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Yesterday I shared some thoughts on Jesus inviting us to come to Him. We need to remember that He came to us! During the Christmas season we sing a hymn based on Psalm 98 that proclaims “Joy to the World! The Lord has come!”  Jesus came to fulfill the promise that God would rescue His people from sin and death. And when I say “His people,” I mean everyone. He did not come only for the descendants of Abraham. They were the ones through whom God sent His Son, but He came for all people.

Matthew 21:5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

Matthew 20:28  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

John 12:27–28 “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”

Above all, Jesus knew that He had come to offer Himself so that we could have forgiveness and eternal life. And He did it willingly.

The one who came once has promised He will come again. Matthew 24 & 25 speak of that. He is coming again to take those who have believed in Him to be with Him forever.

Recently I’ve been thinking about the number of times Jesus invites us to come to Him. Here are a few examples.

Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 14:29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Matthew 11:28  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

While here on earth to accomplish our salvation, Jesus invited people to come to Him in a variety of situations. In every instance it was in order to help those invited. Many of the hymns of the church echo this sentiment. One in particular that I thought of is based on that last passage above.

“Come unto Me, ye weary, And I will give your rest.”
O blessed voice of Jesus, Which comes to hearts opprest!
It tells of benediction, Of pardon, grace, and peace,
Of joy that hath no ending, Of love which cannot cease.

 “Come unto Me, ye wand’rers, And I will give you light.”
O loving voice of Jesus, Which comes to cheer the night!
Our hearts were filled with sadness, And we had lost our way;
But Thou hast bro’t us gladness And songs at break of day.

 “Come unto Me, ye fainting, And I will give you life.”
O cheering voice of Jesus, Which comes to aid our strife!
The Foe is stern and eager, The fight is fierce and long;
But Thou hast made us mighty And stronger than the strong. 

“And whosoever cometh, I will not cast him out.”
O patient love of Jesus, Which drives away our doubt,
Which, tho’ we be unworthy Of love so great and free,
Invites us very sinners To come, dear Lord, to Thee!

(The Lutheran Hymnal #276)

Over the years, I’ve encountered a lot of people who were brokenhearted. That is a strong word that describes someone who has gone through something they never dreamed would happen to them. It involves a profound disappointment or perhaps a betrayal of trust, which has a devastating effect on that person’s life. But it is seldom limited to one person. When someone has been hurt in this way, it affects that person’s family (parents, spouse, children, siblings) and friends. They share in the grief and suffering.

Scripture tells us that God is aware of those who have been brokenhearted and wants to help them.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

The word “brokenhearted” in Scripture is a translation of two Hebrew words. The first is the word for heart. The second is a word that is most often translated as broken, but it can also mean “to break in pieces, destroy, maim, cripple, wreck or crush.”  As I said, it is a powerful word.

Our loving God is more powerful. He wants to step in and offer comfort and aid to those who feel overwhelmed. Read what Isaiah wrote about the coming promised Savior, the Messianic Servant:

Isaiah 61:1–3 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

This is the passage Jesus read one Sabbath day in the synagogue of his hometown of Nazareth and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:16-21).

Jesus came to overcome the biggest problem we had in this world, the debt our sin demanded. He paid that by offering His sinless life as the sacrifice to settle God’s judgment that stood against us. Through faith we claim that payment and are assured of forgiveness. That is overwhelmingly good news. But it gets even better. Our loving God wants us to know that He cares about each and every one of us as individuals. He brings His loving presence into our lives to help and heal us in our particular times of being brokenhearted. Trust in Him.

Recently Cheryl and I watched that old movie “Pollyanna.” It is a classic as far as I am concerned. An orphaned child of missionaries goes to live with her stern Aunt Polly. Most people in the town are grumpy and complain about things. Pollyanna is always looking for the bright spot in daily living.

The town’s preacher offers a weekly sermon filled with hell-fire and brimstone and condemnation. People speak of leaving church each week with a sour stomach from what they have heard. They challenge Pollyanna to find something good in that! She said they should be glad that they have six days before the next Sunday rolls around!

It is easy for us to complain about our lot in life. We always focus on what has gone wrong, assuming that everything should always go the way we want it to. When something bad happens, we wail and moan and complain about how awful our lives are.

It could be worse. Much worse. We could get what our sins deserve.

Ezra 9:13 “What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved and have given us a remnant like this.

Psalm 103:10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

Have you ever taken the time to seriously consider that? God does not punish us as our sins deserve! Those hell-fire and brimstone sermons from that preacher in the movie reminded me of that. The punishments he described were what my sin deserves. But that is not what happens to me?  Why? Is not God just and fair? Of course He is. But He provided a substitute to take my punishment and make the payment for my sin so that I could be set free. He took your punishment as well and paid for it. He did that for everyone.

The Good News I find in Scripture describes this in great detail.

2 Corinthians 5:19–21 God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

I want to be the “Pollyanna” who keeps sharing this message with the people I meet. I hope you will, too.

We have all had to deal with devastating, life-altering bad news in our lives. It usually catches us totally off guard and unprepared. As we go through the initial shock, everything is a blur. Our emotions run the gamut and overwhelm us. It is all the unknowns that wreak havoc.

When I find myself in such a situation, I do my best to not let my emotions control me. I still feel anger and hurt and grief and sorrow, but I try not to let them control my actions. And I pray. I pray that God would remind me that He is in control. I pray for wisdom and guidance as I navigate my way through the crisis. If the bad news is the result of an individual’s behavior, I pray for the person who inflicted the pain and for those who have been hurt by his or her actions. I pray that God would remind me that He is with all those who have been impacted by this bad news. I turn to God and trust His promises.

2 Corinthians 1:3–4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

When you have been hurt or harmed, turn to the one who loves you more than anyone else, enough to let His Son die for you.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

When you see someone else who is hurting, be there for him or her. You don’t have to have all the answers. You just need to show up. And offer them the same comfort you have received from God.

Today is a cold, windy, rainy day in my part of North Texas. Yesterday I was privileged to lead worship for the saints at Trinity, Commerce and St. James, Allen’s Chapel. Since it was the day to remember the baptism of Jesus, I reminded the folks assembled for worship of the importance of their own Baptisms. As part of that, I shared the following story, which I also shared here a couple of years ago.

A mother was driving her car through the rain with her son, Matthew, in the passenger seat. Mom was paying careful attention to her driving, knowing that extra precaution was necessary when the roads were slick. Suddenly, her son said, “Mom, I was thinking of something.” This kind of announcement usually meant he had been pondering some fact for quite a while and was now ready to expound on all that his seven-year-old mind has discovered. “What are you thinking?” she said, eager to hear his insight. “The rain,” he said, “is like sin, and the windshield wipers are like God wiping our sins away.” Mom felt goose bumps up and down her arms at thinking so profound from her young son. She replied, “That’s really good, Matthew.” She wondered how much deeper his young mind had delved into this, so she asked, “Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?” Matthew didn’t hesitate at all before responding, “We keep on sinning and God just keeps on forgiving us.” That mom said she thinks about that every time she turns on her windshield wipers.

Ephesians 5:25-26 Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.

Luther said that you should always remember your Baptism. I had a little sign on my mirror of my office restroom that quoted Luther: “When you wash your face, remember your Baptism.” The reason for this encouragement is that each time you remember your Baptism, it reminds you who you are: a forgiven child of God.  You are connected to the one who was born in that stable, baptized in the Jordan, crucified at Calvary and risen on the third day. You are forgiven because of what He did for you.

Make that your thought for today.

Rise and Shine! Those words are usually addressed to people who are in no mood to hear them! I know all three of my daughters remember me saying those words to get them up for school, and those memories are not necessarily fond ones! If you have heard those words, you were most likely sleeping peacefully and they were a disturbance. They were not welcome. You didn’t want to hear them. You were snug and comfortable in your bed, then someone called out “RISE AND SHINE.” Most people respond grumpily, or with a groan. You pull the covers up over your head and hope you didn’t really hear what you heard. My wife calls our youngest grandson a “morgenmuffel.” It is a German word that translates as “morning grouch.” (By the way, Cheryl also identifies herself as a “morgenmuffel.”) The words “Rise and Shine” are not well received by morgenmuffels. Even though you may not like to hear those words, you know you should do what they say. If you don’t get out of bed, you will waste the day and not get anything accomplished. All of you have responsibilities and things to do each day. You understand that you need to RISE AND SHINE!

Isaiah tells the people of God to RISE AND SHINE. They were not literally sleeping, but had drifted into a kind of spiritual sleep mode. Sin can lull you into a relaxed and seemingly comfortable kind of sleep, but that is outside of God’s plan. God does not want you to just coast through life. Instead you are told to rise and shine with the light of Jesus Christ that has dawned upon you. You are to be a Light to the nations. That is what Isaiah was saying: It’s time to wake up and SHINE for the LORD. And you need to start by shining that light for others to see right where you live.

That is the overall theme of Epiphany: being a light to the Nations, or a “Light to the Gentiles!” To the Jewish people, anyone who was not a Jew was a Gentile, and that was not a complimentary term. The Jews spoke of Gentiles with contempt, much like people today people speak of “foreigners” with that little edge in our voice. It was hard for the Jewish people to accept that the promised salvation of God would also be for the Gentiles. The Old Testament people could not truly understand this — they were the chosen ones. They knew the Messiah would come through them, but after a while they began to think that He would come only for them.The Jews distorted God’s promise so that it applied only to them and no one else.

But not all the Jews had this faulty understanding. Isaiah’s message was heard and understood by many, that God would be the Savior of all men, Jews and Gentiles. In Isaiah God said I…will make you…a light for the Gentiles. Those are the words you heard Simeon echo in when he saw the baby Jesus: a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel (Luke 2:32). There were those among God’s chosen people who understood that God’s salvation is for all men.

The followers of Jesus – you and me – should have the same attitude. The light of Christ is to illumine the entire world–that happens through His followers. That is why you have been called to RISE AND SHINE. When you hear that call, don’t be a MORGENMUFFEL. Rise and Shine!