Come on, we love it!

[AI translation] The Apostle John sums up the whole Christmas event most succinctly when he says: "The Word was made flesh... (Jn 1,14) God revealed his glory most powerfully on earth in the human body of Jesus of Nazareth. Hidden, veiled, was the divine glory in him, but veiled also was the glory of the living God hidden in his mysterious person. In what can we see this glory there around the child Jesus? In the angelic hosts announcing his birth to the shepherds, filling the night of Bethlehem with their heavenly songs? In that too, no doubt. But it is not this that is the greatest honour for Jesus, but the homage and adoration he receives from those who worship him. The glory of Jesus shines most powerfully in the small, handful of congregations that celebrate Christmas around the manger. He is most glorified when redeemed human hearts and human tongues exalt in him the Son of God, the Saviour known by faith! And this joyful exaltation is not lacking in Bethlehem. Though very small at first, there is already His adoring people, His Church, around the new-born King, joyfully worshipping the Lord Christ in the little new-born. Would that our celebration might be so full of true Christ-worship! Then we too could have a real Christmas now!Let us first see who were those who, in that very unroyal setting, in that very miserable and poor exterior, yet recognized the Extraordinary, the Wonderful, the Son of God, and came to worship the Lord Christ! There were very few of them, only a few shepherds from the fields, two old men, Simeon and Anna from the church, a few learned astronomers from the sunrise, the quiet Joseph and the gentle Mary, nobody else! A poor beginning for a King, and yet in him is the beginning and promise of the whole Church of Christ! For look at the variety in this little group! Already all kinds of people are represented. Israel is present, and the Gentiles are already here. Here is the chosen people rejoicing, and here is the Gentile world laying up its gifts. Here are simple shepherds from the fields of Ephrata, and humble women from Jerusalem. Here are the rejoicing Simeon and the silent Joseph. Here is Anna the prophetess, and Mary, quietly turning over in her heart what she has heard. Here are poor and rich, uneducated and learned, manual workers and intellectuals, young and old, illiterate and wise. So the church, as Christ gathers it from every nation, branch, people and tongue, as it will be expanded after Pentecost among all the peoples of the world.
And all these diverse people will meet together in Jesus Christ! They find each other and become one in glorifying God for the birth of the Saviour. In different ways and ways, from different places and circumstances, people of all kinds, people who had never seen or known each other before, come together in unity in worship of the Son of God! How wonderful it is that this world of people, divided in many ways, pitted against each other by hostile interests, not understanding each other's language, thinking or worldview, often similar to each other, should have a spiritual centre where people of all ranks and all positions can meet, find each other, unite, become brothers and sisters: around Jesus Christ the Saviour!
So we are together here around Christ, and when we encourage one another with the words of the song, "O come, let us worship the Lord Christ," let us break down in spirit any barriers of separation that real or imagined grievances have put between us. Let us bridge every gulf that separates us from one another, let us put aside every antagonism that separates one from another. Let us experience, let us live the reality of being one in the worship of Christ. Let these walls be opened up before our souls now, and let our hearts be filled with the joy of Christmas that we are one, of all peoples, tongues and sectors, in Christ, in whom God has made us brothers and sisters.
Are you in this army? Look, the great thing is that we can all be in the community of Christ-worshippers without exception! Rich, poor, servant, free, unlearned, learned, shepherd, and wise alike are free to bow down before Jesus. The way to the manger of Bethlehem is open to old and young, big and small. For all who seek forgiveness of sins, salvation, eternal life, and want to glorify Jesus as King. If you long for Him, you cannot say there is no place for you among His worshippers, for, lo, there is. You can come too! Come! The Lord Jesus will accept your homage even if you have been unfaithful to Him, if you have been unbelieving to Him, if you have never honoured Him before. The incarnate grace of God is proclaimed by this Child, a testimony of the love of the forgiving Mother, He. Come, then, ye present, simple shepherds and learned wise men, silent Josephs and contemplative Marys, dying Simeons and hoping Annas, all of you, "O come, let us worship the Lord Christ!"
