A Collect for New Year's Eve

Almighty and everlasting God, from whom comes down every good and perfect gift, we give You thanks for all Your benefits, temporal and spiritual, bestowed upon us in the year past, and we ask You of Your goodness, grant us a favorable and joyful year, defend us from all dangers, and send upon us the fullness of Your blessing; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Adapted from the Lutheran Hymnal

A beautiful, glorious exchange - in baptism

Many years ago I attended an Evangelism seminar where a pastor demonstrated one way to share the Gospel of Jesus.  His presentation was built around 2 Corinthians 5:21 - God made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.  His Law/Gospel way of telling the good news of Jesus' salvation by grace through faith was so clear and compelling that I made the presentation my own and have shared it many times.

Last night I finished reading "Martin Luther - Preacher of the Cross," by Professor John T. Pless.  I was excited to read a passage Pless shared which showed how Luther connected this joyous exchange to baptism. 

Luther preached: Is not this a beautiful, glorious exchange, by which Christ, who is wholly innocent and holy, not only takes upon Himself another's sin, that is my sin and guilt, but also clothes and adorns me, who am nothing but sin, with His own innocence and purity? And then besides died the shameful death of the Cross for the sake of my sins, through which I have deserved death and condemnation, and grants me His righteousness, in order that I may live with Him eternally in glorious and unspeakable joy.  Through this blessed exchange, in which Christ changes places us with (something the heart can only grasp in faith) and through nothing else, are we freed from sin and death and given His righteousness and life as our own.  (page 126)

What glorious Gospel! In our baptism we receive the blessings of the Cross of Christ Jesus! "Christ changes places with us."  He takes our place at the cross and we are spared.  Instead, our blessed Lord "clothes and adorns us" with His righteousness so that we might "live with Him eternally in glorious and unspeakable joy."

Live today in this baptismal grace.  Remember your baptism when you are beset by guilt or overwhelmed by sorrow.  Although you sin, you are forgiven in Christ.  Although you have not earned it, Christ has made you holy, covering you in His righteousness and purity.  Although you do not deserve it, Jesus, in His ascension, has readied a place for you in the kingdom of heaven.  All because of His joyous exchange which began in your baptism

Do you need a touch of the Lord's heavenly medicine?

I have shared this prayer before.  But I went back to it today and it blessed me greatly.  Maybe it can do the same for you.

Lord give me the courage
the heavenly medicine
to sing
when I am in the prison
of depression
as the apostles did
in jail
To laugh
at the demons within me
knowing you
reign supreme
in the throne room
of my heart
To be thankful
at all times
knowing you
are in control
Christ in me

Acts 16:23-25, Psalm 27:6; 40:1-3, Ephesians 5:19-20

From "Prayers For People Under Pressure," by Donald L. Deffner, page 28 (I believe this book, which had been out of print can now be obtained from Northwestern Publishing House or found on Amazon) 

God gave His dearest treasure

But God beheld my wretched state

Before the world's foundation

And mindful of His mercies great

He planned my soul's salvation

A Father's heart He turned to me

Sought my redemption fervently

He gave His dearest treasure

Martin Luther 

Unto to you is born a Savior!

It is the eternal power and divine eloquence of this simple yet tremendously important message which has perpetuated Christmas and which still electrifies the hearts of Christmas whenever the glad tidings are repeated. Unto you is born a Savior!

Unto you, you who were born in sin, you whose life is a record of transgression and iniquity and are therefore under the wrath of an offended God; unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, a Redeemer, an Emancipator, which is Christ the Lord, the promised Messiah, the Emmanuel, the God-with-us, the Mighty God!

Surely, no matter what our circumstances may be on this most holy day, we have every reason to lift our hearts in fervent prayer and say:

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray
 Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today
We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell
 O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Immanuel

Herman W. Gockel, "Daily Walk with God," December 24 devotional 

God is with us!

The lights were dimmed and the candles gave off a warn and welcoming glow.  My fellow students and I were positioned on the steps leading up to the chancel area of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Tucson, telling in Scripture and song the story of the birth of the Christ child.  We sang with all the faith and joy our hearts could muster:

O Holy Child of Bethlehem

  Descend to us we pray

Cast out our sin and enter in

  Be born in us today.

I didn't appreciate then what I do now - we kids were given the opportunity to proclaim a message that provides hope in the best and worse of times.  God is with us! 

We need not be afraid - God is with us!

We can live each day with courage - God is with us! 

We can trust even in the face of adversity - God is with us!

Let this truth plant its roots deep in your heart this Advent - God is with us!

We hear the Christmas angels

  The great glad tidings tell

O come to us, abide with us

  Our Lord Immanuel!    

Martin Luther on the Nativity of the Christ

Many in this congregation think to themselves, "If only I had been there! How quick I would have been to help the Baby! I would have washed His linen.  How happy I would have been to go with the shepherds to see the Lord lying in the manger!

