Ten Fingers and Toes

[00:00:00] Little toes, rosy round cheeks, a cute button nose. [00:00:07] Yes, I'm looking over at you, Evelyn. [00:00:14] Haven't really thought of that little saying for years and years. But you know, it's what's on parents minds when a baby is born. [00:00:25] Got to check out that all the parts are there, right? [00:00:31] And when we discover that they're all there, well then I think parents give thanks to God. But then also begin to wonder what will they do in life? [00:00:45] What will they be? [00:00:51] I don't know. Mary and Joseph may have counted fingers and toes, probably did. [00:00:58] But they didn't have to wonder about what the child was going to do because the angel had told them. [00:01:08] The angel had come to them and said that this child is God in human flesh. [00:01:18] Or as we heard today in the gospel reading from John 1, he was in the beginning and was with God and was God, and he became flesh and dwelt among us. [00:01:35] And all the other texts that we've heard in this wonderful Christmas season have told us that he came to save his people from their sins. [00:01:47] So what those 10 little fingers and 10 little toes would do is fight. [00:01:52] Fight to the death. But they didn't not fight by clenching of fists, but by being stretched out in mercy. [00:02:01] Fighting not against flesh and blood, but for flesh and blood. Fighting not against men and women that he came to save, but against the rulers and the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places, as we read in Ephesians chapter six. [00:02:25] And so those ten little fingers would fight this battle by reaching out and touching lepers and healing the sick and casting out demons and raising the dead. [00:02:38] And those 10 little toes would fight not by rushing into battle, but by walking with the lonely and with the outcast and with the sinners, walking those countless dusty roads in Judea and Samaria and in Galilee and stopping to help wherever there were people, people in need. [00:03:04] Those 10 little toes didn't run from trials and troubles, but ran into them most of all. Those 10 little fingers and 10 little toes fought by having the fight taken out of them when they were driven through with cold hard iron spikes and fixed to a cross. Hand to hand combat, you might say, your God, your Savior, fighting for you, fighting to the death. [00:03:43] And then through it, in his glorious resurrection. [00:03:49] You know, it would have been far easier to just drop a bomb on the whole works in a flyover from 30,000ft, just be done with this mess called Earth. [00:04:03] That's what we do, isn't it? [00:04:06] Not just with wars. I'm Talking about. But I mean, in all of life, we have been taught to keep our distance six feet away. Remember? [00:04:17] It's so much easier, it's so much less messy. [00:04:23] And we do all kinds of flyovers. [00:04:27] For example, we can attack and criticize and vent our frustrations on the Internet, like I did last week when we had 48 hours of blackout and we no longer need to leave our homes to pay our bills or to buy stuff. We have Amazon and we don't have to really go anyplace to get our news. It comes to us. [00:04:54] If there's a need somewhere, we just send money by pushing a button in. The next battlefield, we are told will be a cyber battle. [00:05:08] Hand to hand, face to face combat. [00:05:13] Not so much anymore. [00:05:18] Well, God could have done that too. Dropped a bomb on our world from 30,000ft. And the problem, all of our problems of sin and lawlessness done away with once and for all. [00:05:34] Just nuke it nice and neat. [00:05:36] Do away with it. [00:05:39] And us. [00:05:44] No, not our God. That just wouldn't do. [00:05:50] See, God wants no one to perish. [00:05:57] He says it clearly in his word, 2nd Peter 3, 9, for example, and countless other places. He says his will is that all would be saved and that all would come to the knowledge of the truth. All means all. [00:06:12] That's all. All means. [00:06:14] And to do that, just think about it. God got his hands dirty when he created Adam from the dust of the ground. He got his hands dirty. So to rescue Adam, he would do the same. He would get his hands dirty, his 10 big fingers and his 10 big toes to save us. [00:06:35] This is what it means when it says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. [00:06:41] And that's the miracle that we're celebrating today, this Christmas Day, that the God who created all things and who still upholds the universe with the power of His Word, has come into human flesh and into human blood for you. [00:06:58] You are simply too precious for him not to come. [00:07:03] And each and every person, each and every person worthy of his time, his attention, his blood, his 10 fingers and his 10 toes, no matter who they are, no matter where they've been, no matter what they have done. 10 fingers and 10 toes. There for you. [00:07:24] There for me. [00:07:28] It's