a bottle of Jaegermeister or if they were softer shepherds, perhaps they had some Peppermint Schnapps in their hot chocolate, and that would not even until morning.

What do you have if you hear no sermon tonight? Is anything under your tree or in your kitchen going to give you hope for the future? Calm your fears about your children? Cure your mother’s cancer or bring peace to your marriage? Anything that will bring that loved one back from the dead? Anything that will bring you peace and calm that will last past the hangover?  I didn’t think so.

See, you really do want a sermon. Who among us doesn’t desire some good news that’s actually good and true?

The Shepherds got a sermon and it wasn’t just for them. It is for you as well.  And the angel said to them, “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. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

These days when anyone says that something is “great” it usually isn’t, but the preacher of the sermon to the Shepherds told no lies. This is good news of great joy. That great joy is the birth of a Savior. The Shepherds didn’t doubt that they needed saving from their lives. They might have needed saving from Jaegermeister, from loneliness, poverty, shame, but above all they needed saving from sin. Don’t tell me that men alone at night away from home, don’t sin.

From what do you need to be saved? The same conditions and circumstances as those shepherds. You too want a Savior and you’ve tried to save yourself. You’re lonely. You’re poor (or think you are). You’re frustrated at work. You’re sick. You’re dying. Or someone you love has died. Your marriage or family is not what you want. You want a Savior and you’ve looked.  You’ve worshipped your screens and social media. You’ve falsely hoped somehow, somewhere you’re going to come into lots of money. You’ve looked to doctors and medicine to preserve life and health. You’ve drank bottles promising salvation or entered false worlds on the internet looking for what’s missing in your life.

Hear the first words of this sermon, “For unto you is born this day … a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” This Savior is for you. And, as the angel makes clear, this isn’t a savior among saviors, this Savior is the Christ, the Lord of the Old Testament, this Savior is God in the flesh.

This is the heart of the good news for you. God became a man for man, for you. He came to help you in the most hopeless situation you will face. Your sin has landed you in the prison house of shame and disgust. He can save you from that. You’re despised by the world and alone in life. He can save you from that. You’ve got stage 4 cancer and you’re going to die. He can save you from that. You’ve torn your life apart and sinned against those whom you love the most. He can save you from that. You have lost your beloved to death, and you’d rather die than live. He can save you from that.

He did save you from all that. Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. That identified Him for the Shepherds, but it also pointed to His way of salvation – He would be wrapped in burial clothes and laid in tomb. Christ Jesus, the Son of God and Mary’s Son, died for the sin of the world (and that includes your sin) on the cross. God’s blood was poured out for you. God’s life was given for you. God suffered hell for you because for some mysterious reason God loves you and desires you to have what He created you to have.

Jesus saves you from loneliness by bringing you back to the Father and into the family of Christ. Jesus saved you from shame and guilt by atoning for your sins and declaring you right with God. Jesus is the certainty, the promise, the guarantee that no matter your situation God is not only with you, but for you. You face death – He’s got you and will raise you up from the dead. You’re missing a loved one – that will soon be over when you are reunited in the resurrection. You are battered and beaten by life in this divided and angry world. Take heart – there is peace between you and God and in Christ you can make peace with those who have sinned against you.

Truly, if you have heard the sermon of the angel and you can relate to the Shepherds, then all your desires are met in Christ Jesus. That doesn’t mean you can’t go open rip open the presents and have a little Christmas cheer, but let those things be little shadows of the great gift that brings eternal cheer to sinners. The good news that Christ is born for you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.