12-25-21 Grace-Tucson Christmas Day Sermon

Christmas Day

Pastor Ron Koehler

Grace—Tucson, AZ

December 25, 2021

Then Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19The LORD said, “I will make all my goodness pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD in your presence. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” 20He said, “You cannot see my face, for no human may see me and live.” 21The LORD also said, “Look, there is a place next to me, where you shall stand on the rock. 22It will happen that, while my glory passes by, I will put you in a crevice in the rock. I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

23 Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back. But my face will not be seen.”

5 The LORD came down in the cloud. He took his stand there with Moses and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6The LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed: “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and overflowing with mercy and truth, 7 maintaining mercy for thousands, forgiving guilt and rebellion and sin. He will by no means clear the guilty. He calls their children and their children’s children to account for the guilt of the fathers, even to the third and the fourth generation.”

18

What in the world are we doing talking about Moses on Christmas Day?! Moses, the baby pulled out of Egypt’s Nile river in a little basket, lived 1500 years before Jesus, the little baby nestled in an animal’s feeding trough in Bethlehem. Although this might seem to be a different kind of Christmas Day reading, there are a couple of good reasons for us to hear it on this special morning.

The LORD had told Moses to take his people up into the land that he had promised to them. But Moses asked the LORD to assure him that he was with him and the people; he wanted to see the LORD’s glory. The LORD agreed. He would pass before Moses, but if Moses—a regular, sinful person—was going to somehow witness the glory of the LORD, some precautions would have to be taken. Otherwise the majesty, the glory, the divinity, the holiness of the almighty and eternal God would be too much, and Moses would die on the spot with just a glance.

It’s not too hard for us to picture being out in the desert among rocks and mountains and cliffs and for there to be a crack, a crevice large enough to slide into. This is what God would do for Moses—put him in one of these. Then his protecting power would spread across the opening, shielding Moses from seeing his face. Only a glimpse of the LORD from behind as he passed would be possible. But it would be enough. God is not flesh and bones, so that is not what Moses witnessed, but instead a brilliant, passing flash of divine glory.

Equally as important as seeing that bit of the LORD’s glory, was later hearing him declare his name and his nature—qualities like compassion and grace and patience and mercy and forgiving and just. And all these things with a divine perfection beyond Moses’ and our capacity to understand. This time the LORD’s glory was veiled by a cloud as he spoke with Moses.

What we are reminded of here is that sinful people are incompatible with the holy God. We and God cannot be exactly who we are in front of each other…and yet neither can be anything other than what they are. Sinful people cannot share space with perfect LORD because he can’t take the imperfection. And God can’t reveal himself fully to sinners or we would not survive even the sight of that divine glory. This is a problem.

Not just for life in this world, but for eternity!

But God had a plan, a way to work this all out, didn’t he? The promises of God over many years shared parts of the plan, and it came to life with the birth of a child in Bethlehem!

There Immanuel was born. Immanuel—“God with Us.” God came down from heaven and shielded himself, dealing with the people then as he had with Moses long before.

This time, that divine majesty—and the glory of the moment—were shielded by things like humble parents, a little town outside of the big city, the darkness of night, and the soft flesh of an infant. Mary and Joseph and shepherds could stare into that tiny face looking up from the manger and only know that this was God in the flesh by the things they were told about him. His divinity, his glory, his majesty hidden underneath, below the skin.

The masked glory of Christ did not merely pass by; it remained as he grew from a Bethlehem baby…to a boy in Nazareth…to the man we hear all about in the Gospels.

Oh, we see the humanity in his sleeping and eating and crying and things like that, but glimpses of his glory were evident too, just like the LORD’s glory was partially seen by Moses.

He would show glimpses of his glory in the form of powerful preaching and heartstopping miracles and fulfillment of Messianic prophecies. You couldn’t see it in the manger, but glimpses of glory would come. Ultimately, what didn’t look glorious truly was. The cross he would offer himself on would be for our glory, and his glorious resurrection from death would be the stamp of victory for him and for us. In all of his life—in all of that—all of those qualities God revealed to Moses are also seen in Christ: compassion and grace and mercy and forgiveness.

