John 16:19-20

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If you go see an orchestra, you might walk into the orchestra hall a few minutes before the beginning of the music, and you might hear this horrific noise. What is this terrible sound? The screeching violins and discordant brass and woodwind. And if you didn’t know that a beautiful piece of music was about to be played, you might go running from that orchestra hall. What is this?

But we know that those musicians are simply tuning their instruments. They’re getting ready to join together in harmony, to play something magnificent and beautiful. So we wait it out. We stay put. Even through that, that awful noise that lasts for just a little while.

Before Jesus was arrested, he was with his disciples in the upper room on Maundy Thursday. He was preparing them for what was about to happen to him. And so he was speaking very bluntly with them. And even though they didn’t quite grasp or understand what was going to be happening to Jesus in the following hours, and the following day, his words were very meaningful to them and would later be recalled. And these are words that Jesus spoke to his disciples, that he also means for you and me. Specifically these words from John 16.

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him about this [what he had said], so he said to them, “Are you trying to determine with one another what I meant by saying, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me’? Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. (John 16:19-20)

Jesus was preparing them for that little while that would soon come of real sorrow and heartache and grief, as they would watch their Savior be arrested, be tortured, be killed upon the cross. This was a time when our spiritual enemies were rejoicing. The sinful world, satan, they were thinking that they had won. God, Jesus, dead upon the cross. The disciples themselves, they were thrown into despair. They were fearful, We’re told that the following days they were back in that upper room where they had been with Jesus, only this time they were in hiding. They were fearful for their own lives. They thought they would be crucified next.

You and I, we faced little whiles of despair and trouble in our lives as well. I don’t know what it might be for you. Could be a diagnosis from the doctor. It might be a financial crisis or a loss of a job. It might be a close one who is dying or recently has departed. There are these little whiles of life where we feel great despair and we feel the hurt of trouble. Jesus puts it in perspective, though, and he was doing there that night in the upper room with his disciples. It’s a little while, and yes, the world will rejoice and you will have sorrow. But here’s good news for you your sorrow will turn into joy. And that’s true. That happened for the disciples. Think of the open and empty tomb. Jesus who went to the cross, and there he paid for our sins. He didn’t abandon his disciples. He appeared before them and said, it is me. Peace be with you. And their grief turned to joy.

And so too does our Savior and the fact that he has risen from the dead, bring us joy even as we are facing sorrow and trouble and grief. Jesus lives. He’s risen from the dead. And that means our greatest enemy. The thing that people fear the most in this world. It’s nothing to him. He’s broken death. He’s defeated it. And he is for you. He loves you, and he promises that you too will defeat death. Because he lives, we too will live. This gives us such joy.

There’s an ugly noise of trouble that may surround us. But God says, hold on, there’s something beautiful in store for you. So wait out this little while and know that the master conductor is about to take the stage. And something glorious and beautiful is about to be played for you.

1 John 4:16, John 3:16

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Are you familiar with Pascal’s Wager?

Blaise Pascal was a 17th century mathematician, physicist, and philosopher. And his wager, his argument is that if he is wrong, as a Christian, if Christians are wrong, if atheists are right, and there is no God, then there’s nothing is lost at the moment of death. Nothing happens. Christians haven’t lost anything. They’re just wrong. The other side of the argument, though, is that if Christianity is true, if there is a God, and if there is a heaven and a hell, then there’s something great to be gained for the Christian, for the believer, and there’s a whole lot to be lost for the atheist. Eternity in hell.

So basically, it’s a good bet. It’s a safe wager to believe in God.

That argument might have some force. It might be used when we’re talking to an atheist about the importance of thinking about things spiritually and about the importance of considering Christianity.

But is that why we as Christians believe?

Is it just to hedge our bets just in case there is a God, we better believe in him. Is it because we’re afraid of going to hell?

It’s not. We believe because by God’s grace, he has worked faith in our hearts. And he has brought us to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior. And we know his love for us. And so we’ve grown to trust him. As we read in first John 4:16.

We also have come to know and trust the love that God has for us. (1 John 4:16)

So we believe because God has worked faith in our hearts. We love because by God’s grace, we know the love of God, that God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

This makes all the difference for us.

We have peace because we know the peace that Jesus has won for us, in paying for all of our sins, and in forgiving all of our sins. And so we are at peace with God, and we have an eternal future secure for us in heaven. And so we have eternal hope. Hope that doesn’t change. Hope that doesn’t fade away.

And that’s why we tell others of God. Not to brag. Not because we have to. Not just in case. It’s because we want them to know the hope and the joy and the peace and the love that we have in God.

May God bless us as we walk in that love, live in that love and share that love. Amen.

John 20:25-29

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Kids will argue about the strangest things, won’t they? I’d be willing to bet that on any playground in America, there’s an argument going on going something like this.

“My dad’s so strong that I saw him lift up an entire house.”

“Nuh-uh. That’s impossible.”

“I saw him do it. Really?”

“Well, then prove it.”

As silly as that sounds in the moment, it feels very real to those children, doesn’t it? On one hand, the child isn’t crazy for having faith in his father. In his mind, his father can literally do anything, right? But on the other hand, the kid he’s arguing with he isn’t crazy either, because he wants proof to prove this outlandish claim. In our text today, we have a situation just like this in the Gospel of John, where the disciples tell Thomas that Christ has risen from the dead. And Thomas says,

“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” (John 20:25)

In essence, this interaction is like the two kids in the playground shouting prove it! I’m guessing that if we were in Thomas’s shoes, we’d be saying the exact same thing. And then eight days later, Jesus appears to the disciples and to Thomas, and the first thing he says is, peace be with you. But the next thing he does is approach Thomas and say,

“Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” (John 20:27)

And Thomas replies, my Lord and my God. (John 20:28)

And Jesus later says,

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

Now I think we’d all like to believe that we would be one of the ones who would believe without seeing. Right? But the reality is, is that if you and I were at this, in this room that day, it’s very likely that account would be about you and me. They would call me Doubting Scott. And the reality is, is we’re all guilty of that same doubt in our lives. We all doubt the resurrected power of Jesus when we can’t clearly see him. Sometimes we doubt him when we receive that cancer diagnosis, or when our marriage is struggling, or when our prayers go seemingly unanswered, or when we lose our job, or when our child gets sick, and maybe we don’t say it in the same way that Thomas did, but with our thoughts and our sins, we proclaim that I won’t believe it unless I see it.

But notice that Jesus doesn’t rebuke Thomas for having doubts or questions. No, he comes to Thomas with his word, his comforting word of peace. And he says, place your hand into my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. And although we don’t get to place our hands into the side of Jesus the same way Thomas did, Jesus is still approaching you in the same way he approached Thomas through his comforting word, the word that attests that he appeared over 500 people after he rose from the dead and engaged all of their senses to prove to them that he really was the resurrected Christ, the same Christ they had seen crucified on a cross only a few days earlier.

And those people were so moved by what they saw and sensed with all of their senses that Jesus was truly alive. They went around the world proclaiming in an outlandish way that my God is so strong that he raised Jesus from the dead. And today, Christ is proving his resurrection to you today through His Word, through your baptism, and through Holy Communion. He’s engaging all of your senses to prove to you that he really did rise from the dead. And if he really did rise from the dead, then you can have full comfort and confidence and conviction that your sins are truly forgiven, that you too will rise again, just as Jesus did on the last day. And don’t you doubt it.

So may the grace of our risen Lord Jesus Christ. Guard and keep your heart in undoubting belief and faith and obedience to him. Amen.

John 17:20-22, Romans 8:34

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What does Jesus pray for? Well, what do you pray for?

We probably pray that God will bless us in different ways, right? That he would give us good health, that he would restore us to health after we have a medical issue or an illness that we’re dealing with. We may pray for our loved ones, that the Lord would bless them, that he would help us in our relationships. We pray that he would watch over our community, maybe our nation. But what does Jesus pray for?

What would it surprise you to know that Jesus prays for you? And you’re not just somewhere on his prayer list, you are a pressing concern for him. And we see that the night of his betrayal and arrest, the night before his crucifixion. And you think about, man, there’s got to be the most distressing night of all for him. He knows it’s all coming. He sees it coming. And yet what’s on his mind? You are on his mind and he prays for you. And by the way, it’s in the book of John that we see this John 17. We see his prayer. He prays for himself, but it’s so that he has the strength to bear the cross for you. And then he prays for his disciples. And then he prays for those who might hear the message of his disciples. And that’s you and me.

