Christmas Day
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
Object:
"My way is hid from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God" (Isaiah 40:27). Thus did captive Israel mourn in Babylonian exile in the latter half of the sixth century B.C. But such mourning is not confined to any time period. There are a lot of people who, in this sacred season, would secretly say, "My way is hid from the Lord" -- persons who are alone or despairing or suffering, who feel that God is nowhere near them -- and Christmas can even exacerbate the feeling.
But Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55) announced good news to those despairing exiles, the good news that we find in our text for the day. Lift up your voice and sing for joy, he told his captive people, for God has not forgotten you; he is coming to redeem you, to buy you back, out of your subjugation (v. 9). Do you not see him coming? Behold! There! The Lord God comes in might and mercy, to "feed his flock like a shepherd" and to "gather the lambs in his arms" (Isaiah 40:11). He will save you in the sight of all of the nations (52:10) and lead you back to your own country. And so our text is followed by the command, "Depart, depart, go out thence ... for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard" (vv. 11-12).
That is the message that is given us too on this Christmas Day -- that God has not forgotten us and that we need not despair. Rather, the God of might and mercy has taken human flesh in the incarnation of his Son, and now he comes to each one of us to redeem us from our captivity to whatever suffering or sin we know, and to lead us back to return to life and joy and singing.
We find in our Old Testament passage the first use of the word "gospel," "good news," announced by an evangel, a messenger of good news (v. 7), and Second Isaiah borrows an ancient custom to set forth that joyous message.
When a new king was crowned in Israel and ascended to his throne, messengers were sent throughout the land to announce the beginning of his reign. "So and so reigns," they would proclaim, and that was always a cause for fresh hope and gladness, because it meant that a new era had begun and that perhaps life in the nation would be better than it had been in the past. Second Isaiah could therefore proclaim, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet" of those messengers who bring the good news (v. 7).
But the prophet put a new twist on that traditional custom. He does not announce that some human king has ascended to the throne. Rather he says, "Your God reigns!" The Lord God is sovereign. He rules over all of human life. That is indeed the gospel good news, and that is in truth the joyful message of this Christmas Day. In the birth of his Son at Bethlehem, God reigns, God is king over life, his is the kingdom and the power and the glory.
For the Israelites in Babylonian captivity, that meant that the mighty rulers of the Babylonian Empire were no longer in charge of their lives. Rather there was a greater One, a Ruler incomparable in power, for whom the nations were like a drop in the bucket (Isaiah 40:15), One who could bring princes to nought, and make the rulers of the earth as nothing (40:23), and so One who could free the exiles from the grasp of a foreign nation. The prophecy proved true, of course. Babylonia fell to Cyrus of Persia in 539 B.C., and Cyrus became the Lord's instrument to release the Israelites to return to Palestine (cf. Isaiah 45:1, 13).
Given the power of that merciful God, do you not know that he reigns in our lives and in your individual life also? He still rules over the world of nations. We sometimes think that our futures are determined solely by the powers of this world -- by the politicians, the military, the multinational corporations -- and we carry around the secret fear that they can at any time decree death for us and our world. But no. "Your God reigns," and the course of history is in his hand, and he is still at work, using rulers, shaping events, disposing of tyrants to move history along toward the goal of his kingdom.
And that Ruler of the world, that Sovereign over the nations, is the One who is incarnated for us in the birth of his Son at Bethlehem. King Herod could not dispose of him after he was born, could he? And the Roman Empire could not kill him forever on a cross. Nor have any of his enemies ever been able to erase his name or saving power from history. His light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5), because he is the Lord, and our God reigns in him.
Our God, yours and mine, also reigns over each of our lives. I suppose each of us carries around in our hearts the memory of a sinful past -- of wrong we committed, of weakness or failure, of some terribly human evil. And the burden of our trespass against God or neighbor sometimes hovers over us like a menacing shadow. But do you think that the Lord who commands the nations and brings forth the stars every night can be helpless in the face of our sin? That he is powerless to erase the evil in our hearts and lives? No. "Comfort, comfort my people," says our sovereign God, for our "iniquity is pardoned" (Isaiah 40:1) through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And his power can wipe out our past and give us a totally new beginning, transforming us into new creatures by the work of his Spirit in us. Your God reigns in your life, good Christians, and he comes to you at this Christmastime.
As for our suffering, our pain, our sorrow, that Shepherd who feeds his flock and gathers the lambs in his arms -- that good Shepherd who carries us in his bosom and gently leads those that are with young (Isaiah 40:11) -- rules over each one of our days in tenderness and mercy and comfort. He never deserts us in our tribulation, but says to us, "Fear not ... When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God ... Your Savior" (Isaiah 43:1-3). And so he not only abides with us and strengthens us, but he also defeats the power of the death that we and our loved ones face, and we now know that beyond the grave, there is his joyful life everlasting.
