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Do you know why you have the name you do? Often times names are chosen for their meaning. Other times parents use a name that has been in the family for a long time. Still others choose names for their children that are unique so that they will stand out and be different.

Do you like your name? Many people I have known do not. Sometimes they will choose to go by their middle name, a “nickname,” or just their initials.

Whatever name you go by, God knows it. He knows each of us. And that is a certainty we can have as believers, followers of Jesus.

“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1, ESV)

In baptism, you are called by name, and then God puts His name on you, making you part of the family. “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  The One who created you gives you rebirth, assuring you that what Jesus did through His death and resurrection was done for you.

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:3–5)

Joined to Jesus to give you the certainty of forgiveness. God’s name put on you. And He has called you by your name. That’s all good stuff.

I am Jesus’ little lamb,
Ever glad at heart I am;
For my Shepherd gently guides me,
Knows my needs, and well provides me,
Loves me every day the same,
even calls me by my name.

Recently I was singing the Offertory to myself. I grew up singing that every Sunday, although there were different melodies, depending on the liturgy we were using that week. It is based on the words of Psalm 51 in the King James Version.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit. Amen.

As I was singing, I remembered my high school days when I was on one of the usher crews in the church where my dad served as pastor in Dallas. There were usually five or six of us on each crew.  It was a large church. The ushers sat in the narthex, a large lobby area that was the entry way to the sanctuary worship space. Because there were doors separating us from the sanctuary, we had speakers bringing us the audio of the service. It also meant we could hear each other singing, but not the congregation. The head usher on that crew loved to sing loudly. And each time we sang the Offertory, he would sing, “Restore to me the joy of MY salvation…”

I knew those were not the right words, but I was not about to correct him. I was just a kid. But every time I think about his “error” I think that maybe he had it right. I understand that the only reason we have salvation is because God gave it to us. It indeed was His to give. But he did give it to us. That is why Jesus was born and lived and died and rose again. He did that to give us His salvation. And because we have latched onto that promise in faith, it is now ours. So I can say it is MY salvation. The salvation Jesus earned for me. And that gives me joy.

Maybe you can think about the at the next time you sing the Offertory.

I’ve used this object lesson with both children and adults. I’ll pick five individuals and say “Let’s pretend you are all firefighters.” Then I will go to them one by one and say something along these lines.

• Here’s a spatula. Between fires, you need to cook meals for everyone else
• Here’s a bag of dog food. Between fires you need to feed our station mascot.
• Here’s a wrench. When we are at the firehose, you need to make sure the vehicles are in good working order
• Here’s a bucket and rag. Keep all the vehicles shiny and clean.
• Here’s a mop. Between fires, keep the station clean.

Then I would go back down the line and ask each person “What’s your job?” They dutifully respond “Cook” or “clean” or whatever task I had just assigned them. I would then tell them that they were all wrong. Their job is to fight fires. Those other tasks were simply things they should do between fires.

I think that gives us a good reminder of who we are to be as followers of Jesus. Our job is to follow Him and make more disciples. We all have other “tasks” that we need to do as we follow Jesus, which we usually refer to as our “jobs.” Luther spoke in terms of our vocation. You have a “job” here on earth, but our real job, our calling, is to follow Jesus and make disciples.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:18–20)

It is a matter of keeping our priorities straight. Your vocation allows you earn a living and provide for your family and hopefully to help those around you. But what you do in your calling as a follower of Jesus and fisher of men will impact people for eternity. You can share the wonderful message of God’s love in Christ that paid for the sins of the world and allows all who believe to receive the forgiveness and life and salvation that you already have in your possession.

At the midweek Lenten service Cheryl and I went to this week, the preacher spoke about faithfulness. It was a great message that encouraged me in my life as a follower of Jesus.

One thing the pastor mentioned in his message was the expert in the Law who asked Jesus, “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

“Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37–39)

I really like what that preacher said next: “To love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind is faith. To love your neighbor as yourself is faithfulness.”

Faith is obviously of supreme importance.

“…without faith it is impossible to please God…” (Hebrews 11:6)

Faith is what grabs hold of what Jesus accomplished for you and the rest of the world when He lived a perfect life that He used to pay for sin. Faith receives that gift. That is what saves you.

Once you have that faith, you need to put it into action. Love your neighbor. Help her. Be kind to him. Show the love of Jesus by what you do. It is the proper response to having received God’s abundant grace in your life, knowing you have forgiveness and the absolute certainty of life eternal. Faith in action

“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” (James 2:17-18)

Let others see your saving faith in Jesus today by the way you live, what you do, your faithfulness.

“This is what the Lord says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances” (Isaiah 49:8).

Just before this passage, Isaiah was speaking about the Lord’s servant who would come not just to restore Jacob/Israel, but that He (Jesus) would also be a light to the Gentiles/nations. God promises to bring salvation and restoration to all people. Paul quotes Isaiah in his second letter to the believers in Corinth.

“For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Jesus came and did what God promised. And now there is an urgency. TODAY is the day of salvation. People always assume they have plenty of time to believe and/or repent. But it just isn’t so. Scripture gives us ample warnings not to put off repentance.

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Psalm 95:7–8)

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:13)

I know it may sound trite, but none of us is promised tomorrow. That is why today is the day to take advantage of God’s grace and mercy. Today is the day to repent and ask God’s forgiveness for Jesus’ sake.

I mentioned repentance yesterday as well. It literally means “to turn.” When you are heading down the wrong path, you need to turn back to God. It does not matter if you have taken one step or millions of steps down that wrong path. Turn. Go back to the Father. He is not waiting with a scowl on His face. He is like the Father in that parable known as “The Prodigal Son” (Luke 15). He is waiting to welcome you home with open arms.

If you have wandered and strayed, it is not too late, as long as you are still breathing. Today is the day to turn.

Softly and Tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

CHORUS
Come home, come home, Ye who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling
Calling, O sinner, come home.

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
Mercies for you and for me?
CHORUS

Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, death-beds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.
CHORUS

Oh, for the wonderful love He has promised,
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.
CHORUS

We all have the tendency to be hyper critical of those who sin differently than we do. We can quickly point out what other people are doing wrong while ignoring our own faults. It has been this way since the Fall. Jesus spoke of it this way.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3–5)

Even when our sin is much greater and more visible that our neighbor’s, we still focus on theirs. I recognize this tendency in my own life. I think we become comfortable in our own sins and dismiss them as no big deal, which allows us to justify being our critique of others.

The truth we know from God’s Word is that we all have plenty of sin in our lives.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

We need to be careful to not just think of other people when we read those words. I need to understand those words hit me hard. Like Will Smith slapping Chris Rock hard. They are calling me to pay attention, wake up and REPENT.

When we repent, we take the plank our of our own eye, trust in Jesus and are assured of forgiveness. Listen to a little more of the context of Romans 3.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23–24)

That is Good News for everyday.

A lot a attention has been paid to a biological male who identifies as a female winning the national championship in the NCAA 500 meter freestyle. The initial reaction of many is anger. “What’s this world coming to?” And I am guilty of that as well. But then I took a step back and asked myself whether or not I am looking at this person like Jesus would. Am I seeing him with the eyes of Jesus, someone that He loves and for whom He died?

I say “him” because that is the way God created. No one is denying this individual is a biological male. And Scripture tells us there are only two options.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

God declared everything He created good, and it was. Then man disobeyed Him and screwed it all up! Instead of living in harmony with God and according to His will, we think we know better and follow our sinful desires. He spoke about that after the flood when Noah offered a sacrifice to the Lord:

“The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” (Genesis 8:21)

We all have those evil inclinations. We have our individual proclivities for pet sins. The temptations themselves are not sin. Acting on them is. That is what happens when someone who is biologically male identifies as female, or a biological female identifies as male. They are identifying themselves according to their fallen, sinful nature.

In God’s sight, sin is sin. If a person acts upon a temptation to lie, it is sin. If a person acts upon a sinful desire to be homosexual, it is sin. If a person allows anger to control them, like Cain did when he killed Abel, it is sin. To say, “That is the way God made me” is inaccurate. To say “This is the way I have chosen to live” is the reality. You have identified yourself according to your desires, your sinful desires.

Jesus sees that in people. But He still loves them. So much so that He came down to earth to be their substitute, to pay for the sin of everyone that we would not have to take that penalty. He wants everyone to be forgiven and saved from sin and death. He does not want anyone to continue to be controlled by the sinful nature or to identify themselves according to their sins. He has a better path.

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—” (Romans 6:6)

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

God wants you to be the new creature that finds your identity in Christ. Receive the forgiveness He offers freely, let Him control you. When you slip and fall, admit it, and be forgiven again. You get to identify yourself as a forgiven child of God that has been declared righteous. Faith in Jesus claims the benefit He earned and offers.

“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34)

You get that for free because Jesus paid your admission price. Recognize and live with your identity in Christ.

For me to live is Christ (Philippians 1:21)