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Four years ago today I watched my son-in-law put some water on his son’s head. As he was doing so, he called his son by name and said “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And just like that, Simon became part of God’s family. God’s name was placed on him, and the Spirit of God was at work. God did some amazing things that day, just as He does every time someone is Baptized.

Romans 6:3–5 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

Baptism connects us to everything Jesus did to accomplish life and salvation for us. It joins us to His death that paid for sin. It links us to His resurrection that gives us victory over death. That is God’s promise to us in His Word. It does not give us something other than what we receive through faith. Rather it is an extra added assurance in our lives that we are redeemed. Scripture tells us very plainly that Baptism saves us.

1 Peter 3:21 and this water [the flood of Noah] symbolizes baptism that now saves you also— … It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ

Titus 3:5–8 [God] 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.  This is a trustworthy saying.

The comfort of Baptism is that it is something God has done for us, not something you do. God gives you His name in Baptism. God makes you part of His family. God washes your sins in Baptism. God promises you forgiveness, life and salvation.

I don’t know if you remember the day you were baptized or not. But you should always remember that you are baptized. I had a sign on the bathroom mirror of my office at church with a quote from Martin Luther:  When you wash your face, remember your Baptism. Remembering your baptism is remembering all that God has done for you in Christ.

Happy Baptismal Birthday, Simon!

I have written about our barn cats before. They are semi-feral cats that we feed and they hang around to keep the mice and snakes away from our house. It works fairly well. Until there is an extended drought and a resurgence in the coyote population.

When we came home from the Youth Gathering in mid-July, the one we called Mama Kitty who had been with us for years and had several litters of kittens had vanished. We had another cat who had her first litter of kittens about 4 weeks earlier, but we had not yet seen any of them. A few days after we returned home, that cat quit coming around as well. A couple more day and I discovered two little kittens down in our barn crying. The next day, I found a cage and went to find the kittens who were still down there crying because their mother had not returned. It turns out there were four of them. I managed to catch three that day, and we started bottle feeding them kitty formula, which they devoured. We brought the cage into the house to keep them safe. Unfortunately, the next morning one of them had died. I then managed to catch the last one, so we had three we were feeding again. But the next day, despite our best efforts, another one died. The other two – the first and the last one I caught – seemed to be doing great. A week later they were playing and purring and it looked like all was well. But the next morning another one had died. The last one living is also the last one I was able to catch. I know he will never be a barn cat now that he has been brought into the house, and we have found someone who will adopt him.

As I said, we did the best we could for all four of them. We treated them all the same.  We gave them the same kitten formula. We tried to care for them. Some responded well, some did not.

That’s how it is with our sharing of Jesus, too. We share the same message with people, and some will respond to the Spirit’s invitation to believe and live. Others will turn away without receiving the life Jesus has for them.

Thinking about this reminded me of the Parable of the Sower.

Matthew 13:3–9, 18-23 ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.” … ¹⁸ “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰ The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. ²² The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. ²³ But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Our job is to keep sowing the seed, keep sharing the life-saving message of who Jesus is and that He has paid for the sins of everyone, so the Spirit can do His thing and lead them to faith. We need to show love and care and Christ’s love, even when it seems to be unsuccessful. It is our task to share it and let the Spirit of God work through our witness.

There will be those who respond, believe, and live.

Cheryl and I were driving home a few days ago and had the radio on a station that played Country Music from the 80s and 90s. We heard one we had not heard in a while, a song by Paul Overstreet entitled “Seein’ My Father in Me.”

When we got home, I looked for it online. As I was watching the music video, it started with these words: He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. While the video did not say where those words were from, I recognized them as part of the last verse of the Old Testament, Malachi 4:6. It was speaking of Elijah coming before the Lord’s return, calling people to repentance so that they can be forgiven instead of receiving the destruction their sins deserve.

Getting back to the song, this is the refrain.

I’m seein’ my father in me, I guess that’s how it’s meant to be
And I find I’m more and more like him each day
I notice I walk the way he walks I notice I talk the way he talks
I’m starin’ to see my father in me.
And I’m happy to see my father in me…

The music video I saw showed fathers and sons and grandsons all together, many of them bearing strong physical resemblances. But the lyrics refer to a different kind of resemblance. Walking the way he walks and talking the way he talks. When men have a loving and morally upright role model to follow, it makes a difference. Those of us who are fathers and grandfathers need to take that to heart and be sure we are setting a good example.

But I went even further as I was reflecting on this song, and I’m sure you already know where I am going with this. The world needs to see our heavenly Father in all of us who are His disciples. That’s how it’s meant to be. We should be more and more like Him each day. Our lives were changed when we were led to faith in Jesus as our Savior. Knowing that His perfection covers us and His death has paid our penalty, we want to respond with lives that let others know about Him, too.

