Christmas Eve – Pr. Anderson Homilies
Isaiah 7:10-14
December 24, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The Homilies text for today is taken from the 7th chapter of the Prophet Isaiah.
Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
History is full of key moments. From major battles and great discoveries, it only takes a moment and the course of history is made. Scripture has many key dates that shape the course of history. Of course, these dates not only are history, but like all dates, God is the One who is shaping the events of time as everything happens on His timeline. This is the season where we especially note this. As God sets the time for His great blessing for all people, He prophesies about this date seven hundred years earlier to its fulfillment.
Thankfully this mighty announcement that is made for the good of all mankind was recorded. This message is told to a king from the line of David, and he does not understand or care about it. This is during the time where God was speaking through prophets to His people or individuals. When God speaks, it is best thought that you would listen. This is the trouble with us. We can sometimes think that God does not speak to us at all because we can’t hear Him. He’s not in front of us telling us what to do. Well, He is here and He is speaking. While the king is about to reveal his true unbelieving colors, God already knows what this man is thinking. God also knows the King who will come after Him will have a great name. “And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6b). “The king shall come” and when He does the world will know.
#101 v. 1, 2, 5 – “The King Shall Come”
1. The King shall come when morning dawns
And light triumphant breaks,
When beauty gilds the eastern hills
And life to joy awakes.
2. Not as of old a little child,
To bear and fight and die,
But crowned with glory like the sun
That lights the morning sky.
5. The King shall come when morning dawns
And light and beauty brings.
Hail, Christ the Lord! Your people pray:
Come quickly, King of kings.
What is something you would like to have but you never have asked to have it? When we remember the days of our youth, we were probably pretty quick to ask for things. We most likely thought the item was something we needed really bad. Now maybe there is something out there you would like to have, but for whatever reason, you have thought the ask might be too great. Now King Ahaz was told he could make an ask to God. See, Ahaz was in a bind as two of his close enemies were about to make war against him. Now you would think hearing our text, and seeing God talking directly to him, he should be in good shape. It looks like God cares about him. The problem is Ahaz does not care about God. God isn’t talking directly to him so why should God be real. King Ahaz sees the trouble that is about to engulf him. He has his own idea on how to address it.
God does not give up on people. He tells Ahaz that He will take care of him. He can make an ask and see a sign that goes as deep as the pits of hell and is found in the heights of heaven. We might be thinking how great it would be to see a sign from God. A sign though is not what makes us believe. Our faith is more than that. But if God says to ask for a sign, you should probably ask for one because it’s important. It is important because God is the One who rules and sees the depts of Sheol and heights of heaven. And while He knows all, He knows of the king who comes, the righteous King who came and since He has come, “now sing we, now rejoice.”
#135 v. 1-3 – “Now Sing We, Now Rejoice”
1. Now sing we, now rejoice,
Now raise to heav’n our voice;
Lo! He from whom joy streameth,
Poor in the manger lies;
Yet not so brightly beameth
The sun in yonder skies!
Thou my Savior art!
Thou my Savior art!
2. Giv’n from on high to me;
I cannot rise to Thee.
O cheer my wearied spirit:
O pure and holy Child,
Through all Thy grace and merit,
Blest Jesus, Lord most mild,
Draw me unto Thee!
Draw me unto Thee!
3. Now through His Son doth shine
The Father’s grace divine.
Death over us hath reigned
Through sin and vanity;
The Son for us obtained
Eternal joy on high.
May we praise Him there!
May we praise Him there!
Now when the pivotal moment arrives, there will be those who aren’t ready, or they don’t care that it comes. We are here at a pivotal moment and of course, we are excited and happy to be here. There were some hard times, maybe there still are some struggles, but we are excited to be here tonight as we hear the love of our God. The love He has on us. It doesn’t make any sense for some to not want to hear about this love. Ahaz had a plan. Why should he accept God’s help when he could help himself. The King of Assyria would make an excellent ally against his enemies. Now, how does one get rid of a god who they don’t believe in? Maybe, with great piety as Ahaz tried. He tries to use the law, “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test”
(Deuteronomy 6:16a). In a world fallen from grace, we know there are bad actors who can also quote Scripture.
