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Promise!

December 24, 2022

Isaiah 52: 7-10 | Psalm 98 | Hebrews 1:1-4 | John 1:1-14 

It is December 25! We made it! You know the story that we are celebrating on this very day. Maybe you spent time with the passage from Matthew which mentions angels talking to Joseph, and visitation of the Magi. Or maybe you have read over the passage from Luke which has shepherd and angels and songs of glory. Or, maybe we have just watched the Peanuts Christmas Special. By today, it is likely that we have all heard one version of the story or another, we have been preparing and planning, and now the day is finally here.  

On this day of celebration, I invite you to consider Psalm 98. It is a psalm that does not tell the story of the birth. There is no mention of shepherd or a manger or a lack of room at an inn. The psalm does not speak of Mary or Joseph or donkeys or anything else. You may read Psalm 98 and think that it really has nothing to do with Christmas day at all. Yet it is a song of praise, and particularly praise of a king. It is a celebration psalm that is very appropriate for today. 

The impact and purpose of the celebration could be missed depending on the translation you read. If you read the NRSV version of the psalm (the version that I like) the first three verses read:  

O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. 
His right hand and his holy arm have gained him victory. 
The Lord has made known his victory;  
he has revealed his vindication I the sight of the nations. 
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. 
All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God. 

But, if you read a different translation (like the NIV), instead of reading “victory,” you will find the word “salvation.” Hence: 

O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. 
His right hand and his holy arm have gained him salvation. 
The Lord has made known his salvation;  
he has revealed his vindication I the sight of the nations. 
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. 
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 

Both are correct, but especially today I am pulled toward the second translation. A victory is something we can witness, it is something a sports team can have and we can feel good about, even from the sidelines. We can experience a victory passively unless we are clear that we are on the winning team (which is a topic for another time). Yet “salvation” is something that pulls us in. It is something that we are drawn to engage in, that we experience even if we are witnessing it from afar. 

Is the birth of Christ a moment of victory or a moment of salvation? Is the story of God’s being born as one of us a story of victory or a story of salvation? What is it that we are celebrating on this day? To think of Jesus being born as a victory feels different than it being a moment of salvation. We are drawn into the moment, into the event if the birth is about our salvation and the salvation of the world. The celebration of Christmas day feels different if it is a celebration of salvation rather than a celebration of a victory. It is a celebration because we are impacted, we are saved through the birth and life of Christ. 

May this day be a day of remembering the stories as they are told in Matthew and Luke and in all the other forms of popular culture. May it also be a day of celebrating the salvation that we find through Christ. As we remember the stories, as we share in the gifts and the celebration, may we celebrate the salvation that we all find in the birth of our Lord.  AMEN 

Jonathan Malone