At Christmas - Paying Attention To Salvation

"Today's Devotion" For December 27, 2005

Read: Hebrews 2:1-4; Psalm 16

AT CHRISTMAS - PAYING ATTENTION TO SALVATION

"This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him." (Heb. 2:3)

This week after Christmas is the week when shoppers flock to stores. We might assume that store owners would be grateful, but for many of them their business is more about people returning Christmas gifts than it is about new purchases. According to a recent article in the local newspaper, merchants aren't going to be as willing to accept returns that don't have receipts or look worn or used. Some of them have instituted restocking fees and even requirements that tags must still be in place on clothing or they won't accept the return. So now, following the hubbub of the gift-buying craze that preceded Christmas and caused so much stress for so many, we're also seeing the hubbub of the girt-returning rush, extending the stress for some for at least another week. I wonder if we'll ever learn.

That's the same kind of question the writer to the Hebrews is asking as well. There's no doubt that people all over the world have celebrated or observed the "Christmas Holiday." We've heard the phrases "Season's Greetings," "Happy Holidays," and "Merry Christmas" for the better part of the month of December and can expect to hear them for at least the next week. Yet, when we look at all the various meanings behind these "sentiments" being dispensed so freely (dare we say, loosely?), it's all too obvious that more often than not people aren't paying careful attention to the true meaning of Christmas and its importance for the salvation of the world - and theirs as well.

In the aftermath of the solemn feast of Christmas it's not too difficult for people to forget the "reason for the season" as they head into the next "holiday." The New Year is just around the corner and for many people it's viewed as a new year, with new opportunities to get more, be more, control more, and do more than they managed this past year. The blessings of God to humanity through the gift of His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, are all too readily forgotten until the next time Christmas comes around on the calendar. Yet, to forget God's gift of the Savior of the world, unless it's convenient is both dangerous and eternally deadly.

At Christmas, then, we don't just celebrate for a day, but for each day of the year. Christmas has no aftermath for God's people for each day, in our Baptisms, we are reminded and assured that God has come to us and made us His very own. He has redeemed us in Jesus Christ whose birth we both celebrate at Christmas and each day of our lives for in Him we have been reborn as new creations before our Father in heaven. Each day, whether the calendar says it's Christmas or not, Christmas continues to live for us as we pay attention to salvation as it comes to us in the "Word made flesh" (Jn. 1:14). For God's people, Christmas continues throughout the year, because each day by the power of His Word and Spirit, Jesus comes to us anew, bringing us His forgiveness and love, and giving us hope and peace with God. Each day, through the power and promise of our Baptisms, Jesus in born anew in us and we in Him. By the power of His Spirit, He comes to us each day so that we might remember to pay attention to our salvation each day. It's God's constant, continuous gift to us, one which we don't need to return because it's a perfect fit.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your perfect gift of salvation in Jesus. It's really very easy for me to forget the meaning of Christmas when it's over and go on to the next thing in my life. Forgive me for such foolish behavior on my part, gracious Father, and guide me to keep the meaning of Christmas alive in my heart every day of the year. Guide me by Your Word and Spirit, in the power of my Baptism, to remember Christmas each day as I am able to come into Your presence through Your Word and in prayer because Jesus came to earth and brought Your salvation into my life. Father, I pray that You would empower me to be a constant, faithful, and winsome witness to others of the reality of the gift of salvation, celebrated at Christmas, but renewed in the heart daily by Your Word and Spirit. Hear my prayer, gracious Father, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright @2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.