A sermon for Christmas Day
Rev. Kurt Hering
Layton, UT
"The BEAUTIFUL FEET of OUR LORD"
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,
who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims
salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!" ... the LORD has comforted
His people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has made bare His holy arm
in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the
salvation of our God. Isaiah 52:7, 9b -10
Yes, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good
news, for the feet are none other than the feet of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
It was upon the feet of a beautiful and crafty serpent that the devil
brought temptation into the Garden of Eden. It was upon the feet of a man
and a woman created in God's image that sin was brought into full and ugly
bloom - and thus death walked among us.
Then, they heard the sound of the beautiful feet of the LORD God walking in
the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from
the
presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God
called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
Can you believe it? The man and the woman created in our LORD's image to be
in communion with Him, to walk and talk with Him in the Garden, turned their
feet, their ears and their hearts away from Him in fear.
Can you believe it? The LORD then turned His feet and sought them out from
their place of hiding. He turned His voice to them and spoke:
the promise that His heart was still and ever would be turned to them,
the promise to once again make them His people,
the promise that He still was their God who reigns as their benefactor, the
promise that the the ends of the earth shall see [His] salvation -
the promise that a Son with beautiful feet would be born of the seed of a
woman, and though the devil would bruise His beautiful feet, the beautiful
feet of this Son of God and Son of man would crush the head of the devil
bringing THE good news of peace and salvation to all who believe in this One
with such beautiful feet.
At various times and in various ways the LORD used the beautiful feet of the
prophets to bring this good news of peace and salvation to His chosen
people. Now, beginning that blessed Christmas Day some 2000 years ago, the
same LORD has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has
appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who
being the brightness of His glory brought the peace and salvation that ARE
the good news and glad tidings on the beautiful feet of the express image of
His person - the baby born in Bethlehem.
Yes, the beautiful feet of the baby Jesus that were tickled and scratched in
a manger;
the beautiful feet of the 12 year old boy Jesus that took Him to the temple
for His Father's business while Mary and Joseph traveled back to Nazareth;
the beautiful feet that stepped into the river Jordan to be baptized by
John;
the beautiful feet that were scorched by the hot sands of the wilderness as
He was tempted by the devil;
the beautiful feet that trod the highways and byways of Palestine with the
disciples Matt 11:5 "The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are
cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the
gospel preached to them;
the beautiful feet at which Mary sat and received the one thing needful;
the beautiful feet washed with the tears and wiped by the hair of an
adulterous woman;
the beautiful feet pierced by cold iron and nailed to a rough-hewn cross;
the beautiful feet of the resurrected Christ with their holes shown to
Thomas that he too would believe and be saved; ...
... Yes these same beautiful feet of the LORD are the feet of him who brings
good
news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who
proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!" so that all the
ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
In baptism your Lord has made your feet beautiful as well, as He has washed
away your sins and clothed you in His righteousness. In the preached Word
and Holy Absolution, God gives you the good news of forgiveness of sins and
in Holy Communion, the blood which poured forth from His beautiful feet is
given - all that your feet may be washed anew and made beautiful again even
though you walk through the dirt and stench of a sinful world.
Yes. the beautiful feet of the LORD are now your beautiful feet as well. He
has given you beautiful feet that you may walk in His kingdom and bring good
news, proclaim peace, bring glad tidings of good things, proclaim salvation,
and say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" ... the LORD has comforted His people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes
of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of
our God.
God grant you beautiful feet unto life everlasting - in the name of the
Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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