Good morning Brothers and Sisters. Merry Christmas!
Christmas is truly a wonderful time of year. It comes, of course, in a time of darkness. This time of year, especially in Minnesota, we wake up and it’s dark outside. Many of us leave for work or school in the dark and return home again in the evening – again in the dark. Christmas is a celebration of light in a time of darkness. Christmas is a celebration of life in a time of death. Christmas is a reminder that God is not dead nor doth he sleep!
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)
Christmas is a celebration of the coming of the Son of God. “God has come among us. He will come again. We remember and rejoice” (Faulconer). The coming of Christ into the world means that each of us can be saved from the darkness, sin, and death of this world. The coming of Christ, which we celebrate at Christmas, means that each of us can be redeemed from the fall of man – the fall that brought darkness into every one of our lives in the form our eventual death and the separation of our spirit from the Father.
The scriptures are full of prophecies about the coming of Christ into the world. Prophets from Adam and Alma to Zenos and Zenock, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lehi, Nephi, and Jacob – all these testified that Christ would come into the world and save all mankind who believe on Him.
This morning I would like to call your attention to two prophecies of the coming of Christ, both made by women, both recorded in the first chapter of Luke.
It is there we hear the story of the angel Gabriel visiting Zacharias and Mary, announcing the coming of two babies: John the Baptist – an Elias, cousin and forerunner to the other baby, JESUS.
After the Anunciation, Mary
. . . Arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;
And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth [the mother of John the Baptist].
And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. (Luke 1:39-45).
I want to pause on the image of John the Baptist leaping in the womb for joy! At the sound of the voice of Mother Mary, the baby heard and rejoiced. We too must rejoice when we hear the news of Christ’s coming.
As Jim Faulconer has written:
For some of us the joy of those good tidings came in a flash, sometimes a moment of surprise, sometimes a moment long hoped and prayed for. For others the light of Bethlehem’s star came into our lives gradually, growing almost unnoticed, but no less real. Others still wait to hear the angel’s voice and see the promised star, hoping and remembering Bethlehem in that hope to hear its tidings for themselves. The voice of the angel, of Mary, and Elisabeth is unto all!
The angel’s tidings, like the voice of God, are that God himself, the Creator of the world, has become one of us. He is not far away. He is not absolutely other than us, inaccessible to our pains and fears. He came into the world as we do, a helpless creature of flesh. He left it in death as we do, failing flesh. The Light of the World, its Beginning and End, has come and will come. He is with us, and being with us he would save us from sin.
Directly following the leap of the baby who would become John the Baptist we hear the voice of Mary:
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts
He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. (Luke 1: 46-55)
The coming of Christ into the world was like the coming of no other King. As Mary said, the might of this King was his mercy. Instead of gathering the proud and exalting the rich and powerful, this King brought a new kind of community, a community and church of charity. This community exalted them of low degree, put down the mighty from their seats, and scattered the proud, filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich empty away.
“The coming of the Lord’s justice and succor is so sure that Mary’s psalm speaks of it as if it had already happened: God recognizes those whom we do not, and they praise him for the good things he does for them.” (Jim Faulconer)
The message is for all of us. The coming of Christ into the world is for all of us. The invitation is for us to REPENT AND REJOICE!
Today we celebrate the first coming of Christ into the world. This coming was attended by angels, shepherds, wise men from the east, all of whom testified that a Savior was born into the world. Now we await a second coming of our Savior into the world, a coming just as glorious and powerful as His birth in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago.
Jesus, once of humble birth,
Now in glory comes to earth.
Once he suffered grief and pain,
Now he comes on earth to reign.
Now he comes on earth to reign.
Once a meek and lowly Lamb,
Now the Lord, the Great I Am.
Once upon the cross he bowed;
Now his chariot is the cloud.
Now his chariot is the cloud.
God has come among us. He will come again. Today we celebrate His first coming. Tomorrow we will welcome Him when He comes again – like a thief in the night. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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