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So the past couple of times we’ve been talking about what Advent is and what Advent means. But here’s some really practical brass tacks kind of things to make sure you’re having a good Advent. To make the most out of this special season in the church year.

So, the first thing you can do is make sure you’re attending church regularly. If it’s something where it hasn’t been every Sunday, make a commitment, right? This is the new church year. Perfect time for a New Year’s resolution. Most congregations will also have a midweek service, maybe on a Wednesday evening or something. You can talk to your pastor and learn about what’s going on in your congregation. To just prepare spiritually by going to church more and receiving God’s Word and his sacrament more frequently.

But this public worship also extends into your private life and into your homes. There’s plenty of good devotional resources out there for use as an individual or for use as a family, plenty of which will pick up on the themes and topics that we’ve been talking about in Advent. Again, there’s tons out there. Talk to your pastor. I’m sure he’ll have a good one that he’ll recommend for you. Again, it’s a good time to rededicate yourself to a more regular devotional practice. To focus on this preparation, to focus on the Means of Grace as we do this Advent.

It’s also a great time to pick up again on family devotions. And there’s some really unique, special things that you can do at home to bring the church over to home and, really to make it more interesting for your kids. Your church probably has an Advent wreath in the front where each Sunday you’ll light another candle and you can actually buy one of those and just put it on your kitchen table for your family devotional time. I know my kids really like just looking at the fire, so even if they’re really little and have problems sitting still for the devotion, they’ll just stare at that fire, right? But we can still explain what this means and why we’re doing it.

We have the Savior and Redeemer for all of our sins. Jesus shed his innocent blood for us as he suffered, and he died so that our sins might be forgiven his innocent blood for ours.

Advent is a great time to make more regular use out of the Means of Grace, to to prepare ourselves spiritually for the great festival of Christmas by focusing in again on God’s Word, by learning more and more about our Savior and why he has come and what he does for us.

Matthew 3:2-3

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How do you get ready for Christmas? Obviously, there’s a lot of different practical things that need to be done. You need to set up and decorate the Christmas tree. Probably pull it down from your attic or something. There’s lots of gifts to wrap. But more fundamentally, I think a lot of people get ready for Christmas by celebrating Christmas early. This year, at Sam’s Club, I saw these Christmas decorations up at the beginning of October. There were there was Christmas stuff right next to Halloween stuff, right? You got Christmas pushed so early. And then what does that do? By the time Christmas actually rolls around, you’re burned out of it. I know plenty of houses where the Christmas decorations come down the afternoon of December 25th, because you’ve been celebrating Christmas for over a month now. You’re getting tired and sick of it.

The church gives us a different way and honestly, a more healthy way to get ready for Christmas. But it’s also one that’s very countercultural and very counterintuitive.

Last time we talked about these different comings of Advent, and another figure that we’ll see on Sunday is John the Baptist, as he prepares the way for Christ to come into the world. And as we look at John the Baptist, we see what his message is. It’s a very odd one. He’s fulfilling this prophecy.

A voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” (Matthew 3:3)

How does he prepare? He says,

“Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near!” (Matthew 3:2)

He doesn’t say, prepare for Jesus coming by, rejoicing and being happy and starting the celebration early. We prepare through repentance, through looking at our sin, confessing our faults. Recognizing that we don’t measure up. This is the focus of Advent. It’s called a penitential season, one where we focus on our sins. That’s going to give a very different mood to the rest of your December.

But why do we do this? We have this season of repentance leading up preparing for Christmas so that when Christmas comes, it’s unlike any Christmas you’ve celebrated before. Because Christmas isn’t just about the cute little baby in the manger, it’s about what that baby would go on to do. That Jesus didn’t stay in the crib, but he would trade the wood of the manger for the wood of the cross. That in that child we have the Savior and Redeemer for all of our sins. When we prepare for Christ’s coming through repentance, we recognize why he’s coming, why he’s here, and we have a deeper joy, a stronger joy than we ever would have had in any other way. Because we know Jesus came to save and rescue us from our sins. And when we see how much we need that we have so much more joy in what he has come to do.

