Identity Crisis Averted by Christ's Appearance

Titus 3:4-7

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Identity Crisis Averted by Christ’s Appearance

Are you a New Years Resolution kind of guy/gal, or does it all seem kind of hokey to you? Do you look forward to setting goals and ambitions for yourself, or you are jaded by all the broken promises you’ve made to yourself? When you buy a new calendar, are you one to look back on the year that just passed – with either pride or guilt in your heart – or are you one to look forward to the year ahead – with either anxiety or excitement in your heart?

All of the above are natural. And I would guess that depending on the precise second I ask you that question, your answer might change. Humans are complex creatures. We contain multitudes. Depending on the moment and the mood, we may be filled with guilt or giddiness, depression or anxiety, helplessness or hopefulness. It doesn’t matter whether you’re having a mid-life crisis or a quarter-life crisis, at times we all suffer from an identity crisis. Who am I? Who should I be? Who do I want to be? Why am I not that person right now?

It's frustrating. It can be discouraging, even crippling. But God has the cure for your identity crisis. Paul tells Titus about it in a passage for which Luther offered this profound commentary: This is a beautiful text. And it really is! And because it is, allow me to read it to you again in its entirety:

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.[1]

This passage positively exudes God’s grace and mercy. Paul doesn’t just turn on the tap for Titus; he opens the fire hose and blasts us with God’s saving work – a work that changes everything, including the answer to “Who am I?”

You may know that I’m a bit of a grammar nerd. Forgive me for taking you back to grade school English class for a second, but do you remember what two kinds of words every single sentence in the English language can be boiled down to? The subject and the verb (and sometimes an object). Everything else just describes, modifies, explains those two words. If you look at the two sentences that we read from Paul’s letter to Titus, can you tell which two/three words both sentences can be boiled down to?

He saved us. Not once, but twice in two sentences: he saved us. Every other word is expanding on that theme, explaining it, adding layers of nuance and meaning to it. But in the end, it comes down to: he saved us.

“From what?” you might ask. Paul makes it clear. One sentence earlier he says:

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.[2]

God didn’t save us from natural disasters or raging fires, from war or tariffs or a parliament on pause. He saved us from ourselves.

We were foolish, disobedient, deceived. By nature God gave us consciences that have a sense of right and wrong, but how often don’t we ignore them and contradict them? God gave us brains and intellect to hear and understand his revealed Word and will for our lives, but how often don’t we fail to listen and learn and actively choose to grow in our faith and knowledge of him and instead fill our minds with mush and nonsense, e.g. mindless recreation and the latest theories from YouTube theologians?

We were enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures – those desires that we can’t refuse; those uninvited, even intrusive, thoughts and temptations that we may not seek out, but certainly don’t resist and all too often give our hearts wholly over to.

We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. How much anger do you live with? How often do you feel bitterness and resentment seizing the helm of your heart and directing the course of your life? How often do you look at other people and what they do and get irritated not only at the evil they do but with the unspoken confession that you wish you could get away with it too?

We were in trouble. We’ve messed up. Our lives have been characterized by sinful behaviour. And if somehow you listened to that list of rebellious acts against God and couldn’t identify with any of them, Paul has a word for you too:

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.[3]

In other words, you are not as good as you think you are. And no amount of good you’ve done in your life can begin to makeup up for or overshadow the evil you’ve have said, thought, or done. No side-by-side comparisons with the serial killers and senior citizen scam artists can diminish your guilt. You needed to be saved, because you’re a sinner. That’s who you are. You are part of the problem. You are the cause of the pain and hurt even and especially in the lives of the ones you love.

I am a sinner. That’s a hard truth and a difficult realization to come to. I don’t like that version of myself. I feel guilty for what I’ve done. I’m tired of trying (and failing). At times I even feel helpless and hopeless.

And if that’s where you are, spiritually speaking, in the New Year, how does that make you feel when you look back on the year that was? What are you going to think about the year ahead? What kind of resolutions are you going to make for yourself? I’ve got to be better? Try harder? Make things right? All those things are true! But if we leave it to the strength of our resolve, we’ll revert back into this sinful lifestyle quicker than you spell 2025.

