Emmanuel Lutheran Church

December 25

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Galatians 4:4-5

The portrait of our lives is painted on the canvas of time. The sun comes up and the sun goes down and another day passes. In fact, everything we do in this life is done under the weight of a ticking clock.

The hands of this cosmic clock began to move the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God's Word. Yet in that same moment, God joined with us under this burden of time, and he did it through the giving of a promise. He spoke to the serpent: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head" (Genesis 3:15). From that moment in time, humanity began to wait and watch for God to keep his promise.

Generation after generation, each pregnancy carried with it the possibility that this could be the One; the offspring of the woman who would deliver us; the Anointed One of God who would crush the serpent and the sin he brought; the Messiah who would save us from death and restore the relationship between God and his creation. Yet time passed and the waiting continued. And God's people cried out, "How long O Lord? How long?" (Psalm 13:1)

Promises are made in time and promises are kept in time. And, just in time, or as Paul writes, "But when the time had fully come," God kept his promise! "God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." (Galatians 4:4-5)

In the Garden of Eden, as Adam and Eve cowered in the shame of their sin, God made a promise that pointed to a manger where the Word became flesh and then to a cross where sin was punished and then to an empty tomb where death was defeated—where the serpent's head was crushed.

Today again we receive the promise that God kept in the sending of his Son, and we celebrate this day in time which also transcends time. Christmas is not just another passing page on the calendar. This is not just another day. Instead, on this day the sun rises to reveal the eternal promise of God painted on the canvas of time and kept in the birth of a Savior.

My brothers and sisters, God kept his first promise in time; and today, as you celebrate his faithfulness with family and friends, you can look forward to his final promise—when our Savior will return, when we will rise, when he will deliver us from the burden of time, when we will wake to the gift of an eternal promise—made in time and kept in Christ.

Contributed by Pastor Thomas A. Eggold

 Take Joy!

There is nothing that I can give you
which you have not,
but there is much that, while I cannot give,
you can take.

No heaven can come to us
unless our hearts find rest in it today.
Take Heaven.
No peace lies in the future
which is not hidden in this present instant.
Take Peace.
The gloom of the world is but a shadow.
Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy.
Take Joy!

And so, at this Christmas time,
I greet you with the prayer that for you,
now and forever,
the day breaks and the shadows flee away.

                    Fra Giovanni—1513
                    from a Christmas letter