As Redeemer
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God’s Great & Glorious Gift of Grace
12.24.22 [Titus 2:11-14] River of Life (Christmas Eve)
What’s your first sign that Christmas is coming? We don’t have the typical weather cues for Christmas. Yes, it’s been “cold" here, but don’t say that to anyone else across the country this week. So what’s your first sign that Christmas is coming?
More than likely, the first sign that Christmas is coming is when you go to the store and suddenly, everything that was decorated for Thanksgiving—or sometimes Halloween—has been replaced by something red or green, shiny or sparkling bright. Often times, it’s the ads on your screen that first announce Christmas is coming.
One of the first signs for me that Christmas is coming, is a text message. “What do the kids want for Christmas?”
And that’s a hard question. Not because I have no idea, but because I have to have enough ideas. I have to have an idea for my wife and I, my parents, her parents, my siblings, her siblings, and so many other friends and family that reach out because they want to get my kids something for Christmas. They all have to be different and I have to remember who I told what to because if I mix it up, well it’s be pretty clear come Christmas. My children are blessed to the point of being spoiled, but they’re not alone.
It can be hard to get a gift for a kid, especially if you don’t have one that age. You’re not sure what they like, what they’re into, or what is popular that particular Christmas. So, a lot of times, people will ask kids what they want for Christmas. And most kids are all too eager to rattle off their lists of what would make a great gift.
Maybe you made a Christmas list when you were a kid. Do you remember anything on it? Do you still have any Christmas presents from when you were a kid?
Most kids Christmas presents are short-lived. The toys and stuffed animals don’t stay so fun for long. The clothes & shoes don’t fit or they’re no longer fashionable. The gadgets break. The tech slows down or becomes unsupported. So kids move on to the next thing.
But as you get older your Christmas list changes dramatically, doesn’t it? You want things that, ideally, are going to last longer than a year. You don’t want things that only entertain you for a brief moment. You want things that give you significant and lasting joy. You want things that are more meaningful than material. Why?
Because you’ve grown up. You've matured in that time. And your idea of a great Christmas has, too. Tonight, as we gather in God’s house, around God’s Word, with God’s people, we have a great and glorious gift to unwrap. God’s great and glorious grace to us.
In Titus 2, we see that God’s grace is not a concept. It’s not just a characteristic of God’s personality. (Titus 2:11) God’s grace has appeared, bringing the powerful work of salvation to all people. Something that appears you can see & hear & know. God’s grace is a person. God’s grace (Titus 2:14) gave himself for us, to redeem us from all wickedness. Our God appeared to be our Savior.
In Titus 2, we are told why God appeared to be our Savior. Each of us faces a daily struggle. This present age is packed full of pitfalls. God’s identifies two types of struggles for us: (Titus 2:12) ungodliness and worldly passions. What on earth is he talking about?
Let’s start with the second, the worldly passions. These are the powerful and persuasive cravings we all have that lift our spirits for a little while and then leave us wallowing in self-loathing and guilt for much longer. Things like gluttony & greed, lust & anger. Worldly passion is why Vegas is so bright & entertaining, exciting & also open 24 hours. When we give into our worldly passions, initially, we get a dopamine dump. We feel really good. Then we feel really bad.
But you don’t have to be in Vegas to contend with worldly passions. These passions are why we have those extra cookies and that extra drink. Worldly passions are why we lose our temper during a time that is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. It’s why we can’t rejoice when others receive the good things we think we deserve. So much of the what our culture says is must see TV are slickly packaged attempts to stimulate our worldly passions. Gruesome violence, gratuitous scenes of carnal activities are all meant to excite our worldly passions and make us feel good.
But the single-minded pursuit of feeling good has ruined careers, marriages, relationships, and lives. It’s not that God hates joy. (Ps. 104:15) He created food and wine to gladden the heart. He embedded joy in a job well done & blessed relationships with many joys & pleasures.
But when that pleasure rush is all we’re after, we treat other human beings like objects & we spurn God’s love too. you have to be able to say no to some things that feel good in order to be the person your friends & family need and the person God created you to be. Sin never delivers what it promises.