Thankfully, we have more than journaling or mobile apps or accountabilibuddies to keep us on track. We have the cure to our identity crisis – he saved us – and God’s saving work resolves every issue our sin has caused. Listen again to the layers of grace Paul adds on to that simple sentence:

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because his mercy.[4]

The salvation that God has worked in us and for us is an act of his mercy and grace. It’s undeserved. It’s not a response to our worthiness or even our attempts to repent. It precedes them. His love came first. He sent his Son to appear, i.e. to enter this world and embody his kindness and love. To be the physical manifestation of that attitude in our God that does not hold grudges against our sin, that is not enslaved by his passion or deceived by our work-righteousness and self-righteousness. He sees right through us, and – as insane as it is to say about sinners – he loves us.

You are a sinner, but a sinner saved by grace. He saved you by sending his Son to die for your sins and to remove your guilt, i.e. to replace your guilt with his grace so that your identity fundamentally changes. You are a sinner, yes, but a sinner saved by grace. Your sin doesn’t define you anymore. It’s not an essential characteristic of your identity. It’s a reality, but it’s not who you are. At least, it’s not all that you are. You are a sinner saved by grace. And a sinner given incredible gifts of God’s grace.

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.[5]

Today is Baptism Sunday. It’s no surprise that we’d find it here too – the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. In baptism, God applies the kindness and love of his Son demonstrated on a cross so many years ago and so many miles away to your life here and now. In baptism, God gives you a second chance – a rebirth. We can rightfully talk about it as a resurrection. We were dead in our sins, but he made us alive in the Christ Jesus into whose name we were baptized. Baptism is far more than a bath that washes our sins away; it makes you into a new person. It does more than give you a new lease on life; it gives you a whole new life that you get to live in Jesus’ name.

Baptism gives you that second chance of rebirth. It’s this moment in time – a snapshot in your life – that changes your life. That’s why we write baptismal certificates for you to hang on your wall. That’s why we engrave the date in stone to be a reminder forever. But it is so much more than that. As miraculous as it is, it’s even more than “just” rebirth. It’s also that renewal that we need every day.

Baptism is one of the answers to the prayers we pray like David did:

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.[6]

Baptism continues to be a blessing to you every day of your life, because through baptism God pours out his Holy Spirit on you, to live in your heart by faith, to strengthen your faith every time you hear his Word, to empower you to resist sin and temptation, and to give you the hope of an inheritance in heaven.

You are not alone in your struggle. Through baptism, the Holy Spirit is with. You are not helpless to resist temptation. You are filled with his power. Your future is not a foregone conclusion of sin and guilt and shame. Through baptism you get to live in and under God’s grace every day of your life stretching into eternity.

That’s why in our congregation, we don’t just engrave the date in stone, but we submerge that stone in the same font that many of you were baptized in as that daily reminder that God’s grace still covers you, that he continues to forgive your relapses into sin and disgrace, and that he continues to strengthen you by his Holy Spirit to put that sin behind you and look forward into forever with a hope that can only come from him.

There are times in our lives when we feel schizophrenic, i.e. when the struggle with sin seems too great to bear, when we’re frustrated with who we are and who we want to be and the distance between the two. But in baptism, God tells you who you are and it’s the best thing you could be. You are a sinner saved by grace, which means your guilt is gone, you’re not alone. You may be tired, but you’re not helpless. He gives you hope through the salvation of his Son and the outpouring of his Spirit. He saved you. Amen.

[1] Titus 3:4-7

[2] Titus 3:3

[3] Titus 3:5

[4] Titus 3:4-5

[5] Titus 3:5-7

[6] Psalm 51:10

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Rejoice! The Lord Is Near!

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Rejoice! The Lord Is Near!

This one really hit home this week. I don’t know if it was a touch of seasonal affective disorder, sleep deprivation, dopamine addiction, unresolved grief, undiagnosed depression, or just generally having a hard day, but I found myself driving down St. Albert Trail choking back tears. I was by myself. No one thing had precipitated that kind of an emotional response. I was just suddenly very sad.

