Christmas: December 28

Old Testament Lesson

Isaiah 49: 13-23

Tony Dungy has been in the news recently. He is the coach of the Indianapolis Colts, and his son recently committed suicide. He is also a very committed Christian. I saw an interview with him yesterday and he stated that his family was doing well, and that God had given them and everyone that believes great promises for times of trial. He said that God is not there just in the good times, but in the bad times as well. It is not very often you get to see such a public figure make such a strong declaration of faith. I thought of that scene this morning when I read this passage. Israel had been through so much pain, much of it because of their sin, but God promised that He will not forget them, He cannot forget them. Like a parent cannot forget their child, neither will God forget His children. In fact, He will raise them up and use them for the good of the world. God will not forget His children, and has something mighty and amazing in store for each of them. Even in the midst of the pain and lose, He is there. We must always cling tightly to His promise to never leave or forsake us, no matter what life may bring.

New Testament Lesson

Colossians 1: 9-20

When we see Jesus as revealed in the bible, we see God. Some folks say that we’ve never seen God. I guess that is true. But, as Billy Graham said, no one has ever seen the wind, but they’ve seen the effects of the wind. So is it with God. We’ve seen effects of God in lives and in the lives of others, and this world. As Samuel Wesley, John Wesley’s dad, said, “The inner witness; that is the evidence of God.” And Paul reminds us today that Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. So, when we see Jesus, we see God. And we see Jesus forgiving. We see Jesus calling folks to repentance. We see Jesus calling all that believe to follow him. We see Jesus binding up the wounds of the broken hearted and calling the self righteous to repent. In Jesus we see just how much out God loves us, and see just how far God will go to save us. God’s arm is always reaching out to us, trying to draw us closer. He is the visible image of the invisible God. What a mighty God we serve, what a loving God. May we not forget how great our God is, and if we need a reminded, may we remember how He has been with us in times past and may we look within His Word to see Him.

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 18: 1-14

Today we see Jesus give two images of faith. The first is a small child. Unless we become like a child, we will not enter the kingdom of God. What a joy children are, especially with faith. They don’t need to have everything explained. They trust. They have faith. They find joy in everything. Life makes us adults cynical. It makes us hard. It makes us bitter. We must lose this. We must recapture the joy of life, the faith of life, the faith of a child. My daughter trusts in my wife and me for everything. She doesn’t doubt; she knows that we will take care of her. How many of us doubt God for everything and then complain if God doesn’t do it the way we’d like. We have to regain that childlike faith. Wesley said salvation is in the end about restoring what sin has taken from us. Above all, sin has taken out trust and joy in God. Unless we become like a child. . . .

And then Jesus shows how far God will go for us. He would leave the rest of the folk to find you and me. He would live the 99 to find the 1. We should rejoice in that; that our God would seek us out. We have a God that looks for us. We don’t find God, God finds us. He is always reaching, always trying to get us to return, but our hearts are often too hard to retune. We have lost that childlike faith. May we recover (or find) that faith and may we rejoice in a God that leaves the 99 to find the 1.