Grace Appears, Teaches, and Trains – Christmas Eve

Grace Appears, Teaches, and Trains

Christmas Eve T Titus 2 & Luke 2

INI

Christmas is here! The kid’s have had their program, gifts are making their way underneath the tree, food is being prepared for family gatherings, and church is underway with the traditional reading from Luke 2. It’s time to settle into the nostalgia and the good vibes of Christmas!….. Right?

Truth is, Christmas can’t be properly appreciated without the season of Advent. For Advent prepares you to meet Jesus – not just for the first coming, sanitized version of Jesus that we observe today. But Advent prepares you to meet the coming of Jesus in His glory. This preparation is necessary, because otherwise, Christmas is joyful because of what meaning YOU give to it, instead of the meaning HE gives to it.

         And Jesus gives it great meaning, because He comes to you in grace. Grace is undeserved favor. It’s undeserved because there’s nothing you’ve done to deserve such a gift. You and I are humble, poor, miserable sinners. We sin daily in thought, word, and deed. We’ve also been sinned against. The afflictions of an unbelieving world hurt our soul and conscience. Yet, that’s really the joy of Christmas – the grace of God has appeared to sinners. And that grace not only saves us, but trains us as we await the second coming of Jesus. Without this divine intervention, the joy of Christmas is something we chase, but never truly grasped onto.

         That’s why Christmas is so great. We prepare for the second coming by remembering God’s grace in His first coming at Bethlehem. Our epistle text outlines this well. Paul begins by saying “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people (Titus 2:11).” When we look to the Gospel lesson, we see what God’s grace IS. His grace isn’t merely an idea, a feeling, or even a disposition towards mankind. His grace APPEARS in the form of a baby – wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger, surrounded by poor lowly shepherds who wish to see God’s face. This baby embodies grace. He is the sign of God’s favor towards mankind. Through this child, God works to free us from our sinful estate.

         Yet anyone who comes face to face with God’s grace can never leave unchanged. For although God’s grace is passively received by faith, grace doesn’t make passive Christians. In fact it can’t – otherwise grace wasn’t really received by faith. For, when God’s grace is truly received by faith, it makes people active in righteousness! That’s what Paul says in the epistle reading – “The grace of God has appeared, […] training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions….(Titus 2:12)”. That is to say, the grace that came on Christmas doesn’t only forgive sins. God uses grace to reshape our lives! He frees us from living according to our own moral standards. For God’s grace causes us to renounce all that which is ungodly within us, and return back to the unfailing words and promises of our Lord.

         We see this with the shepherds from the Gospel reading. When the angels appeared to them, the text says “the glory of the Lord shone around them.” In the Old Testament, the glory of the Lord means God’s holy presence – a real and full, yet always veiled presence. Because sinful people couldn’t stand before God and live. That glory, indicating God’s presence, rested on the ark of the covenant, and only the high priest could approach it. Any unauthorized access meant death. So it’s no wonder the angel tells the shepherds, ‘Do not fear’. These poor, lowly shepherds weren’t authorized to stand before God and His holiness. And yet, here’s the miracle of grace. God’s presence came to them in the presence of the child Jesus – showing that in Christ, God’s kingdom comes by grace – and judgment is suspended for a time. Thus, His presence doesn’t destroy them. Rather, it teaches them. It calms their fear. And it directs them to go and meet Jesus.

         Isn’t this what our Lord does with His grace here and now? He teaches us – do not fear! Don’t make light of your sin, but come and meet Christ where He is! And where does he meet us? In His Church! He’s veiled in bread and wine. He seals us with the promised Holy Spirit in the waters of Baptism. He reminds us day in and day out that His grace and favor train us in righteousness and draw us near Him continually. And when we meet God’s grace face to face here – we never leave unchanged. For the grace we receive forgives our sin, quiets our fear and trepidation of God’s presence, and shapes our lives as we patiently wait for His return.

         Now as Christians, we live between Christ’s first and second appearings – between Christmas Day and the Last Day. Christmas day, He came in humility. On the Last Day, He will come in glory, majesty, and judgment. But the judgment isn’t based on how good or bad you’ve been – like ole-saint Nick supposedly does. He judges based on how grace has been received – whether it’s received by faith, and thus, changed the person to follow the will of God. Or, it’s rejected, and thus, the person remains enslaved to their own sinful flesh. The truth about grace is that once it’s received, it does something to you. It changes how you live in this world as you await the world to come.

         We see this lived out in the shepherds. The Gospel tells us they went with haste to meet the grace that had appeared to them in the form of a child. And when they arrived, they did not keep this grace to themselves. They told Mary and Joseph what the angels had announced to them—that the glory of God had come near, and that a Savior had been born for them. The shepherds left with joyful hope and expectation for what this child will do, and Mary treasured these things in her heart. Grace had appeared to them, and they didn’t leave unchanged.

         When God’s grace comes to us daily, we don’t leave unchanged either. For we live in the grace of the first appearing to prepare us for the judgement in the second. Paul says in the epistle lesson that God’s grace causes us to “live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, 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 who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:12b-14).”

         When God’s grace meets us in the Divine Service, it isn’t merely a moment of comfort or nostalgia. It’s a power that shapes how we live our daily lives! Grace changes our ordinary lives, our values, routines, relationships, and responsibilities! Paul tells us to be self-controlled. Meaning we don’t obey every urge we have. Rather, we control the urge and choose to follow the Word of God instead of the sinful flesh. He tells us to be upright – meaning we choose to follow the way of God rather than the way of the world, even when it may be difficult. Finally, Paul tells us to live in godliness, seasoning others with the grace we’ve first received in Christ.

         By doing this, we wait for Christ’s second coming – not passively, but actively. That means making choices that reflect our trust in His promises – whether that means being patient when others frustrate us, or forgiving others when we’d rather hold grudges. It means using our time and treasures to help others and not just ourselves. It means coming to church faithfully – not because it’s what we HAVE to do, but because God’s grace is present to strengthen us. Only fools would refuse such a grace.

         In short, the grace we receive at Christmas is about what Christ has done for us, but it’s also how that same grace molds our hearts and trains us to live faithful to Him beyond Christmas Day. Especially as we live in this world which wastes away. Since this grace trains and molds us, it doesn’t stay here in the sanctuary – it goes with us in the routines and joys and struggles of everyday life.

         As we leave this sanctuary tonight having met the grace of God face to face in the bread and wine and His Word, we go back home to our ordinary lives and traditional Christmas mornings. But with us we carry, by faith, the grace that appeared in Bethlehem – a grace that forgives our sins, shapes our lives in Christ’s righteousness, and sustains us in a sinful world as we wait for Christ to come again in glory.

INI

Pastor Joshua Ralston