In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     In 1979, Mother Teresa, was given the Nobel Peace Prize. Most of her adult life was spent ministering to the poor and diseased in Calcutta, India. She accepted the prize with the comment, "I am unworthy." As we celebrate the Fourth Sunday in Advent; as we stand on the threshold of our celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ; as we make final preparations, not for gift giving, or partying, but for receiving, ourselves, the greatest gift of all, as God becomes flesh to dwell among us, in Jesus-we are driven to our knees, and the appropriate response is, "I am unworthy."

     Yes, we are unworthy. A difficult concept, and even more difficult for us to acknowledge, in our time when pop-psychology would have us all believe, "I'm okay, you're okay." Like Stewart Smalley and his fictitious self-help program, Daily Affirmations, on Saturday Night Live a few years ago, today, we are all about wanting to feel good, and deserving and okay. In fact, two of Stewart's favorite daily affirmations were, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me", as well as the straightforward, "I am a worthy human being." Of course, Smalley and his Daily Affirmations were a spoof, a lighthearted look at how, in fact, we have this desperate need to keep pumping ourselves up, and affirming ourselves, because in truth, most of us do not feel good enough, and smart enough, and worthy. We try all kinds of tricks and programs and strategies to make ourselves feel better, but in the end, we find ourselves right back where we started. Unworthy. And today, we come face to face with our own unworthiness. And how does that hit us today? How does that hit us, in light of the promise the angel of the Lord made to Joseph, as he also made it to Mary, that she would conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, and this son should be named Jesus, for he would save his people from their sins? How does this hit us, in light of all that would happen to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, who said, "look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and he shall be called Emmanuel, which means, 'God with us."? How does it strike us, that all of this is happening, for us, that God might be with us, and we might be saved? It reminds us that we are indeed, unworthy of both of those gifts-the gift of salvation from our sins, and the gift of God's own Son, to be God with us-God, living with us, in flesh and blood, to the end of the age! If we were worthy of such gifts, if we were deserving of forgiveness of our sins, if we were so innately good that we are worthy of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, we wouldn't have sinned in the first place! But the good news is that in our unworthiness, God comes to us. The gospel is to be found in the fact that Jesus died for the ungodly-us, even though we do not deserve forgiveness of our sins! Yes, in God's eyes, we are indeed unworthy. That's the reality of our sinful, human situation. We sin, we disobey, we turn away from God, we turn on our fellow human beings and bring tragedy, pain, and grief. We are most undeserving! And yet, the good news is.God loves us anyway! God forgives us in spite of our sin and disobedience! And more than that, God comes to be with us-God comes to be Emmanuel-God right beside us, to dwell among us, full of grace and truth! And that, is what can finally bring-self-esteem, and a sense of self-worth, and an experience of strength and confidence and courage in life. It is the fact that God values us so much, that He comes to be with us-that He gave His Son, not just to be born for us, but who then died for us-it is that which shows us how much we are worth, to Him-we are worth the life of His own Son! And though that doesn't make us worthy or deserving, it makes us valued. And this value, comes from outside ourselves-from God Himself, who created us, and who has also redeemed us, and is recreating us, to be the children God wants us to be.

     There's a saying I learned from one of my faithful seminary professors who had a good sense of both Law and Gospel-"God loves us as we are, but loves us too much to leave us that way!" God became human, in Jesus Christ, not to join us in our sin, not to wallow with us, in the pigsty of human filth and degradation-God became human, to lift us up, out of the muck and the mud of human existence, to raise us out of our sometimes shame and guilt and embarrassment, by forgiving us, and redeeming us, and raising us up to new life, in Jesus Christ, that we might truly, live new lives, not because of who we are, but because of who God is-our Savior-God with us. And this is truly, good news, especially for those of us who have tried and tried to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. It is good news, especially for those of us who have read every self-help book, and used every strategy, and spent years in therapy, but still can't quite seem to forgive ourselves and those around us, to be able to get on with life feeling, worthy and good enough. Because what this good news acknowledges, is that this isn't something we can do for ourselves. Yes, there's a lot we can do for ourselves.but ultimately, finally, salvation, and value, must come from outside us, from the God who created us in the first place. We need God to put his seal of approval on us, so that we can always remember, that now, because we are valued and special in God's sight-we can live new lives, in Christ. That's why, in Holy Baptism, the person being baptized is marked on the forehead with a cross, as the words are spoken, "Child of God, you have been marked with the cross of Christ, and sealed with the Holy Spirit forever!" And it's on the forehead, so that every time you look in the mirror, you can imagine that symbolic cross, right there as plain as the nose on your face, just a bit above it-the cross of Christ, that reminds you of what should be our daily affirmation, not, "I'm good enough, and smart enough, and doggone it, people like me", but "Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, and marked with the cross of Christ, forever." These are the words we need to hear, not just once, in Holy Baptism, but day after day, as we return to the gift and promise of Baptism, and are daily, raised to new life, in Jesus. That we remember, though we are unworthy, though we sin and disobey, though we are undeserving, we have a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. We have a Savior, who is Jesus, Emmanuel-God with us to save us from our sins, and walk with us in life, and yes, through death, until he takes us to our eternal home, in heaven. And it is this which we celebrate, at Christ's mass. Not just the birth of a baby-not just the story of Mary and Joseph and the stable and manger-we celebrate our salvation-and the salvation of the world. We celebrate at Christmas, that God has become incarnate, to be the Word made flesh to dwell among us. We celebrate, that the one who was born, was crucified, died, and buried, but raised again, to give us, new life, in him. These last two days before Christmas, let us ponder these things-considering our unworthiness, but giving thanks, that God values us so much, that He sent His only Son. That's the real meaning of Christmas. That's what we come to church to hear-not just at Christmas, but week after week after week! That Jesus is, our Emmanuel!

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.