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INJ
Found the Babe, Found By the Babe
St Luke 2:15-17
Divine Service
Christmas Day, 2005
Hope Lutheran Church, Aurora, CO
Dear Saints,
Merry Christmas!
Today comes with great anticipation and joy, for unto us this day the Savior has been born, who is Christ, the Lord. This is what the angel says to the shepherds as they watched their flocks. “In the city of David,” that is, in Bethlehem, just down the road, the Savior of all the world, the Messiah who is God in the flesh has been born, and “you will find Him wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
As amazing and heavenly and shocking as this announcement is, the shepherds show no doubt. The text does not indicate that there was any hesitation at all, but as soon as the curtains of heaven close and the angels are gone, they say to one another, in an astonishingly un-astonished conversation, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made know to us.” Their faith believes and clings to the promise of the angel. And so the shepherds go to find the Good Shepherd; they leave the fields and go into the city, and they find the stable, and they find the manger, and, just as the angel said, “they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.”
What a wonderful passage, “they found the Babe.” I hope this Word kindles in your heart the joy of Christmas, “they found the Babe.” For this is just what the Lord desires and wants, they very purpose of Christmas, that we, too, would find the Babe, would find Jesus.
But before we get ahead of our selves, let us remember, that if we are to find Jesus, He has to first find us. The shepherd came from the fields to the city, but the Son of God has come from heaven to earth. He is really the one making the journey, the one doing the work, the one coming. Christmas is not about us-with-God, but about Immanuel, “God-with-us.”
As long as the Lord is in heaven He is hidden, on the other side, and there is nothing we could do to find Him. But no more, He has broken through and come unto us. “Unto us a child is born.” This is the wonder of Christmas, that the Lord is here, on earth, in the flesh, here to be found, touched, seen and heard. He has found us that we might find Him.
And more, with Jesus there's always more. Not only is this Babe named Immanuel, that is, God with us. His name is also Jesus, which means God shall save His people from their sins. Jesus is God with us and God for us, God working on our behalf to save and rescue and deliver us from the darkness of sin and the grave.
To just be found by Jesus is not necessarily good news, for we have to know what He will do with us when He finds us. A shepherd could be looking for the lost sheep because he is hungry, and wants a little mutton for dinner. If this is the case, being found by the shepherd would be a bad, terrifying thing. But this is not what Jesus does. He does not find us in order to destroy us and devour us with His wrath and judgment. No, He finds us in order to save and rescue us.
Jesus does not take upon Himself your flesh and blood for Himself, for His own benefit, but for us, that He might be able to suffer and die the suffering and death that we deserved. All of this, from beginning to end, from the incarnation to His birth and in His life and death, Jesus did all, everything, for you, for us, for our salvation, to find us, and claim us and mark us as His own dear brothers and sisters by the forgiveness of all of our sins.
Being found by Jesus, and being saved and forgiven by Jesus, this is the wonder, the joy, the good news of Christmas. That the Lord Almighty is not pleased to leave you in the darkness of sin and death, but has found you and come to you to give you life, and salvation, all by the forgiveness of your sins.
And now, dear saints, having found us and delivered us, Jesus is pleased to be found by us. Where? No longer do we find Him wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. But still He comes to be found, wrapped in the Words of the Holy Scriptures, wrapped in the water of Holy Baptism, and look, here is you stable, your manger, here at this altar you find Him, wrapped in bread and wine. The same Jesus the shepherds found is come today that you might find Him. He is here with us, and here for us and our salvation.
Finding Him, and being found by Him, this is our joy and delight this Christmas, and this year, and even into eternal life.
May the Lord grant us all the joy of finding Jesus, and more, the joy of being found by Him. Amen.
And now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Wolfmueller