Yes, you would! You say that because you know how great Christ is, but if you had been there at that time you would have done no better than the people of Bethlehem.  Childish and silly thoughts are these!

Why don't you do it now? You have Christ in your neighbor.  You ought to serve him, for what you do to your neighbor in need you do to the Lord Christ Himself.

Taken from "Hear I Stand," page 354 

What can Christ do for you?

Christ opens our hearts to love, opens our hands to give, opens our mouths to witness.

Frank Starr

"We are nothing but receivers" Norman Nagel

In the Bible a sign often means something that contains and conveys what God is doing and giving. At the same time a sign hides under what appears to be its opposite.  The disclosure of a sign is by a word of God, which requires hearing and receiving faith.  God's dealing with us in this way reduces us to the point at which we are nothing but receivers.  The shepherds received the words of the angel and embraced the Baby in the manger as the Savior who is Christ the Lord.

Norman Nagel
Selected Sermons, page 33

In whom are you investing your riches?

 Read this recently in the Treasury of Daily Prayer.  This is a wonderfully simple but profound statement by the great man, Martin Luther.

O Lord Jesus, come to me, enjoy my bread, wine, silver and gold.  How well it has been invested by me when I invest it in You.

Top Ten Signs You're At A Bad Wedding

10) When just before the service the groom asks to go to the bathroom...and never comes back.

9) When instead of saying, "You may kiss the bride," the pastor says, "Get 'er done!"

8) When the groom and the bride's father get into a fist fight as the bride is given away.

7) When the photographer is asking people, "Anybody got some Kodak film?"

6) When the bride is escorted down the aisle to the tune of "Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted."

5) When the invitation indicates that the reception is being held at the Golden Corral.

4) When the music at the reception is being provided by "Al Jones and his Happy Accordian."

3) When the pastor asks the groom for the license and the groom replies, "Hunting or fishing?"

2) When the service stops just before the vows are said because the bride goes into labor.

And the number one sign that you're at a bad wedding:

1) When the service begins late because the groom couldn't make bail! 

Wisdom from CS Lewis

When you argue against Him (God) you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all: it is like cutting of the branch you are sitting on.

From "Mere Christianity" 

What's so special about Advent?

I wish I had posted this earlier.  Again, something that I wrote in one of my journals.

This Advent Season it's time to kneel a little closer to Jesus' crib and beneath His cross...there I'll hear the best news ever of how God sent Jesus to bring double payment for my sins.

"Together with Jesus" by Richard E. Lauersdorf, December 3 devotional, Northwestern Publishing House 

Jesus keeps the Law for us

How might we keep the Law and love one another without fail, without holding back? Setting our will to do it or making promises or resolutions has never worked before, and it won't work now.  How might we keep the Law which we've never yet kept before? But putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is it.  It is the only way.  It is in being loved, being forgiven, being fed the Holy Supper that not only is sin forgiven but faith is also strengthened.  In that  - those things that God has given for His church, for her faith and life - the Holy Spirit takes up residence and works do follow.  The only way for sinners like us to keep the Law is to have the Law kept for us.

From "God With Us, Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Sermons" by David H. Petersen.  Page 22. 

Charlie Brown brings the Gospel

What a joy to watch the 50th anniversary of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" last night.  One television critic called the program one that "never gets old."  Perhaps it's a timeless program because it features a timeless message.

Yes, the message.  Charlie Brown wants to know what is the meaning of Christmas.  He can't believe Christmas is all about glitz and glitter, about the fake and the artificial.  It can't be about aluminum Christmas trees and prizes for the best decorated house (or dog house!), Charlie reasons.

Linus has the answer Charlie Brown is seeking.  And in a day and time in which the world seems determined to bury the answer, Linus proclaims it with all confidence.  "For born to you this day in the city of David is a Savior; He is Christ the Lord."

Following that good news message the program ends with Charlie and his friends singing, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."  Although I've sung the hymn more times than I can remember, this time around I was struck by the line, "God and sinners reconciled."

This is the reason for the birth of Bethlehem's child.  Sin separates people from God.  Since all people are sinners, all need to be reconciled to our Maker and Creator.  We needed to be reconciled to God. The problem - we can't do it ourselves.

Who is the person who works to help bring people back together? A counselor.  A counselor helps people work out their differences.

That's Jesus.  Remember Isaiah's prophecy in chapter nine?  "And He shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Jesus reconciles a perfect God with perfectly imperfect sinners.  Our situation was hopeless.  Jesus brings hope.  Like Adam and Eve we were the cast-out ones.  Now we can approach God.  He calls us His own.  We belong to His kingdom.  All because of the forgiveness and new life that Jesus has worked for us.

I pray that "A Charlie Brown Christmas" goes on for another 50 years.  In a world filled with bad news this is one program that delivers the good news that we can use.  We are reconciled to God! Amen!