We're Saved!

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church.

Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota.

We proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message.

From Pastor Chris Roseberg.

We have two gospel texts that we'll be reading today because we will be celebrating not only Advent 4 but also the

Feast of the Nativity.

Our first gospel reading is taken from the Gospel of Luke chapter 1 verses 26 through 38.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a

virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the Virgin's name

was Mary and he came to her and said greetings O favored one the Lord is with you.

She was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

The angel said to her do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God and behold you will

conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to him the

throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no

end.

And Mary said to the angel how will this be since I am a virgin and the angel answered her

the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you therefore the child to be

born will be called holy the Son of God and behold your relative Elizabeth in her old age has

also conceived a son and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren for nothing will be

impossible with God and Mary said behold I am the servant of the Lord let it be to me according to

your word and the angel departed from her.

Our second text is taken from the Gospel of Luke chapter 2 verses 1

through 20.

In those days the decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

This was the first registration when Quirinius was the governor of Syria.

It all went to be registered each to his own town.

Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David

which is called Bethlehem because he was at the house and the lineage of David to be registered with

Mary his betrothed who was with child and while they were there the time came for her to

give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son wrapped him in a swaddling in swaddling cloths

laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and

an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with fear

and the angel said to them fear not for behold I bring you good news of a great joy

that will be for all the people for unto you was born this day in the city of David a

Savior who is Christ the Lord and this will be a sign for you you will find a baby wrapped in

swaddling cloths lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a

multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth

peace among those with whom he is pleased.

And when the angels went away from them into heaven the shepherds said to one another let us go

over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.

And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.

And when they saw it they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child and all

who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary treasured up all these things pondering them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all that they heard and had heard and seen as it

had been told them this is the gospel of the Lord in the name of Jesus.

A little bit of a sidebar at the beginning of the sermon.

Have you ever stopped to think why is it that some Christmas specials only air once

while others become classics ones that we watch over and over and over again.

Have you ever thought about that.

I mean that A &E network the estrogen channel.

They put pump those Christmas specials out every year.

And does anyone watch them over and over and over again.

No no it seems like they're just kind of churning.

Kind of churning.

But ever since I was a kid there's certain Christmas specials that I end up watching all the time.

One of them is a Christmas classic.

And there's a reason why it's a classic.

Let me explain what the important feature is that makes it a classic classic Christmas specials

are the ones who as Tolkien that's JRR Tolkien of the Lord of the Rings

noted they're the ones that tap into what is called the deep myths.

Now let me explain what I mean there.

If you've seen the Lord of the Rings or you've watched.

If you've read the books then you're going to know that JRR Tolkien purposely set

out to retell the story of Christ his death his resurrection and

his being crowned as king.

But he told it in the world of Middle -earth.

And in some strange way we can connect with it because our yearning and our

longings are similar to what we see in a story like that.

I find it fascinating that even atheists will watch the Lord of the Rings movies over and over and over again.

And it's funny that they do.

So they tap into the deep myths.

Let me tell you about another Christmas special that taps into the deep myth one you may not

think does but this is the reason why people watch it year after year.

Hope you're sitting down good looks like you are Rudolph the red -nosed reindeer the one with Burl

Ives as the snowman.

You know that when the guy who's saying have a holly jolly Christmas have you ever thought why it is that kids watch that one

over and over and over again.

And I would posit that the reason why is because it taps into some of the most amazing themes

of what is called deep myth.

Now this doesn't mean it's not real but it's tapping into the same

archetypes the same themes that our texts today tap into.

Let me explain.

You know the story.

Rudolph the red -nosed reindeer is born well a misfit.

He's got a little bit of a problem.

Every other reindeer has a black nose.

He has one that is red.

It's shiny and it glows.

And he is eventually cast out from the community of the Santa Claus village and he

becomes a misfit.

And he's out on the road.

And in his adventures as his character grows he comes to a place called the Isle

of Misfit toys.

Now stop and think for a second each and every one of us because we are sinful we are a

lot like those broken toys on the Isle of Misfit toys.

And these are toys that long to be loved long to have a purpose long to be

to live for the reason why they were created.

But each and every one of them has major flaws.

The jack -in -the -box is named Charlie in the box the train has square wheels.

It's it's just a mess.

And Rudolph the red -nosed reindeer promises that when he finally

returns to Christmastown that he will tell Santa Claus about the toys on the Isle of Misfit

toys so that they can be saved.

But as the story progresses there's this ginormous winter storm.

Christmas is about to be canceled and as we all know how the song goes Santa Claus

goes to Rudolph and says Rudolph with your nose so bright won't you guide my sleigh tonight.

And Christmas is well saved.

It's on again.

But as the Christmas classic goes once Rudolph is hitched to the team

and is at the front of it the first stop is the Isle of Misfit

toys.

And there's this wonderful scene in there and it has these toys in the darkness

around a small fire and they're all kind of lamenting that it's Christmas Eve

and they know Santa should have left by now and they think that they had somehow

been overlooked yet again that their salvation has not appeared.

But then off in the distance you hear the sleigh bells ringing and you see Rudolph's nose burst through the

clouds and one of the characters literally cries out it's Rudolph we're

saved.

That is the reason why that story gets watched over and

over and over again because each of us longs for that

type of salvation.

We languish here in this cursed creation as we grow older and sicker

and weaker as the cumulative effect of our sin takes a grip on us

we desire and long for salvation.

We long for a homeland where we will finally be saved where we will be loved.

And so I would like to go back through a few of our texts.

But we first have to make a trip back farther in the Old Testament because I want to show you something

about this theme in Scripture.

If you would return with me to Exodus chapter 3.

Exodus chapter 3 this is the commissioning of Moses and I want you to pay attention because you're going to

see that some of the features of this story have the exact same

features as our gospel text does today.

Exodus chapter 3 begins with these words.

Moses was keeping the flock of his father -in - law Jethro the priest of Midian.

Moses is a shepherd.

In the opening of this chapter.

Watch this.

So he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and he came to Horeb the mountain of God and the

angel the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.

Light has burst into the darkness.

If you would he looked and behold the bush was burning yet it was not consumed.

And Moses said I will turn aside to see this great sight.

Why the bush is not burned.

And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see God called to him out of the bush.

Moshe Moshe.

And he said here I am.

He said do not come near take your sandals off your feet for the place in which you are standing is holy ground.

And he said I am the God of your father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac

the God of Jacob.

Moses hit his face.

He was afraid to look at God.

And then the Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people who

are in Egypt.

I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters.

I know their sufferings and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand

of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land a

land flowing with milk and honey.

Look at this.

God himself says that he knows their sufferings and he himself has decided to come down from

heaven in order to deliver them out of the hand of slavery to the Egyptians.

And as we've learned this is type and shadow.

The reality is actually found in our gospel text today.

But you are going to note darkness light.

Shepherd God announcing that he has he is coming down now with that.

Let's return to our text from our Old Testament reading from the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah chapter 9.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness on them the light has shined.

Remember last week our gospel text talked about John the Baptist not being the light

but bearing witness about the light.

He was the voice out in the wilderness out in the darkness saying repent prepare the way of the

Lord.

And now our texts have taken a totally different turn.

The light has now entered the world.

The people who walked in darkness they have now seen a great light.

Those who land in the depth let dwelt in the land of deep darkness.

On them the light has shined.

You have multiplied the nation you have increased its joy.

They rejoice before you as with at the harvest as they are glad when they divide the

spoil for the yoke of his burden the staff for his shoulder the rod of his oppressor.

You have broken as on the day of Midian.

And the picture is beautiful.

Here light burst into the darkness in the slave shackles the iron and the

rod and all of these things that are holding and oppressing us they are all

broken and fall off.

And every boot of the trampling warrior in battle of tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be

burned as fuel for the fire.

And here's the reason why.

For unto us a child is born to us the son

is given.

It's Jesus we're saved.

And that's the theme.

The government shall be upon his shoulder.

His name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting

father prince of peace.

And of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end on the throne of

David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness.

In other words no longer shall we be oppressed by tyrants

terrible politicians.

Those who are sexually harassing their

employees or oppressing and murdering their citizens.

We are saved.

For unto us a child is born to us a son is given.

And with that we return to our gospel text.

And we're gonna note something very important Luke chapter 2.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be

registered.

This was the first registration when Quirinius was the governor of Syria.

It's as if C -SPAN wrote the opening verses of this particular chapter.

This sounds like something that's as exciting as watching Washington Today or something like

this week.

Politics and taxes and registrations and censuses.

Give me a break.

But see you're gonna note that all of these little details tell us that what we are reading

here is not mythology.

It's history that this really took place.

This is the minutia of human history.

This isn't about well a story that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

Or about a story that took place in the mythical somewhere North Pole near the Isle of

Misfit Toys.

This took place in Judea 2 ,000 years ago when Caesar Augustus was the Emperor of Rome.

This was the first registration when Quirinius was the governor of Syria.

All went to be registered each to his own town.

Joseph also went up from Galilee to the town of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David which is called

Bethlehem because he was of the house in the lineage of David to be registered with Mary his betrothed who

was with child.

And while they were there the time came for her to give birth.

She gave birth to her firstborn son wrapped him in a swaddling cloths and laid him in a

manger.

I always like to picture those swaddling cloths as a picture of Christ's soon -to -be

burial clothes laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the end.

And you're gonna note that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords as Philippians 2 tells us emptied himself

went from the highest place that there is in all of the universe the

very throne of God.

And he was born into abject poverty.

I mean God the Father didn't even call ahead and make a reservation for him at Motel 6.

He was on his own.

His parents were poor.

And we'll learn next week when it came time to dedicate Christ and have him circumcised.

They couldn't even afford a lamb.

They can only afford the two turtle doves.

