Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

Did you get up early this morning or sleep in? Did you dash out of bed to look under the Christmas tree, or did you run to the window to see if there was any snow on the ground for Christmas? Were you watching down the street for grandma and grandpa’s car to arrive? There is an excitement to this day that stirs us like no other. On other mornings we are not so eager to get out of bed. We are not so excited to see what the day brings, but this day is different. This morning we got up with expectation and looked out. No snow...

 

but there is movement on the horizon. First a shadow, then a shape, moving swiftly along the ridge. Is it a wolf or a reindeer? No, it is a man, running fast, headed our way with earnest purpose. Where did he come from? Why does he run? Why is he headed this way? What drives him with such haste? It is striking how smoothly he runs, almost floating above the surface of the earth, running as if with wings, easily gliding over stones and branches, swaying smoothly between trees and bushes, nothing slowing his progress.

 

Someone nearby shouts. They have seen him, too. The cry goes out that someone is coming from afar. One by one the windows open and heads peer out. People climb higher to get an unobstructed view. The news passes on down through the streets as, one after another, people’s attention is drawn to the approaching runner. He is coming back. Finally He is coming back.

 

Wait a minute... the story changed somewhere. First we were getting out of our own beds to check for presents or for snow, and now we are hearing about a runner approaching from a distance, and the whole city spreading the news of his arrival.

 

O, no. The story did not change. We did get out of bed with expectation. And the whole city also looked out of their houses in response to the call that someone has come to us. People throughout the city have gotten up today, knowing that it is the day to celebrate the Lord Jesus’ arrival to his people. The call has gone out from one Christian Church to another throughout the city that today our Lord is come.

 

The story is about your expectation of the mystery of this day above all other days. And it is not about twisting tales, but about the fulfillment of prophecy that has touched every generation and every place around the world where the coming of God in the flesh has been proclaimed. All around the world, and all throughout history people have risen in eager expectation of this day, and responded to the glad proclamation that our God has come to be our Saviour.

 

Even centuries before the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed this eager expectation of God’s people for their Saviour. For the people of his day, the LORD had Isaiah describe the coming good news of the LORD bringing salvation, in terms of a runner carrying the message of the return of the King toward the city of Jerusalem. The runner then is spotted by the watchmen on the wall of the city, looking eagerly for a sign of their salvation from threatening invaders. Will their Saviour arrive in time?

 

The call of the watchmen on the wall then rouses the inhabitants of the city with the good and glad news that the LORD God has returned to Zion, the holy hill in Jerusalem where the temple stood. He had come to take His place above the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, to be present with His people as He was present to deliver them from Egypt, and to defeat all of those nations who stood in their way of receiving the land that He had promised them.

 

When the people were threatened by nations seeking to take them away out of their land, when it felt that God had deserted them, when they were abandoned, alone, and unable to save themselves, they prayed for the return of the LORD to be present with His people and to save them once again. They confessed their sins in repentance and longed eagerly for the herald to proclaim that the LORD had forgiven them and was coming back to conquer their enemies and protect them from any further harm.

 

When the voices of the watchmen called out with the good news, the people broke out in song to celebrate the coming of their LORD as King. Isaiah spoke this prophecy not just about the recent history of the kingdom of Judah, but also about how they would feel later when the LORD would come to them to defeat even larger and more powerful enemies. Do you see how this is the same story for you; and therefore not a story, but the mystery of prophecy fulfilled throughout time for all of God’s people in need of salvation?

 

There is no doubt that sometimes people awake on this morning with the expectation of having some incredibly expensive gift, some fascinating toy, or the latest piece of technology. It is true that people look forward to this holiday with the expectation of finding something cozy to do inside with family, or something adventurous to do out in the winter weather. But all of those things have derived, positively or negatively, from the special occasion by which we recognize this holy day.

 

Our gift-giving, our family time, our special wonder of this particular day, even our expectation and desire to receive something extraordinarily fabulous, is a reflection of the celebration of the coming of our King. It is the birth of God in human flesh in order to be our Saviour from everything that would seek to take us away from the promised treasure of eternal life in peace and joy with Him.

 

This makes the story all the more true, for instead of invading armies seeking to conquer us into submission or deport us out of the land the LORD has given, we have invading cultures of hedonism and self-satisfaction; such that instead of looking forward to the celebration of the good and glad news of Christ’s coming, we look forward to the ways in which we can give ourselves joy by giving ourselves all of the things we want to possess.

 

We are under threat of being conquered by the accumulation of things to satisfy our basest desires. We are facing deportation from our place as God’s baptized children in His Church to be taken away to serve pagan gods of the secular culture, where there is no lasting peace or joy, and no salvation from our sins of greed and self-satisfaction. The new and the expensive and the fabulous quickly lose their lustre and we realize that they have become chains to enslave us to covetousness, greed, and envy.

 

In other words, with no eager anticipation for the runner on the ridge bringing the good news of forgiveness and salvation in the LORD who came in the flesh in order to defeat our enemies through His death and resurrection, we are destined to live for eternity in the foreign land of hell—a place prepared not for us but for the devil and the demons who also rebelled against the LORD God seeking their own self-satisfaction.

 

But on the horizon the runner has been spotted, and coming with his message of hope and salvation the feet with which he runs are ever beautiful. He comes to tell you that Jesus Christ was born this day to take your sins upon Himself and to bear them on the cross for your deliverance from the foreign foes of sin and death that seek to take God’s treasures from you.

 

The runner comes to say that LORD has come for you. The watchmen who are to keep their eyes trained to track every movement on the horizon, cry out to raise you from your sleepy apathy to prepare to celebrate the coming of the LORD for you. And from one to another, the LORD’s people break forth in song.

 

No matter how dire and broken down things have gotten for you, no matter how much your life may have fallen to ruin in sin and shame and suffering, this call rings out for you. The LORD is come to be your Saviour. Isaiah’s prophecy called for the waste places of Jerusalem to burst out in joyful song. The places long deserted and fallen to pieces will have joy in the coming of the LORD who brings restoration and edification. No matter how much your life has fallen to ruins, the LORD comes to build you up and fill you.

 

And from the rising joy of the people of God (the sounds of praise and joy and hope and peace) the salvation of God is made known to all nations. They also see and hear that the LORD has come to His people. He has come with His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. The victory that He achieved on the cross was a victory for His people, for you, to deliver you from the threat of death, to wipe away all of your sin, to rebuild your hope, and to fortify you with His peace.

 

Your eager expectation of this day and the good news that it brings, makes known the salvation God has given to you, so that others might rejoice in this salvation too. “Eye to eye they will see the return of the LORD to Zion,” the coming of God to His people, to you. It means they also can lay down their opposition and come under the shelter of God’s presence. They can take up your song even as the LORD will take them up as His own. He will save them, protect them, and give them hope and joy. That is why we eagerly greet the coming of this day.