12-30-2021

 Good Morning All,

          Romans 3:24; “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”    

     The sign says, “FREE TAKE ONE!” or maybe “FREE FOR THE TAKING!”  What do you do? Do you take one? Now I realize that if the sign was on a box of puppies, you might think twice but what if it were something you or one of your family members could really use; would you take a free one?  Suppose you were at a garage sale and there was a snowsuit there that would fit your child or grandchild; would you take it for free?

    Many people might balk. First you might look around and see who is watching but why? It says it is free. Are we afraid someone will see us take something free? Will they think we are poor? Will they think we are cheap? Do we “hear” their remarks, “drives a nice car but is too cheap to buy their kid a snowsuit;” even when no one is there? Second, we might not really trust the sign. What if some joker took the sign off of a box of marbles and put it on the snowsuit? That would be embarrassing. Third, do we tell ourselves that we do not really need it even though it is only January?

    Strange as it sounds, these are the same reasons that many people refuse the gift of God’s free grace. There are those who have too much pride. Their pride may not let them take the gift. They look around to see who is watching; they worry about what people will say. Maybe they think it is a trick. There is no way it is free; it has to cost something. They may even try to pay for it or even claim that they actually did pay something for it.

    Worst of all there are some who think they do not need it. They think they have no need for this wondrous free gift of forgiveness of sins. They buy into the “I’m ok and you’re ok” there is nothing wrong with anyone. When we think that we are good enough without any help, we tend to not seek out help.

    God comes to us in his Word and Sacrament offering to us the free gift of His true love. God, the Creator-Redeemer rescues his created creatures, through the death and resurrection of His Son then freely gives that righteousness to us. It is a gift that we must not be too proud to take, we must not worry about how others view it and above all we need to see that we are truly in need of this salvation and that this is the only way we will receive it. It will always be a gift; free for the getting. It is God’s gracious, loving gift to us.

Dear Father, we give you thanks for the gift of our salvation. Forgive us when we reject this wondrous gift out of our foolish pride. Keep us mindful of the love that you have for us and strengthen our faith to trust in you. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret