Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Born, we have a clean slate. Reborn it is forever cleaned.
Isaiah 51:5
I will bring near my deliverance swiftly, my salvation has gone out and my arms will rule the peoples; the coastlands wait for me, and for my arm they hope.
1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Words of Grace For Today
At our births our mothers bring us into the world. Each year our family and friends can celebrate with us that we exist! How special it is to have balloons all about, Happy Birthday posters on the walls, candles and figures of thanks and hope ring our breakfast table setting, family singing for us, and at a party of friends we eat cake (ice cream of course!) and blow out the candles with wishes for the future. In these times birthday parties include friends only virtually, and the wishes likely include that we could once again gather with friends in person, to share life together.
Birthdays are important. They help us communicate to each other that we are precious to one another.
More important is the celebration of our second births, our baptisms into Christ’s death and resurrection. Given the gifts of the Holy Spirit we become (while yet always remaining sinners) God-made saints, the people the Light of Christ shines for all the world to see and experience.
As God-made saints we become the arm of Christ: the voice, hands, and feet of Christ that God uses to reach out to bring with real deeds the Grace of God, which saved us, and through us, can save all people.
We are not equipped with the weapons of the Devil: lies, force, deceit, greed, and avarice. The Holy Spirit equips us with the same sacrificial love that Jesus exercised for us in order to save us; courage, healing compassion, patience, creative wisdom, persistent faith, endurance, and undying hope.
With these, we reach out by all means left available to us, to transform other’s lives from Good Friday mourning or Black Saturday despair, to Easter morning astounding and confusing amazement and celebration: Jesus, the Christ, is Risen.
God is victorious. Christ offers opportunities to live fully, giving to others, and the Holy Spirit guides us to surprising, courageous, sacrificial and loving deeds that bring vibrant hope to all … even in these times, especially in these times.