And, yes, his justice too. You see it there at the end. Those who reject Christ, who see Christmas as unimportant or as a holiday with no connection to a Savior, will see the justice of God. Generation after generation of people who reject the Christ Child, will find themselves without him eternally.

With profound humility on this Christmas morning, we thank God for his grace, for allowing us to see with the eyes of faith the glory of the baby in the manger, who is God in the flesh—and for giving us the gift of eternal life by faith in him. 

Lord, we praise you for your glory and majesty and for showing yourself in a way that we, as sinful people, can endure—in the person of Jesus, your Son, true God in human flesh. In him, we see divine glory veiled, yet evident in his words and works that have brought us salvation. We look forward to the day that we see you, the one true God— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—in all your glory for all eternity. Amen.

My 7th grade brain was having some trouble one day in Confirmation class. Church and the Bible were pretty new to me, and apparently my English needed help as well.

These words from Romans chapter 8, which were memorization verses for us that day, were tripping me up. Before school started—moments before I would need to walk up to the pastor’s desk and recite the verses—I told Pastor Mueller that for some reason, I was having trouble with the wording of the last part, so it was hard to memorize. I vividly recall that, but have no idea how he explained it to me. Whatever he said worked. Like a light switch being flipped, I got it. I think that experience really solidified these verses in my mind—the content anyway. And what important words these are— not just for a kid to memorize, but for all of us to know! And Christmas is a wonderful time to consider them! The words of Romans 8:31-32: What then will we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?

Moses had wanted to know with absolute certainty that God was on his side. Very likely, every one of us here this morning feels that God is on our side—because it is Christmas…and we’re here…in church with friends and family and trees and lights and beautiful Christmas songs and the deep impact that Christmas has on our lives and our eternal life is heard from Scripture! We’re happy here. And we know God is with us and that he is for us. It’s why we go back and look into the manger. The Father sent his Son Jesus FOR US! What these words from Romans truly say is that Since God is for us, no one can be against us! It is vital for understanding these words to know that just before them, Paul had been talking about the fact that God knew us before we were born and chose us to be his children. Since that is fact, this too is fact: no one can be against us in the sense that they are victorious over us—not Satan, not those who reject God, not even death.

A few verses after these, he declares that we are more than conquerors, and that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That’s the key, isn’t it. God is for us, so nothing can really be against us. The proof is in not only Christmas, but the cross. God gave up his own Son. Jesus left heaven to come into this world—to be human like us, to be sinless unlike us. This is God in the flesh. God and man in one person. His sinless life would serve as a sacrifice that paid for our sins and as an expression of his great love for us and all people. Salvation is ours and it is secure in Christ!

Since God gave up his Son for us to bring us forgiveness and salvation—the greatest thing he could ever do for us—why would he not take care of everything else we need?

It wouldn’t make any sense if he didn’t, and the fact is, he does.

Sometimes we think we’re smarter than God, that we know what we truly need in this life. That’s exactly the kind of sinful thinking Jesus came to save us from. Sometimes we don’t appreciate the things God has given us in this world. Jesus came to pay for that sin too. And it even happens that we think little of the biggest thing he has done for us—giving up his Son for us and, by the Holy Spirit’s power, giving us faith to believe.

Oh, that might be easier at Christmastime, but as decorations are put away and we ease into enjoying the gifts we’ve received, we may think less about how special it is that God sent his Son for us. For these things too, God’s one and only Son has earned forgiveness for us.

God has given us Jesus. We see him in the manger, and we see the cross out in the distance, and we know that God has indeed sent his only Son for us. And if God is so loving that he would do that, he will also give us all that we need for this life, as we live in expectation of being with him in heaven. 

Father in heaven, we thank you for the gift of your Son, whom you sent into the world.

