Luke 2:14

Soli Deo Gloria

Christmas Eve

December 24, 2016

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

For the past month, during the season of Advent, as we spend time in preparation and repentance for this night and the next 12 days of Christmas.  We have our traditions, our decorations, our plans.  For the Church, part of this is refraining from singing a certain song in our normal Divine Service, the Gloria in Excelsis – Glory to God in the highest. But tonight, we sing it loud and it we sing it often.  We sing our praises and thanksgiving to God, and acknowledge in faith that all glory belongs to Him for the singular fact that Jesus was incarnate, that the Son of God has taken humanity into Himself.

And so we hear that particular song from the angels and the saints of God sing along.  We sing the Gloria in Excelsis.  Glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth.  This is Jesus’ birthday song.  The angelic song announcing that the Son of Man has become flesh to for us men and for our salvation. The angels sing for such a normal thing as a birth. But this was no normal birth, but the one promised from the Garden of Eden after the first sin – God become man to save His people. Gloria in Excelsis is the great hymn of the incarnation that states in the liturgical language of the heavens, the earthly consequences of Jesus’ birth.  It is as if heaven must confirm for the creation the reality of what is now already a historical fact: the Creator has come as creature. In heaven, the result is glory to God; on earth, peace among those with whom God is pleased. 

John 1 speaks of this same glory, of how the glory of God dwells fully in Christ. And because of the incarnation we have seen His glory, the glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.  In the Old Testament, God revealed His glory in the tabernacle. When Christ took on flesh, He tabernacled among us.  The whole fullness of God which dwells personally in Christ’s assumed nature, exercises His power, authority, and activity in and through His human nature.

God’s glory was manifest in Christ throughout His life, but especially upon the cross.  At the birth of Jesus, there is glory in the highest; this same highest glory is proclaimed as He enters Jerusalem to accomplish what is necessary for peace in heaven because atonement for the sins on earth will be made. In the birth and death of Jesus, heaven and earth are joined together in peace. Glory of God manifested in His death, confirmed in His resurrection, and revealed in His Word, and delivered through His means of grace in the Sacraments.

God intends Jesus’ birth to be the Good News for all humanity. There is no greater source of joy that the incarnation of God’s Son for the purpose of our salvation.  For the faithful, the birth of Jesus brings the end of all fear. In the birth of Jesus, God’s glory is manifested on earth as peace between God and man. Peace parallels glory and shows how heavenly glory is now made known to those on earth who are favored by God.  This causes the angels to tell the shepherds “Do not fear.” Fear from the presence of a holy God is a reality found in the birth of Jesus, because in this little child the whole glory of God dwelt.

And how foreign this is to the world. This is the good news of Christmas.  It is not wrapped up in family gatherings, in the opening of presents, in heartwarming stories, but the glory of God wrapped up in swaddling cloths and being laid in a manger. The Son of God's work to save the world was hidden under the signs of humility. He is fully man and fully God, by being incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin birth. He is God, but suffers human weakness. He is nailed to the cross, but conquers death. He dies, but in Him all are made alive. He suffers the penalty of damnation, but lifts mortals to heaven. These are the signs of the glory of God made perfect in weakness. For these we offer praise to Christ and through Him to His Father. These are the truly glorious things, hidden under humility.[i]

Yet, while this is good news of great joy meant for all the world, God’s glory resulting in peace comes only to those who receive the news through faith in the Son of God, for these are the ones with whom God is pleased.  Make no mistake, there is no peace between God and man where there is no faith in the mediator between God and man.  This is a very important point.  Unfortunately, some will choose to reject this child as the Christ and the Lord of all, and will receive the news of Jesus’ birth with fear and anger. 

And just as often, there are those who wish to steal for themselves the glory from God and from His Christ. Unfortunately, self-centered humans that we are, we desire to turn God's glory into our work, as though we humans can take what is ours and offer it to God for His glory. Whenever we claim glory for ourselves, we steal it from God. The more we elevate man, the less we hold onto Christ. Repent from trying to steal the glory of Christmas.  Christmas isn’t about you.  It’s not about who has the best party, the coolest decorations, the most gifts.  It’s about Jesus.  It’s about Jesus for you. It’s about His glory for you. You see Jesus isn’t part of Christmas.  Christmas is part of the good news of Jesus.

Glory to God in the highest means that in faith we recognize what is His work and what is ours.  There is no work or beginning in you that will make you godly.  Everything you begin is sin and remains sin, no matter how brightly it might shine. The beginning, the advance, and the end is God’s alone. He brings you to faith, He works that faith out, and He brings to completion the good work that He has begun in you.  That means your justification and your sanctification are both works of God. Glorification of God means letting God be who He is in Christ. He comes to save. God's true glory is the humble acts of Christ who is willing to suffer and die for sinners.[ii]

This good news of God is contagious.  After hearing experiencing, the heavenly choir, they go and see this child of whom the angels sing. And then they go back to their lives, glorifying God and giving Him praise for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.  For in this child, who would one day die for the salvation of all, they know the peace that passes all understanding. There is no greater gift in heaven or on earth than to be at peace with God. Because we have peace with God, the world can do its worst, yet peace remains.  Though we may suffer in this world and in this life, we have peace eternal. For this, the forgiveness of our sin, the bestowal of eternal life and salvation, this is our joy at Christmas.  Christ, the savior is born, to whom belongs all glory, honor, and praise. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.