Sermon Index
Christmas Eve, 2015
Merry Christmas! It is a gmerryh Christmas because God in Heaven is glorious and he is happy to give peace to people on Earth. Tonight I want to look at two words in the song of the Angels: the word ggloryh and the word gpeace.h
Glory is about something that is really good, when something wonderful has been accomplished. The wonderful thing that has happened on Christmas is that Godfs Son has been born on this earth. That is a wonderful thing because it means salvation. It means the forgiveness of sin. It is a wonderful thing because in Christ we all are reborn to be sons and daughters of God our Heavenly Father.
When a child is born, we usually say to the parents, gCongratulations.h And I think that in this Bible passage, that would be a good translation. gCongratulations to God in the highest.h Or perhaps we could say, gHallelujah, Amen, Hosanna, Praise, Thank You, Joy, Banzai, Hip-hip-hurray!h What are the best human words to express the love and grace and mercy of God? Hymn composers and sermon writers and Christmas card designers all try their hardest to make meaningful to us the word ggloryh as sung by the Angels. The gGloryh of God is an infinitely big thing, and we shall be singing it for the rest of eternity!
But the really hard word to understand in the song of the Angels is the word gpeace.h Perhaps it is hard because it seems that there is no gpeace on earth.h Did the Angels mean something different? Is this peace something only of our hearts and minds, but not the end of war and strife between people and nations? Is it only a promise for the future? Is it only the prayer that we shout from our hearts? Is Christmas peace real?
Real peace must come from God. Human history shows that humans cannot create peace, but only war and arguments. Humans have not found a cure to all diseases and worries. Peace is the work of God alone.
The Christmas Angels declare that there is glory to God because he has given peace on earth. And that peace comes through love. God loves us so much that he sent his Son Jesus. Jesus was born, lived, died and rose again in order to bring peace on earth. In his death and resurrection, there is forgiveness. There is reconciliation. Reconciliation is the making of friends between God and humanity. And so we have peace with God.
This peace with God is the whole basis of Christian love, charity, ethics, social and interpersonal relationships. Since we have peace with God, we can have courage to try to make peace, peace with friends, and world peace. World peace starts with peace in our hearts. And that is where Christmas Peace starts and heads toward the wonderful peace and glory that the Angels sang about. The final glory will be when Jesus returns to take us to the complete peace of heaven. Our Christmas peace is filled with that joy and hope.
True peace must begin in the hearts of faith of those people who give glory and praise to God. Tonight we thank God that the Christ-child has been born in our hearts. And so, like the Angels, we give glory to God in the highest heaven.
Amen.
May the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ give you peace and joy. Amen.@
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church