"Lighting the Fire"
Jotting – Week 43

Celebrate!

The sixth mission response to the Ablaze! movement for The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod World Mission Purpose reads: “Celebrate!” “Celebrate God's plan of salvation for all peoples and how He is using His baptized children in mission! Rejoice, as all the angels in heaven do, when even one person repents of his or her sin and receives Jesus as his or her personal Lord and Savior!”

Celebrate with Repentance

It may seem odd to connect celebration with repentance, but when the Lord instituted the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, for His people (Leviticus 23:26-32), He said, “It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath" (v. 32).

For Jews today, this celebration is solemn business. God declared it to be a day of repentance, of fasting so all the concentration could be on the needs of cleansing from sin, not on the needs of the body. No work of any kind is done on that day, nothing is to distract from the chastening of the soul.

According to “Judaism 101 (http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.htm): “Most of the holiday is spent in the synagogue, in prayer. In Orthodox synagogues, services begin early in the morning (8 or 9 AM) and continue until about 3 PM. People then usually go home for an afternoon nap and return around 5 or 6 PM for the afternoon and evening services, which continue until nightfall.” This same source states that “It is customary to wear white on the holiday, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as white as snow (Is. 1:18).”

The Day of Atonement was not the only time an atonement was made for sin. Animal sacrifices were made as a matter of course for many situations in which the Law of God had been broken. Christians no longer make those bloody sacrifices, for we know that Jesus Christ, who has already made our sins “white as snow”–has indeed washed them away and left us clean and acceptable to God, did so by the sacrifice He made of His own body and life’s blood on Calvary.

Christians do not set aside the Day of Atonement for reflection and repentance. In Baptism, by the power of the Holy Spirit, our sin has been washed away and we are made “at-one-ment” again with God, made new in the image of Jesus: “Even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21).

People who come to faith through the power of the Word and the Spirit before they are baptized come with a load of sin, which needs to be washed away by the blood, not of a lamb or other sacrifice, but of the Lamb of God. Repentance, a sorrow over sin and turning from ways contrary to God’s will, is a necessary step as the Holy Spirit convicts a soul of its sinful condition: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:38). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are gifted with faith–faith that believes in Jesus as our Savior.

And it could be that all Christians–life-long Christians, Christians who have been so for many years, and brand-new Christians–ought to set aside a day at regular intervals to contemplate on our sins, to fast for the sins of the nation, to concentrate on God’s great mercy bestowed on us through the holy blood of Jesus. When we are convicted again of our own unworthiness, we are also convinced anew of God’s grace and mercy to us. We rediscover the joy of having the burden of sin lifted from us and removed “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).

Perhaps before we begin talking to others about the Lord, we need to spend time with Him ourselves–in prayer, in contemplation, in remembering His love and mercy through Jesus. Celebrate the fact that with the Lord there is “plenteous redemption” (Psalm 130:7), there is cleansing, there is forgiveness. Then tell someone else who needs to hear it and celebrate when that person is convicted of sin and repents, willing by the power of the Holy Spirit, to declare Jesus Lord of his or her life.

Pray: Most Holy God, we come to you in contrition and sorrow for the sins we have done, for thoughts that were not godly, for words that hurt, for actions that were not kind, for those words and deeds You would have had us do that we ignored or said no to doing. Forgive us, for the sake of Jesus, our Savior. We confess to You as well, Holy Father, the sins of this nation, which has fallen far from You and from what You desire us to be and do. Turn us, O God, turn us as a people back to You that we might glorify You in all areas of our life, as individuals, as a church, and as a nation. We know, Father, that there is redemption with You. Thank You. Thank You. And by Your Spirit, empower us to tell that good news to those who need to hear it. In the precious name of Jesus. Amen.