The Rev. Paul J Cain
Matthew 1:18-25
Keep Silence
The Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas Eve, 24 December 2011
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, WY
Holy God, Holy and
Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us. Amen.
We need more than “Christmas spirit” this Christmas. We need
more than mere wishes of a Merry Day or Happy New Year. We need more than just
morality, more than religious repetition of the same old stuff. We need the
heavenly peace of the Holy Infant, Jesus, born to die for you.
1 Silent night,
holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
In contrast to “Silent Night,” one of our favorite hymns,
the hymn “Let All Mortal Flesh Keeps Silence” sounds so strange to modern ears.
Why is that? Both are true, but both are different somehow. Allow
me to propose a solution: There is more to Christianity than Christmas.
Christmas is supposed to be all about Christ. Because Jesus and His salvation
are gifts to us, we give gifts to others. Because Jesus is the Light of the
world, the Light no darkness can overcome, we light our homes and bring lit
trees indoors. Christmas is only part of the story of Christ, a narrative that
continues every Sunday and especially on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and
Pentecost Sunday.
C. F. W. Walther, the first President of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod, gets to the heart of our confusion tonight in his
lectures on Law and Gospel.
He proposes this simple idea: you must present all the
articles of faith in accordance with Scripture, yet [you] must also rightly
distinguish Law and Gospel[1].
“Sure, Pastor, it only makes sense that pastors and
Christians should follow the Bible!” and in thinking that or saying those words
to me, you’d be right. Unfortunately, we all know that this is not always the
case in real life. Walther assumes for the moment that Christians do teach in
accordance with Scripture. And he also asserts that you “must also rightly
distinguish Law and Gospel.” And that’s the missing piece! This is the
difference between “Silent Night” and “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” law
and Gospel.
“Silent Night” is such a comforting hymn to us because of
its Gospel-filled text and its lullaby-like tune. “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep
Silence” jars us out of our complacency with a text from the fourth century AD
and a French medieval folk melody. And, the text has both Law and Gospel. Does
the Law of God have a place on Christmas Eve? Yes. Holy God, Holy and Mighty,
Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us.
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence LSB 621
1 Let all
mortal flesh keep silence
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly-minded,
For with blessing in His hand
Christ our God to earth descending
Comes our homage to demand.
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly-minded,
For with blessing in His hand
Christ our God to earth descending
Comes our homage to demand.
The words “fear,” “trembling,” and “demand” in stanza 1 all
bring to mind the law. The Law is unpleasant, for it limits our behavior and
points out our sins and how we have failed to obey God perfectly. Habakkuk 2:20
says, “Let all the earth keep silence
before Him,” and so we should, because we are all equally guilty before Him.
Consider the
medical parallel. If your medical doctor gives you bad news, is that the end of
the story? Hopefully not! He or she will likely recommend tests or give a
diagnosis and then prescribe a treatment for your benefit! Medically speaking,
that is good news. Spiritually speaking, we are to put worldly things out of
our minds because Christ descends from heaven to earth with “blessing in His
hand.” He comes to give you forgiveness, life, and salvation. The same tiny
hands of the babe in the manger would be nailed to the cross for you and your
salvation. Then, as our response of faith, doesn’t it make sense for the God
who created you, the God who redeemed you, the God who makes you holy to
expect, even demand, homage, reverence, respect, honor, service and worship?
Can you hear both Law and Gospel in this hymn text?
Stanza 2 echoes the complexity of Matthew 1, tonight’s
Gospel reading, in the context of all Scripture and salvation history, helping
us meditate on the mystery of the incarnation, God taking upon Himself human
flesh:
2 King of
kings yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords in human vesture,
In the body and the blood,
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heav’nly food.
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords in human vesture,
In the body and the blood,
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heav’nly food.
The King of kings and Lord of lords vests Himself
miraculously in human flesh, body and blood. He, Jesus, is revealed to Mary’s
husband, Joseph, as the one who will save His people from their sins, for He is
conceived of the Holy Spirit (and not immorality as Joseph may have suspected).
Our Lord gathers people to Himself to hear His Word, to feed on it as on Jesus
Himself, as well as receiving the forgiveness of sins according to Jesus’ Words
and Promise in the Sacrament of the Altar. “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”
is not merely an ancient hymn, but a hymn to prepare for Holy Communion in the
Liturgy of Saint James.
[Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When
his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was
found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a
just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him
in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your
wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear
a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from
their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the
prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call
his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he
did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not
until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.]
Jesus wants to gather you and your family here / regularly /
to be fed by His Word and Sacrament. He feeds you Himself! And He delivers His
gifts to you far more often than every Christmas—He does so every Sunday and
every day. He gives you your daily bread. And since man does not live on bread
alone, He feeds you His Word. He gives you Himself.
And when the Lord gathers people to Himself, we join all the
company of heaven and all the angels in praising Christ the Lord:
3 Rank on rank
the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way
As the Light of Light, descending
From the realms of endless day,
Comes the pow’rs of hell to vanquish
As the darkness clears away.
Spreads its vanguard on the way
As the Light of Light, descending
From the realms of endless day,
Comes the pow’rs of hell to vanquish
As the darkness clears away.
Life in this world can be confusing. Soldiers know this.
Confusion on the battlefield is called “the fog of war.” Jesus comes to
vanquish the powers of sin, death, and the devil. He, the Light of the world,
clears away all the powers of darkness and death. And we join with the angels
in crying, Alleluia! Praise the Lord!
4 At His feet
the six-winged seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
“Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, Lord Most High!”
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
“Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, Lord Most High!”
There are two kinds of fear, the “being afraid” kind of
fear, such as we all feel under the condemning law of God, and the “fear, love,
and trust in god above all things” kind of fear, the reverent awe of faith fed
by the Gospel.G
Christianity is more than Christmas, more than morality,
more than gifts you love or would rather return. Christianity is more than what
you do for God or what you are expected to do for your neighbor. Christianity
is Christ serving you in His birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection. God
has good gifts for you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“Sleep in heavenly peace” is more than a description of the
infant Christ by a pious hymnwriter. Heavenly Peace is a Gospel gift to you
from the Prince of Peace.
We are awed by the birth of Christ, so with the Christians
of old, we observe silence in humble repentance and faith, reverent awe. God
grant you and your household a silent night, comforted in the heavenly peace of
Jesus, peace which the world cannot give. Amen.
Holy God, Holy and
Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us. Amen.
Cherubic Hymn:
Let all mortal flesh be silent, and stand with fear and
trembling, and meditate nothing earthly within itself.
For the King of kings and Lord of lords, Christ our God,
comes forward to be sacrificed, and to be given for food to the faithful.
And the bands of angels go before Him with every power and
dominion, the many-eyed cherubim, and the six-winged seraphim, covering their
faces, and crying aloud the hymn,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
[1] Ferdinand, Carl;
Walther, Wilhelm (2010-07-02). Law & Gospel: How to Read and Apply the
Bible (Kindle Locations 1497-1499). Concordia Publishing House. Kindle Edition.
(Thesis II)