Amen.

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Happy New Year! I know what you’re thinking. I’m a little bit early on this, but this Sunday actually starts a new church year. We begin the season of Advent.

Advent comes from a Latin word that means coming. And throughout this next season of Advent, over the next four weeks, we’ll look at various aspects of this coming.

Now, the most straightforward and the most plain one is Christ’s coming at Christmas, right? It’s leading up to the celebration of Christmas, to God becoming man, to coming to this earth. But that’s not the only aspect of this here. It’s not just preparing to get ready to observe this historical event. There’s a few other dimensions that we can talk about with this coming.

During the season of Advent, we also focus on the ways in which Christ comes to us today through the Means of Grace. And so there’s this special emphasis on God’s Word and making regular use of it. On baptism, especially on the Lord’s Supper, as we consider how Christ is present with us physically today.

But also over the next several Sundays, you’ll see another aspect of this coming presented. And this is looking forward towards the end of the world, towards Christ’s coming in judgment and in glory on the last day.

So advent is all about these different comings, about Christ coming and Christmas in the flesh to save us from our sins and start the plan of salvation. How Christ comes to us today in the Means of Grace, to forgive our sins and bestow his precious body and blood upon us. And how Christ will come again in the future to save us from this fallen world, and bring us to be with him forever. Amen.

John 1:29, Revelation 5:6

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My three year old daughter went on a field trip to a baby goat farm, and she loved it. The entire time she was just saying “they’re so cute” and wanted to run around and try to pick them up and hold them.

Baby animals are universally recognized as cute. They’re small and fluffy and innocent and adorable. What’s there not to love? An interesting title and picture that we have for Jesus in the Bible is that he is the Lamb of God. John the Baptist cried out.

Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

But what does that mean? Is Jesus just a cute, fluffy, innocent animal?

We also see Jesus displayed as the Lamb of God in the book of Revelation. But there the pictures may be a little freaky.

The lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which is explained as the seven spirits of God that have been sent into all the world. (Revelation 5:6)

Okay, but what’s more interesting is that the lamb seemed to have been slain. That’s an odd image. If a lamb had been slain, why is it walking around and doing stuff? Was it a botched slaughter? No. But in this odd image, we see a rich picture for Christ. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But how does he do that? By being sacrificed.

Jesus is not just the innocent little baby lamb, he is the sacrificial lamb. By the shedding of his innocent blood sins are forgiven. Jesus took our place, the innocent, for the guilty and endured the death that we deserve. Jesus was slain, but he did not remain dead. He rose to new life, but still bears the marks of his passion on his hands, his feet, and on his side. Jesus is the lamb who had been slain, who died but now lives, whose sacrifice atones for the sins of the world. Amen.

Revelation 7:14, Isaiah 64:6, 1 John 1:7

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Blood is not a very good detergent. In fact, it leaves some of the worst and most difficult stains. I have an undershirt that still has little specks of faded orange on it, from a nosebleed that I had over a year ago. If you wash something in blood, it’s not going to be white.

In the book of Revelation, the apostle John has a vision, and he sees all the believers in heaven, and they’re dressed in white robes, and he is told

They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)

That’s an odd image, but see what it tells us. Isaiah says,

All our righteous acts are like a filthy rag. (Isaiah 64:6)

Standing on our own before God were dressed rather shoddily. We are stained by our sin, but we wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb. As John writes in his first epistle.

The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

Jesus shed his innocent blood for us as he suffered, and he died so that our sins might be forgiven, his innocent blood for ours. And Jesus blood not only washes away the dirt of our sin, it also bleaches our garments, makes them white. We are clothed in Christ’s righteousness. We are covered in his merits. And that’s a blood stain that you’ll never be able to get out. No matter how dirty we are or how filthy our sin is, we are washed in the blood of the Lamb and made pure and white and clean.

