Preparing for Worship - December 25, 2022

There are a number of possible sets of readings for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this weekend. What I have here may not be exactly what you will hear, depending on when and where you attend worship, but these are some of the important Christmas readings to be thinking about. 

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 62:10-12. This is a prophecy that a remnant of God’s people will be able to “go through the gates” where they have been captive and return to the promised land and to “Zion,” the city of Jerusalem. It is there that the Lord Himself will come bringing “salvation,” His “reward,” His blessing, and His “recompense,“ His just judgments. He will “redeem” people and call them “holy” and His people will not be “forsaken.” The New Testament  centers all of this in the coming of Jesus to Israel, “the daughter of Zion” (see Matthew 21:5); but this is good news to be “proclaimed to the end of the earth” - for Jesus came to be the Savior for all people. See how all believers in Christ, including us, are called God’s chosen, holy people, who are not forsaken, but receive mercy from Him, in the words of 1 Peter 2:9-10.

The Psalm is Psalm 98, a ”new song” of praise to the Lord for the marvelous way He would provide salvation for “the house of Israel” but also for people in “all the ends of the earth.” All creation (“seas” and “rivers” and “hills” - and maybe even Christmas trees and beautiful decorations?!) should “sing for joy,” and all people should praise the Lord with “joyous songs” and all kinds of musical instruments. This sounds like a joyous Christmas celebration - when we realize that the tiny baby born in Bethlehem is “the King, the Lord, our Lord Jesus.” He came to “work salvation” and bring righteousness and equity (uprightness) to us, as we trust in Him and what he has done for us.

The Gospel lesson is Luke 2:1-20. Mary and Joseph are forced to make a long trip to their ancestral home to be registered to be taxed by the Roman government. But this place is Bethlehem, exactly where Old Testament prophecy said the Savior of the world would be born. Mary has her baby there, in very humble circumstances, where animals were kept, and the baby Jesus was placed in a manger, a feed trough for animals, because there was no other available place for all this to happen. The first people to hear about this were lowly shepherds. A multitude of angels praised God and announced to the shepherds what was “good news” for them and for “all the people” (including us). The Savior, Jesus, Christ the Lord, was born! The shepherds went to see the baby Jesus and glorified and praised God and told others about this Child. And believers are still praising God and talking about Jesus, to this very day.

The Epistle is Titus 3:4-7. Titus reminds us that the coming of Jesus was entirely a gift to us and the world, through “the goodness and loving kindness of God.” Jesus came to save us, not because of anything we had done, but because of His own mercy for us. God the Father sent His Son to us. Jesus did everything necessary for us to be our Savior. God the Holy Spirit then brought to us personally the blessings of what Jesus had done, through our baptism, “the washing of regeneration and renewal.” As water, connected with the Words and promises of God, was poured on us, our sins were washed away and we were reborn and renewed as children of God and “justified,” forgiven and counted righteous and acceptable to God, through the Holy Spirit. We are now also “heirs of eternal life” by faith in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit continues to work in us through the Word of God and the Sacraments, to keep us in that faith. This was all purely by God’s “grace” - His undeserved love and favor given to us as a gift. No wonder we thank and praise and worship our great God and especially our Lord Jesus, as we celebrate the gift of His birth this Christmas! A blessed and joyous Christmas to you all.