Each of us should pray that the world will be “Seein’ My Father in Me.”

Colossians 2:6–12 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. ⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. ⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹ In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

Ever been deceived? There are various levels of deception. I don’t mean just falling for a prank, but I’m talking about a deception that had a serious impact on your life. It might have cost you a lot of money or a relationship. How did you feel when you discovered the truth? It hurts. It makes you angry. It makes you cry. I get especially angry at those who prey on the elderly and swindle them out of their savings. Deception can be devastating.

Paul warns the followers of Jesus to watch out:  See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. There are so many empty and false teachings in our world today that try to divert our attention away from the truth of God’s Word. They have always been around, but with all the technology and the competition among the media to get followers, they has been a proliferation of highlighting every perversion there is. And of course, you are told you must be accepting of these perversions or you are vilified.

I remember back in the 70s all the people who said, “We’re not going to force any religion on our child. We’ll let them decide for themselves.”  How’s that working out? It was a tool of Satan, the great deceiver, to steer people away from Jesus.

“We need to let children self-identify their gender rather than imposing a view on them.” All through history there has only been male and female. Sure, there has also been those who have same-sex attraction, but that does not change their gender. The world would have you believe that you can choose your gender. I saw an ad last week for a new show that features cross-dressing pre-teens.

Under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940, deliberately destroying — or even disturbing — a bald eagle’s egg or nest carries a $100,000 fine and a sentence of up to a year in prison for a first offense, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Yet an unborn child in a mother’s womb is repeatedly called a “lump of cells” and has no protection under our laws. Yes, Roe v. Wade was overturned, but now Pro-Abortion activists are finding ways to make sure that abortions will still be available.

Deceitful lies are all around us. That is why we must keep our eyes focused on Jesus. And I’m not talking about just following some great guy and good teacher. He was and is God Himself who took on human flesh and lived among us. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. The miracle of the incarnation simply described. The God of creation came down here to rescue the fallen crown of His creation and give them forgiveness and life. He did that by sacrificing Himself to pay for mankind’s sin. The one who is fully God and fully man gives us everything we need: …you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. You and I need to be filled with the good news of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. We need to be filled with God’s Word so that we are not taken in by the deceptions of this world, the Devil and our own sinful desires. Be filled with God’s promises, His forgiveness, and the life He gives you now and forever.

Genesis 18:20–33 ²⁰ Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ²¹ that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” ²² The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. ²³ Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” ²⁶ The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” ²⁷ Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, ²⁸ what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.” ²⁹ Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.” ³⁰ Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” ³¹ Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” ³² Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” ³³ When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

If you have ever hosted a garage or yard sale, you are familiar with haggling. Lots of folks purposely put a high price on things so that they have some room to come down and still get a fair price for their items. It is how the game is played. And now it happens online. When you try to sell something online, people immediately ask you to sell it for a lower price before they have even seen the item. That’s a pretty bold move, and one I’m not fond of.

I’ve always been amazed at the boldness of Abraham bargaining with God in the passage above. I remember in my earlier days thinking, “I would never do that!” But then I realized that we all try to do that at times, don’t we? “Lord, if you just let _____ happen, I promise I will try to do better in my life.”

In Abraham’s situation, he wasn’t promising to do anything. He was just trying to see how how far He could push the Almighty. It seems as though He was trying to determine just how merciful and gracious God would be.

Something I didn’t fully understand until I became more mature in the faith is what made people “righteous.” Abraham was asking about “righteous people” that might be in Sodom. If there were righteous ones there, it was not because of what they did or their good behavior. The thing that makes people righteous, whether it was back in Abraham’s day or in our present time, is trusting God and believing His promises.

Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Abram (Abraham) believed God’s promise of a Savior, and that made Him righteous in God’s sight. People today believe that God kept that promise in sending Jesus. He was the one who did everything necessary for us to be forgiven. His perfect life, sacrificed on the cross, was the payment for the sins of the entire world. Our faith in Him makes us righteous.

Something striking about the conversation between Abraham and the Lord is that the destruction of those who don’t trust God and believe His promises is avoidable.  It is more serious than our death from this life. Those who die without faith are separated from God and punished eternally. And God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, which is everyone. That is why He sent Jesus. Faith in Him makes us righteous in God’s sight. We are spared for Jesus sake. No haggling necessary. Jesus already paid the price for us.

Not too long ago I needed to by some new ankle socks. The manufacturer of the three-pack I bought thought it necessary to label the socks “L” and “R”.  For the more than six decades I have been wearing socks, I never knew there was a difference between the right and the left ones. But it gets even more confusing. The three pairs of socks in that package were each a different color. When I looked at the white pair, both were labeled “R.” Does that mean there is someone out there with two left feet?

I decided to research whether or not there was a difference between the socks that I could not discern. It turns out that many athletic socks are now asymmetrical fit socks, specifically designed to fit each foot. They even claim that such socks “greatly improve the performance of athletes.”