That’s why most pastors will wear a white robe called an alb, from the Latin word for white, as a reminder that we are washed in the blood of the Lamb. That’s why babies, when they’re baptized, will usually wear a white robe, a baptismal gown, as a picture of the forgiveness that they receive in the sacrament. We baptized Christians are clothed in white, covered by Christ and His righteousness and his blood. Amen.

Romans 5:8

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If God is good, why do bad things happen? This is a big question, one that people will continue to ask until the end of time, and one that we’ve tried to address here on Peace Devotions, [Why do bad things happen to Christians?] [Why Doesn’t God Do Something?] although there’s only so much you can do in a short video. But I think part of the answer to that question is that we’re asking the wrong question.

If God is good, why do bad things happen? Is a question that looks out in the world at the evil around us, instead of the evil that’s right here. I’ve said things that aren’t true. Done things I shouldn’t have done. Taken things that aren’t mine. If I really wanted God to get rid of all the bad in the world, he’d have to get rid of me too. If God is so good, why does he let me happen? As bad as I am.

God doesn’t get rid of all the evil in the world because he wants to save and rescue the wicked, including us.

But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Despite our sin he still loves us and wants to save us. There’s nothing in us worth saving. We’ve done nothing but offend him and hurt others. No, God is motivated solely by his love for us. What has God done about all the evil in the world? He sent his Son to suffer it all. Jesus endured the cross, scorning its shame. He suffered rejection and torture and shame and death on a cross. The worst the world has to offer to redeem us and to rescue us from this fallen world.

What does God do about all the evil in the world? He promises to take us from it and deliver us safely to the eternal joys of heaven.

Now, I understand that rephrasing the question in this way doesn’t give an answer to wars or famines or earthquakes, but it does help us understand how a good God interacts with an evil world, with love and a desire to save. Amen.

Ephesians 5:25

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I don’t know if you’ve heard of Andrew Tate before. It’s probably better if you haven’t. But Andrew Tate is an internet personality who’s rather popular but highly polarizing. He promotes a hypermasculine worldview in which a man’s purpose is to make as much money as he can and sleep with as many women as he can. He often posts pictures of him posing with models or expensive watches or foreign cars. His supporters say that he’s reclaiming masculinity in a feminized world, while his opponents accuse him of misogyny. But one thing the discourse around Andrew Tate shows is that people have very different ideas on what it means to be a man, and indeed, whether or not that’s even a good thing.

As Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, he spells out and shows us what it means to be a man. And although his instructions are directed specifically to husbands, I think there’s things that every man can take away from this. He writes,

Husbands, love your wives, in the same way as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (Ephesians 5:25)

It’s easy to see why some men like Andrew Tate. His basic message is to do everything you can to serve yourself. But in Christ we see a very different example. Jesus shows us that to be a man means to demonstrate self-sacrificial love. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. He was willing to be tortured and crucified to redeem the one he loved. Jesus paid for our self-centeredness and our selfishness. He denied himself and died on the cross for our benefit, that our sins might be forgiven and that we might live with him forever.

To be a man means to be like Christ. To show the same self-sacrificial love that he did. So instead of looking to Andrew Tate, look to the godly men in your life that show the love of Jesus. Whether that’s a relative, your pastor, or a member of your congregation, look to the Christian role models that God has placed in your life to learn what it means to be a man, that is, to show the love that Christ has shown you. Amen.

1 Corinthians 2:10,12-13

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Saint Augustine, one of the greatest Christian theologians, was writing a book on the Trinity and understandably, having a hard time with it. So he takes for a break to go out on a walk on the beach, and while he’s walking, he sees a little boy, and the boy has dug a hole in the sand and is using a seashell to scoop water from the ocean into the hole. Augustine asks him what he’s doing, and the little boy explains that he’s trying to fit the ocean into the hole. Augustine smiles a little bit and tries to explain to him that you can’t possibly fit the big, vast ocean into that little hole. The boy responds, and you could never possibly understand the Holy Trinity.