Now there are times that we can be pious with our response, because God wants us to be humble. The moment we think about how humble we are and then we lose what we thought we gained. To serve is to serve like a servant, caring for others in such a way you aren’t worried about yourself. As we struggle with worrying about the things of this life, we have gathered tonight to get rid of those worries we have. God isn’t going to make us hold on to our worries. Where Ahaz tried to pretend he is pious, and where we have loved ourselves more, God loved us and He was perfectly pious. This perfect humility taken up on our behalf is found “once in royal David’s city.” The mighty King of David’s line is here!
#139 v. 1-3 – “Once in Royal David’s City”
1. Once in royal David’s city
Stood a lowly cattle shed
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for His bed.
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.
2. He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall;
With the poor and mean and lowly
Lived on earth our Savior holy.
3. Jesus is our childhood’s pattern;
Day by day like us He grew;
He was little, weak, and helpless;
Tears and smiles like us He knew;
And He feeleth for our sadness,
And He shareth in our gladness.
What makes a message important for delivering it? I think we would all agree what makes a message important is the content of the very message. When we think of a message, and the news it brings, we know it is going to bring one of two messages. It will either bring a message of good news or bad news. A message has been given to you this day and that is why you are here. You have been invited into the presence of the living God! It is this time of year we have to remind ourselves of this invitation. Of course, we hear many times throughout the year about our invitation into God’s kingdom, but what makes this message tonight a little different? Tonight, we gather with a message that nothing is impossible with our God. Seven hundred years before God does the impossible, God was questioned about His abilities. How could anyone do such a thing?
In the moment we don’t want to find ourselves with such thoughts. “We would never question God”, we want to boldly proclaim. While we know that we can’t say such words because we do question God and more than we would like to admit, yet it is in mercy, God reveals He does not need to be questioned. He brings and keeps His message of salvation. We have wearied God at times, and while we deserve to be forgotten about, we find His message in a little manger in Bethlehem. The House of David has certainly now heard the message of God. He doesn’t wait for humans to control their own destiny. He runs time to its proper place “and our eyes at last shall see Him, through His own redeeming love.” Tonight, you see a baby in the manger. Tonight, your Lord from above came down to take away your sins.
#139 v. 4-5 – “Once in Royal David’s City”
4. And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that Child, so dear and gentle,
Is our Lord in heav’n above;
And He leads His children on
To the place where He is gone.
5. Not in that poor lowly stable
With the oxen standing by
We shall see Him, but in heaven,
Set at God’s right hand on high;
Where, like stars, His children crowned,
All in white shall wait around.
God is great at giving His people a sign. A sign is something that is not natural, something we can’t describe as it breaks the natural laws we know. God’s people watched this as He saved them out of the land of Egypt. For generations and generations God has taken care of His people, a people you belong to because of His glorious work of salvation. For those who doubt what He can do, God proclaims, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Seven hundred years later, as a quietness had set in and the signs of God had almost ceased. A humble man in Nazareth, from an almost forgotten line of David heard from an angel, “she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
In the same breath, as a king wanted to ignore this great sign, a humble woman had a different reaction when the angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come up on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:35-38). “Let it be to me according to your word.” A powerful statement of faith in believing what God was saying is true. The baby born in the manger is His very Son, the Savior of the world. While the world searched for the “branch that was growing,” in the humble stall He came. You grow in hope, you grow in His cross, and you simply grow, because of His great love to grow you.
#121 v. 1-3, 5 – “Behold, a Branch Is Growing”
1. Behold, a Branch is growing
Of loveliest form and grace,
As prophets sung, foreknowing;
It springs from Jesse’s race
And bears one little Flow’r
In midst of coldest winter,
At deepest midnight hour.
2. Isaiah hath foretold It
In words of promise sure,
And Mary’s arms enfold It,
A Virgin meek and pure.
Through God’s eternal will
This Child to her is given
At midnight calm and still.
3. The shepherds heard the story,
Proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of Glory,
Was born on earth this night.
To Bethlehem they sped
And in the manger found Him,
As angel heralds said.
5. O Savior, Child of Mary,
Who felt our human woe;
O Savior, King of Glory,
Who dost our weakness know,
Bring us at length, we pray,
To the bright courts of heaven
And to the endless day.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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