Sermon Text: Titus 2:11–14
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
In the Name of the Christ-child, dear fellow redeemed,
On this very day, one year ago, I was sitting in church next to my very pregnant daughter. We were, at the time, 18 days and counting to the birth of my grandson – plenty of time to finish those last-minute preparations. Or so we thought. As it turned out, Clayton Joel had other plans. He arrived just three days later on December 27th. Suddenly, unexpectedly, there he was. In an instant, waiting turned into wonder. That’s how birth works. A child doesn’t arrive gradually. One moment he’s quite hidden; the next moment he’s present—crying, breathing, unmistakably here. A child appears.
No wonder Paul places this word front and center in his Christmas message from Titus, chapter 2, where he announces to us and all the world: The Grace of God Has Appeared! 1) to bring salvation; 2) to teach godliness; and 3) to provide hope. Let’s spend some time unwrapping God’s gifts of grace.
We’ll start with a quick quiz: do you remember the meaning of grace? If you said, “Grace is God’s undeserved love,” you get an A+. If you said anything else, well, you still get an A+. After all that’s how grace works, giving what is not earned or deserved! All of us need grace. Like the rest of humanity, you and I came into this world totally undeserving. We were born lost and condemned sinners. Lost – because we could not make or find a way to God. Condemned – because the sin we inherited and the sin we commit earns us God’s punishment—nothing less than eternal separation from him. So you see, by nature, we are not only undeserving, we are completely unlovable. And yet, wonder of wonders, God loves us, only because “God is love.” (1 John 4:16).
Very often, we humans use the word love to express a feeling we have for someone. God’s love, however, is so much more than a feeling. His grace is always expressing itself by the loving things he does for us. For example, Paul says that the grace of God has appeared. Grace took action. It showed up. It was suddenly here, on earth, not in the form of a greeting card that read: “Thinking of you.” Grace appeared in the flesh (and blood) of God’s own Son – the perfect Christmas gift, the perfect human being, born of sinful Mary, but conceived by the Holy Spirit of God.
Why would God send us a holy baby? Paul tells us that the grace of God appeared to bring salvation (Titus 2:11), not to a select few individuals, living in a particular place at a particular point in time. No, he sent this holy infant to all people of all times, living in all places, which means this baby is also for us here and now. But how can someone so tiny save so many billions and billions of people? First of all, he didn’t stay tiny. He grew up and, as Paul says, “…gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness…” (Titus 2:14).
To “redeem” means to “buy back.” We sinners needed to be redeemed from the guilt of our wickedness and the curse of hell’s punishment. But not all of us sinners combined could scrape together the ransom price that was owed for even one of us. The psalmist writes: “No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them—the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough.” (Psalm 49:7-8). Sin costs lifeblood. “It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” (Leviticus 17:11) writes Moses. Now we’ve come to the heart of our problem. We have the wrong kind of blood. God doesn’t accept sacrifices that are tainted by sin. The sacrifice must be holy. So, God did the unimaginable. He sent his sinless Son to be born a human, that he might have the perfect blood type required to serve as the perfect sin offering. A human offered up for humans. And because he’s also the very Son of God, his sacrifice was all-sufficient, redeeming not just for one of us, or a group of us, but for all of us – for every human being – past, present, and future. Do you see, then, why we Christians always celebrate Christmas with an eye toward Good Friday? It’s because our Savior’s manger bed casts its long shadow all the way to Calvary. Our redemption is accomplished by the death of Christ, and it is guaranteed for all eternity by his resurrection on Easter Sunday. What more could we ask?
Well, how about each of us asking God to help us remain his child our whole life long? For without that help, we sinners would soon trash God’s grace. So, in love, God does help us. Paul tells us, the grace of God has appeared to teach us godliness. He puts it this way: “[Grace] teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…” (Titus 2:12). I know it’s become cliché, but here in God’s grace, we really do have the Christmas gift that keeps on giving. Consider its great value.