I’m thankful for the work that some film and content creators have done to help destigmatize depressive feelings during the holidays. Charles Schulz did it with Charlie Brown back in 1965:

“I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel. I just don’t understand Christmas, I guess. I like getting presents and sending Christmas cards and decorating trees and all that, but I’m still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed.”

There’s a new Netflix movie that captures it well too.

“I always think that Christmas is like an emotional magnifying glass. If you feel loved and happy, Christmas will make you feel even happier and more loved. But if you feel alone and unloved, the magnifier gets to work and makes all those bad things bigger and worse.”

Christmas is supposed to be a time for holiday cheer, and in many ways we work hard to accomplish it – we listen to Christmas music on repeat, we wear festive outfits, we go to special concerts, we put up seasonal decorations. And those things help. But even with the most holiday cheer, you can go throughout your day without true joy in your heart.

Today is Gaudate Sunday – literally from the Latin: “Joy Sunday.” That’s why we lit the pink candle in our Advent wreath. That’s what we heard from the Apostle Paul, not once but twice,

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”[1]

And Paul doesn’t leave it just at joy. He tells us to be gentle too, and anxiety free. Be gentle, not only with the people you have a soft spot for, but with everyone! Be anxiety free, not just about some things but about anything and everything.

That’s certainly not how I felt as I was driving down St. Albert trail earlier this week. I’m sure you’ve been there too. There are countless things that threaten to rob us of the joy God offers, the gentleness he commands, and the freedom from anxiety he invites us to enjoy.

There are so many outward circumstances that make joy seem like an impossibility, e.g. financial issues, medical complications, relationship problems. There are internal emotions that make joy feel like the farthest possibility, like the guilt you feel at not being the Norman Rockwell parent/spouse/child/friend of the year.

It’s the same thing with gentleness too, isn’t it? Gentleness has so many enemies that are so constantly present – frustration, anger, resentment, bitterness. You turn on the news for 2 minutes and there will sure to be something that sparks outrage in you. We’re so busy this time of year, what about just plain exhaustion? You don’t have the patience or resilience to respond calmly or kindly. It feels like your nerves are sitting on the surface of your skin and the slightest contact will set you off. There are internal threats to gentleness too, like an insecurity about your job or relationship status, your bank balance, your haircut, your past; and if someone goes there and pokes the bear, he can so quickly and easily inspire you to become defensive or incite your inner rage monster, instead of being kind and considerate.

And anxiety? Forget about it. There are so many things that we can’t control – world peace, the job- or housing-market, whether someone likes you or not. We can live in the constant fear of shame and embarrassment. You know the humiliating and humbling things you’ve done, and you’re worried how other people will look at you if they find out. There’s just plain uncertainty and such a vast range of possibilities about so many things in life. You could probably handle any one of them at a time, but the prospect of handling all of them indefinitely is enough to send anyone spiraling.

If I’m honest, I almost resented Paul for making it sound so simple and obvious:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”[2]

I’d love to! But you don’t tell a sad person, “Be happy,” and then walk away. You don’t tell an angry person, “Calm down,” or an anxious person, “Don’t worry,” and leave it at that. And Paul doesn’t do that here either. He gives us two very good answers to what ails us and reminds us that the power to be joyful, gentle, and anxiety-free is not something that comes from you or me. It comes from the Lord, because the Lord is near.[3]

For only being four words, this one sentence packs a punch. We’re in the season of Advent. When we hear a sentence like this at a time like this, it’s very natural for us to think about Jesus’ second coming on the Last Day, and that’s certainly something Paul wanted his original audience to think about too. “The Lord is near” means that Jesus is coming again soon, and that is an absolute God-send when it comes to being joyful, gentle, and anxiety-free.

Jesus is coming again soon! At the very least, that means that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel; that this too shall pass; that you won’t be going through whatever you’re going through forever. I’ve said it to myself a number of times and offered it as advice to others, “You can do anything for a year.” And it’s true, isn’t it? You can move away from home and everyone you know and love, and live in a dank, dark basement apartment with earwigs and roaches… if you know you’re not going to live there forever. You can wake up on the hour every hour throughout the night while your baby is teething… if you know he won’t always be cutting new teeth.

