The sermon for December 30 was based on Luke 2:33-40.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint Paul wrote in Galatians chapter four, "When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." It's all about timing. The timing of the coming of the Son of God is nothing short of a miracle. At just the right time, Christ comes to save the ungodly. At just the right time, Christ comes to save you.

The timing was just right. Today's Gospel is one of the most vivid pictures in Jesus' young life. There are certain things in each culture which are done when a child is born. It used to be here in America that the father would give out cigars with either pink or blue ribbons when a child is born. I think now it is more often chocolate than real cigars. In some cultures, there is a formal presentation of the child to the community. In some ways, Holy Baptism is treated as this sort of ritual. Oftentimes, sadly enough, it may not even mean that much to the parents. It's just something they do.

There was a ritual in Jesus' day that was prescribed by the Law of God. 40 days after a male child was born, he was to be presented in the Temple in Jerusalem, and two turtledoves were to be sacrificed on the Altar for his purification. So this is our scene. Mary and Joseph bring Jesus, not yet six weeks old, to the Temple in Jerusalem for his presentation before the Lord.

This Temple, though, is not just like a big church. It is a huge building, over 17 acres, with walls a hundred feet think. It was actually the third Temple, and was built by Herod the Great, the one who tried to have Jesus killed in Bethlehem. It was the pride and marvel of all Israel, and people came hundreds of miles to see Herod's great temple.

For the Jew, though, it wasn't just the architecture that was so fantastic. It was the fact that God Himself promised that He would dwell in the Temple. This was God's house. To the Jew, if you asked Him where to find God, He would point to Jerusalem and the Temple. This was the holiest place in all the earth, for there God's name dwelt, and His glory filled it.

So imagine the scene in today's Gospel. Joseph and Mary bring the baby Jesus to the Temple, to God's house. While they are there, a man named Simeon comes to meet them. He has waited his whole life for the consolation of Israel, and it was revealed to Him by the Holy Spirit that he would not taste death until He had seen the Lord's Christ. And so he waited, and waited, and waited, until the time was just right for the coming of the Son of God in the flesh.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph are on the steps of the Temple, one of the grandest buildings of all time, which was where God promised to dwell. Yet Simeon takes the young Jesus into his arms and sings:

"Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word, for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people, a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel."

In the midst of all that gold and glitter and glory, God's presence was now contained in this little Baby. "My eyes have seen your salvation," Simeon cried out. Not in the wonder and majesty of the building, but in a little Baby, asleep in his arms.

This, my friend, is the miracle of the Incarnation. God takes on human form. Infinite God is contained in finite flesh. The majesty and splendor of the Creator of the universe is hidden in the most ordinary Thing. For what could be more ordinary, more normal than a baby? Who could be afraid of an Infant nursing at His mother's breast?

This is the fullness of time. This is how the almighty God and Creator of the world wants you to see and know Him. He does not want you to be in terror of Him or only to wonder in awe at His might and power. No, He wants to be a part of your family, a familiar part of your very life. This is why Saint Paul writes in Galatians: "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."

He wants you to call Him Father, because you are His child, and He has sent His Son, your brother Jesus Christ, to come into the world to save you from your sins. Fear not! For this little Child, who looks so ordinary and lowly and humble, this little Child was destined to bring about the salvation of the whole world.

That is the miracle of the Incarnation. Simeon received the glory of God, not in the majestic grandeur of Herod's Temple, but in a tiny Baby, cradled in his arms. God gave Himself to Simeon in the incarnate flesh of the Virgin's Son. And because Simeon had beheld his Infant God, he was able to depart this life in peace. No matter what Simeon was suffering in his own, aged body; no matter what painful memories haunted him from his past; no matter what wretched sins he had committed, Simeon could depart in peace, for he had seen God's salvation and had received his Incarnate Lord into his own hands.

And that is the miracle which you receive in your mouth in the Lord's Supper. Christ the Lord continues to present Himself in His Father's house. Jesus comes now to you in the ordinary and humble things of the earth. Word, water, bread and wine are His vessels. And as Simeon saw and confessed so many years ago, God's salvation, indeed His very glory is contained in these humble gifts. And because you so behold your Incarnate God, you are able to depart this life in peace. No matter what you are suffering in your own body; no matter what painful memories haunt you from your past; no matter what wretched sins you have committed, you may depart in peace, for you have seen God's salvation and have received your Incarnate Lord into your own mouth in the bread and wine, according to His unchangeable testament Word. That is precisely why you sing the song of Simeon after receiving this Holy Supper, "Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word, for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people, a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel."

Christ your Lord wants you to believe in Him and trust that He will give you all that you need, both for this life and for the next. You pray in the Lord's prayer that He would give us this day our daily bread and that He would deliver us from evil. And so He does. He indeed takes care of you. The One who came down to earth as a little Child, the One who comes to you now in the bread and wine, He will bring you up to heaven with Him. Your eyes now see God's salvation. He has prepared His table before the face of all people. Your Incarnate God is located not in any temple of brick or stone; your incarnate God is located right here, in bread and wine. He is here. He is for you.

God's glory, His wonderful forgiving presence, is found in the little Child, Jesus Christ the righteous One. It doesn't make sense to your eyes. You cannot comprehend how all of God's might and power can reside in the most helpless of infants. But it is true. And that is the miracle which you receive Sunday after Sunday in His Holy Supper: God in the flesh, hidden in bread and wine. God's glory, His wonderful forgiving presence, is found right here, upon this altar, for here is Jesus Christ the righteous One, in His Body and Blood. His Word and this Sacrament are your life. At just the right time, Christ comes to save the ungodly. At just the right time, Christ comes to save you. Amen.

The Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Last Updated: 7/15/2008