WEEKLY SERMON
Christmas 1 – January 3, 2010
- 2 Samuel 7:8-16
CHRISTMAS REMINDS US OF OUR REAL
HOME
It was also a word on the mind of King David in the words before
us today. David had just
settled into a new home, his brand new palace in Jerusalem.
But as a faithful follower of God he was concerned because the
Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s presence among the Israelites,
didn’t have its own home.
God was still being worshipped in the portable tabernacle.
David wanted to change that.
Now that he was living in a permanent home, he wanted to build a
house for the Lord.
These words are God’s answer to David.
Strangely enough, God didn’t want David to build the Temple.
That would be a task for David’s son, Solomon.
Instead, God talks about building another house, another kingdom,
for David. But it would be
a much different one, one that has a great deal to do with us Christians
today. That’s because God
is talking about a spiritual home and a spiritual kingdom.
All that would take place, all that did come about through the
child whose birth we just celebrated a week ago.
And so today we use as our theme:
CHRISTMAS REMINDS US OF OUR REAL HOME
It’s a home graciously prepared for us by our heavenly Father.
It’s a home established through the sending of his Son.
And this home is a place of everlasting peace and rest.
I.
David’s home had been graciously prepared by his Father in
heaven.
I took you from the pasture and
from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off
all your enemies from before you.
God had brought David to where he was in life.
From humble beginnings, tending his father’s sheep around
Bethlehem, David was now king of Israel.
He had served under King Saul as court musician and poet.
He had demonstrated great trust in God by taking on the giant
Goliath and winning the battle.
He had been anointed by the prophet Samuel as Saul’s successor.
And, after a short civil war, David had become acknowledged as
king of all Israel. Then he
had gone about the task of subduing the many heathen nations which were
always attacking. David had
brought peace and stability to God’s people.
But in these words God reminds him that all the glory and power
were really in the Lord’s hands.
David had accomplished all these things only because God was with
him. It all fit into God’s
carefully laid out plans.
All the success, all the fame and celebrity, everything that came to
David, was a result of God’s blessing.
And David knew that.
He was a strong believer in the Lord.
He acknowledged God’s goodness to him.
He expressed his faith often and beautifully as we can read in
his many psalms. That’s why
he wanted to build a home for the Lord, to express his thanks and
gratitude for all those blessings.
But instead of letting that happen, God had still another
blessing for David, and really, for all people.
Your house and your
kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established
forever. God is talking
about our real home, heaven, and about a spiritual kingdom, the
Christian Church, the gathering of believers, the communion of saints.
God had a plan, a plan laid out
in eternity. Through David
he was making preparations to carry out that plan.
One day these promises would be kept.
One day David’s earthly kingdom would come to an end.
But from the stump of that kingdom, a new one would spring up, a
spiritual kingdom, led by one of his descendents who would rule, not
just for 20 or 30 years, but eternally.
That was the plan prepared by David’s heavenly Father.
That was the promise God makes to him here.
Rather than David building the Lord a home, God was going to
build an eternal home for David and for all those who faithfully follow
him.
We heard in our gospel reading how the God’s people in the OT
recognized and believed this special promise of God given to David.
Zechariah expressed it in his words of praise on the occasion of
the birth of his son, John.
The Lord has raised up a horn of
salvation for us in the house of his servant David.
Zechariah knew that God had a
special role for his son, that he was to prepare the hearts of God’s
people for the coming of that one they were all looking and waiting for.
II.
That plan to establish our real home was carried out when God
sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world, which we again just
celebrated. David knew he
wasn’t going to live forever.
He died, as all of us will.
But God told David that his son would reign in his place.
David’s earthly kingdom would continue through his son Solomon.
But one day he would die as well and his earthly kingdom would
come to an end.
But that spiritual ruler and that spiritual kingdom, that eternal
house of David, would be established and last forever.
The Rod of Jesse, the Key of David, was coming.
And we know who that was, the Savior, the child who was born in
Bethlehem, just as David had been.
Remember what the crowds on Palm Sunday shouted as Jesus entered
Jerusalem, riding on that little donkey?
Hosanna to the Son of
David! Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!
Hosanna in the highest!
This Jesus is the one who established our heavenly home, who
founded this eternal kingdom through his work here on earth.
He did what a king is supposed to do, deliver and protect his
people. But he did it, not
just for one nation or people.
He did it for all people, of all time.
He came into the world to rescue fallen mankind.
As the mighty God he alone had the power to defeat our spiritual
enemies. Through his
perfect life he fulfilled the law of God which none of us are able to
do. He earned the
perfection which we needed in order to enter heaven.
Then, even though he was innocent of any sin, he allowed himself
to be put to death. He
became our substitute when he went to the cross.
He suffered and died in our place, taking the punishment that
should have been ours. That
descendent of David was Jesus Christ, your Savior and mine.
He did what David did, but on the spiritual battlefield, against
the giant we call Satan.
Jesus provided spiritual peace and security on the biggest scale,
providing salvation, delivering from our spiritual enemies.
Through him the doors to God’s eternal home in heaven have been
thrown wide open. All are
welcome. Eternal life and
salvation are available to every single human being.
Through faith in Jesus people from every nation, no matter what
their race, no matter what their age, no matter whether they are rich or
poor, simply by believing in Jesus, they are welcome into this heavenly
home. The eternal son of
David, the one born to Mary, makes it all possible.
He established David’s and the world’s real home.
And you and I can be part of that family the very same way.
As we celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmas, and really throughout
the year, we are reminded of the fact that he is much more than a cute
baby in a manger. He is the
real King, the king of heaven and earth.
As the Son of God he has all the power, all the glory.
Through him we have salvation.
As we put our faith and trust in him, faith worked through the
water and the word of baptism, through the preaching of the gospel and
through his promise of forgiveness in his holy supper, we become and
remain members of this select family.
We can join in the celebration knowing that our eternal future is
secure. We have a heavenly home.
We have an eternal king.
III.
And what great meaning that has for us!
The birth of this child can remind us that our real home is a
place of everlasting peace and rest.
Look at David’s situation.
Over a period of about 10 years, under David’s leadership and the
Lord’s blessing the future of the people of Israel had become very
bright. Enemies had been
subdued. Borders were safe
and secure. Peace and
prosperity were the order of the day.
The people were enjoying rest from the physical toils of war.
God had planted them in this land, given it to them as their own.
Wicked people were no longer oppressing them as had been the case
for nearly 400 years since the time of the Exodus and during the period
of the judges. Under David
they were about to enjoy an unprecedented period of peace.
But that was just a pale picture when compared to the peace and
rest of God’s eternal kingdom, our real home.
The Savior was coming as the Prince of Peace.
He was going to subdue those spiritual enemies we all face – our
own sinful nature, the sting of death which it brings, and the cruel
master behind it all, Satan.
Through his perfect life and his innocent suffering and death,
Jesus defeated that unholy trio.
He brought the kind of peace that people only dream about, the
kind of peace that doesn’t come through missile treaties, or security
forces.
David’s greater son provides peace for souls wearied by sin and
the suffering that sin brings.
He earned that peace by smashing the power of sin, removing the
guilt and punishment by his death on the cross.
He takes away the fear of death by his triumphant resurrection
from the grave. He drives
away the clouds of doom and disaster that linger as we contemplate the
great day of judgment. We
are part of the family.
Through faith in David’s Son we have forgiveness, hope, rest and peace.
We are free, really free.
We have a place in a real home, one that can’t burn down, one
that cannot be destroyed, one that lasts forever.
And it’s all ours through Jesus Christ.
Christmas reminds us of that real home in heaven which is waiting
for us and the one who makes it all possible.
We know that we will not live forever here on this earth. Like
David, like Solomon, we will die.
One by one our family and relatives will be called out of this
life. And sooner than we
think it will be our turn.
There will be those empty places as we celebrate Christmas at the end of
this year. But as believers
it means that we have gone to our real home.
We will be celebrating Christmas every day as we live in the
presence of our Savior himself.
No more tears, no more anxiety, no more sin.
HOME, that’s what Christmas is all about, our eternal home in
heaven.
We have been gathering in our homes the past few weeks to
celebrate with family and friends.
Hopefully they were all celebrations of joy, of love, of
happiness. Let those
celebrations at home with our families remind us of the perfect place we
call home, the home prepared for us by our loving God through his Son.
Celebrate his birth, not just in December, but every day of the
year. Celebrate by thinking
of home, the home that he invites you to share, your home in heaven.
AMEN.