Your God reigns -- over the world, over sin, over suffering, over death. Yes, that is indeed good news. That is gospel. And that is true because our Lord Jesus Christ has been born at Bethlehem.
But Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55) announced good news to those despairing exiles, the good news that we find in our text for the day. Lift up your voice and sing for joy, he told his captive people, for God has not forgotten you; he is coming to redeem you, to buy you back, out of your subjugation (v. 9). Do you not see him coming? Behold! There! The Lord God comes in might and mercy, to "feed his flock like a shepherd" and to "gather the lambs in his arms" (Isaiah 40:11). He will save you in the sight of all of the nations (52:10) and lead you back to your own country. And so our text is followed by the command, "Depart, depart, go out thence ... for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard" (vv. 11-12).
That is the message that is given us too on this Christmas Day -- that God has not forgotten us and that we need not despair. Rather, the God of might and mercy has taken human flesh in the incarnation of his Son, and now he comes to each one of us to redeem us from our captivity to whatever suffering or sin we know, and to lead us back to return to life and joy and singing.
We find in our Old Testament passage the first use of the word "gospel," "good news," announced by an evangel, a messenger of good news (v. 7), and Second Isaiah borrows an ancient custom to set forth that joyous message.
When a new king was crowned in Israel and ascended to his throne, messengers were sent throughout the land to announce the beginning of his reign. "So and so reigns," they would proclaim, and that was always a cause for fresh hope and gladness, because it meant that a new era had begun and that perhaps life in the nation would be better than it had been in the past. Second Isaiah could therefore proclaim, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet" of those messengers who bring the good news (v. 7).
But the prophet put a new twist on that traditional custom. He does not announce that some human king has ascended to the throne. Rather he says, "Your God reigns!" The Lord God is sovereign. He rules over all of human life. That is indeed the gospel good news, and that is in truth the joyful message of this Christmas Day. In the birth of his Son at Bethlehem, God reigns, God is king over life, his is the kingdom and the power and the glory.
For the Israelites in Babylonian captivity, that meant that the mighty rulers of the Babylonian Empire were no longer in charge of their lives. Rather there was a greater One, a Ruler incomparable in power, for whom the nations were like a drop in the bucket (Isaiah 40:15), One who could bring princes to nought, and make the rulers of the earth as nothing (40:23), and so One who could free the exiles from the grasp of a foreign nation. The prophecy proved true, of course. Babylonia fell to Cyrus of Persia in 539 B.C., and Cyrus became the Lord's instrument to release the Israelites to return to Palestine (cf. Isaiah 45:1, 13).
Given the power of that merciful God, do you not know that he reigns in our lives and in your individual life also? He still rules over the world of nations. We sometimes think that our futures are determined solely by the powers of this world -- by the politicians, the military, the multinational corporations -- and we carry around the secret fear that they can at any time decree death for us and our world. But no. "Your God reigns," and the course of history is in his hand, and he is still at work, using rulers, shaping events, disposing of tyrants to move history along toward the goal of his kingdom.
And that Ruler of the world, that Sovereign over the nations, is the One who is incarnated for us in the birth of his Son at Bethlehem. King Herod could not dispose of him after he was born, could he? And the Roman Empire could not kill him forever on a cross. Nor have any of his enemies ever been able to erase his name or saving power from history. His light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5), because he is the Lord, and our God reigns in him.
Our God, yours and mine, also reigns over each of our lives. I suppose each of us carries around in our hearts the memory of a sinful past -- of wrong we committed, of weakness or failure, of some terribly human evil. And the burden of our trespass against God or neighbor sometimes hovers over us like a menacing shadow. But do you think that the Lord who commands the nations and brings forth the stars every night can be helpless in the face of our sin? That he is powerless to erase the evil in our hearts and lives? No. "Comfort, comfort my people," says our sovereign God, for our "iniquity is pardoned" (Isaiah 40:1) through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And his power can wipe out our past and give us a totally new beginning, transforming us into new creatures by the work of his Spirit in us. Your God reigns in your life, good Christians, and he comes to you at this Christmastime.
As for our suffering, our pain, our sorrow, that Shepherd who feeds his flock and gathers the lambs in his arms -- that good Shepherd who carries us in his bosom and gently leads those that are with young (Isaiah 40:11) -- rules over each one of our days in tenderness and mercy and comfort. He never deserts us in our tribulation, but says to us, "Fear not ... When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God ... Your Savior" (Isaiah 43:1-3). And so he not only abides with us and strengthens us, but he also defeats the power of the death that we and our loved ones face, and we now know that beyond the grave, there is his joyful life everlasting.
Your God reigns -- over the world, over sin, over suffering, over death. Yes, that is indeed good news. That is gospel. And that is true because our Lord Jesus Christ has been born at Bethlehem.