God is just beyond us. He’s so vast and big that we can never fit him in our little heads. We can never fully, completely understand him, but we’re in luck. We read from first Corinthians two,

But God revealed it [The Wisdom of God] to us through his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. What we received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we might know the blessings freely given to us by God. We also speak about these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual truths with spiritual words. (1 Corinthians 2:10, 12-13)

The Holy Spirit, who knows everything about God and is himself. God can communicate this knowledge and wisdom of God to us. Scoop by scoop. Drop by drop. He doesn’t do this through immediate revelation. We don’t get zapped with this knowledge, but it’s in words taught by the Spirit. What the Holy Spirit inspired the authors of the Bible to write. The Bible is not man’s word, but God’s Word. It’s not man’s wisdom, but God’s wisdom, combining spiritual truths with spiritual words. Only through Scripture can we learn what God has done to save us.

From nature, we can tell that there is a God, and from our consciences we can tell that he has rules for us to follow. But only in the Bible can we learn what God has done to save us. Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross to forgive all of your sins. That’s something that we can never learn on our own. That’s something that the Holy Spirit working through the word can teach us. Amen.

Exodus 16:11-12

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In high school and college, I worked at fast food restaurants. And if you want to tip on how to deal with service workers, being nice always helps. Someone’s a lot more likely to do something nice for you if you in turn, are nice to them.

In the book of Exodus, God’s people are journeying through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, and they run out of food. But instead of trusting in God and asking him nicely to provide, they start to grumble and complain. This seems ridiculous. They’ve seen the miracles God has done for them. Why don’t they get it? But so often we fall into that same exact trap, but with things that are far more petty. We often struggle with contentment. There’s always a new toy to buy, another purchase to ponder, an investment or retirement account to worry about. We fall into that same exact attitude of why don’t I have what I want? Why isn’t God giving me what I want?

Although God had a reason to punish the Israelites and us, instead he chooses to provide for his people. We read from Exodus 16, verses 11 and 12.

The Lord spoke to Moses: “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Say to them, ‘At evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’” (Exodus 16:11-12)

Who does this? Who is nice to people who complain against them? God is. Because he regards his promises higher than the sins of his people. God promised to provide for the Israelites, and he did so miraculously by sending them flocks of quail and making bread appear on the ground. God has promised to provide for us also. And he will do so as well.

But these physical blessings only make sense in the larger, more important context. God provides for us not just physically, but spiritually. When we were held in slavery by sin and death, Christ came to set us free by his death on the cross. Jesus is now leading us through the wilderness of this life into the promised land of the life to come. God provides for our bodies because he has already rescued our souls from sin, death, and hell. The physical blessings only make sense within the larger context. God provides for his people because he loves them and cares for them and forgives them. Amen.

1 Corinthians 2:6-7

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Socrates, the famous Greek philosopher, was on a hunt to find the wisest man he could. He went and talked to all kinds of people who were renowned for their knowledge. But he found that while a lot of them pretended to know a lot of things, they didn’t actually know anything. He comes to this conclusion:

“Although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is, for he knows nothing and thinks he knows. I neither know nor think I know.”

This statement has been boiled down to a more famous statement “I know that I know nothing.” Socrates has been credited as being the father of Western philosophy. Yet he freely and readily admits the limits of his own knowledge and wisdom. If Socrates knew nothing, what chance is there for us to know anything? Saint Paul writes about the limits and futility of human wisdom in first Corinthians two. We read verses six and seven.