We read in John 17,

“I am praying not only for them, but also for those who believe in me through their message. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be one[a] in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one:” (John 17:20-22)

How awesome is that? That on that most stressful, anxious night that Jesus was praying for you. And then it was even more awesome as what happened after that, that he allowed himself to be betrayed and arrested. And he went to the cross, and there he took the punishment for the sins of the world and your sins and my sins. And there he paid for those sins, and there he conquered Satan, death, and hell.

Three days later, he rose again to show that his payment was accepted so that you can know you are forgiven. And through faith in him you’re a child of God. You’re an heir of eternal life in heaven.

And then 40 days later, he ascended into heaven. And what does he do now?

He prays for you. He intercedes for you. We read in Romans 8:34.

Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus, who died and, more than that, was raised to life, is the one who is at God’s right hand and who is also interceding for us! (Romans 8:34)

And so when you fall into a sin and Satan goes to God and he says, “look at that person, they have broken your trust. They’re not worthy to be your child.” Jesus stands in for you and he prays for you. And he says, “yes, they have sinned, but I paid for that sin on the cross. They are forgiven. You promise that they are forgiven through faith in me, and they are your child. And you promised that they have eternity in heaven waiting for them.” Isn’t that so awesome? Jesus prayed for us on that most distressing night, and that he continues to pray for us and intercede for us as he leads us on to that heavenly home that he has won for you.

May God bless us as we bring our prayers and petitions to our Heavenly Father. Amen.

John 6:4-7, Matthew 5:48

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Loaves and fish. I give that phrase, I’ve answered that phrase to people several times recently who have been asking about, how are you going to get through all the things that you have going on this year, or how have you? This last year for me has been crazy. Maybe you can relate, but I’ve just had a number of things, many things that have been very challenging situations, difficult ones personally, but then also very just ones that have a lot of responsibility and are big tasks. And people have said, how do you keep getting through that? What how do you feel about this? And I just keep answering loaves and fish and here’s why.

I think about when we’re told in John chapter six that

The Jewish Passover Festival was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a huge crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” But Jesus was saying this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii[a] worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to have just a little.” (John 6:4-7)

What I love is that Jesus asks Philip, where are we going to get bread for all these people, knowing full well that what’s going to happen next is what we call the feeding of the 5000. Jesus knows he’s going to multiply just a few loaves of bread and some fish to feed the 5000. When he asks Philip to do this, Jesus is not expecting Philip to be the source. He’s not expecting Philip to come up with this on his own. The whole point was to drive Philip and the rest of his disciples to look to him. Jesus did not ask his disciples to feed these 5000 and then expect them to do it themselves. Jesus said, hey, how are you going to feed them, knowing that they would need to look to him and he would provide.

And that’s why I keep saying loaves and fish, these things that have been in front of me this year and are continuing to be in front of me. How are you going to get through them? Loaves and fish. If God has put this in front of me and called me to do it, I know he’s not saying, now, Nate, you have to figure out how to get it all done. You have to muster up the strength. That’s not how God works. It’s not how the gospel works. These different life experiences like this where we have to depend on Christ, are all little exercises and reminders of how the gospel really works. Well, God, he does say, be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect, (Matthew 5:48) but as sinful people, God knows we are not going to be perfect.

He knows, though, that he had a way and has a way for us to be made perfect before him again. And that way is that Jesus came into this world to be everything you and I were created to be, but aren’t. He was perfect for us. He laid down his life and died for you, and rose again for you, so that through faith in him you could be right with God. When you are baptized into Christ, you are clothed with Jesus. And Jesus is God. Which means then that when God looks at you, he sees you through God. He provides what you need to be right with him. This is how your relationship with God works. And every time that you face a time where you are reminded, ah, I, I don’t have the capacity. I can’t do it. I need to look to him. It’s a little reminder, a little exercise, that yes, this is how our life with God works.

