Ah, holy Jesus, precious child, prepare a bed, soft, undefiled within my heart, made clean and new, a quiet chamber kept for you. Amen.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"-which means, "God with us." When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: I love watching the old Christmas movies. White Christmas, It's a Wonderful life, Miracle on 34^th Street, The Bishops' Wife, and the like. Many of them have miracles woven into the story line. They are just movies, of course-entertainment. But it seems that such movies always leave us wishing and hoping. The miracles are always for someone else, not for everyone watching. The stories leave us feeling-I wish something like that would happen to me. And, the miracles help only to a point. We never get to hear the rest of the story. The movie fades away with the thought-and they lived happily ever after. But, we know that real life is never that way. It is just entertainment as I said.

What if we could all have a Christmas miracle? What if that miracle were not limited in any way? What if there were a miracle really gave "everyone" a "happy-ever-after" existence? Would not that be wonderful! Well, today's gospel gives us this very thing. It tells of a miracle that touches the whole world in a way that truly does make for a happy-ever-after life. This Miracle is not just on 34^th Street; God brings it to our street, my street. And the effects of this miracle will never end. Miracle on 34th Street, our Street, my street.

The miracle is "God with us." Matthew writes: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel-which means, God with us. These are uncomplicated words, but they are like a simple box that when opened reveal treasurers infinitely more valuable than the simple box which holds them.

God with us. This is the miracle of the incarnation. Eternal God takes a human form, becomes a human person with flesh and bones, grows inside a woman's womb, and is born a little baby. He looks like any other baby, but he is not. This baby is God. It happened this way: a woman became pregnant in a divine way. She is with child through the Holy Spirit; and Joseph hears that what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. God is now with us-a human.

The unbelieving world will forever scoff at this miracle. That certainly does not disprove it. Just last week Newsweek published a lengthy article about Jesus and Christmas claiming that the virgin birth was the early Christian attempt to make Christianity like the accepted Greek and Roman religions which also have stories of gods mixing with humans to make super-human characters. But, the article failed to investigate that Isaiah's prophecy of the virgin birth was 100's of years older than Greek and Roman culture. Who imitated whom? God's promise to come "born of a woman" is as old as the Garden of Eden where God said that "he" as "a seed of woman" would crush Satan's head. Greek and Roman culture wanting something like God's wonderful plan is evidence that even unbelievers know they are accountable to God and know they need a divine Savior, which they have if they but look to God's Word. No proof other than the simple and clear words of Scripture is needed.

This miracle is for all. Now I said we were looking at this miracle with the thought that it was not just for someone else, like the miracles in Christmas movies, but a miracle for us. How is this miracle for us? Well, the little words "for us" make this miracle for each one of us. Isaiah was told of a unique child born of a virgin who would be called "God with us", not "God with them, but not me."

Satan is the father of lies, and his greatest lie is to tempt us to ignore the simple and clear words of Scripture. Satan can lie and tell us, "God does not care about people." But Scripture counters that lie with the truth when it says God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son Satan can lie and tell us that God may love others but not me. But Scripture counters that lie with the truth that Jesus is Emmanuel-God with us (not God with others). Because of our inherited sinfulness, we tend naturally to think like Satan. His words seem reasonable. We may often feel as if God cares little about our troubles and us, and the thought of a virgin birth goes against reason. So we must continue to immerse ourselves in the truth of his Word so that by it God may sanctify us in saving faith. God's Word is true and it tells me today that God is with us, a human being in the person of Christ who can sympathize with us, with me (Hebrews 4:15).

And still more, the miracle of the incarnation is our miracle, my miracle, because of what Jesus did here as a human. Give him the name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. I am a sinner, so Jesus came for me. Our sins come in two types. We fail to do what is good. These lapses the Lord Jesus has filled in for us with his obedience for us. We also do that which God forbids. Of these offenses, the Lord Jesus has cleansed us with his sufferings and death. As Scripture says: Christ has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). And so this miracle-God with us to save us-is ours to keep.

You can see that God embedded his Christmas miracle in Joseph's heart. We can tell from how Joseph acted that he knew that he was a loved and saved child of God. The Christmas miracle of God with us to save us prompted him to do what the angel of the Lord had commanded him. Jesus, you are my miracle Savior, so, Jesus, I give you my life. That will be the fruit that indicates that we too know that this miracle is not just for someone else but for us. The miracle is not just on 34^th Street but on our street, on my street.

One more thought...this miracle of God with us to save us is "for all." So we dare not keep it to ourselves. It is mine, but not just for me. So let us share him, pray for and support sharing Christ. This miracle is for the world.   Amen.