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature, but it is not a wisdom of this world or of the rulers of this world, who are being reduced to nothing. Instead we speak God’s wisdom that has been hidden in mystery—before the ages, God foreordained that this wisdom would result in our glory. (1 Corinthians 2:6-7)

Human wisdom is incredibly limited. It can’t even comprehend earthly things, much less heavenly or divine things. But God’s wisdom is something different. God’s wisdom surpasses and at times seemingly contradicts human wisdom. It’s shrouded in mystery. We can’t understand it. It doesn’t make sense to us. But it was foreordained before the ages, for our glory.

What does that mean? It means that before God created the world, he had a plan to save us. The wisdom of God is the message of the gospel, that God became man in the person of Jesus Christ, so that God could die to forgive the sins of the whole world. Every step of that just doesn’t make sense to us. But it’s God’s wisdom, not ours. God had to be man so that God could die, and man had to be God so that his death would count for all men. God died to forgive all of your sins. We can’t make sense of that. But it’s God’s wisdom, not ours. It’s God’s wisdom for our glory. Amen.

Psalm 146:3,5,10

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Let’s talk politics. We’re just going to jump straight into it, right into the danger zone. You’ve probably been told that in polite conversation you should never talk about money, politics, or religion. And right now we’re going to cover two out of those three. I probably don’t have to tell you that there’s a major election coming up in our country. You’ve seen firsthand our charged political atmosphere and how that can cause divisions and conflict and tension. People put so much behind their candidate of choice because they’re convinced that their policy will lead towards a better world. And inversely, if the other guy wins, then it’s going to be a disaster for us and our country.

What does the Bible say to this situation? We read from Psalm 146.

Do not put your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. (Psalm 146:3)

And people can get so wrapped up in politics and their preferred candidate, but the Bible tells us not to put our trust in them. Earthly rulers can only do so much. We should never let politics or the divisions it cause distract us from God. Rather,

Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. (Psalm 146:5)

We don’t put our hope or trust in politicians, but in God. God has rescued us not from whatever national calamity is being drummed up right now, but from our greatest enemies of sin, death, and the devil. When Jesus died on the cross, he vanquished our foes, and when he rose from the dead, he proclaimed his victory. Even if your preferred candidate doesn’t win, Jesus has won. Our government will keep on doing whatever it has to be doing.

But the Lord shall reign forever. Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord. (Psalm 146:10)

Amen.

1 Corinthians 4:2, 2 Timothy 2:13, Matthew 25:21

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My life has undergone a rather dramatic shift in the last couple months. In April, my primary occupation was student. I was worried about final exams and papers and a thesis defense. But now I’m a vicar engaged in the ministry of the word, and that brings with it an entirely different and greater set of stressors and responsibilities. Am I going to fumble a sermon or a Bible study? Will people like me? Will my work be successful?

Amidst all these struggles, I found a lot of comfort in First Corinthians 4:2.

It is required of stewards that they be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:2)

Now, in the context, Paul is writing against false teachers who were not faithful stewards of the mysteries of God. But even then, I think that there’s a lot of comfort to be found for what God requires from ministers of the Word. God doesn’t require perfection. He doesn’t require success. There’s no quota to be met, but he requires faithfulness. Doing what you can with what God has given you. And this is true not only for the ministry, but for all of our vocations as Christians. As a parent, spouse, or employee, God requires faithfulness. Doing what you can with what you have.

There’s no required level of performance. There’s no standard to be met simply to be faithful. And that takes the stress and the pressure off of us and onto God, because he’s the one who’s given us our gifts and the one who places us in the circumstances where he wants us to use those gifts. We aren’t perfectly faithful, but God does not require perfect faithfulness from us. Rather, he freely gives us the perfection of His Son.

If we are faithless, he remains faithful. (2 Timothy 2:13)

Jesus lived a perfect life on your behalf and died an innocent death in your place. All of your sins and all of your failings, all of your unfaithfulness has been forgiven in him. And when our faithfulness is rooted and grounded in Christ’s faithfulness. We can be confident that on the last day our master will say to us,

Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of your master. (Matthew 25:21)

We don’t rely on our own performance or faithfulness, but on the mercy and grace of God. Amen.