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Christmas Eve Morning 2006 - Pastor Stiemke |
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THE 4th SUNDAY IN ADVENT, ??06 (12/24 ?± AM) Sir, we would see JESUS!
Emmanuel, Asheville, NC
Micah 5: 2-5a
In the Name of JESUS!
?¨A PEACE that Lasts Forever!?Æ
Beloved, please join me in prayer:
Oh, Christ, Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.
Oh, Christ, Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.
Oh, Christ, Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us Your peace. Amen.
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In the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, precious people of God:
We
live in a world desperately desiring peace. The odd thing is that in
spite of that deep longing, our human nature is such that we often
scuttle any and all attempts to bring about true and lasting peace.
Ever
since 9/11, our country has been at war. Now people in the USA are
split about the most effective ways to end combat in both Afghanistan
and Iraq. Even if we are able to do that, no one can guarantee that
this will make our country any safer from extremists and terrorists.
Painfully in many ways we are more divided as a country today than we
were 4 years ago. Some see hope on the horizon with a new congress, but
others see this change as an omen of impending trouble, even disaster.
Peace and concord seem to be beyond our reach.
At the same
time many homes in our country have become battlefields where
individuals vie to see who can devise the meanest, nastiest, most
cutting words to spit out. The emotional climate is filled with so much
animosity and hatred that ?¨one could almost cut the air with a knife.?Æ
Across the land our divorce rate continues to climb. In the midst of
all this if one listens carefully, we can hear echoing back and forth
the plaintive, almost desperate cry, ?¨Dear God, dear God, send peace;
send peace!?Æ
But understand this: Jesus during His earthly
ministry did not promise us the kind of peace for which the world
yearns. He clearly stated that as our fallen, sin-plagued world plunges
headlong toward its final destruction, ?¨. . . nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom . . .?Æ [Matthew 24: 7] Bringing it
closer to home, our Savior declared, ?¨Do not think that I have come to
bring peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.?Æ
[Matthew 10:34] Our Lord went on to foretell what we see happening more
and more frequently in our world today ?± how family members would turn
against one another because one or more is loyal to Jesus Christ.
Hearing those warnings, did our Savior then contradict Himself when He
said, ?¨Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you. Not as the
world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither
let them be afraid??Æ [John 14:27] How does one reconcile all these
declarations? The clue is found in His words, ?¨Not as the world gives
do I give unto you.?Æ Christ??s peace is radically different than that
which the world offers. But what kind of peace is it, and why do we
need Christ??s peace?
If we are to survive eternally, we
urgently need God??s peace because of the conflict that started when
Adam and Eve turned against their holy God and gave into the bidding of
Satan in the Garden of Eden. Since that Fall, the Bible reveals that
every person has inherited Adam??s sinful nature. This shows itself in
all the evil things we do and the good that we leave undone. Our
corrupt nature is so diabolically blinding that we try to run from the
reality that if were left to ourselves we would remain forever the
slaves of our sinful flesh, Satan, death, and would be on the express
train bound for hell. By nature we do everything within our power to
ignore the reality that all sin is a foolhardy attempt to dethrone God.
The Holy Spirit in a loving attempt to remove our spiritual blindness
tells us through St. Paul that before He gives people faith in Jesus as
our Savior, we were dead ?± dead ?± in trespasses and sins. A dead person
can??t help himself. Thus we??re desperately in need of deliverance and
peace for our hearts and souls!!
Thank God! Glad tidings ring
out in this holy season proclaiming that the Lord has not abandoned us!
Foreknowing our utter helplessness, even before God created our world,
He designed a way for an eternal peace treaty between our holy Lord and
us to be signed. Micah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, though in somewhat
veiled language, makes known how our merciful Lord would bring this to
pass. He prophesied that our just God would surrender His people for a
time to their enemies. Nevertheless, at His chosen time He would send
them a mighty Deliverer and Ruler to rescue them. That Liberator would
be born of a woman and would be the Savior of the world. Though truly a
human being, that Rescuer would be ?¨from old, from ancient days.?Æ
[Micah 5:2]
Elsewhere in the Old Testament and in the message
of the angel Gabriel to the shepherds that first Christmas night,
plainly we are told that this Ruler would be the almighty LORD GOD
Himself, who would come with His strong arm to rescue us. The Baby
lying in the manger is none other than ?¨Christ the LORD.?Æ [Luke 2:14]
JESUS ?± not you, I, the world, any enemies we might have, nor Satan
himself nor death nor hell will have the last word. The Winner is our
Lord God Himself! See there God??s tremendous love and caring for you.
Micah
is clear about our Savior??s mission. He would do far more than rule His
people. Micah declared that He, ?¨shall stand and shepherd His flock in
the strength of Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.?Æ
While Micah therein foretells again that Jesus is true God, he adds
that in extraordinary grace the Lord comes forth not to make war upon
us, not to punish or destroy us. Rather we see a picture of His
faithful caring and skilled guidance for His people throughout His
eternal rule.
Then Micah added the revelation of Jesus??
primary mission, ?¨He shall be their peace.?Æ [Micah 5: 5a] Paul in the
2nd chapter of his Epistle to the Ephesians uses the same wording when
he stated that Christ ?¨is our peace.?Æ [2: 14] Isaiah put it this way
concerning what would take place for the people of God after the coming
of our Savior: ?¨Her warfare is accomplished.?Æ Not only are hostilities
ended, but the eternal peace treaty between God and man is sealed, and
delivered in the person of Christ Jesus. Charles Wesley in his carol,
?¨Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,?Æ phrased it this way, ?¨God and sinners
reconciled!?Æ
Dear people of Christ, this is not a vague wish or
dream. It??s an eternal reality. In truth, now our holy and righteous
God instead of being our most terrifying enemy is our faithful and best
Friend. The proof lay in that manger in Bethlehem, cradled at times in
the blessed Virgin mother??s arms. Ponder the vastness of God??s love for
you. The King of heaven, who had eternal glory and honor in heaven,
humbled Himself to become a wee, small baby dependent upon his mother??s
milk to sustain His human life. If the manger was a wooden crib as many
believe, that wood foreshadowed those two crossed beams on which our
Savior would give His very life and shed His holy, innocent blood that
we might have peace ?± eternal peace with our God. Do you really see it
this way? Do you know for sure that Jesus is your most loyal and very
best Friend? God tells us so in His Word and He doesn??t lie: JESUS is
indeed your peace!
God??s Christmas present for each of us is
PEACE! My humble prayer for you is that as you kneel in spirit before
the Babe in the manger, the Holy Spirit will help you to trust clearly
that in Christ Jesus our heavenly Father has already gifted you with
the answer to your deep longing for peace. For in God??s infinite mercy
in Jesus you indeed have peace with our God, a peace that lasts
forever! And this morning He will seal you with His peace as you
receive the true body and blood of our Prince of Peace in Holy
Communion. Oh, sing His praise and tell of His love! Amen.
To GOD alone be all glory!
© The Rev. Frederick A. Stiemke, Vacancy Pastor
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 April 2007 )
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