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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
The Board of Elders excused Pastor Galler from his responsibilities today so that he could visit Victory in Christ Lutheran Church, Newark, Texas, which has extended him a Divine Call. So, for our reflection on today’s Second Reading this morning, Pastor Galler edited a sermon by The Rev. Dr. Jamison J. Hardy, bishop and president of the English District of the Missouri Synod and pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in McMurray, Pennsylvania. Rev. Hardy’s sermon was published in the current volume of Concordia Pulpit Resources (29:1, pp.29-31), to which publication Pilgrim subscribes primarily in order to supply sermons on occasions such as this, when our pastor is away and the congregation has not otherwise supplied the pulpit. The adapted sermon reads as follows:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The gifting day has come and gone, and one point is again clear: gift-giving becomes very stressful for many people. One of the reasons for this stress at the holiday season is the fear of what to get someone as a gift. The idea of giving someone the perfect gift can overtake the giver. Fear sets in, and the possibility of rejection and inadequacy is crippling. Trying to give a gift that’s memorable and lasting can even get harder and harder as the years roll on. But, in the Second Reading for this First Sunday after Christmas, St. Paul gives us a helpful suggestion for giving a gift that is just sure to be lasting. Actually, Paul’s words from the Lord are more than helpful, and they are more than a suggestion. The apostle essentially tells us to “Give Love as a Gift”.
Quite to the contrary of giving gifts, receiving gifts is easy—or it should be. Simply to receive the love, care, mercy, and compassion of people in the form of a gift is often less stressful and more enjoyable than giving—or at least it should be. The stress is gone, and the joy of receiving is paramount. Surprisingly, maybe, the ease of receiving tends to be the opposite of what we might hear during the holiday season. Even the book of Acts records St. Paul’s reminding the Ephesian elders of Jesus’s words that “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). While that statement undoubtedly is true, an undo focus on giving can be a problem. When saying that giving is better than receiving, a person is more focused on looking at himself or herself as the centerpiece rather than on the one who is to receive. The world might encourage this behavior and deny the importance of what receiving is all about.
But, forgiveness and salvation are a free gift, one that comes with no strings attached. We receive forgiveness and salvation from Jesus without any merit or worthiness in us. What we merit and are worthy of is nothing but death here in time and eternal torment in hell. So, the love of the Savior is an unmatched and tremendous blessing. We could say that the idea of receiving’s being far more important than giving comes to us directly in the form of the Son of God, the One Who bore the sins of the world on the cross. Put in proper context, our receiving forgiveness and salvation fulfills the promises of the Old Testament, where the Lord declares that he will give us a Savior, His Son.
Not only is our receiving forgiveness and salvation necessary for our eternal life, but our receiving forgiveness and salvation is also at the center of what St. Paul describes in today’s Second Reading. There, St. Paul calls us God’s chosen ones, which means we are called by God and set apart by Him for the purpose of doing His will. That is no small declaration for the faithful followers of Christ. As His chosen and set-apart ones, we are not alone and do not live for ourselves. We are His, chosen and called to share His love and compassion. In calling us God’s chosen ones, St. Paul encourages us to put on “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience”.
Once in a class at seminary, the sermon’s original author was asked by a professor if he had ever made private confession and received individual absolution. At that stage in the author’s life, he had not. But, the professor told the author that there was no greater feeling than being forgiven for a sin that was particularly troubling him, and the author now admits that the professor was right. Later in that academic year, the author took the professor up on that encouragement and made private confession and received individual absolution. The author found that the professor was exactly right. There is no better feeling than being forgiven in that way. Although it was not a new practice in the history of Christianity, the author says it was revolutionary for his Christian life. The author humbled himself and confessed, and then he received the free and clear gift given to all of God’s children out of his love and grace.
But, that is not where forgiveness stops. Today’s Second Reading exhorts us to forgive one another in Christian love. St. Paul says this:
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
Oftentimes, we are not willing to forgive those who have hurt us, because withholding forgiveness seems to empower us. Yet, the apostle encourages us to see and know that our ability to forgive comes from the reality that we are first forgiven by Christ in our own lives; thus we are able to forgive others. We live in this beautiful reality as children of the heavenly Father.
Immediately following this encouragement about forgiving, we are encouraged to put on love: “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony”. Love is what binds all things together in the life of the Christian. One of the sermon’s original author’s catechumens once asked him, “How do we put on love?” The answer to that question is, for the Christian, a beautiful picture of God’s love and mercy. God the Father has showered us with His love. His love sent His Son to the cross, and the benefits of that Son’s death on the cross comes to us all together through God’s Word read and preached and to us individually through God’s Word with water in Holy Baptism, with the pastor’s touch in Holy Absolution, and with bread and wine that are Christ’s Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar. Since St. Paul says to put on love, we might especially think of Holy Baptism, where we are lovingly robed with Christ’s righteousness. Ultimately, we might say that putting on love is a reality of our relationship to Christ as His chosen people. Like many aspects of our relationship to Christ, we must not reject the ability we have to love.
The Second Reading today also strongly reminds us that the Word of God dwells in us. St. Paul says:
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
We sing psalms and hymns in the Divine Service and other services here at Pilgrim, of course, but we can also make use of the hymnal in our homes, in devotions with our families and by ourselves. As we do, we remain hopeful and joyful at this reality of the word of Christ dwelling in us in these ways. Through that very Word we are encouraged and strengthened to be able to meet the tasks before us with confidence and joy. As we put on love to share forgiveness and mercy, as we provide the gift of forgiveness to those who have hurt us and trespassed against us, we are able to take encouragement and nourishment from the Word of God as it reminds us and empowers us in our lives in Christ. We give freely the gift of forgiveness as it has been freely given to us by Christ our Lord and risen, living Savior. And, in that way, like Christ, we who receive from Him are even more blessed as we give as He gives.
Although our gift giving may be over, the Christmas season continues through this Saturday. As it continues, take time to sit—maybe in a big chair near the Christmas tree—and consider the best gift you received this year. In some ways, this gift is like a beautiful gold watch, but not like the one you might have been given years ago, purchased from the shop of a real Swiss watchmaker in Switzerland, that was later stolen. The beautiful gold watch is not like a gold watch you might have been given one Christmas past that eventually broke and could not be repaired. This best gift ever is like a gold pocket watch you might have inherited from your grandfather, made with such classic care and precision that it would never wear out. The gift ever you received this Christmas is the free gift of God’s forgiveness and salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Receive it with joy and thankfulness knowing that you are forgiven freely, without price and without worthiness on your part. That give will never cease to bless you, God’s chosen one, holy and beloved.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +