231231 Sermon on the importance of being redeemed from the Law (Christmas 1) December 31, 2023

 Audio recording

Sermon manuscript:

Our Gospel reading this morning tells the story of what happened not long after Jesus’s birth. The Law of God, given to the Old Testament people, required that eight days after Jesus’s birth he needed to be circumcised. Then, forty days after Mary gave birth, she needed to offer sacrifices. This marked the end of her time of ceremonial uncleanness from giving birth. Our Gospel reading describes this. Mary and Joseph went up into Jerusalem. Jesus was presented to the Lord as the firstborn, and they offered two pigeons in the Temple.

In a way, these activities were unremarkable. Jewish people had been obeying these Laws for many hundreds of years. Since Mary and Joseph were devout Jews, they did what was expected of them according to the Law.

What was unusual about the situation was that Jesus wasn’t just an ordinary Jewish boy. He was also God’s Son. Since Jesus was and is God’s Son, he is the originator of the Law. He is Lord of the Law. He was free. He didn’t need to enter under those Laws. The Israelites, on the other hand, were not free either to observe the Law or not observe the Law. If the boys and men were not circumcised, they were cut off from the people of God. If people were not made clean according to the Law of Moses, they were kept apart from the communion of saints. The God-given laws were what gave them their standing. If they were on the right side of the Law, then all was well. If they were on the wrong side of the Law, then they were cut off.

Although Jesus, the Son of God, was not compelled to be subservient to these laws, he freely did so. The reason why he entered into these laws was to set people free from the Law as determining their standing before God. He entered into these Laws to keep them on behalf of all. He satisfied what was required by the Law so that his obedience may be credited to us.

Our Epistle reading is a clear and memorable passage that sums up what Jesus accomplished. The passage reads: “In the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Let’s briefly look more closely at these words: God sent his Son at the fullness of time, at the right time. God’s Son was born of a woman—not the normal place to find a God. God’s Son was born under the Law—not the normal place to find the Giver of the Law. The reason for all of this, though, is for redemption. That is the key word in the passage: God did these things to redeem those who were under the Law.

This redemption changes the basis for our standing. Having been redeemed, the basis for our relationship with God is no longer the Law. The Law required certain actions and forbade other actions. Instead of our relationship with God being determined by what we’ve done, we’ve been redeemed so that our relationship with God is on the basis of grace.

The language that Paul uses is that we are adopted as sons. The reason why he uses the term “sons” instead of a more general term like “children” is because we are adopted only through Jesus, who is God’s Son. We receive Jesus’s status as God’s Son when we are baptized into him and when we believe in him. It’s by being connected to the only-begotten Son that we receive adoption as God’s sons—regardless of whether we are male or female.

So, in one sense, when we look at the happenings that Luke describes in our Gospel reading, they are unremarkable. Israelites had been doing those things for a very long time. However, in another sense, and under the surface, so to speak, the most momentous things were taking place. Fulfillment was taking place. Redemption was taking place. The relationship that human beings have with God was being revealed as being upon a different basis. This relationship with God was not be on the basis of the works of the Law, but upon faith in God’s grace. Instead of having a relationship like a slave or an employee, who is only as valuable and esteemed as the work that he or she performs, we are adopted as sons of God, loved simply for the sake of who we are in Christ and for no other reasons.

There is a surprisingly practical importance of this teaching for each one of us. It has to do with what we say about ourselves. What makes you who you are? When we think about that question, the most immediate and natural answers are what you manage to accomplish for yourself: You’re hardworking. You’re smart. You’re popular. You’re moral. You’re good-looking. I could go on with many other possible positive attributes.

But even with these few that I’ve listed, doubts immediately come to mind. Are you that good-looking? Are you that moral? Are you that popular? I wonder if I couldn’t find some other specimens of humanity who might exceed the attributes and talents that you have. I bet I could.

And besides these answer to the question of what you have to say about yourself—what makes you good—we have the more important criteria that God provides. Have you loved God? Have you loved your neighbor, your fellow human being? Have you thanked and praised, served and obeyed God? Have you honored your parents and other authorities? Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds? Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?

These commands are different. With the rat-race where everyone is trying to be the best—the best athlete, the best looking, the richest, and so on—there’s no divine command about these things. God doesn’t command you to be the best, nor does he evaluate you along these lines. Very different powers and authorities are the ones demanding you to be the best. This demand, this law, seems to have been cooked up by God’s enemies—the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. God’s enemies do not want us to be satisfied or to give thanks. God’s enemies what us always to be covetous and never to be thankful. God’s enemies want us always to be longing to be the best and always being sorry for failing to be the best.

God isn’t like that. God won’t judge you for failing to succeed in all the stupid contests about who is the greatest. What he says he will judge you for is the way that you have treated him and the way that you have treated your fellow human beings. That is God’s Law.

Now before I get into how practical and important the change is that Jesus has brought about, I’d like to point out how little we think about God’s real Law and how much we obsess about those contests. People think a lot about how pretty or not pretty, how rich or not rich, how successful or unsuccessful they feel. These desires are much more important to us than God’s Law. There’s a good reason why we do that. We all have this belief that if only I was the best at everything, then I’d be happy. And doesn’t that make sense? It appears to be a truism according to our common sense—if only I had everything and was the best at everything, then I would be happy!

Again, this is the common sense way that the devil keeps you coveting. Your coveting makes you blind to the riches of God which are new every morning because you are desiring to be the best. Your eyes cannot see his goodness because you are always looking at the performance of your stock portfolio, or the latest workout regiment, or the newest gadgets and furnishings for your home. Your eyes don’t go so high as to contemplate God’s real Laws about love. You’re too busy believing that you need the fake measures of success that hold out the promise of happiness, but never deliver.

In any case—whether we are dealing with the fake laws for how to be the best, or the divine laws that require love, the change that Jesus brings about is for the better. God’s Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, has redeemed us so that we might receive adoption as sons. This changes the answer to the question we have been considering: What do you have to say about yourself?

I can answer that I am the recipient of God’s grace. God has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. Now I am his own. I have been adopted as a child of God in Jesus. Since I am adopted as a child of God I am also an heir. I will inherit what God has decided to give me. If I am not already happy, then I know that I will be when the time is right.

Everything that I have just said is about God. God is doing all the actions. You are only a recipient. God is the Savior, not you. God gives the meaning to your life, not you. God is the judge, not you. This is all to say that God is in control, not you. By faith you may get on board with that and embrace it as your own.

It is no small thing to believe that Jesus is your redeemer. It sets you in opposition to other powers and authorities who would have you interpret your life in very different ways. Very different ways of attaining happiness are held out as being the sure-fire way, and their arguments can be awfully persuasive. The promise of happiness that the Scriptures make is that your happiness will be in Jesus because he puts you into a gracious relationship with God. It is good to be in this relationship with God because God is good. God is wise.

As David says in Psalm 103:

God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. … He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor does he repay us according to our iniquities. … As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.