Our enemy, the devil, has painted a target on our backs. More than anything, he wants to reclaim us as his own. So he goes to work, tempting us by playing on the worldly passions that feed our sinful nature. He whispers to us that sin is so satisfying, that instant gratification is worth more than future glory. He tells us that God is holding out on us, that obedience is too costly, and that self-indulgence is the key to real happiness. It’s powerful stuff. But he doesn’t stop there. No, Satan the tempter is also Satan our great accuser. He loves to throw our sin back in our face. He tells us we’ve failed too often and have fallen too far for grace to be able to reach us now. Back and forth he goes, using enticement and despair, he tries to pull us away from Christ. So how do we stand a chance? Only by grace – the grace that teaches us how to live as God’s people.
Now that may sound surprising. After all, don’t the Ten Commandments teach us how to live? The Commandments show us right from wrong and threaten punishment to those who break them. But that’s all they can do. The Commandments do not, they cannot furnish us with the power we need to obey them. Only God’s grace conveys such power as it works in us both the desire and the ability to live godly lives.
Look once again into Bethlehem’s manger. Gaze at Calvary’s cross. See how God loves you! Listen as Paul proclaims that Christ came as that tiny baby so that he could live and die in our place, and so “…purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:14). When Satan tries to convince us that God is holding out on us, grace proves Satan to be the liar he always has been. Are you looking for gratification? It’s yours in Christ alone. Thanks to Jesus, we are the sons and daughters of the King of kings. Right now, in this moment, we are covered from head to toe in the righteousness of Christ which makes us just as holy and just as precious in God’s sight as Jesus himself. Everything that God has is ours. There isn’t anything he won’t do for us. Can you think of anything more gratifying than to live as we do, at peace with our God who is always with us and always for us?
And when we do sin, as happens each day – what then? Is the devil right when he tells us that we are irredeemable? Is there really such a sinner in God’s eyes who is beyond the Christ-child’s ability to save? Not as long as that sinner has life and breath! Paul assures us in Romans 5: “…where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” (Romans 5:20). By giving us his own Son at Christmas, God made sure that every sin, no matter how vile, no matter how long or how powerfully it has gripped our lives, every sin has been paid for by the Christ. No wonder Paul exclaims in 2 Corinthians: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).
And there you have it, dear friends, the power of grace to effect real and lasting change in us sinners. Not the kind of change we see in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Scrooge changes because he is terrified. He comes face to face with his own mortality and the after-life consequences of his greed. In the end it is fear that drives him to beg for a second chance. And, for a time, fear produces results. Scrooge is kind. He is generous. He is resolved to do better. But fear is a poor teacher and an even worse motivator. Fear cannot change the heart because fear cannot remove sin and, therefore, it cannot produce true godliness.
Grace works differently. Grace does not scare us into obedience. Grace draws us back to Christ again and again. Grateful for his blood-bought forgiveness, we return daily to hear him say, “It is finished. This day’s sin is also paid for. Go in peace—forgiven and loved.” And so, we go forward in grace, eager to live as the holy people God declares us to be in Christ. We strive to love as Jesus loves. We endeavor to forgive as he forgives. And when we fail, as we always do, we come back to him in repentance, to hear that we are still forgiven, still loved, and still his holy people. Such is the rhythm of our lives as God’s redeemed people. Each new day of grace builds on all that have come before it and gives us all the more reason to live godly lives to the praise and honor of him, who is grace personified, the One who has appeared in order to bring salvation, to teach godliness, and to provide us with hope.
Paul makes sure to remind us that Christ was born on Christmas to ready us for his second coming. Paul says, “…we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…” (Titus 2:13). When Jesus returns, it won’t be as little baby arriving in the lowliest of circumstances. He will come in all his divine glory as humanity’s Judge. By bringing us salvation and teaching us godliness, he has given us everything we need to meet him on that day. We have nothing to fear. We can wait for him with great anticipation and joy!
One year ago, our family was waiting for the arrival of a little boy. We had no doubt that he was coming. All the signs were present, telling us that we should expect him at any moment. We waited with joy, anticipating the happiness his arrival would bring to our lives. We were not disappointed. So it is with all of us, dear Christians. The One who has redeemed you by his own blood, the One who has claimed you as his child in Baptism, the One who sustains your faith by the power of his Word and Sacrament, he will soon return for you – not to scold or punish you, but to bring you into the glory of his heavenly kingdom. This is our hope, not in the sense of a wish – this is a sure thing – because the grace of God that has appeared, will keep us his own until we’re safe in the arms of Jesus, celebrating his birthday and our homecoming throughout all eternity. God grant this to us all, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.