The First Sunday after Christmas, December 29, 2024

The First Sunday after Christmas, December 29, 2024

“We, when we were minors, were enslaved under the basic forces of the world” (Gal. 4:3). Sons or slaves… minors or adults… Notice here that the transition from slave to son… the maturing from being a minor to being an adult is not an accomplishment of either the slave or of the minor. That transition… that maturity is done unto them, done by the Son of God, born of woman, born under the law. That transition… that maturity is the act of redemption. The Son, Jesus Christ, redeems the slave… redeems the minor… redeems them from the basic forces of the world which include the law. While we are in the flesh, unfortunately, our sin actively works against our redemption, snatching us from our adulthood, and enslaving us once again to the basic forces of the world, including the law. Jesus Christ must come again as the Good News of God, the Gospel, to redeem us from bondage and restore us as heirs. Thus, your redemption must ever be contended for. Not by you but by Jesus Christ the Word of God. Throughout the days of your baptism, you endure the Ministry of Word and Sacrament not for your progress in righteousness but for the reinstatement of your redemption. You have been redeemed; you are being redeemed, again and again; and you will be (finally) redeemed.

And so, we pray…

Father Divine, in Jesus Christ, we have redemption through his blood. So, in the richness of your grace and in the blessedness of faith in this redemption, we would live out the forgiveness of our offenses; through Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Father Divine, in Jesus Christ, we have redemption through his blood. As we live in the redemption that is in our Lord, let us also enjoy the wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification so that in this world we would lack for nothing; through Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Father Divine, in Jesus Christ, we have redemption through his blood. As we have redemption through the blood of Christ, let us also enjoy being God’s own possession so that we bring him glory and praise; through Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Father Divine, in Jesus Christ, we have redemption through his blood. Draw all those at the Institute of Lutheran Theology deep into this redemption… deep into the blood of Christ… so that without doubt, they are confident of being justified freely by God’s grace; through Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Father Divine, in Jesus Christ, we have redemption through his blood. Wash me again and again in the blood of the Lamb throughout these days of my baptism so that I would enjoy my freedom and my release from bondage and, as a child of God, have the run of my Father’s household; through Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen