Titus 2:11–14

December 24 2013 Christmas Eve Sermon

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Christmas is about gifts. We exchange gifts with one another, because God gave us the gift of his Son. Notice the gift language in tonight's Readings. In the Old Testament Reading, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given" (Is 9:6). In the Holy Gospel, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:11). Unto us a Child is born. Unto us a Son is given. There is born to you—to you—a Son who is Christ the Lord. That's the language of God's gift to you. In the Epistle, "Our great God and Savior Jesus Christ . . . gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works" (Titus 2:13–14).

Our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ Gave Himself for Us.

That speaks not merely of his incarnation and coming into the world at Christmas, but it also speaks of his crucifixion.

I.

Most people exchange gifts at Christmastime, even people who have no particular religious affiliation, people of other religions, and some who don't believe in God at all. People still give gifts. Most people are motivated to give gifts to people they like. Perhaps to a co-worker who has been a lot of help to them. Or perhaps a friend who has shown special friendship during the year. Such gifts become rewards for good behavior—behavior that is pleasing to the giver.

But God is different. He gives gifts to his enemies. He gives gifts to those who do not believe in him. He gives gifts to those who do not deserve them. God gives gifts to sinners. Life is a gift. God created us out of nothing; apart from his creation, we wouldn't exist. Our intellect is a gift, whether it's great or merely mediocre. Such as it is, it's a gift of God. The ability to work and earn a living and put daily bread on the table is a gift. Our food, our drink, our house, our home—all are gifts. Every member of our family is a gift, yes, even those who irritate us and those who disappoint us. (Not that any of us have any irritating or disappointing relatives!) All that we are and all that we have is a gift of God's love, his selfless love, his sacrificial love. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, he causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike. And the sun rises on those who believe in him and those who do not.

All of these gifts—the myriad of gifts—are a direct result of God's greatest gift, his Son! He gave his Son to everyone—to the wise and foolish, to the rich and poor, and to the young and old. God gave his Son to every sinner. If you're not a sinner, then Jesus is not for you. But if you are a sinner, then Jesus is for you. "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:11, emphasis added). The familiar words "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son" (Jn 3:16) refer not only to Jesus' birth, but also and especially to Jesus' death, when he gave himself for us. God the Father must really love you for him to sacrifice his Son on your behalf. And the Son of God must really love you to be willing to offer his own flesh and blood in death for all your transgressions in order to redeem you and to restore your life with God. Well, God does love you. He loves you, right where you sit out there, with all your sins and all of your failings and all of your shortcomings and all the ugliness of your life, and that's why he gave his Son to be born of the Virgin Mary and to suffer under Pontius Pilate and to die on a cross. The Bible says it best: "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8), in our place. And from St. John's First Epistle, "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 Jn 4:10). It's because of this that—at this time of year especially, but also at all times—Christians give gifts, because God gave us his Son, a gift we didn't deserve, a gift we didn't earn, but a gift he freely gave.

When we receive God's love and forgiveness in Christ, when his forgiveness is received and it becomes the most important thing in our lives, it has a profound effect on us. Paul said in tonight's Epistle that the grace of God that brings salvation to all people teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. We certainly do not live in an age that's characterized by self-denial. Most people don't want to deny themselves anything. That's not only true of "most people." It's also true of our own sinful nature, the flesh, the corruption that lies within each and every one of us. The sinful heart, you see, is self-centered and self-absorbed. The sinful nature has been self-absorbed since we weren't satisfied with what God gave us in the Garden of Eden. In spite of the self-centered nature of sin, in spite of all its ugliness, in spite of the fact that it adheres to our flesh and to our bones, everyone recognizes that selflessness is better than self-centeredness, and that sacrificing yourself for the benefit of somebody else (making the ultimate sacrifice and paying the ultimate price for someone else) is better than loving yourself in place of your neighbor. Everyone recognizes that as good. This is a universal understanding that people from all nations, cultures, ethnic groups have. At this point all people, believers in God and non-believers have common ground.

Where does this come from, this belief that selfless, sacrificial love is good? It comes from the fact that we're made in the image of the God of love, who didn't stop loving us when we fell into sin, but gave his only-begotten Son to die for our salvation. Everyone knows, down deep inside their soul (because we're made in the image of the God of love), that sacrificial love is better than any other form of love, especially self-love, yet we're marred and mired in our own sin from which we can't free ourselves from selfish, self-love by any strength of our own.

It's only when we realize this, only when we come to receive God's love for us in Christ, that we're taught and given the strength to love as God loves. Apart from his love, received in our hearts as broken and contrite sinners, there can be no true love for others. Not like his, which gives of itself even to the point of death.

Look at the profound impact God's grace had on Mary and Joseph in the Christmas narrative. When the angel Gabriel forgave Mary her sin and announced to her, "You have found favor with God. . . . You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus" (Lk 1:30–31), what did Mary do? Receiving that word of grace, that gift of God's undeserved love, she denied herself and submitted to the loving purposes of God. "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). Even though the angel's message to Mary meant hardship and suffering and the loss of respect from family and friends, the Lord's word of grace had touched her heart, and she willingly carried the cross. Mary was taught and given the strength to deny herself because God's love and forgiveness had transformed her life.

When Joseph was bewildered and confused about what to do with his pregnant wife, knowing full well that the Child conceived in her womb was not his own, the Lord forgave Joseph's sins and said, "Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:20). There was nothing but tough times ahead for Joseph. He would have to bear the stigma of that pregnancy. He would be called to stand by Mary's side when no one else would. He would be forced to carry Mary and the Child into exile in Egypt to escape a murderous king. He would leave his carpentry behind. But he was able to face it all and to deny himself the worldly pleasures of this life, because his God had denied himself, set aside his glory, and become incarnate in Mary's womb in order to sacrifice himself—to give himself for the salvation of humankind.

It was the grace of God that Mary and Joseph had received as poor sinners that enabled them to journey to Bethlehem, where the weary couple found no room in the inn. It was the grace of God that compelled them, even though their path was filled with the cross of suffering. It was the grace of God that moved them to hold no bitterness or resentment. They were willing to deny themselves all the pleasures of this life and all the lusts and appetites of the flesh, because they received salvation from him who loved them to the point of shedding his blood.

It is the same for us. The Lord comes to us—right where we are—with the message of his love and forgiveness. He comes to us where we sit in the pew, with all our sins and evil lusts, that we might be turned to him in repentance, and that we might receive him who was willing to pour himself out unto death for our salvation. "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor 8:9).

The Gospel of the grace of God in Christ is what captured the shepherds' hearts as well. These ordinary, grubby, foul shepherds heard a word that gave them the greatest gift of all: the forgiveness of sins. And when they received that gift, they were carried along in the strength of that word to Bethlehem to find the Babe just as the angel had said—in the manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. And they worshiped because of the wonderful things that God had done for them. And not for them only, but for all sinners the world over. The message of God's love was on their lips as they journeyed to Bethlehem, as they greeted Mary and Joseph, and for everyone whom they would meet.

So do one more thing this Christmastide in celebration of the Lord's unconditional gift to you in the birth of his Son. Don't be afraid to confess your faith, especially to those who know not the Lord's salvation. Christ is God's gift to everyone. Christ the Savior is the Lord himself.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.