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1 Year Lectionary – Christmas Eve – Friday, December 24, 2021 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger 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 Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:27	In the name of Jesus
0:30	amen
0:32	so i learned something new this week i
0:34	was shocked when i heard it i in fact i
0:36	didn’t even know what to think of it
0:38	it’s horrible when you consider the
0:40	implications of what it is that i’d
0:42	learned
0:43	any of you seen the rankin bass
0:45	claymation special rudolph the red-nosed
0:48	reindeer i grew up on it now a little
0:50	bit of a no it first aired in december
0:54	of 1964.
0:56	so i wasn’t around when it first aired
0:58	just so you know okay okay but
1:01	but dwayne cleven was i see
1:04	right
1:06	but all of that being said the year that
1:08	it first aired
1:09	there was something
1:11	missing
1:13	get this
1:15	at the end of the very first version of
1:18	rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
1:20	the
1:21	toys that were on the isle of misfit
1:23	toys they were never rescued rudolph
1:26	never came back santa never came to get
1:30	them
1:30	[Laughter]
1:34	and josh has lost it it’s horrible if
1:37	you think about it because you have
1:39	rudolph promising he would come back but
1:41	he never did and what ended up happening
1:44	as a result of this oversight i don’t
1:47	know what you call it
1:49	children from around the country and
1:50	around the world who had seen this
1:52	special wrote letters
1:55	saying that it was terrible what
1:56	happened to the toys on the isle of
2:00	misfit toys did why didn’t santa go and
2:03	get them and rankin and bass you know
2:06	being put under this basically deluge of
2:10	letters calling for some kind of justice
2:12	for the isle of misfit toys they
2:15	before 1965’s airing of that
2:19	special
2:20	added the ending that we’re all familiar
2:22	with the one that i’ve seen since i was
2:24	a kid
2:25	but i’d like you to think of it this way
2:29	tonight is Christmas eve
2:31	and according to the biblical way in
2:33	which days work today is already
2:36	Christmas it’s already happened when the
2:38	sun set Christmas began
2:41	and you’ll note that when we read in the
2:43	book of genesis the days of creation
2:46	there was evening
2:47	and there was morning the first day
2:49	there was evening and there was morning
2:50	the second day our days begin in
2:53	darkness
2:54	and so it’s kind of appropriate it’s
2:56	almost like god knew what he was doing
2:59	because i think he does you know we
3:01	begin our lives in the darkness of sin
3:04	we begin our lives under the dominion of
3:06	darkness we demon
3:08	begin our lives in darkness itself
3:11	under the rule of satan
3:14	following the passions of the world and
3:16	the desires that run contrary to the
3:19	word of god
3:20	all because of adam and eve’s rebellion
3:24	against god in eating of the tree that
3:26	they were told not to eat of it
3:28	but when god was handing out punishments
3:32	curses if you would
3:34	aside from the curse that we heard that
3:36	you are dust into dusty will return
3:39	and by toil and the sweat of your brow
3:41	will you eat bread that was one of the
3:44	curses and also the conflict between
3:46	husband and wives that exists that was
3:48	part of the curse
3:50	and also
3:51	well women experience
3:53	pain and childbirth that’s par part of
3:55	the curse but there was a curse in
3:58	particular that was given but it was
4:00	backhanded curse it was a curse with a
4:02	promise
4:03	and the promise went something along the
4:05	lines of that the seed of the woman
4:09	a promised seed of a woman by the way
4:11	women don’t have seeds they’re they’re
4:14	the fertile grounds that seeds are
4:16	planted in if you were to think about it
4:18	but the seed of the woman god would
4:20	raise up who would crush the head of the
4:21	serpent break his dominion
4:24	and
4:25	there was the very first Christmas
4:27	promise given to us
4:30	in the darkness
4:31	of our sin
4:32	is it any wonder then that john in his
4:35	gospel he likens Christ’s appearing the
4:38	incarnation not only to a new creation
4:41	and it is but he also
4:44	well talks about it in terms of darkness
4:47	and in light
4:48	that the light has shone in the darkness
4:50	and the darkness has not overcome it and
4:53	that Christ the light has come to save
4:55	us
4:56	and see that’s the thing
4:58	we didn’t have to send letters to god
5:00	going help we’re broken we’re stuck on
5:04	the island of sinful creatures
5:07	and if you think about it as big as our
5:09	planet seems to us
5:12	in the vastness of space