In sending Jesus to be our Savior, you expressed your love for a world of sinners, including each of us. We treasure the forgiveness you give to us through him and know that since you have taken care of our greatest need, you will also continue to give us all that we need for this life and all that we need to keep us as your children until the day comes that we see you in all your grace and glory. Amen.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man, sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as an eyewitness to testify about the light so that everyone would believe through him.

8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.

9The real light that shines on everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize him. 11He came to what was his own, yet his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 13They were born, not of blood, or of the desire of the flesh, or of a husband’s will, but born of God. 14The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15John testified about him. He cried out, “This was the one I spoke about when I said, ‘The one coming after me outranks me because he existed before me.’”

16For out of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son, who is close to the Father’s side, has made him known.

Some of you have done things like this or had family members who did—or our family is just weird, maybe. Sometimes rocks were put in the boxes with the presents —just to throw the person off, to keep them from guessing what the gift was inside—and then they were wrapped with innocent-looking wrapping paper. Occasionally a lot of duct tape was used on a box holding a gift…often when there were rocks involved! And so there the gift sat, its unexpected state camouflaged until the wrapping was removed. At other times, lots of boxes were used, nested inside each other like Russian dolls, meaning the recipient had to work and wait to see what the gift was. Teenage boys like this kind of thing—at least Koehler boys, going back a couple generations anyway! It seemed funny to make a person work to get to the gift.

As we look at the birth of Jesus and see God in the flesh, it’s really about getting past the wrapping and getting to the gift, isn’t it? God’s intention wasn’t to be funny, or make people work to see Jesus for who he was. It was simply a fact that the glory of God the Son was hidden beneath human flesh. On the outside, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Jesus looked like any other person. He was not the human equivalent of a beautifully-wrapped gift with fancy bows. Isaiah’ prophecy said this about him: He had no attractiveness and no majesty. When we saw him, nothing about his

appearance made us desire him (53:2). Jesus, the eternal God who created all things, came into the world, but his divinity was covered with human flesh and blood.

The episode with Moses helps us to understand why.

How hard it was for some to get past the wrapping! The truth is, sinful human beings would never get past seeing Jesus as just another human being—none of us—unless the Holy Spirit intervened. As Jesus showed that he was more than the human being he looked like…as he preached and taught that he was more than just another person…people rejected what they saw in and heard from Jesus. Miracles and teaching like they’d never heard didn’t matter to them. Even many of the Jewish people who were waiting for the Messiah did not accept the gift of God’s Son. So many others refused to receive this Gift of God. What a blessing it is that the Holy Spirit penetrated many sin-darkened hearts and minds and gave them the ability to see the light of the world beneath the human wrapping. Faith was given to recognize the glory and grace and truth of God in Jesus…behind the baby, the teacher, the man on the cross, the man who lived, even though he had died. God-in-the-flesh, Jesus Christ, made the Father and his love known to all those who saw with the eyes of faith.

You and I, sinners that we are, would not be able to see behind the fleshly wrapping if grace did not move the Holy Spirit to give us the gift of faith. But now we are the children of God who have seen the glory of Jesus. We are not thrown off by the wrapping and packaging. We get it. We know. That’s why we’re here this morning. It’s why we worshiped last night. It’s why we’ve been celebrating for weeks and will keep doing it after today. By God’s grace, we have seen his glory, the glory he has as the onlybegotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. We know who Jesus is…and how badly we needed him…and what he did for us. It all started in a Bethlehem manger—the most precious gift wrapped in swaddling clothes and human flesh. And so, we give him our prayers and our praise and our hearts and our lives until we see glory unhidden, God unveiled, as we join our Savior in heaven. Amen. 

Lord Jesus Christ, our hearts are filled with love for you this day as we celebrate your arrival that night in Bethlehem and remember that you are the eternal God, yet you left your throne in heaven to come to save sinners. You came to be the light of the world, to dispel the darkness of sin, to pay the price for our guilt, to earn our salvation. Your Spirit has allowed us to see you, the gift behind the wrapping of human flesh, and to place our trust in you. For these blessings, we worship you on the Christmas morning and always. Amen.