Served a Son [The Holy Nativity]

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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 40:1-11

• 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

• St. Matthew 11:2-10

The twenty-fifth day of December.

In the five thousand one hundred and ninety-ninth year of the creation of the world

 

from the time when God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth;

 

the two thousand nine hundred and fifty-seventh year after the flood;

 

the two thousand and fifteenth year from the birth of Abraham;

 

the one thousand five hundred and tenth year from Moses

and the going forth of the people of Israel from Egypt;

 

the one thousand and thirty-second year from David's being anointed king;

 

in the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel;

 

in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;

 

the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome;

 

the forty second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus;

the whole world being at peace,

in the sixth age of the world,

 

Jesus Christ the eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,

desiring to sanctify the world by His most merciful coming,

being conceived by the Holy Spirit,

and nine months having passed since His conception,

was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary,

being made flesh.

 

The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.

 
And oh God what a nativity. The depth of God being born in His own Creation as a man is unfathomable. Every other religion will shout you down, saying, God cannot become a man! Little do they know how great the true God actually is.
 
If God was a man, He wouldn’t be God anymore. So how can God be a man? That is the strength of human logic. It can reach up into the heavens and bring down God Himself and call Him to account. “You are not God, you are a man and men are sinners.”
 
And it makes sense, because we know men wrote the Bible and they can’t be trusted either. So the Bible is a sham, God is a sham, therefore Christianity is a sham. Wow. Game. Set. Match, Christians. Get your oppressive God out of my life!
 
Our pride reaches to the heavens as we love to tell God what to do with His Christmas and with His Son. I believe you can hear those echoes in Psalm 115, “Not unto us Lord, not unto us”. This seems to contradict the Christmass refrain, “Unto us a child is born”, from Isaiah 9:6.
 
Now the Word never contradicts itself, but when I put those two together, I’m reminded of Ahaz, the King of Judah during Isaiah’s time. Ahaz receives the Promise of the Virgin Birth, even though he is not faithful, not going to church, and not a believer. 
 
He even removed God from his name, being originally Jehoahaz. 
Now, to give Ahaz 8th-commandment-credit, he did have it rough. His father had apparently been one of the righteous kings of Judah, the southern part of the split kingdom, but his father did not take down the altars and worship places of the false gods in the nation. So Ahaz grew up open-minded and confused. His father said he worshipped the one, true God, but his actions, or inactions, said otherwise.
 
Thus Ahaz bartered with God. He did not pray to Him, but used God’s things from His temple. Ahaz took silver and gold from the Temple to make his own altars to false gods. The very gods that were now making war with him through other countries and winning against him. He thought that if he started to pray to them, they would help him win as well.
 
Ahaz did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and paid for it. Even Israel, their northern kingdom of brothers, came and invaded, taking away goods, money, and people. If it weren’t for the prophets of God, the kingdom of Judah would have been ruined.  
 
Ahaz had two prophets during his reign. Double the chances, yet double the failure. Micah and Isaiah were preaching and teaching all that you read about in their respective books. Thus we come to the conversation between Ahaz and the Lord:
 

“Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

And He said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isa 7:10-14)

 
Even though God is speaking to Ahaz through His prophet, Ahaz has no use for a God that does not give him what he wants. Ahaz does not seek the Lord’s counsel, nor does he pray to Him, nor does Ahaz believe the Lord. Thus, God’s offer to him. “Ask for a sign. Any sign.” 
 
God is begging to serve the sinner! God is begging Ahaz to repent of his ways and turn to Him again. I can’t even imagine God begging me for anything and I don’t even want to think about it anymore. Ahaz, in his sinfulness, and you in yours, make a beggar out of God.  Because of your love for your sin, God must come begging and serving.
 
Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus, that He is a God of love and service. For, says Jesus, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28)
 
God comes to Ahaz not with a, “I’m going to destroy you”, but with a “I want to give you a sign, so please ask me for one and not your false idols.” God wants Ahaz to know that He is the one that will and can help him. God wants Ahaz to know that He is the one and only true God. 
 
God comes to Ahaz with an invitation and a Promise. God promises to not turn His back on Ahaz, as he has done to Him. He promises a Savior and He invites Ahaz to find there the Gospel, by Grace, through faith, for Christ’s sake alone. “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name, Emmanuel.” 
 
Where Ahaz sells God out to the lowest bidder, God invests everything in the sinner. Where sin, death, and the devil attempt to root out Jesus, Jesus roots Himself in the barren places, our hearts, dies in that soil, and rises again producing 100-fold crop of forgiveness. 
 
“Not unto us Lord”, the sinner says in his pride. Don’t worry about me God. Depart, for I am a sinner. You don’t want to be here, to live here, to do Your work here. Stay in heaven, we’ll be fine somehow.
 
Faith continues the Psalm, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” And God’s Name is made flesh and dwells among us. Immanuel. There is no room for pride or false humility. God is acting, let all mortal flesh keep silent.
 
Faith’s only response is to get out of the way, “…let it be to me, according to your Word”, declares St. Mary. Jesus has come to work out salvation for you and to create His faith in you. The humble service and submission of Mary is what Jesus does for us on the cross.
 
So, the cross of Christ is our refuge. Our place to turn when we are full of sin and empty of all hope. Instead of us having to submit to God and work our own humility, Jesus gives us His own. He steps down from heaven and places Himself in a position to serve spiritually and physically. He makes Himself known and open to the sinners, even though we will crucify Him in our sin.
 
Jesus opens Himself up even to Ahaz and does not forsake those who have forsaken Him. Jesus allows His house to be desecrated and robbed in order to rescue us. He allows Himself to be ridiculed and mocked, just so we can be comforted. Jesus humbly takes our sin to the cross as our sinful sense of justice demands of Him.
 
It is Jesus who says to us on the cross, “…let it be done to me according to your word.” Since we will not turn back to God, Jesus sacrifices Himself in order that we may be turned. Turned to His gracious giving of Himself in Body and Blood, in the manger of our mouths.
 
Ahaz did not deserve that God should come and give him a sign.  We poor sinners do not deserve the forgiveness given to us freely. But we are dealing with a God of mercy and kindness. One who gladly and joyfully endures all things, even death on a cross, so that the sinner would not die, but turn and have eternal life through His only-begotten Son, Jesus the Christ.