And you want to be that person. You may not think you want to be godly—I mean who has the time or the energy—but listen to how God is described. God is patient. God is kind. God is not self-seeking. God is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs. God never delights in evil, but rejoices with the truth. God always protects and perseveres. God never fails.
Does that list sound familiar? It’s from 1 Corinthians 13. You maybe heard it last at a wedding. Love is all those things. But God tells us in his Word that (1 Jn. 4:8) God is love. And even in 1 Corinthians 13, God tells us that (1 Cor. 13:3) if we do not have love, we gain nothing. In fact, (1 Cor. 13:2) if we do not have love, we are nothing.
But you are not nothing to God. That is why the grace of God appeared, wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. In that little town Bethlehem we have love in flesh and blood, God’s great and glorious gift of grace. Sin never delivered what it promised, but God always gives us more than we could hope for.
God recognized the grip worldly passions had on us. He also knew that godliness was so far out of our reach that we would give up. So he (Jn. 3:16) gave his Son and that Son (Titus 2:14) gave himself for us.
Repeatedly, we see Jesus, the great and glorious grace of God, giving himself for us. He gave of his time in teaching the crowds. He gave of his time to dine with those who were considered undesirable sinners. Jesus gave of himself to all.
There was never a moment where Jesus charged anyone for his time. Jesus gave of himself in healing those who were sick. It’s no surprise that Jesus’ miraculous power attracted a crowd. In his day, as in ours, there were always lots of people who were sick and suffering. On more than 25 different occasions, we learn of Jesus giving of his power to heal. In all but three of those healings, Jesus healed them each individually. Jesus also took the time to bless the babies that were brought to him. Jesus was always giving to people who had nothing to offer him.
But the great and glorious grace of God did not appear just to teach the crowds, break bread with a few folks, and heal the sick. The great and glorious grace of God came to give himself up for us all. He did this by allowing himself to be condemned in our place. He humbled himself to death— the shameful, painful death on a cross—so that we might be spared. Our weakness against worldly passions earned us God’s wrath. Our ungodliness made us worthy of the pains of hell. But Jesus stepped into this world and into our place so that we might be redeemed. Rescued from all wickedness. Purified as his very own people. He was eager to do this for us because he loved us. Not because of what we had done, are doing, or will do for him. Nothing any of us can do can earn grace, because grace is God’s undeserved and unconditional love for sinners.
Grace isn’t something you can get for yourself. Grace is something that God freely, eagerly, and joyfully has given you in his Son. And that gift—God’s gift to each one of us—changes us dramatically. It gives us a great & glorious Christmas, regardless of what’s under our trees, or whose gathered in our homes, or what our credit card bills look like.
Because God’s grace, his undeserved and unconditional love for us, changes what we are passionate about (Titus 2:12) in this present age. Right here and now. That’s the first sign we have received God’s great and glorious gift of grace. We are (Titus 2:14) eager to do what God says is good. Now that we know and have received his love, we love him and what he loves more and more. We aren’t just constantly trying to feel good, but we are consistently trying to do good. We are (Titus 2:14) eager to help others. To bear their burdens in whatever way we can. To encourage them when they are down or disappointed, overwhelmed or lonely, worn down or left out.
Because we know and have received God’s great and glorious grace, we are eager to be patient and kind. We are self-sacrificing, not self-seeking. We are humble servants, not proud tyrants. We rejoice with the truth, even when it stings a little, because we know that all real truth comes from the God who loves us. We are hopeful, trustworthy, and protecting, and perseverant because we have God’s love, his great and glorious grace. And that feels pretty good, doesn’t it? It feels pretty good to be passionate about the things of God. It feels pretty good to be pursuing godliness in our relationships. It feels pretty good to have the great and glorious gift of God’s grace mature and transform us into Christ’s image.
We love God and one another because we have love from God, wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. (Lk. 2:11) Because today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born for us. He is Christ the Lord, God’s great and glorious gift of grace to each one of us. That’s what we all really want and need for Christmas. No matter how old you are. Amen.
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