Grace Notes 2023-01-18

We have a tough and tricky task in bearing witness to our Lord Jesus Christ. No one said it would be easy. And we need every bit of wisdom that by prayer and listening closely to God’s Word we can glean.

The world in general is always at odds with the wisdom of God. In the words of Luther’s Small Catechism we are up against the devil, the world, and our sinful self. In our own land there have been better times. Our culture is now more stridently at odds with the truths of God’s Word than any time before in our country’s history.

Part of bearing witness to the faith is to speak truthfully. And whereas we do not always have to be confrontive, we fail to bear faithful witness if we speak the lie, that is, echo words that we know not to be true. Enough repeating of a falsehood lends it credibility and misleads others, especially our children.

The difficult task is not only not giving in to the lie and at times confronting it, that is hard enough; but it is the fine art of speaking the truth in love. That is the admonition of Ephesians 4:15. It is easier to speak truth as a club to beat someone we dislike. Or conversely, it is easier to speak words that make people feel better and confuse that with being loving. The truth at the appropriate time and place is always commensurate with what is good for us. Falsehood never is. It may make a person feel better, but it does not serve what is best for them.

One of the things hampering our being the faithful witnesses we are called to be is we have been conditioned to think the finest witness is being one of the nicest and kindest persons around. But when these good attributes become ultimate, we will certainly fail in being faithful witnesses. The job is much harder than that. We will not always be regarded as nice and kind by the world. But by the help of God, we can speak in their best interest, with truth and love.

Since You Asked…

What good purpose is there in signing oneself (making the sign of the cross with the hand over one’s head and breast)?

This gesture’s main purpose is to remind us of our baptism where the sign of the cross was first made on our foreheads. The cross is a powerful symbol which reminds us of the depths of God’s love for us – He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. In Holy Baptism we have been joined to Christ. Every time we sign ourselves we declare that we belong to Christ and that we desire to live for Him. We give visible expression that we serve the One, True God who has revealed Himself to us in three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.