not just 2,000 years ago. [00:07:30] Christmas isn't just the celebration of something that took place in history. [00:07:35] It's the celebration of those 10 little fingers and 10 little toes in the manger that are here for you today, fighting for your 10 rebellious fingers and your 10 wandering toes and all the rest of sinful you and me. [00:07:52] Those fingers and toes of the baby in the manger and the man and the cross are here now, just as they were then, reaching out to save, to baptize, to, to absolve, to feed and to nourish with the teaching and preaching of God's word. God doesn't mail it in, he doesn't order on Amazon. He comes to our homes, he comes to our hospital beds. He comes to our hospice repose and he comes to churches and he comes to cities and he comes to whole countries and he comes to the wealthy and he comes to the weak and he comes to the wondering and he comes to the wandering. He comes and he will not stop coming. [00:08:57] And that very fact speaks volumes to us today. [00:09:02] Like we heard in Hebrews, we are told that long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by His Son. [00:09:17] Don't you see? The sending of the Son shows us how much God loves us and how much he will do for us. The appearing of His Son shows us that God is not just some far off potentate who has to protect his holiness and has to protect his honor and has to protect his glory. [00:09:39] Oh, make no mistake. He is the transcendent, powerful, most high lifted up God. Absolutely true. But he is also the imminent one, the available one. The one who comes and shows off his 10 little fingers and 10 little toes in a manger. And he comes to embrace you and me. Give us hugs with those implements and give us his holiness and his honor and his glory. [00:10:09] See, Christmas means Christ coming to restore what we lost, to raise us from death to life. [00:10:26] To bring light into the darkness and joy into sadness. [00:10:38] So last night, if you were here, you know, or anytime on Christmas Eve, you can recall, we closed the service with the singing of Silent night. And little by little and one by one, the candles get lit and the lights begin to dim. So that at the end, what would be total darkness in a sanctuary like this? [00:11:08] Faces are lit up with flickering shadows and glowing of candlelight. [00:11:17] Today it's a little different. [00:11:20] Isaiah says the watchmen lift up their voices and sing for joy. And they call upon all the Lord's people to join in that singing. There's brightness and there's great sound. [00:11:32] For today, God has bared his holy arm. [00:11:37] Yeah, I know, a brand new metaphor there, huh? But he's rolled up his sleeves and he gets to work. [00:11:44] 10 fingers with dirt under their nails. 10 toes all dusty with dirt stuck in between them. Two hands and two feet with holes bunched through back and sides with too many lash marks and a thorn crowned head. [00:12:12] One pierced heart pierced for you, pierced for me. And still, still brimming over with love. Love that no spear, that no death, that no devil could ever take away. [00:12:35] In just a few short months we will hear. [00:12:38] Father, forgive them the words Jesus spoke from the cross. [00:12:49] And the father did. [00:12:56] What a gift. [00:13:00] And with that gift given to you, well, take a look at your fingers for just a minute. [00:13:13] Look at them. [00:13:17] Don't take a look at your toes. Just leave your shoes on, please. But maybe some other time. [00:13:24] Look there as well. [00:13:26] Are your fingers and your toes dirty today? [00:13:34] Would you consider that your feet could be the beautiful ones that Isaiah spoke about in Isaiah 52? Beautiful not because they're clean, but beautiful because they're dirty and dusty and grimy from serving, from loving, from forgiving, from well being. There, like Jesus, fingers and toes were proclaiming the good news of great joy that has come to us this day, proclaiming the good News in word and in deeds. [00:14:14] Because you see, this relationship between God and man is accomplished. [00:14:23] That relationship is sure and certain. He comes to us faithfully and regularly and keeps us in his care. The promises are all good. [00:14:37] The promises are reliable. [00:14:40] You can't do anything to improve upon what God has done for us. [00:14:47] He has saved us. [00:14:49] Our eternity is guaranteed. [00:14:56] But it's this one that God calls our fingers and toes to reach out to our neighbor, to reach out to this world with his love. [00:15:12] And let them know as well. [00:15:15] Jesus comes on this Christmas day, just like he comes every day he came to Bethlehem. [00:15:24] And he comes to every place, especially, especially every place today that is wrapped in sin or fear or struggle or war or death. [00:15:41] Because now, just as then, ten little fingers, ten little toes, well, they make all the difference in the world. [00:16:01] Merry christmas.