Loaves and fish. God doesn’t look to us to do it for him. We get to look to him and trust in him always. How are we going to get through this? The same way that we’re right with God looking to him, trusting him. Just bring your loaves and fish.

John 19:30, Luke 23:46, Isaiah 53:6

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Our devotion today is on the last words of Jesus when he says “it is finished,” (John 19:30) and then also when he says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) So this is the last words of a man being executed. Sometimes the last words of people on death row or who are executed aren’t so great. Marie Antoinette is said to have stepped on the executioner’s foot right before they were going to take her head off, and her last words were, “excuse me, monsieur, I beg your pardon.”

There was a murderer a number of years ago here in the United States who was going to die by lethal injection. And his last words were simply complaining about the food he had for his final meal. But when it comes to Jesus’ last words before he’s executed, they’re not trivial and they’re not irrelevant or ironic or anything, but they actually are serving us, not himself, but us. When he says “it is finished” and “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

There’s a strange irony here that God, God himself, must die for us. Back in the 1980s, some doctors looked at what you might call kind of an autopsy of someone who was crucified and trying to figure out what would happen to the human body. And everything we see in the gospel accounts matches that perfectly. And it’s interesting that here’s the very one who determined the grain on the cross in which he’s dying. Who created the metallic makeup of the stakes that are now stinging through his wrists, that determined the geography of the hill of Golgotha. And here he is now, hanging as a despised criminal. And why did it have to take this very real execution? Well, the reason is my sins and your sins are very real. They’re not phantoms. Our offenses against God have really happened in real time, and they’re very significant. And they must be taken seriously by the court of heaven.

Our culture likes to have us think of sin as something that’s not that big of a deal. And sometimes, because we’re in a world where there are so many large amounts of sin going on, maybe we can falsely think we can hide inside of all of that. Kind of like someone at a vicious protest that is looting buildings and burning them down. If they’re in a large crowd, they might feel like they’re not as guilty. And yet each individual involved certainly is. There’s a verse in a hymn that says it so beautifully

you who think of sin but lightly. Nor suppose the evil great here may view its nature rightly. Here its guilt may estimate. Mark the sacrifice appointed. See who bears the awful load. Tis the word. The Lord’s anointed son of man and Son of God.

So in Christ and in his final words, we see how seriously God has taken our sin that God Himself must die for us.

Somebody once wrote that God unzipped the heavens of his wrath and poured it out against our sin. And we think of that passage in Isaiah.

The Lord laid on him, [on Jesus] the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

And his work is now all done taking care of this for us. He says, it is finished. And that word means that nothing more can be added, just like a cup of water. If you put one more drop in, it would go over the side. Nothing else needs to be added for the payment for you and me to get to go to heaven. So as we hear those words of Jesus every Lenten season, let’s be reminded of how seriously God has taken our sin, but also how extremely valuable you are and your future eternal life is to God. Amen.

1 John 4:8, John 3:16

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So how do I love this little one? Earlier this year, there was a child who came into my life and I had the opportunity to show love to this little one, and I found myself asking myself, where do I draw from to really love this child? I don’t have any history with this child. I don’t have a biological connection to this child. And sometimes loving this child is going to be challenging. So where do I draw from? And asking that question made me realize that many times when it comes to the people in my life, I draw from good experiences. You know, or natural connection I have, you know, my biological daughter, you know she is my daughter, right? She came from my wife and me and, and I have many wonderful moments with her, my wife, obviously, it gives me many reasons to love her. But what about someone that you don’t have any of that connection or that history with? And I really realized that my source needed to be God, that he is love and that he is the source of love.

The scriptures say it right? God is love. (1 John 4:8) And I realize, first of all, that our God, that our God loves us, that he loves me, and then also that this little one I was looking at is a little one that was created by God. Loved by God, who Jesus died for, and rose again and paid for all of his sins. So that this little one could be right with him too, and made me realize where the source for real love is. It’s not experiences we have with someone, it’s not a prior connection. The real source for love is God, and it also made me realize all the more what grace is. We talk about grace as being God’s undeserved love, right? It’s not based on anything someone does on someone deserving it. It’s completely a free gift.