You can do anything if you know it won’t last forever. It's only when things seem interminable that they become intolerable. “The Lord is near” means that nothing is interminable. Everything has an expiration date. Jesus is coming again soon.

And what he’s coming again to do gives us even more joy and empowers us to be even more gentle and anxiety-free than just knowing that our pain and problems won’t last forever, because Jesus doesn’t just provide an end date to our troubles. He addresses them head-on and resolves them.

Is it guilt that robs you of joy? Is it insecurity that prohibits a gentle spirit? Is it shame that stokes your anxiety? Then remember what Jesus did for you the first time he came to this world. He took on human flesh and blood with its frailties and weaknesses. He faced the same temptations that you and I do – the same threats to being joyful and gentle and anxiety-free. He knows what you’re going through. He’s walked a lifetime in your shoes. But Jesus rose above the temptations. He overcame the threats – not primarily to set you an example to follow, but to set you free from guilt and insecurity and shame.

Jesus was born at Christmas so that he could live a perfect 33 years and die an innocent death to forgive your sin, to resolve it once and for all by suffering the penalty for it on the cross, so that it should never hang over your head again. And that was 2,000 years ago! This isn’t some future promise that we have to wait patiently for! It’s not a light at the end of the tunnel; it’s ours now! It’s the grace that we get to live in every day of our lives because of what he did with his.

That’s why Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord.” This isn’t some arbitrary seasonal sensation. This isn’t a circumstantial joy. It doesn’t depend on the situations or the people in our lives. It’s constant in Christ, who is near. Jesus is coming again soon – this time not to save you from your sin; he already did that. This time he’s coming to deliver you from a sinful world and all its complications.

Was it financial issues or medical complications that was robbing you of joy? Was it frustration or exhaustion that stole your gentle spirit? Was it the uncontrollable or the unknowable that spun you out into anxiety and worry? Then remember the promise he makes you about what he’ll do for you when he comes again.

He is coming again to take you home to be with him in heaven where there is no more weeping or mourning or crying or pain.[4] And we could add on to that list, couldn’t we? In heaven, you won’t have to worry about your bank account balance; you’ll be rich in Christ. You won’t have to worry about relationship problems; you’ll be with your brothers and sisters in Christ gathered in your Heavenly Father’s home. You won’t be exhausted or burned out, because you’ll be enjoying eternal rest at your Saviour’s side. You won’t have to worry about the uncontrollable or the unknowable; you’ll be in the presence of the omniscient, all-powerful God forever.

The Lord is near. Jesus is coming again soon. But Christian, don’t miss this: he’s near now too. He promises us that wherever two or three gather together there he is with us.[5] We hear his voice whenever we read his Word. We feel his love whenever we celebrate the sacrament. Our Jesus is not some distant or disinterested God. He doesn’t force us to make a trek or pilgrimage to go to him. He comes to us in Word and sacrament. He invites us to present our requests to him in prayer every day – to cast our cares on him because he cares for us.[6]

The Lord is near. That means that there’s an end to all current pain and problems. That means that your Saviour who solved the problem of your sin and secured an eternal home for your soul is coming back to take you out of this world to be with him forever. And not only that, he is near now while we wait for that day.

That’s what makes his peace so great. That’s what makes it boggle our minds and transcend all understanding. It doesn’t depend on the circumstances or situations we face. It doesn’t demand certain baseline criteria be met for us to be able to be joyful, gentle, and anxiety free. His peace does what he promises; it guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you’ll never have a day when you’re emotional for no reason. It doesn’t mean that you’ll never feel like Charlie Brown at Christmas. But it does mean that despite the ups and downs of life, despite the outward chaos and inward turmoil, you have the steady, constant presence of Christ in your life. Nothing can change what he has done and will do for you. You have the promise that he is near now and is coming again soon. You have the promise that he makes peace possible, and with it also the ability to be joyful, gentle, and anxiety-free in him even when that seems impossible in this world.

The Lord is near. Rejoice in him. Amen.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Philippians 4:4

[2] Philippians 4:4

[3] Philippians 4:5

[4] Revelation 21:4

[5] Matthew 18:20

[6] 1 Peter 5:7

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