And so there's our Savior the one who has come to save us.

Ten little fingers ten little toes a tiny little nose making O's like little

babies do.

And it's wonderful and it's terrible.

At the same time we're saved.

We're truly saved.

But as our sermon hymn noted out in verse 2 why

lies he in such mean a state where ox and ass are feeding good Christian fear

for sinners.

Here the silent word is pleading nails.

Spear shall pierce him through the cross.

Be born for me for you hail hail the word made flesh the babe

the Son of Mary.

And see that's it.

We're saved because the wood of the manger gives way to the wood of the cross.

The swaddling cloths give way to the sword spear flogging.

It's wonderful and it's terrible.

We're saved but we're saved at a great cost the life of this very

child who's come to save us.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock.

By night an angel of the Lord appeared to them.

And listen to this the glory of the Lord shown around them.

Over and again we depict that the light that the shepherds saw was the light of the angels.

But that's not what the text says.

Here the glory of the Lord makes an appearance.

This is the very glory of the Lord that the book of Revelation describes is the thing that will it will light up the

earth after Jesus's return the very thing that we will always see.

And so for just a brief moment the very glory of the Lord shows up and shown all

around them.

And they were filled with fear.

The angel said to them fear not.

For behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David

a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

For unto you is born a Savior unto us a child is

born unto us a son is given and he's Christ the Lord.

And this will be the sign for you.

You'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger.

And then suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God

and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace shalom

among those with whom he is pleased.

And see brothers and sisters.

The reason why we find ourselves living in darkness.

The reason why we find ourselves languishing and suffering because of our sin.

The reason why we have to toil to put bread on the table to pay the electric bill to pay

our gas bills and keep our houses warm on cold days like this.

And the reason why we have to get up every single weekday at the crack of dawn and go punch in and that

punch clock and then pray that we have enough left over so that we can somehow retire from all of this labor.

The reason for all of this is because each and every one of us was born dead in trespasses and sins

and at war with God hostilities that we launched by

disobeying God.

But rather than saying destruction and death to you.

The good news that is announced to us because of this baby of Bethlehem is peace.

Peace because God has chosen to reconcile you to the father

to end the hostilities and bring peace by himself becoming one

of us and going to the cross.

So glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is

pleased.

And he brothers and sisters is pleased with you not because you're so pleasable or pleasing.

He is pleased with you because he has clothed you in the righteousness of this little baby.

He has clothed you in the righteousness of Christ himself and covered you in his own glory if you would

as a gift because of his great love for you.

And so this is such an amazing mystery.

This is such good news that well we living in darkness couldn't have

spotted it ourselves.

That's the nature of our darkness.

So the angels they couldn't keep quiet any longer.

They just had to sing about it.

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.

And so when the angels went away from them into heaven the shepherds said to one another let us go to Bethlehem and see this

thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.

And so you'll note yet again the glory of the Lord appears to a shepherd.

Multiple shepherds this time.

But the glory of the Lord showed up to take that Shepherd Moses and commission

him for the work that he was to do.

And all of that is a picture of God's great love and desire to relieve us from our sufferings to

free us from slavery to sin.

And yet again now the glory of the Lord shows up again this time not in a burning bush shows up to the

shepherds out in the field.

And of course they've got to go and figure this out.

So let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.

You can almost hear Moses saying I've got to go over there and see why that bush is burning but isn't burning up.

I've got to go and see this thing that the Lord has done.

And so they went with haste hurry hoof it.

Mary and Joseph.

And they found them and the baby lying in a manger.

When they saw it they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child.

And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds had told them.

But Mary treasured up all these things pondering them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and

seen as it had been told to them.

And see to the average observer in Bethlehem that day walking by where Mary and

Joseph were and seeing a baby in a manger.

Someone may have been tempted to say oh a little baby how cute as women are prone

to do.

Men are not exactly prone to doing that.

And they would have had no clue what had what that all meant.

But see God himself sent these angels to explain what exactly what was

going on.

And what looks so humble with looks so mean which looks so common which looks so

ordinary which looks so blah is the greatest thing ever.

It's the greatest thing ever.

It's the sound of sleigh bells off in the distance light shining in the darkness.

It's this wonderful news that Paul tells us about in our epistle text that the

grace of God has now appeared literally burst onto the scene

bringing salvation for all people.

See we here like the toys on the isle of misfit toys we have been

waiting for our blessed hope in the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior

Jesus Christ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to

purify for himself a people for his own possession.

And there it is the great theme brothers and sisters as we sit here in the darkness I can hear the sleigh bells.

I can see the light.

And I announced to you with great joy we're saved.

We're saved.

We're finally going to have a home where we will be loved

forever all because of God's great love for us.

Let us cast off our sin.

Let us leave the darkness.

Let us rise up with joy in our hearts.

And our throats in our mouth and shout out this great news

unto us.

A child is born unto us.

Son is given.

We are saved in the name of Jesus.

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