5:14	this tiny little marble that we’re on is
5:17	kind of like an island and in the well
5:20	when you consider the vastness of the
5:22	universe itself
5:24	a tiny little speck
5:28	but here we all are broken by sin not
5:31	just misfits we’re flat-out rebels
5:34	not just you know mortally wounded but
5:37	dead in trespasses and sins
5:39	and at the very very first
5:42	of it god promises us one who would
5:46	crush the head of the serpent the seed
5:48	of the woman
5:49	and thousands of years passed before
5:53	that promise was fulfilled
5:56	you see god didn’t put us down as a post
5:58	script it wasn’t like Jesus was going oh
6:01	yeah i think we need to do something
6:03	about humanity this was the plan all
6:06	along and so we hear then in our gospel
6:09	text tonight
6:11	then in human history
6:14	in those days a decree went out from
6:16	caesar augustus we know the name of the
6:18	roman emperor that Jesus was born
6:21	under
6:22	all the world should be registered for
6:24	what purpose tax you know taxes we all
6:26	know a thing or two about that don’t
6:28	worry you kids you’ll understand what
6:29	taxes are all about soon enough and once
6:32	you start paying you never stop it’s
6:34	just a thing that happens year after
6:37	year every time you go to the grocery
6:38	store but
6:40	mary and joseph they had to go down to
6:41	bethlehem in order to be registered for
6:43	attacks this was the first registration
6:46	when quirinius was the governor of syria
6:48	all went to be registered each to his
6:50	own town and so joseph and mary were
6:52	required then by roman law to make the
6:54	trip from nazareth
6:56	all the way down to bethlehem it would
6:59	take a couple of days to get there and
7:01	this is the days before cars and they
7:03	always picture mary on a donkey you know
7:06	you get the Christmas cards right and
7:08	the Christmas cards always have those
7:10	those wonderful blue gradients of the
7:12	sky that had just turned dark with the
7:15	big shining star and off in the distance
7:17	bethlehem and there’s mary being led by
7:20	joseph on a donkey but here’s the issue
7:24	to have a donkey means you have money
7:28	mary and joseph just don’t
7:31	they don’t we’ll we’ll see this in the
7:33	in the weeks ahead that when it came
7:36	time to present Jesus and to offer the
7:38	sacrifice necessary for him as the
7:41	firstborn
7:42	child who opened the womb of the virgin
7:45	mary
7:46	they couldn’t even afford a sheep
7:49	they they went with the poverty
7:52	sacrifice
7:53	so was mary on a donkey
7:56	most likely not
7:58	in fact she probably walked the whole
8:01	way and walking from
8:04	nazareth to bethlehem nine months
8:06	pregnant just sounds
8:09	no fun
8:10	at all
8:11	is it any wonder then that she went she
8:13	goes into labor first thing she gets
8:15	there
8:16	so they were the house in the lineage of
8:18	david she was betrothed not yet not yet
8:22	uh consummated the marriage and while
8:24	they were there the time came for her to
8:25	give birth and she gave birth to her
8:27	firstborn son wrapped him in swaddling
8:29	claws laid him in a manger and then we
8:32	hear these words because there was no
8:33	place for them in the inn
8:35	now a little bit of a note here the word
8:38	for in you know we translate it in we
8:40	think of like the holiday inn
8:42	so they went to the local hotel you know
8:45	they went to the holiday inn or the
8:46	howard johnson of the motel six and
8:49	every time they would drive up you know
8:50	they said you know no vacancy
8:53	what’s interesting is
8:55	is that
8:56	the greek word here is catalooma
9:00	and it could be translated as an upper
9:03	room and let me explain what this means
9:05	is that we you know we picture poor mary
9:07	and joseph you know looking for a place
9:09	to stay but chances are that they had
9:12	relatives cousins or maybe second
9:15	cousins living
9:17	in bethlehem i mean family units were a
9:19	lot tighter back then but i mean i would
9:22	note out here some of you kids how close
9:24	are you with your cousins do you know
9:26	your cousins you know uncle so and so
9:28	aunt so and so i don’t know which uncles
9:31	or aunts you know but the idea here is
9:33	is that you have extended family but
9:35	here’s the thing
9:37	bethlehem was
9:39	packed
9:40	why because everyone was required there
9:42	to register for their taxes and so back
9:45	in the day in bethlehem the way it would
9:47	work you’d have these like kind of three
9:49	storied houses all right on the bottom
9:53	story it was a dirt floor
9:55	and guess what they kept on the bottom
9:58	floor
9:59	your cattle they’d keep cows or goats or
10:02	sheep and the reason being is actually
10:04	quite simple
10:05	because on the bottom level you keep the
