I delivered this brief homily on December 24, 2015 at the Christmas Eve Services at Crossroads Christian Church in Gray, TN. I was 21 and had never spoken in front of a congregation–at least not in a serious, aiming to be edifying kind of way. Though not a full-throated sermon, this is the first thing I ever wrote and then spoke that resembled what I would do (Lord willing) for the rest of my life. And in that way it was trajectory setting.
Seven years on now into teaching the Bible full-time, I’m eternally grateful for a little church in no-body-knows-where Tennessee who gave a college senior a chance at the plate–as the main speaker at their Christmas Eve service nonetheless! And to be honest, for a first crack, it could have been a lot worse.
He speaks through donkeys. Glory be to God.
Since the beginning of the nation of Israel, Since God called father Abraham, God had always spoken to his people. After Abraham it was Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Joshua, kings and prophets. God had always spoken to and through his people. But for 400 years not a word had been heard from God, and so people started to wonder:
“Where is God, why has he left us, why has he abandoned us? And what about this Messiah, wasn't that the last thing he told us about? This messiah that would save us, his people? Where's he? Has this all been a lie?”
And then one night, God broke the silence with the cries of a Jewish new born baby in the nobody town of Bethlehem. But this wasn't just any baby, and the people there knew it. Mary was a Jew, Joseph was a Jew, even the shepherds were most likely Jews. They knew about God's silence. They knew about the prophecies of the messiah. And they knew, because the angels had told them, this was him.
This was the long-awaited Messiah, the redeemer of God, the one God had told them was coming. God had not lied but had kept his promise to send a redeemer for his people. And there in that moment holding her son, Mary surely realized this.
Now I'm not a parent, but I've been around parents all my life. And one thing most parents do when their baby is born is imagine what their baby will be when it grows up: maybe she'll be a doctor, he might be a great athlete, maybe he'll be a nurse or she might be a teacher, who knows, the possibilities are endless.
But not for Mary, not for her child.
Mary didn't get to do what most parents do because she knew what her son would be, and more so who he was. She didn't wonder if he would be a doctor or a shepherd or a scribe or Pharisee. No, as she held her newborn baby she knew exactly who he was. She may not have known how or in what fashion it would take place, but she knew that her baby boy, whom the angel had commanded her and Joseph to name “Jesus” which means God saves “for he will save his people from their sins” [Luke 1:21], this baby was her redeemer, but not hers only, he was the redeemer of the whole world. She knew she was holding the Son of God, the messiah, the one promised to take away her sins and the sins of the world.
During the Christmas season we do all we can to fight the commercials and lines and materialization of everything to even remember and focus on the “what” of Christmas: that Jesus of Nazareth was born. But as we fight to remember the “what” of Christmas, we must also remember the "why?" of Christmas. Because it's great that Jesus was born but that raises the question of "why" doesn’t it? Christmas wouldn’t be worth celebrating if Jesus was just born as a historical fact. So we have to ask, "Why was Jesus born, and why is that a good thing?"
Paul wrote to Timothy in one of his letters that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” [1 Timothy 1:15]. I was reading in Luke today and Jesus himself says, “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” [Luke 19:10]. Jesus says in Mark “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” The list goes on.
That is the “why” of Christmas. Now there are many other reasons why Jesus came, and they are all equally important. But at the core of his ministry, at the center of why he came, was the objective to redeem those who were lost. To bring back those who are afar. To pay the debt owed to God by you and by me. That is why we celebrate Jesus birth and don't just acknowledge it as a historical fact. Jesus is the redeemer of God, sent to bring us back to him though we are all the last people to deserve it. He is God's Plan A to save sinners if we would trust in him, and God doesn't do Plan B’s
This Christmas, yes, let’s be focused on the fact that Jesus came, he was born of the virgin Mary and he dwelt among us, God with us, Emmanuel, and may we find peace and comfort in that. But let’s also remember and celebrate why he came, because that's the reason for the what. Jesus came to redeem sinners like you and me. To bring us from death to life; slavery to freedom; enemies to children of God.
As Mary held her new born baby, she was overcome with joy because she was holding her redeemer. And friends, the good news is he's your redeemer too.