Commissioned - Advent 2021

I, the LORD, officially commission you; I take hold of your hand. I protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people, and a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to release prisoners from dungeons, those who live in darkness from prisons.  Isaiah 42:6-7 NET

Thank You mighty God.  Because of Jesus Christ we have found our identity and in Him we experience Your redeeming love.  As "a Light for the nations" our Saviour is the One who takes the grace of God beyond the borders of God's chosen nation and brings it to those in darkness so that we also might know and experience the forgiveness of sin and the hope of everlasting life. 

Hallelujah! The life and ministry of Christ establishes and proclaims the glorious fact that we, each one of us a sinner, are reconciled to God not by our own works but by the grace of God put into action. 

My friends, because you and I have been baptized into Christ and are thereby united with Him in His death and resurrection, we also are to be "a covenant for the people " and "a light for the nations."  

As "a covenant for the people" we are called to encourage one another in faith, to affirm to one another, in word and deed, that we are one in faith and confession, in doctrine and practice, in worship and life.  

As "a light for the nations" we are called to be witnesses to those outside the fellowship of the Church.  In every way possible we are to clearly bear witness to those who do not believe in Christ. We are to communicate with love and with Holy Spirit’s wisdom, pointing out to those still searching, the emptiness of their false beliefs and the futility of their well-intended works as well as proclaiming to them the life-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ! 

He who came into the world to live and die and rise again not just for us but for all sinners in need of forgiveness--for all the spiritually dead in need of New Life.  Think for a moment on the Baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River (which marks the initiation of Jesus’ public ministry) we are reminded once again who He is.  This was not the typical baptismal candidate who came to John.  This was the Son of God Himself--the only One, in fact, who needed no Baptism--no repentance--no forgiveness of sins. 

The miraculous signs that accompanied His Baptism--the opening heavens, the descending of Holy Spirit in bodily form, and the voice of God--all bear witness to the identity and mission of Jesus Christ, the One being baptized.  This calling--Jesus' and ours--is always carried out in active service.  The God who in love resolved to redeem His creatures from sin and death didn't just sit in His heaven contemplating it; He did something about it.  He took on human flesh and blood and humbly lived along side us.

As a brother, a teacher, a friend, Jesus fulfilled perfectly the calling that He Himself described when He said:  "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).  Therefore, as commissioned in Isaiah 42:6-7, you and I have also been called to service--not to accomplish anyone's salvation, to be sure--but to bring the salvation that Christ has accomplished for all who declare He is our risen Saviour. 

Holy Spirit has said that we are the redeemed of the Lord--the ones who, having been cleansed by the blood of Christ and called through His means of grace, are about the business of living for Him who died for us.  He has said that we are people of faith, for whom the Gospel of our Saviour is such a high priority that we order our entire lives around it--that we are people of good works, who seek out and make use of every opportunity to glorify God by serving our neighbour--that we are His witnesses who, in everything that we say and do, share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone we meet.  Light to the nations.