10:07	cows down on the bottom heat rises
10:10	so do smells but that’s a different
10:12	thing altogether all right then you have
10:14	like a main floor the main floor on the
10:17	main floor you would have your kitchen
10:18	facility and main rooms for mom dad and
10:21	for the kids but then there was this
10:23	third room on the top called a catalooma
10:26	all right and the ketaluma was for the
10:28	visiting guests so somebody comes in
10:31	from out of town maybe that’s where you
10:33	store some things up there but they you
10:36	clear that all out and your guests stay
10:38	in their guest room that’s how this all
10:40	worked but all the catalumas
10:42	were packed which basically means that
10:45	mary and joseph were down on the bottom
10:47	floor
10:48	where the animals were
10:52	i always think back to when i was a kid
10:54	when i didn’t clean my room properly
10:56	which was often
10:59	my mom had this thing she would say
11:02	were you born in a barn
11:07	i often wondered
11:08	how bad my beating would have been had i
11:10	said yes
11:11	you
11:12	know i was always tempted to lip off
11:15	backwards but but here’s the thing
11:18	Christ in a sense was
11:21	and consider the contrast
11:24	Jesus is king of kings he’s lord of
11:26	lords
11:27	he is the one in genesis
11:29	who said let there be light and there
11:31	was light
11:33	he was there with the father and the
11:34	holy spirit he saw the holy spirit
11:38	brooding over the
11:40	waters of the deep
11:42	and
11:43	beginning the process of taking all of
11:45	this chaos and bringing order to it he
11:48	owns the cattle on a thousand hills the
11:50	scripture says
11:52	everything was made
11:54	by him there’s not anything made
11:57	that wasn’t made by him yet he came to
11:59	his own and his own
12:01	did not know him
12:05	he wasn’t born
12:08	in regal robes there was no
12:11	royal
12:13	proclaimer out there saying the king has
12:16	given birth to a son the son of david
12:19	who will reign over the throne on the
12:21	throne of david his father in israel not
12:23	nothing like that nothing
12:25	king of kings lord of lords god of god
12:28	light of light very god a very god
12:31	and what do they do
12:33	they wrap them in swaddling cloths and
12:36	put them in a animal feeding trough
12:40	for a bed
12:43	why
12:46	because
12:48	god
12:49	loves you
12:51	and he was coming to save you
12:54	you weren’t an afterthought
12:58	you didn’t have to have kids right to
13:00	god saying how long oh lord are you
13:02	going to do anything to
13:04	fix the problem that we have
13:06	instead
13:08	Christ
13:09	was now in the world
13:11	and one of the famous hymns that we sing
13:13	with child is this
13:15	and the second stanza singing about the
13:18	baby Jesus
13:19	it says that nails and spears will
13:22	pierce him through the cross be born for
13:24	me for you
13:25	hail hail the word made flesh the babe
13:28	the son of mary Christ was here to come
13:30	and bleed and die
13:33	and so here we see Jesus resting we see
13:35	Jesus sleeping here we see Jesus
13:38	well
13:39	doing what babies do
13:41	but all of this is so that he can lay
13:43	down his life so that you and i can live
13:46	so that you and i can be forgiven so
13:48	that you and i can be reconciled to god
13:50	so that our sin can be atoned for and
13:53	the darkness that we have brought into
13:55	the world
13:57	would give way to the light of Christ
14:00	and the world to come
14:03	and it’s always it’s always in this
14:05	context that you hear then about these
14:08	shepherds now little historical note
14:11	some some people have noted and they are
14:13	absolutely correct that the shepherds of
14:15	bethlehem were generally tasked with
14:18	being the ones to care for the sheep who
14:21	would be sacrificed as part of the
14:23	requirements of the mosaic covenant
14:26	and so it’s in that regard then you kind
14:28	of consider that it almost seems like an
14:30	appropriate group of people to
14:33	to well announce the good news to
14:36	but when god shows up among us we don’t
14:39	even know it
14:40	and so the angels had to step in and let
14:43	us know what was going on
14:45	so in the same region there were
14:46	shepherds out in the field keeping their
14:47	watch over their flock by night
14:50	and an angel of the lord appeared to
14:51	them we don’t know his name it’s not
14:52	given to us
14:54	and the glory of the lord shone around
14:56	them and they were filled with great
14:59	fear
15:01	and isn’t that what we all because of
15:02	our sin
15:04	feel regarding god
15:06	anxiety fear
15:08	fear of judgment fear of being cast into
15:10	hell fear
15:12	of getting what we deserve
15:14	but that’s not what Christ was here