And that’s what our God gives to us when he loves us. He doesn’t love you because you’ve been good enough. He doesn’t love you because there’s some sort of special thing that earns it for him. It’s not even that Jesus, like, makes God the Father love you. I mean, John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. It started with love, and that’s why he sent Jesus. That’s why Jesus came. God loves because he loves.

So today, if you are struggling to feel loved or if you are struggling with your guilt, know this that God loves you simply because he loves you. Jesus came and died for you simply because he loves you. He rose again to set you right with him. What’s his basis for love? Him. That’s who he is. That’s what he does. And that’s how you can know today that you are loved.

Romans 3:23, 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 14:3

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If somebody tries to give you their phone number and they rattle off ten digits really, really quick, it’s almost impossible to remember. But if we break it down into those three sections that we’re so familiar with, it’s a lot easier. Our brain works that way. Where a long string of numbers is hard to remember, but short little segments are easier.

And so sometimes I feel like that with my life of faith as well. God’s word is rich and deep. It’s never ending. We can never find the bottom of it. There’s always more to learn. And that’s a wonderful gift. But it can also sometimes feel overwhelming. There’s so much to learn. There’s so much to remember. So when doubts creep in, or when we have questions, or when life gets confusing or a storm in life comes, break it down. Break it down. Into three simple things to remember.

Number one, who you were.

Number two, who you are in Christ.

And number three, what that means for you today and for your future.

So remember who you were. Scripture says in Romans 3:23,

Because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

That’s who we were. We were people who had fallen short of the glory of God. People who don’t deserve good things from him, people who are not good enough for him. People who have sinned.

But remember, number two, who you are in Christ. Second Corinthians five says this

So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. The new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

By Jesus’ perfect life, his death, his resurrection through faith in him. Remember who you are. You are God’s own child. You are righteous. You are holy. You are innocent in his sight. You are an heir of eternal life.

And then remember, number three, what that means for you today and every day. You get to live in the freedom of your forgiveness. You get to live with the knowledge that you are going to heaven. Jesus says in John 14,

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am. (John 14:3)

That’s where he is bringing us. So when life gets complicated, break it down. Remember who you were. That we were lost in our transgressions and sin. Remember who you are in Christ. That we are God’s own children. That we are forgiven and free. Remember what that means for us, that we will be in heaven with him forever.

Three simple truths. Easy to remember. The ultimate comfort for when life gets complicated.

John 19:33-37

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In the season of Epiphany, we are going through the three gifts that the Magi brought to the Christ child, and today we’re looking in particular at that gift of myrrh. We may not be familiar with myrrh in our daily lives today, but back in Jesus’ time it was very commonly used and it was used for a number of different purposes. One was medicinal. Myrrh has antibiotic properties that are very beneficial when it’s used as an antibiotic, the bacteria don’t adapt to resist it, and so it can be very powerful in that regard. It was also used in preservation and particular in preservation of bodies after burial. And it’s very sweet smelling, so it was sort of a method of embalming. It was not only very pleasant smelling to combat the smell of decay, but it also helped prevent decay. It preserved the body as well for a while.

And so I have some myrrh with me today. This is myrrh incense, and this is a kind of sweet myrrh. It might not look like the incense we’re familiar with. We might think of incense being on a stick form, that you burn the end of the stick and it burns down. But this is actually resin incense, and this is more accurate to what the incense in Jesus day would have looked like. The resin incense is usually put on a lighted charcoal that will burn the incense and make it smoke, and provide a very strong, sweet scent.

Incense, like myrrh, is gathered in a very unique way. The way that they get incense is from the bark of a tree, and what they need to do with that tree is they drill into the tree and then sap pours out from the wound where they drilled the tree. And so then they gather that sap and they let it dry into a resin. And then when you heat it or burn it, it produces this very sweet smell. And you can use it in oil form as well for medicine or for preservation.

But that’s a very interesting way to gather myrrh. We see in that gift of myrrh, it foreshadows the very work that Jesus would do. Just like myrrh is gathered by piercing into a tree and taking the sap that pours out from the tree. So also with our Lord Jesus. His body was pierced on a tree. Myrrh has been called the tears of the bleeding tree, and we can apply that to our Lord’s work for us, that in all that sorrow on the tree on Good Friday we find healing, we find peace, and we find life even in the midst of death. We read from the gospel according to Saint John.

