“Good News of Great Joy for All People”
Luke 2:1-20
12/24/06 (Evening)
If you pick up a newspaper or tune into news
programs on the T.V. or radio today, you’re almost immediately
hit with bad news. It’s all over the front page; it’s
the headlines of every broadcast; it’s even what everyone seems
to be talking about in conversation. From news about the
war in Iraq, to the latest homicide, to the latest e-coli or virus
breakout, to the latest natural disaster, to the latest terrorist
attack (and we could go on and on), the world is full of bad
news. And while there is certainly good news to report on too in
this world, it always seems to take a back seat to the bad and is
tempered by it. Good news seems to be so temporary and fleeting;
it never seems to last; bad new always seems to eventually overshadow
it. And like a fix that we’ve gotta have, we’re
always looking for the next piece of good news that we hope will lift
us up and give us hope.
The bad new is that bad news is the result of the
bad condition of this world brought on by the bad condition of our
human nature. And yes, every one of us has this bad
condition. The Bible calls it a sinful nature. It is a
nature that each of us has from birth, a nature that is turned against
God and turned towards evil. According to this nature we do not
fear, love, and trust in God above all things, nor do we love our
neighbors as ourselves. According to this nature we have all made
ourselves our own gods and determined for ourselves what is good and
what is bad. According to this nature we have our own ideas about
how to get into heaven and our own terms by which to achieve our
salvation. And according to this nature we hold others
responsible for the ills of our society and the evils of this world,
while refusing to admit that we are part of the problem.
There’s always someone else to blame, always someone else who
seems to be a worse sinner than we are. But the Bible says that
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That includes
you and me. And the bad news is that the wages of sin is death,
not only physical death but eternal death, eternal separation from the
One who is the Life and Light of men.
But wait... There’s more bad news.
Most people, when they hear the bad news from God’s Word that
they are bad people from birth, refuse to believe and confess
this. They compare themselves with the criminals, bad citizens,
and tyrants of the world, and they come out looking pretty good.
Not only that, but they focus on all the good things they do for
others, and they conclude that they are good people, not bad. Why
shouldn’t God accept them? Well, granted they may be good
citizens and do many good things for others, but they don’t
understand that their hearts are just as corrupt before God as the
worst dictator, murderer, thief, or adulterer. As Jesus says,
“Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, and slanders.” This is
why we sin - because we are sinners. For this reason God says
that even all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags to Him.
Everything we do is infected with sin. Again, Jesus says that bad
trees produce bad fruit, and we are bad trees by nature. We
cannot produce anything good in God’s eyes and are worthy of
being chopped down and thrown into the fire.
This is bad news. It’s like hearing the
doctor say you’ve got terminal cancer, and you only have three
weeks to live. The condition we’re in is a terminal one; it
ends in death. In fact, we’ve already come into this world
dead in our trespasses and sins, heirs of a sinful condition passed
onto us from Adam. This is the diagnosis that we are given from
God’s Word, the Bible. Like a good physician He reveals our
illness to us with the bad news of His Law. But He does this so
that He can give us the good news that He has provided the cure.
And that cure is what was born in Bethlehem and announced by the angels
to the shepherds on that first Christmas night: Peace on earth,
goodwill towards men on account of the Savior, Christ the Lord, God in
the flesh.
This is good news of great joy for all people.
This good news trumps not only all bad news, but even all other good
news. This news is the best news we could ever hear!
Why? Because it is God’s announcement that our sins and its
resulting death have been dealt with by His Son, Jesus Christ.
They were dealt with through His suffering and death on the cross and
His bodily resurrection from the dead. Jesus was given as your
Savior to save you from your bad condition by taking that bad condition
upon Himself as if it were His own. At His Baptism Jesus
identified Himself with you and got Himself dirty with your sins.
There He sucked up all the evil of this world like a sponge into
Himself, so that He could take it to the cross and pay for it with His
life. On account of that sacrifice there is now peace between you
and God. By trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior, whose body
and blood given into death is the antidote for your bad condition, God
forgives you your sins and you escape His wrath and the eternal
separation from Him in hell. Instead, you are given eternal life
- life under God’s grace, mercy, and peace now and in His
heavenly kingdom of glory to come.
This is cause for great joy, a joy that you can have
even in the midst of suffering and sorrow in this life. There
will still be a lot of bad news in this world. You will
experience sickness, loss of jobs, loss of money, loss of friends and
family, and finally loss of your own life. But through it all you
can have joy of the good news that you will not lose your Savior.
He will not abandon you even in death. Death cannot separate you
from Him. When He has put His Name upon you by way of Baptism you
belong to Him, and He will raise you from the dead on the Last Day just
as He Himself is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all
eternity. Furthermore, you can be sure that the suffering that
you experience in this life is not a sign that God is angry with you or
that He’s abandoned you or that He’s punishing you for
something. Jesus suffered for your sins on the cross. There
God poured out His wrath completely on His Son. There’s no
more wrath left for you. God is pleased with you in Christ.
You now live under God’s mercy. Your suffering serves
another purpose - a good purpose, not a bad one - and that is to
crucify your sinful lusts (your cravings to sin) and to drive you again
and again to your Savior for the help, strength, and comfort He gives
you through His Word. He will remind you with His words of good
news that you are still at peace with God, even though you might not
have peace in this world, and that He causes all things to work
together for good for those who love Him and are called according to
His purpose.
This good news is to be proclaimed to all
people. You may not sit there and think that this news is not for
you. Some think they have too much sin for Jesus to handle, while
others think they have little or no sin and don’t need much
Jesus. But the fact is, Jesus is only for sinners, and big
sinners at that. You’re all sinners, big sinners, chiefs of
sinners. But big sinners have a bigger Savior, a Savior who gives
you more forgiveness than you have sin, so much so that you cannot sin
beyond His forgiveness. Nor does He limit His forgiveness.
Jesus’ blood atoned for all the sins of the whole world.
There is no sin that has not been answered for by Jesus and no one who
is excluded from God’s love in Jesus, no one to whom we
can’t speak the good news of God’s forgiveness for
Christ’s sake. Christianity is, on the one hand, the most
exclusive religion in the whole world, for it excludes any other gods,
any other savior’s, any other ways of salvation than through
faith in Jesus Christ alone. He is the only Savior God has given
to the world. All other ways are lies, inventions of the devil
and human reaons, and they lead only to death. But on the other
hand, Christianity is the most inclusive religion in the whole world,
for it includes all people in its invitation to trust in Jesus for
their salvation. All who believe the good news that Jesus has
been crucified for their sins will be declared righteous in God’s
eyes, live under His grace, and be saved, no matter what their age,
race, or gender is. Jesus is the Savior of all.
And while the good news of this world is fleeting
and temporary, this good news from God will remain for all
eternity. It is the bad news, in fact, that’s coming to an
end. When Jesus returns for you, He will not only transform your
body to be like His glorious resurrected body, but He is going to
transform this earth and recreate it as well. In that new earth
there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. God is
going to wipe away every tear from your eyes, you will be His people,
He will be your God, and He will dwell among you face to face.
Jesus came the first time to give His life for you on the cross.
He will come the second time to bring you to the new heaven and the new
earth that He’s going to create for you, where there will never
be any bad news again, only the great joy of living in glory with
Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit forever.
This good news is for you today. Not only
today but everyday for the rest of your life and beyond. For to
you a Savior has been born. He is Christ the Lord. This
Christmas may your joy be great in the knowledge of your salvation in
Him. Peace and good will to you from your merciful God through
Jesus Christ. Amen.