CMLC 2025-12-28 Sermon

During Christmastime in 2012, in the middle of

Times Square where millions of people walked

and shopped and where so many would gather to

watch the ball drop to usher in 2013, there was

a billboard that said, keep the merry, dump the

myth. Above the words keep the merry was a picture

of Santa Claus. Above the words dump the myth

was a picture of the crucified Christ And this

billboard was put up courtesy of a group called

American atheists Is something that strikes a

little bit closer to home The assistant to the

bishop of a major Protestant denomination Who

himself was an ordained minister? Was once commenting

on the biblical accounts of Jesus birth when

he stated in his blog I Believe the stories are

made up They are myth We expect atheists to reject

Jesus, but we have to shake our heads in amazement

as some who call themselves Christian pastors

not only question the virgin birth, but also

reject the Bible's truth outright. However, this

sort of rejection of Jesus is nothing new. In

his own day, Jesus had to contend with the Pharisees

and the teachers of the law, those who should

have best known the signs of the promised Messiah,

calling him a heretic and a liar. and trying

to undermine his ministry and his teaching in

every possible way. Within the early church,

there were those who really did not understand

who he is. In the third century of the church,

for example, the divinity of Christ was being

challenged by a heresy known as Arianism, which

wrongly taught that there was a time when he

was not. The Arians claimed that Jesus was merely

a created being, a most excellent created being

to be sure, even godlike in some respects, but

not true God. And it was because of this false

teaching. that concerned Church Fathers gathers

together at Council in Nicaea to address the

deadly heresy of Arianism. If that teaching continued,

it would possibly destroy the foundation of the

Christian Church. And so they wrote a beautiful

confession defining the person of Christ, the

union of his divine and his human nature. It

is something that, as I sadly just demonstrated

to you, can sometimes become rote. It's just

something we say in church. But in reality, if

you look at their words, if you look at the Apostles'

Creed that we all confess together this morning,

those are the very answer to the question. When

somebody says to you and me, Who do you say Jesus

is? We don't have to stumble for an answer We

can say along with them That we believe in one

Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God

Begotten of his father before all worlds God

of guide God light of light very God of very

God begotten not made Being a one substance with

the father who for all men, for all men in our

salvation, he came down from heaven and was incarnate

by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was

made man. Even if you stumble through it just

a little bit, that is still the answer of what

we believe as to who Jesus Christ is. That is

the answer that you have to provide to the world

when they raise that question. These modern and

historical examples of unbelief acknowledge the

truth of God's Word recorded by the Apostle John.

The light shines in the darkness, but the world

has not understood it. The light of the world

baffles the darkness. It baffles the atheist.

It baffles the liberal theologian. It baffles

the non -Christian religious leaders. It baffles

the outside observer. God in the virgin's womb.

God born just like you and me. God beaten, bleeding,

and crucified. God dead and buried. Words, water,

bread, and wine. We see God in these things?

in our own darkness, in our weak and sinful human

wisdom, we struggle to grasp it sometimes, to

understand Jesus, the Christ, the Word made flesh.

So it is good for us to have and to believe the

clear confession of faith that the Church Fathers

crafted for us under the guidance of the Holy

Spirit. And in a way, it's good that things like

this billboard and this blog happen each Christmas.

It's good to be confronted by the atheist's anger

and the myth mongering. It's good to have to

deal with the majority of the world who do not

believe that the Bible is God's holy and unchanging

truth. And they try to twist it into what they

want. for their own purposes. It's good because

it causes you and me to think more deeply, to

focus more clearly and then to speak boldly about

our God. And what better time is there to do

this than during the Christmas season when the

world has just tried to celebrate something they

don't understand and now that it's three days

later has already put it away in the boxes in

the attic. three days ago. What better time is

there than this time when we as believers celebrate

the miracles of God on that first Christmas morning?

And yes, you did hear correctly, I said miracles,

plural. There are two great Christmas miracles

presented in this text from the Apostle John.

One, is that the Son of God became man. And the

other is that because He did, men can become

the children of God. At Christmas, we celebrated

the day mankind first heard about the arrival

of a long -awaited Messiah on the earth, the

day God's promise from the Garden of Eden was

fulfilled, the day God began his revelation of

himself through his beloved son. And every day

since, God has been revealing himself to us through

his word and through his son. Today, we hear

God remind us that he sent light and life into

the world. And it is confirmed in those marvelous

words from our gospel text. The word became flesh

and made his dwelling. Among us The word became

flesh The word who was in the beginning the word

who was God The word who was with God the word

through whom all things were made The Greek word

that st. John used for this word is logos Greek

philosophers thought of logos as the principle

underlying and unifying the universe and giving

it order. John borrowed that thought from Greek

philosophy and used it in a totally different

way. He took that term and he transformed it.

He tells us that what holds the universe together

is not a principle, rather it is a person. It

is this one that he calls the logos, the word.

It is this person of the Trinity distinct from

the Father and yet one with the Father in the

Godhead. It is he who created and upholds everything.

Our Lord Jesus Christ. The word made flashes

much more than he would appear to the human eye.

While he is fully man. The word bears all the

attributes of deity wrapped up in the physical

nature of a man. Jesus is all of the things that

John tells us he is and necessarily so because

this is what we need. Hebrews 2 tells us since

the children have flesh and blood, he too shared

in their humanity. so that by his death he might

destroy him who holds the power of death, that

is the devil, and free those who all their lives

were held in slavery by their fear of death.

For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers

in every way, in order that he might become a

merciful and faithful high priest in service

to God, and that he might make atonement for

the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered

when he was tempted, he is able to help those

who are being tempted. Only God could rescue

us from our plight. Only the one who is true

God and true man could accomplish our salvation.

Those who say that it is only a myth that God

was born as a little child and grew up to be

our Savior by suffering and dying on a cross

and then being raised from the dead. Those who

shout their skepticism at the top of their lungs

or plaster their opinions of unbelief on billboards

for all to see are completely wrong In fact,

they are dead wrong They are dead in their sin

dead in their unrighteousness dead in their denial

And that is not what God wants for any man or

woman God loves all human beings and he desires

that they should be saved from that death by

hearing his word of truth And by coming to the

saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and

Savior of their lives And so he calls people

like you and me to faith by the power of his

holy word and his Holy Spirit and he calls us

to proclaim this truth to a darkened world. So

it is good that we are given this opportunity

at Christmastime to share with those who are

still shrouded in darkness that a great light

has come into the world. It is good that we have

this opportunity to bear witness to our wonderful

Savior, this Word Become Flesh, who loves them

yesterday today and always It is good that we

have this opportunity to tell the world that

Christmas is not only about the Son of God being

born as a man It is also about the sons of men

being born as children of God This passage of

John is perfect for us to share with others during

this Christmas season nowhere else are these

Profound mysteries of the Christian faith expressed

more deeply and Yet more simply than they are

here in this passage For here we find that wonderful

astonishing truth of what really happened on

Christmas Day The eternal God who created all

things came in the flesh to be the Savior of

all men There is nothing more profound and mysterious

than this. And yet it is put so plainly in John's

Gospel. It is like the greatest Christmas present

in the entire world being wrapped in a brown

paper wrapper. So I encourage you to memorize

these verses and be ready to share this gift

with those around you who are still in darkness.

Help them to unwrap and to enjoy this great treasure

of life so that they will know this miracle is

for them. That because of the great love and

the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ, the

Word made flesh, they too can become the children

of God. Amen. And now may the peace of God which

passes all understanding keep your hearts and

minds through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.