Once again the epistle for this week comes from the pen of St. Paul. And once again he seems to ask the impossible of us at Christmas! Last week we heard his exhortation that we “owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.” This week we hear that we're supposed to all think the same thing, be like minded, praise the Lord with one mouth and receive one another as Christ has received us! Thanks, Paul! Another impossible order heaped on us in this busy holiday season! Like we're all going to be on the same page when each of us has plenty of our own stuff to worry about! Thanks be to God that the church celebrates Advent! Now we can hit the brakes again, for tonight at least, and meditate upon St. Paul's words. And these are not words that teach us to reach down deep and pull out some holiday cheer when stress has turned as all Scrooge-like. No, like all of St. Paul's words, he encourages us to love one another IN CHRIST. How else could we do it?

Let's pause the holiday rush for a minute and consider what our greatest problem and need are: It's not how we'll get the cookies baked and the food prepared and presents bought and wrapped. It's that we are by nature sinful and unclean and worthy of nothing but everlasting death. For the sin with which we are born and every thought, word, and deed which is against God's Law, we are doomed to death. Which is why St. Paul tells us that everything that is written in the Scriptures is written for us to have HOPE and COMFORT. The Holy Scriptures are no mere “handbook” for life or “guide” for daily living. The Bible wasn't written so that we can see what our sins are and then despair of God's mercy. No, the Scriptures were written to bring us Christ. Dr. Luther once called the Bible the manger in which Jesus is laid. That's because the Scriptures are about Christ and therefore they are written for our hope and comfort. Because they deliver to us the Jesus who is the fulfillment of God's promises to save us from our sins. The Scriptures put into our ears the Good News that the Son of God has come to rescue us from our sins by His life, death and resurrection. The Scriptures bring us the words of the prophets and apostles who testify to us of the promise of a Savior and the fulfillment of that Promise in Christ crucified for sinners. That's COMFORT, dear Christians, that this Holy Book was written not to frighten and condemn, but to save us from the judgment of God by giving us that Jesus who is our Savior.

So be in the Word! Jesus was given to you at the font in your Baptism and He is preached and put in your ears in Holy Absolution and He comes to you in His Supper. Take the opportunity to let those words also comfort you by once again forgiving you. And be in the Word! Take the opportunity to be in Bible Study and Catechesis. Not only that but every day read and hear God's Word. It is in this way, by hearing God's Word together that we become in Christ, “like minded” and are able to glorify God with “one mouth.” Now, I know that St. Paul is telling us to be “like minded.” But, you say, everybody reads the Bible differently. Everyone has a different interpretation. They sure do! But that's only because people have forgotten what the Bible is all about. If the Scriptures are written just to be a book of rules or nice stories, then they won't do us any good. But the whole point of the Bible is to show us that even before time began the Lord had planned to save us from our sins through His Son. Not only that, the Bible shows how the Lord throughout history has been working toward the fulfillment of that promise. And even more: the Scriptures show us that the Lord HAS fulfilled that promise when the Son of God came in the flesh to take away our sins. And the Bible even teaches us how the Jesus who fulfilled the promises of God will come again to set all things right. Since everything in the Scriptures is aimed at teaching that Good News, then learn that the Scriptures are about Jesus and therefore they are written for your comfort. That's why we confess the Creed together: to speak with one mouth the praises of God who saves us by His Son.

Now, in this Advent season, and all year round, do you know the first and best and most important good work you can do for your neighbor? Be in God's Word! Be a hearer of the Holy Scriptures that the Lord might teach you forgiveness and instruct you in works of love toward your neighbor. Paul writes that we should “receive one another just as Christ received us.” How did Christ receive us? With sins and all to wipe them out. So we are to receive one another that way. Having been given forgiveness by the Lord, don't withhold it! Give it out also! Especially during this time of year, when we are busy grabbing and piling up for ourselves, and stepping on each others toes, and getting short tempered and cranky, and greedy and selfish, and overwhelmed and overloaded—then, show the comfort you have in Christ by putting up with those around you, letting go of their sins and overlooking their faults. Forgive others and do good to them no matter what they actually deserve! That's to receive others as Christ receives us. And the Lord only works that through us when we ourselves have been comforted by Christ's Word.


In this Advent season, go ahead and keep getting ready for Christmas. But when the burden of sin and life weighs you down, flee to the place where the Holy Scriptures are the big deal. Where the Word of God is preached and the Sacraments given out. Come to church where what the Lord has for you is nothing but comfort and relief from your sins. And, fortified and strengthened in that faith, head back out into the world to share that same comfort with your neighbors who are weighed down too. And then, as St. Paul says, the God of hope will fill you with all joy and peace in believing, unto the increase of hope in the power of the Holy Spirit. For Jesus' sake. Amen.