I didn’t know what I didn’t know. While I remain skeptical of their claim to improve athletic performance, these socks are supposedly specially made for each foot. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

While I was pondering this, God made a connection for me. He reminded me of the Pharisees who rejected Jesus and were always trying to find fault with what He said or did. Read Matthew 12 for multiple accounts of this. They didn’t know what they didn’t know. On the contrary, they thought they knew everything they needed to know and that they were being righteous followers of God. But they were in fact rejecting the one God sent through His chosen people iHiHito be the Savior of all people. They needed to know who He was. Their ignorance led to a rejection of the very Messiah for whom they had been waiting. This rejection was so complete that after Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, “…the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.” They didn’t know what they didn’t know.

This is still the reality for a lot of people today. They don’t know what they don’t know. We see them all around us, living lives that are in conflict with God’s Will. They are so busy following their own sinful desires and asserting their right to do so that they don’t even seem to care what anyone else thinks. Often times our first instinct is to speak poorly of them, criticize and belittle them for their sinful behavior. Ask yourself this: will that help them know what they don’t know or convince them that they want nothing to do with Christ and His Church? We need to do what we can to share the knowledge of Jesus and His love with them.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

How can we share the Good News with them? What can you do today to let someone know that Jesus has paid for their sins so that they can be forgiven? Something to keep in mind is that this is not a one shot thing. There is no magic formula you can use to automatically convert someone. That is the work of the Holy Spirit anyway. Our calling as followers of Jesus is to tell others about Him so the Spirit can lead them to faith and give them the confidence we have.

John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

They don’t know what they don’t know. But God is not content that they stay ignorant. Quite the contrary.

1 Timothy 2:4 [God] wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Those who have faith in Jesus have it because someone was a light shining in the darkness for them. You are now called to be that light shining in the darkness for others.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Those without Christ don’t know what they don’t know. Lord, help us to share Jesus with them.

Yesterday I wrote about the danger of following your heart, which by nature is sinful. But I shared that as believers in Christ, God gives us the new heart we need. A clean heart and a right spirit (Psalm 51:10). That is what our faith in Jesus does for us here and now.

Even more, He is constantly renewing our hearts through His Word and Sacraments. We listen to and meditate on His Word, which assures us of our salvation. Through Baptism God has put His name on us, washed away our sins, and brought us into His family. In the Lord’ Supper we receive His body and blood to assure that we share in His payment and His victory.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

This is the confidence in which we live. We have a new heart.

Anyone who has received a heart transplant is grateful – such a person has a new resolve in his or her life. It should be no different for believers who have received a spiritual heart transplant. There should be a resolve in our lives guided by the Spirit of God to live as His children, because that is what we are. Listen to these encouragements:

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

This message is too good to keep to ourselves.

Philippians 2:9–11 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We gladly bow before our Lord and willingly speak the Good News of what He has done.

Ephesians 2:8–10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Our response to the undeserved love of God should be to live as the children He has made us, those who gladly and willingly live according to His will.

When you hear “Follow your heart,” remember that without Christ in your  life, your heart is sinful and goes against God. And your old sinful self will continue to try to go against what God would have you do. The only time “Follow your Heart” is good advice is when you follow that new heart and right spirit that God has placed in you. Rejoice in the forgiveness and life and salvation that you have in Christ. Live in the confidence you have as a redeemed child of God.

“Follow your heart.” You’ve probably heard that advice many times in your life: Just follow your heart. We think that is sound advice. People want to believe that you will never go wrong if you just follow your heart.

But there is a problem with that sentiment. It needs clarification. Have you seen what  Scripture has to say about your heart?

Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

And these warnings are not just in the Old Testament.

Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

Mark 7:21–23 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ ”

Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

In our fallen, sinful  state, we need help. It is not simply a matter of dusting ourselves off. It is not even an extreme makeover. It is more radical than that. We need a transplant.

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

God’s answer to that spirit-driven plea is plain and simple and exactly what we need.

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

God gives us what we need. And it was accomplished the only way it could be accomplished: God did it for us. He gives us a new, clean heart. It was not a self-improvement fixer upper – it was God’s gracious gift to us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. Listen to how Jesus explained it to His disciples the night before He was crucified.

John 14:1–6 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

He is the Way. The only way to life. His work has given us what we need. Jesus came to take care of the problem sin caused. He was born as one of us. He lived without sin to have a perfect life that He could offer as the payment for the sins of the world. And He did just that by allowing Himself to be arrested, tried, beaten, tortured and crucified. They took His dead body off the cross and buried it. The payment for sin was complete.

But Jesus did more. He defeated death for us as well by His triumphant resurrection from the grave. He gives His payment for sin and life everlasting to everyone who believes His promise. He gives us the new heart we need.

More on this tomorrow.