God Sent Forth His Son, Born of a Woman - Christmas Eve Homily 2018
Christmas Eve 2018
God Sent Forth his Son, Born of a Woman
Galatians 4.1-7
ALMIGHTY God, who has
given us your unique, one-of-a-kind, only-begotten Son to take our nature upon
him, and to be born of a pure Virgin: Grant that we, being regenerate and made your
children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit;
through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit ever, one God. Amen.
It’s an
interesting situation. Paul could have said other things or just left well-enough
alone, but he follows the path of the Gospel records to emphasize what would
have been fairly unpopular in his day. It’s like he’s piling on objectional
statements, one right after the other, stacking them on thick. And each
statement is a classification in its own right. When
the fullness of time had come – not any earlier, not any later, but
just at the right time – in fact, in Paul’s lifetime! God sent forth his Son – uh oh! Now we’re starting to get in
deep. God has a Son? That was a problematic statement in that day; a difficult
word in the 7th century when Mohammad penned his Quran; and a tricky
and sticky concept in the 21st Century that wants a God-far-away who
will only arrive on the scene at our beck and call. As a matter of fact, the
Apostle has gone further and said God sent his Son – God is involved and sends
his Son to a world that wants little to do with him or his Son; “He came to his own, and his own people did
not receive him” (John 1.11). Truly things are starting to get messy. And
then it gets downright awkward: Born
of a woman. The Apostle could have just left that out and said “born,”
or left it at the next statement “born under the law”. But no, he has to thump
his finger into our chest and say “born
of a woman”.
Following
the Scripture’s lead, Paul is sabotaging an international, intergenerational,
inter-millennial mindset that looked – and in most of our present age, still
looks – at women as simply an essential service; a necessity but not a want. Throughout
much of our huge planet and human history women are mostly treated as goods and
wares. Yet Paul says that when God entered our world by sending his Son, that
God intentionally, specifically, and clearly had him “born of a woman”. God’s actions at that first Christmas, and
commemorated every year, announces to us in vibrant and vivacious ways that God
likes to take those whom the world considers inconsequential and make them
consequential! “God sent forth his Son,
born of a woman”! “O that birth forever blessed, when the Virgin, full
of grace, by the Holy Ghost conceiving, bore the Savior of our race” (“Of
the Father’s Love begotten,” v.2); “Silent night! Holy night! All is calm,
all is bright, round yon virgin mother and child” (“Silent night! Holy
night!” v.1); “Christ, by highest heav’n adored, Christ, the everlasting
Lord! Late in time behold him come, offspring of the Virgin’s womb” (Hark!
The Herald Angels Sin,” v.2). And the Gospel records are plush with tales of
this humble woman, happy that God “abhors not the virgin’s womb” (O
Come, All Ye Faithful,” v.2). And in full-blown confidence and trust in the
goodness of this God who delights in making the inconsequential consequential she
cheerfully yields to him, “Behold, I am
the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke
1.38). Truly, “God sent forth his Son,
born of a woman”! And so, Christmas unmistakably reminds us that God
delights to take those whom our world considers inconsequential and make them
consequential!
In
fact, the aim of what God was doing When
in the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman was to
bring about new consequentialness to us and for us: (1) to redeem us (5a); to
receive us by adoption (5b) and to raise us to revel in his richest joys and embrace
(6-7). Or as one Christmas Carol puts it, “Fear not, then” said the angel,
“let nothing you affright; this day is born a Savior of a pure virgin bright, to free all those who trust in him from
Satan’s power and might” (“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” v.3). Christmas
announces to us in vibrant and vivacious ways that God likes to take those whom
the world considers inconsequential and make them consequential!
Pastor Mike
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