Pastor Beecroft, 12/24/2008
Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
The Christmas story we just heard from St. Luke is familiar. It has been repeated for nearly 2,000 years, and we have heard it any number of times in our own lifetime. It is so familiar, in fact, it may have lost its intended meaning. The traditional images pass before us like stores and restaurants on a road we travel every day. They are there, but we do not see them. We look right past them. Pregnant Mary on a donkey. A bright star in the sky. No room at the inn. Joseph and Mary in a stable. Cows and sheep and camels. Angels, shepherds, and Wise Men. Baby Jesus in a cradle filled with straw. We have come to know the story so well that we risk not knowing it at all. The worn images suffer from neglect, leaving us with a mythic fairytale, a once-upon-a-time kind of a story. It is sweet, but little more….
Listen Online
Download (“Rightclick, Save Target As”)
Grace Lutheran Church in Tulsa 