1 Thing Matters

SERIES: Epiphany Moments

When you are trying to share some important information with someone, but they refuse to listen or perhaps totally reject what you are saying, it feels like you have failed. This is especially true when someone rejects the gospel! We proclaim the good news because we want others to know the love of Christ. When people are disinterested in God’s Word, we feel like we’ve failed.

So, here is this week’s epiphany. Rejection is not proof of failure. Precisely because the gospel is divine revelation, it is guaranteed to be rejected by many. God’s Word offends like an unwelcome diagnosis from the doctor. When someone rejects God’s Word (including us), that rejection is proof that God’s Word powerfully cuts straight to the heart of mankind’s biggest problem—sin. Yet, what causes Jesus’ words to hurt is what gives them power to heal. That reality encourages us to receive God’s Word with joy and to proclaim it boldly to others.

SERIES: Epiphany Moments

It is easy for us to assume that if God says “no” to a request, we are getting less than we wanted. We need to have an epiphany moment, seeing the reality—that God always wants more for us than we want from him. Saying “yes” to all our requests would often result in us receiving less joy, less blessing, a lesser life. So, when God says “no” to our request, we can be assured it is because he wants to give us more. Far more than existing as a “help desk” or 911 dispatch, God’s love for us is like that of a groom for his bride. His love for us exceeds all expectation and understanding. In that love, God always delivers more than we ask, not less.

SERIES: Epiphany Moments

“Who is Jesus?” For the longest time, people thought the answer to that question was, “Mary and Joseph’s son” or “a carpenter from Nazareth.” While true enough, those answers do not adequately describe Jesus. But when Jesus was baptized, God the Father spoke, declaring Jesus’ true identity. Jesus was the dearly loved Son of God, chosen to be the Savior of the world.

“Who are you?” someone asks. Perhaps you would answer by providing your name. Maybe you would add additional information—where you are from or what you do for a living. Perhaps, in some dark corner of your mind, you would answer negatively. “I’m no one.”

We need to understand that none of those things really describes who we are. To answer that question—Who are you?—we must look to our baptism. Baptism is the cure for an identity crisis. There, just like he did with Jesus, our Father declares us to be his dearly loved child. Moreover, in baptism God anointed us with power for a life of selfless service. May God grant us this epiphany moment!

SERIES: The Gift of God

On Christmas Eve the angel told the shepherds, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). One wonders if those words struck those Jewish shepherds as odd. For centuries, God had given special attention to one nation—Israel. There were Jewish religious leaders who taught that only members of that special people would be saved. Not according to the Christmas angel! The birth of the Savior was good news for all people.

Today we celebrate the Festival of the Epiphany (Jan. 6). Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning “reveal.” When the Savior was born, he was first revealed to Israelites: the shepherds, Simeon, Anna. But today, we see the Lord miraculously guides foreigners across countless miles so the Savior could be revealed to them as well. How did the magi respond? “They were overjoyed” (Matthew 2:10). The Festival of Epiphany is sometimes known as “The Gentiles’ Christmas.” We Gentiles (non-Jews) rejoice in the good news that this Jewish baby is not just a gift for the Jews. He is a gift for everyone—the Savior of the world.

SERIES: The Gift of God

The Son of God took on flesh for two reasons: to be our substitute and our sacrifice. You see, when God created mankind in his image, his desire was that we would live holy lives, full of love for him and our fellow man. When mankind fell into sin, that became impossible. So, the heavenly Father sent Jesus. He is the only human being to keep all of God’s law perfectly. He did that as our substitute. Through faith, we claim his perfection as our own. But we needed another gift—one who could pay for the sin we had committed. And so, the Son of God became human for another reason—so that he might die as the sacrifice for our sins, removing that barrier between us and a holy God.

Understanding we needed both—substitute and sacrifice—helps us better understand Jesus’ saving work. That work includes more than Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus saving work began the moment he was born under the law and obeyed it. This week, we thank God that Jesus served us in both these much-needed ways!

SERIES: A Real Christmas

By this time of the holiday season, people are often weighted down… and may still feel like there remains so much left to do! But who are we really trying to please with everything that “needs” to get done? Is it all for everyone else, or is it possible that many of our to-do’s are really about us? Are we actually the ones who need everything to be a certain way for it to be “a real Christmas”? If so, it’s time to shift our focus away from ourselves. When we do, we might end up being surprised by whom Christmas is about after all.

SERIES: A Real Christmas

A real Christmas is one that results in great joy. But joy is not the same thing as happiness. It is infinitely better. Happiness is an emotion, while joyfulness is a condition. Happiness comes from your circumstances, while joyfulness comes from Christ. But how? What is it we find in Christ that results in such joy? What does Jesus have that we may otherwise spend our entire lifetime seeking and never really finding? Acceptance. And that acceptance flows into pure, permanent joy.

SERIES: A Real Christmas

The closer we get to Christmas, the greater the pressure. There is so much work to be done! We want our houses to look good for out-of-town guests. We want to impress people with the thoughtfulness of our gifts. What a welcome relief, therefore, to hear what is required to really be ready for Christmas: only repentance. You see, repentance is the opposite of work. It is the candid and honest admission of our sin combined with the joyful trust that everything needed to bring us close to God has already been done by Christ.

At this frenetic time of year, the call to repent is not another demand to do something more. It is a gracious invitation to set down our work to make way for Christ’s work. Rooted in that repentant rest, we can fully enjoy a real Christmas.

SERIES: A Real Christmas

It is easy to get so caught up in the imagery—a tiny newborn baby, lying in the straw filled manger under a star-filled sky—that we forget the why. Why did the Son of God come into our world and take on human flesh? So that he might die as the sacrifice for our sins. One Christmas carol puts it this way. “Neither crib nor cross refuses, all he suffers for your good to redeem you by his blood.”

Advent marks the start of a new Church Year. We begin at the end, watching Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey colt, knowing full well that he would be killed before the end of the week. The events of Palm Sunday serve as a microcosm for all Jesus’ work, proving the Son of God was willing to humble himself and endure anything for our salvation. That is precisely why Christ came. And a real Christmas requires remembering why Christ came.

SERIES: Live Like You’ll Live Forever

“Eyes on the prize.” That axiom stresses that when pursuing some good goal, focus is important. You don’t want distractions or a lack of self-discipline to keep you from obtaining whatever that prize might be. You summon the willpower to fixate on that good thing. You work hard to achieve it. You let nothing divert your attention from obtaining the prize. “Eyes on the prize.”

The prize that we want most is spending eternity with Jesus. As the Church Year comes to a close, Jesus promises that he will come again “in clouds with great power and glory” to give us that prize. That prize will be so unbelievably good, it is worth fixating on. It merits our striving to set aside all that would distract us from Christ. So let us work wisely, focusing on what lasts, guarding against what doesn’t, and staying on task. This is what it means to live while waiting watchfully.