When they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it [that is, John himself] has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled… T”hey will look on him whom they have pierced.” (John 19:33-37)

Just as the wound on the tree pours out the sweet smelling myrrh, so also the spear wound on that sacred tree of the cross, from that wound in Jesus’ side pours out from his gracious and loving heart for you blood and water. And that is the healing and the sweet smelling myrrh that you have today in your own congregation. Your own pastor baptizes you with that holy water, the water of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Your very pastor ministers to you with that very blood in the Holy Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, where Christ Himself and all that he has worked, and won for you comes directly to you, is placed upon your lips, and is yours. And the wounds from that tree cleanse you so fully, and preserve you so well that even death itself has no power over you. Your sin is forgiven.

By a tree, death is overcome and Christ is victorious and lives forevermore. And even in this season of Epiphany, we look ahead with joy, knowing that Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

John 1:14

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Hello and Merry Christmas, my name is Scooter Fassett.

Okay, maybe my name isn’t really Scooter, it’s Scott, but if you heard someone call me Scooter, you would know that they really knew me. You see, the adults in my childhood who knew and loved me most called me Scooter because they knew that from the moment I woke up, the time I went to bed, I sprinted everywhere I went. I scooted from point A until point B until I utterly collapsed. But that’s the funny thing about nicknames. They often reveal something unique or interesting about someone’s past or someone’s personality.

So today on Christmas, as we get to celebrate the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, he comes actually with a load of nicknames the Bible gives us. Just in the Advent season he’s given nicknames such as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the first and the last, and the Alpha and the Omega. And I left names off of that list, but I think there’s one particular nickname that we neglect to often associate with Christ, and that name is given to us in John chapter one, verse 14, where it says,

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. (John 1:14)

I love this verse not just because of the promise that it gives us, but because of the imagery it gives us. When I hear the Word became flesh. I literally envision a heavenly scroll of God’s Word, like a roll of parchment billowing down to earth. And as it does, it condenses and it narrows into a cord, which then forms the umbilical cord of our Savior in his mother’s womb. I love that verse, and I love that image because it actually shows the Word is flesh.

And because we find it in His Word, we know that it’s not merely an analogy, it’s a reality. And that’s why we celebrate Christmas so intimately, because we’re even closer than a first name basis with our Savior, Jesus, we’re on a nickname basis. And we know from His Word that The Word that was made flesh lived a perfect life for you and for me. We know from His Word that The Word made flesh died on a cross, dying the death that you and I deserved because of our sin. And we know that from His Word that The Word made flesh really did rise again on Easter morning, giving us the greatest possible gift the gift of life, salvation, forgiveness of sins, and everlasting life itself.

Yes, even the Lord now claims you through your baptism. And when he baptizes you, he cleanses you of your sin. But he also gives you a new nickname. But when The Word made flesh gives you a new nickname, it’s not just an analogy, it is a reality. Yes, when you are baptized, you were given the name Beloved, Cherished, Forgiven, Redeemed. And most importantly, you are called a Child of God.

That’s not just an analogy. It’s your identity and it’s a reality.

So may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Word who became flesh, guard and keep your hearts and minds in your true identity this Christmas season and always. Amen.

John 3:16-17

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This last summer, my youngest daughter was given this inflatable pool. And it wasn’t just an ordinary plain old inflatable pool, it was pink with a flamingo head on it, and there was even a tail on the other side. And then at night this pool would light up. You see, flamingos are my daughter’s favorite animal. And so when she got this gift, she loved it. She was so excited about it, she couldn’t wait for me to air it up and fill it with water so that she could get into that pool and play. She even gave that pool its own name like it was her own flamingo pet.

That flamingo pool may not have been a very expensive gift or seem like much, but to her, this was the best gift she could have received all summer long. It’s resulted in many hours of fun. Not just for my youngest daughter, but all of my kids. God has given us a wondrous gift that’s even better than any gift someone in this world could ever give us. It’s a gift that we needed, a gift that we did not earn, and we certainly don’t deserve. God just gave it. Jesus said,

For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)

What a gift! To many in this world, that doesn’t seem to be a very good gift at all. It doesn’t look very valuable. They don’t see a need for it. In fact, many don’t even see Jesus as a gift at all.

But you and I, we see it differently. In this gift that God has given to us we rejoice. It’s a wondrous gift and we may celebrate its giving at Christmas time. But our joy is continuous every single day throughout the year. There’s nothing better that our God could ever give to us than to give us Jesus, who came into the world to save the world. You see, God doesn’t want anyone in this world to suffer the punishment of sin that they rightly deserve. He wants to save them. And so that’s why he gave this gift to the world that he gave his son. Think about that for just a second.

God loved us that much that he gave his only begotten son to suffer the punishment that your sins and mine deserve. And because God has given us Jesus, his only begotten son, we have forgiveness of every single sin. We are saved from their curse and their penalty. We have an eternity of life in heaven, in the paradise of heaven, all through Jesus. And all because God gave us this wondrous gift. Holding on to this gift in our hearts by faith every single day. Its giving and the gift itself causes great joy to fill our hearts. And we love God’s gift so much because of what we have in Jesus. It’s a gift worth holding on to and a gift worth sharing with the world.

Amen.

[This devotion is part of our series on The Apostles’ Creed, you can find all the videos in there series on our Apostles’ Creed Page. The devotions will be added as they are posted.]

John 4:23, 8:31-32, 17:22, 1 John 1:5

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I believe in the communion of saints. I met a man once who grew up in Eastern Europe, underneath the Iron Curtain and Soviet rule, where Christianity was illegal. As a small boy, he remembered his parents raising him with a Bible hidden under the floorboards. He remembered nights when his parents would secretly whisk him and his siblings out of the house. They would take him through the dark woods at night and meet with other Christians in secret. He remembered seeing baptisms and secret worship services. To me, it’s interesting that no matter where you find Christians, no matter how dangerous or illegal it is for Christians to worship, Christians will still always gather together for worship. That’s what we mean when we say the communion of saints.

That part of the Christian faith is that we are drawn into, first of all, the communion of the body of Christ through faith and that unity that we have with all believers of all times must express itself in fellowship, a union or unity with a local congregation of believers. But what is the basis for that unity?

Oftentimes, Christians today say it should be love. That love is what joins us together, and our tolerance for one another is what enables us to keep coming together and growing. Others would say it’s our mission. As long as Christians agree on a few fundamental things, then the rest of the stuff doesn’t matter. That enables us to accomplish more working together. Some Christians say that what joins us together is outward purity, and so they can never find a group of believers that is pure enough for them. But what’s the real answer? What actually joins us together? In John chapter 17, Jesus is praying in the garden before his death on the cross. And what’s so beautiful is he’s praying for us. He’s praying for his church. And not once, not twice, but four times. Jesus prays that the church on earth would be one as we are one, Jesus says.

Did you hear that? As we are one? He uses the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in all eternity as the basis for the unity that the Christian Church experiences. The union between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a union of truth. We’re told in Scripture that God is light. In him there is no darkness at all.

Jesus is the truth. He tells us that true worshipers of the Father worship in spirit and truth. Jesus tells us, if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. The truth is what binds us together.

I like to explain it this way. Here in the Midwest, we oftentimes do whatever we can to avoid conflict. Oftentimes, we might even think the health of a relationship is measured by its lack of conflict. But that isn’t true. Maybe you’ve experienced that before, where, where everyone is tiptoeing around the elephant in the room, afraid to talk about the real problem. That isn’t true unity. But rather the health of a relationship is determined by how you deal with conflict, that you deal with conflict with truth and love.

Christians find their unity in truth and love when we come together around God’s Word. There’s really only one thing we have to agree on, and that is that we’ll follow the Bible and what the Bible teaches. So as often as you confess those words, we believe in the communion of saints. First of all, rejoice that the Holy Spirit draws true believers to Christian churches around the world. And secondly, rejoice in the fellowship, the communion of believers that God has brought you to. Rejoice in receiving the word and the sacrament for the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, your Savior.

Amen.