God has repaired our broken souls (December 20, 2009)
By Rev. Steve Bagnall

Ever since the first sin, there has been a separation between God and His people. Because our sinful selves would be destroyed in His holy presence, God had come to the people through messengers. But each of these messengers promised that one day God Himself would come to save mankind and to end the division by paying for their sins – that He would repair their broken souls.

In our Gospel, Luke describes the moment when the Living God, safely nestled in the womb of the Virgin, comes to visit His people. The promise had finally been fulfilled – the Savior God was here. The child in Mary’s belly would grow to the Man whose death on Calvary’s cross would pay for mankind’s sins, and whose resurrection on the third day would deliver salvation and a new life with God to all who trust His promise of forgiveness.

John knows exactly how to react. He cannot contain His joy – it bubbles over and he acts. He wants to tell His mother what a special event this is.

Elizabeth, too, knows how to react. She confesses her wonder and excitement that although she is unworthy, the Lord of Life has come to her home. The Forgiver of Sins had come, and so she blesses the wonderful woman who has brought this Savior to her.

Finally, Mary also knows how to react. She sings – her voice matches her heart and praise for her Lord bursts forth from her lips. She magnifies the Lord, that is, she says how great He is by describing the wonderful things He does.

This is truly a beautiful event, as God comes among His people. And He also comes here among us – in the flesh and blood of His Sacrament. And how do we react? Do we act like John, leaping for joy in our hearts when we consider that our God has come to us Himself, or do we grumble because now the service will be longer? Are we overtaken with wonder by the miracle of the flesh and blood of God joined to the bread and wine of the earth, or do we shuffle up, follow the directions and return to the pew without a thought about how miraculous this meal is?

Do we follow the blessed example of Elizabeth? Do we kneel with true humility as we confess our sins, thinking as we do so about the shame we have earned by our thoughts and deeds, or instead do we speak the words woodenly, without meaning in our minds or hearts? Do we see this as a real second chance, an opportunity to reclaim the holy life Jesus has for us, or is it an easy out that we think allows us to continue to live in our sins, an excuse that makes our sins ok?

Do we speak blessings upon the church that delivers this Savior to us, or do we want to change that church, to make it more like us and more like the sinful world we feel at home in. Do we want to escape that Holy mother Church as quickly as we can, or do we take every opportunity to rest in her arms?

Do we join Mary, the blessed mother of God the Son, by rejoicing in the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life, singing joyfully about the Savior whose coming restores us to God’s family? Or instead do we really want other blessings – fame, power, wealth, ease of life, love, happiness?

And when we receive those blessings, do we see them as added benefits from a loving God, or do we feel cheated when we don’t have as much of those gifts as some others do?
It’s true that as sinful humans we can become less impressed with the wonders and miracles if we’ve seen them before – especially in our culture where everything has to be bigger and better every time or else we lose interest. But friends, don’t lose the wonder. The wonder of Christmas isn’t the smiles of children or twinkling lights on a tree, baking cookies or even the warm fuzzies of candlelit Silent Night.

The wonder is God in flesh, a pregnant virgin and an infant Savior. The Wonder is that God did not sit in heaven and wait for us to scale its heights with acts of valor that would make us worthy – no one could do such a thing.

No, the wonder is that God has come to us, to fix the relationship we have broken, the lives we have broken, the world we have broken. He has come in the flesh so that we can see Him, and hear Him, so that He can feed us and wash us and forgive us.

Brothers and sisters – don’t exchange this mighty wonder out of love for wealth and fame and power. The Blessed mother of Jesus tells what happens to people whose love is toward such things. Jesus scatters the proud, He puts down the mighty and He sends the rich away empty.

Friends, the unborn child of Nazareth, who became the baby of Bethlehem and the man of Calvary is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is God, and He is here to take your sins away. This is the great and mighty wonder. This is the center of all history. This is the Christmas miracle. Amen.