15:17	and so they were filled with great fear
15:19	and they hear these comforting words the
15:22	angels said to them fear not
15:24	fear not for behold
15:26	i bring you good news of great joy that
15:28	will be for all people for unto you was
15:30	born this day in the city of david a
15:32	savior who is Christ the lord
15:35	and this proclamation you’ll note the
15:36	angel says it’s for all people it’s for
15:38	you it’s for me and today we got to hear
15:41	the kids of emmanuel and the kids of
15:43	kongswinger
15:44	join their voices with the angels
15:47	and proclaiming to us that unto us is
15:50	born a savior which is exactly what we
15:53	need
15:54	and this will be the sign for you you’ll
15:56	find a baby wrapped in swaddling claws
15:58	lying in a manger and suddenly there was
16:01	with the angel a multitude of the
16:02	heavenly hosts praising god and saying
16:04	glory to god in the highest and on earth
16:06	peace among those with whom he is well
16:08	pleased
16:10	so when the angels then went away from
16:12	them into heaven the shepherds said to
16:14	one another let us go over to bethlehem
16:16	and see this thing that has happened
16:18	which the lord has made known to us and
16:20	if god hadn’t made it known to us we
16:22	would have never known at all
16:24	that’s how dark the darkness is of our
16:28	sin
16:29	so let’s go to bethlehem a little bit of
16:31	a note here also beth
16:33	lechem you have to say it like that by
16:35	the way if you’re going to do it right
16:40	all right
16:41	is bread
16:43	bath
16:44	house think about this for a second
16:47	all the way back
16:49	in genesis
16:50	we hear god saying to adam
16:54	that by the sweat of your brow you will
16:57	toil
16:58	and from the sweat and toil you will eat
17:02	what
17:03	bread
17:04	isn’t isn’t it appropriate then that
17:06	Christ is born
17:08	in bethlehem
17:10	the house
17:11	of bread
17:12	because he not only lays down his life
17:16	for us
17:17	he says in the gospel of john that he is
17:20	the bread of life and that whoever feeds
17:22	on him will never die
17:25	think about it a reference to communion
17:28	and there’s a veiled reference to it
17:30	here in Jesus’s place of birth the place
17:33	that he chose to be born so let’s go
17:35	over to bethlehem and see this thing
17:37	that has happened which the lord has
17:39	made known to us so they went with haste
17:41	and they found mary and joseph and the
17:43	baby lying in a manger just as they were
17:45	told and they when they saw it they made
17:47	known the saying that had been told to
17:49	them concerning this child and all who
17:51	heard it wondered and what the shepherds
17:53	told them that mary treasured up all
17:55	these things pondering them in her heart
17:57	and the shepherds then returned
17:59	glorifying and praising god for all that
18:01	they had heard and seen as it has been
18:04	told to them and brothers and sisters
18:06	tonight you have been told again the
18:08	story today is not a day where we
18:10	celebrate in the same way we celebrate
18:12	birthdays this isn’t we’re not this is a
18:14	big blowout celebration of the birthday
18:16	of Christ instead Christmas is instead
18:20	the celebration the glorifying of god of
18:23	the birth of our savior regardless of
18:27	the day on which it fell
18:30	today is the day
18:31	now that the sun is set because it is
18:33	already Christmas by bible
18:36	keeping of days
18:37	today is the day that we remember that
18:40	god never forgot us
18:42	that we were not an afterthought
18:44	Christ says that god did not send his
18:46	son into the world to condemn the world
18:48	but the world might be saved through him
18:50	god so loved the world that he gave his
18:53	only begotten son and he shows up as a
18:56	baby
18:58	whoever believes in him
19:00	should not perish but have eternal life
19:04	so let us join our voices now
19:07	with the shepherds
19:09	and glorify god
19:11	and praise god for all that we have
19:13	heard today although we have not seen it
19:16	with our eyes we will see him with our
19:18	eyes when he returns in glory and
19:20	although we have not heard his voice we
19:22	have heard the voice that he has given
19:25	us to hear these words and these words
19:27	come with his authority and they are
19:29	living and active they give us hope
19:32	in the midst of a world that seems
19:33	hopeless
19:35	and this is truly light in the world
19:37	that is filled with darkness and getting
19:39	darker
19:41	and so note this brothers and sisters
19:44	unto you is born
19:47	a savior
19:48	exactly what we need
19:50	we are saved
19:52	we are rescued in the name of Jesus
19:55	amen

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