Tit 3:3-8 - The Kindness and Love of God Our Savior Has Appeared.
Original by Rev. Johnold Strey. Adapted by Rev. Phillip K. Lepak
Last week I saw a casino commercial on TV. They're holding a drawing for a new sports car. "Nothing says, 'I love you' more than a new car," they said. What have we come to as a society, when a line like that actually works in a commercial? Under some pretty rare circumstances someone might choose to express love that way, but there are a lot more meaningful (and less expensive) ways! I'm sure you can think of many.
So can God. He is, after all, the giver of every good thing. The Apostle Paul tells us three ways that God reveals his kindness and love to us, and each is more true and meaningful than any earthly gift. God reveals his kindness and love by the appearance of His Son, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, and with the hope of eternal life.
On the 6th of January, we began the season of the church year called "Epiphany." The Greek word, επιφαινω, means to reveal, to show something that was not known before or hidden from sight. For example, when we heard the story of Jesus' baptism this morning, we saw how God the Father's words and the Holy Spirit's descent revealed Jesus as the Savior.
Paul uses that επιφαινω in our text, where it is translated for us as the word appear: "When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." Jesus' appearance in this world, whether we think of his Christmas birth or His baptism at the Jordan by John, His appearance was an act of God's kindness. God sent Him, who knew no sin to become sin for us, to save us from hell. And Jesus' appearance was also an act of God's love – it reveals His affection for humankind; we are His own dear children.
In the verse before this one, Paul said, "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another." That's how the Bible, how God, describes our condition. We are nowhere near perfect - as we should be. We have fallen so far short of keeping God's commands in our thoughts, words and deeds! But contrast our condition with His kindness and love. See what God did about our condition! "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy." God is just, but he is also merciful. He saw His children helpless, scattered, hellbound with no brakes and no way to turn around, and He had mercy on us. Jesus' came into this world the way He did to save us. What a gift!
But what good would it have been if you received a Christmas present, but couldn't open it? That would hardly be a present! Jesus is our Christmas gift, and this Epiphany season we get to tear off the wrapping. In our Gospel lesson, we heard the Father declare Jesus to be his one and only Son, and so we know that he is the perfect substitute sent for us by God's mercy. As we make our way through the season toward Lent, we will see Jesus' anguish in our place; we will see our debt of sins paid and our forgiveness won and given, and Easter will bring the full assurance and clarity of Jesus' empty tomb.
Paul talks about God's kindness and love, shown when Jesus appeared in this world — and certainly Jesus' appearance at his baptism is a part of that. Then Paul shows us the blessings we have through our own baptisms. "[God] saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior." Baptism is a watershed event in our lives where God richly poured out his blessings upon us.
Paul connects "the washing of rebirth" with "renewal by the Holy Spirit." The waters of baptism are connected to the Word of God which brings us new spiritual life and connects us to the kindness and love shown to us by Jesus' life and death. And the Holy Spirit, who was at work during Jesus' baptism, is also at work in our baptism, but in a different way. At our baptism, the Holy Spirit worked inside of us, bestowing, granting faith and placing it into our hearts. And the Spirit strengthens that faith so that we may wholeheartedly live for Him who gave Himself for us all.
Baptism is no sign of obedience to God's promise. It's not an initiation rite, or a promise to be good. Listen to what Paul says. Your baptism was and is a singular act of God in your life that has ongoing daily significance. Think of it this way: A wedding ring is a special gift from one's spouse, a one-time gift that signifies the ongoing promise of love and faithfulness. Baptism is like that ring. Our baptism is a special one-time gift of God that communicates and delivers the promise that Christ has washed away our sins in his blood, that we adopted into his family, and that He will stand by us every day of our lives.
In many churches, there is a candle by the font, called the paschal candle. And it is lit for a baptism and for Easter. It is a symbol of the Light of God breaking forth from the tomb. The lighting of that candle is a symbol meant to remind everyone of the unseen thing that is actually taking place at a baptism. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, we who are connected to Jesus by baptism will also rise again.
That candle might be tradition, but the message that was supposed to go with it is the real and comforting Scriptural truth about baptism. "Having been justified by [God's] grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." At your baptism, God declared you not guilty in his eyes by reason of Christ's life and death. And there He also gave you the keys to heaven, so that your life does not end in the tomb. We are looking forward to the inheritance that we receive not when someone else dies, but when we die; that's the moment we receive our heavenly, eternal inheritance.
This is our hope, but we don't mean the same thing that the world means. "Hope" is no uncertain thing for us. Christian hope is not a fingers-crossed hope. You have certainty because of what Jesus did, because of what the Father Himself has declared and because the Spirit of God rests upon you. What greater certainty could we have? What greater certainty, what greater kindness and love could we have than the washing from sin that God gave each one of us in Holy Baptism! What greater certainty, what greater kindness and love could we have than the rock-solid promises of God which point us forward to heaven!
When I was going through a particularly busy and stressful time a couple years ago, my wife wrote me a little encouraging card. That card is worthless to anyone else, but to me it means something special. Likewise the words of God and waters of baptism might not seem like to those who do not know God, but to you, dear Christian, you hear His kindness and love. You have been washed with it. And because of that, remember that He desires to extend His kindness and love over all the sons and daughters of Adam. Don't tell people about all the earthly things we have here at Our Saviour. Instead be joyful witnesses of His real kindness and love. Amen.