But what did those people find to worship in that Child? The place, the environment in which they found it, could not really have tuned them to exultant praise of God! The stable where the shepherds arrived, the poor room where the wise men of the East later deposited their treasures, and before that, the two little geldings with which Joseph and Mary presented the sacrifice customary of the poorest people in the temple: they had no help in recognizing in the Child the Son of God, the Saviour! And yet they worship him as God! And yet they rejoice, full of exultant praise! This is only possible because, beyond what they have seen, they have believed in what is no longer visible. By faith they grasped the happy reality, by faith they were convinced that this Child was truly the Son of God, truly their Saviour God on earth! It was then, as it is now, by faith that the glory of God and His redeeming grace could be known in the human form of Jesus. And this faith cannot be supported by scientific evidence. But the point is not whether a truth is scientifically proven, but whether man is willing, ready to lay down his life on it.
And with regard to the person of Jesus, it is not a question of proving his divinity in precise propositions, but of daring to believe in him, daring to accept him as the Son of God, the Saviour, and daring to live with him, from him, through him and in him! And if we dare to take this boldness of faith decision, then let us experience that in His simplicity the love of God has indeed appeared on earth, that that Child truly proclaims the grace of God in the flesh, brings the love of the forgiving Mother, that in His miserable death there is indeed redemptive power, that His resurrection has indeed taken away the sting of death for us too. Salvation is not a beautiful theory but a reality to be lived, love is not a wishful dream but a working power, forgiveness of sins is not an empty word but a source of cleansing power - Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of God, the living and active Saviour!
And that is the wonderful thing about our worship of Christ, that what the world considers foolishness and stumbling blocks the sons of the world from accepting Jesus as Saviour: so it is His very poverty, His despisedness, His manger and His cross - that is what makes us give joyful praise and thanksgiving, that is what fills our lives with heavenly joy! Such as earthly fortune can never give! That no one can take away! Yes, if we believe in God's only begotten Son, who can separate us from God's love? How then shall we not worship that Child in whom, with the wise men and the shepherds, with Simeon and Anna, with Joseph and Mary, and the apostles Paul and Peter, and millions and millions of believing souls, our faith also joyfully beholds the glory of Christ the Saviour?
And finally, how did they worship Jesus on that first Christmas? Here too we see a great difference. The shepherds returned to their work, praising and glorifying God for all they had heard and seen. Mary as she kept all these words and turned them over in her heart. Joseph, silently listening, wondered at what the shepherds were saying to him. Simeon took the Child in his arms and blessed God. Anna gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Jesus to all those who were waiting for redemption in Jerusalem. The wise men knelt down before her and opened their treasures. Each one gives what he has, what he has received! The shepherds the psalm they heard in the field, Joseph and Mary the humility of their hearts, Simeon the joys, Anna the confession of faith, the wise men their riches! Even in this diversity, even in this diverse worship, the royal glory of Christ is discernible. The mighty song that His Church sings is a harmony of many and varied voices, and in this sublime harmony is the voice of every redeemed soul who gives to Christ what he has, what he has received from Him, even if it is small and petty in the eyes of men. This completes the Christmas celebration, each one expressing in his own way his gratitude and Christmas joy for the grace he has received. Praise God with what you have, with what you have!
This is how our Christmas celebration will be complete. Let each of us, with the particular tone of his soul, the strength of his hands, the extent of his talents, but let him give visible and audible expression to his praise to God for his Christ! Our whole Christmas celebration is worthless if it is reduced to singing here in church, "O come, let us worship the Lord Christ" (Canticle 327). But out there in life, where we go about our daily work, in the office or the kitchen or the workplace, in the family home, where we work from morning till night, where we rest, have fun, hope, grieve, we are with people, we jostle, we queue, we talk, we listen, we struggle with temptations, there is set up for us that invisible altar where we can present the sacrifice of our thanksgiving and praise to our Lord! There we give to Him, to His glory, what we have. There let our hearts be opened before Him when He asks from behind another man: do you love me? There let our mouths be opened in testimony! There let us give ourselves and all we have to Him, to His service! This is the true and worthy worship of Christ! That is the true joy of Christmas!
And this earthly feast is but a foretaste of the great feast that we will celebrate forever in His kingdom. There too the shepherds and the wise men will be there, Joseph and Mary, Anna and Simeon will rejoice. The praise songs of all the saved will be perfect worship there. And that feast will never end! For ever and ever the joyful hallelujahs of the celebrating multitude shall ring. Blessed be the Lord that our voices may be in that heavenly choir!
Amen
Date: 25 December 1953, Christmas Day.