12/29/24 Praise Service

AS WE GATHER “Did you already forget Christmas? The department stores have begun selling the leftovers for a discount because “Christmas is over.” For the same reason, formerly decorated Christmas trees already line the streets as refuse for disposal. Even though Christmas songs speak joyously of “the twelve days of Christmas,” many, if not most, people seem to think of them as a countdown rather than an extended celebration. Remember? Today, December 29, is but the fifth day of the twelve! We are not done yet. Or did you forget?

To “forget” is the opposite of the biblical word we hear today: “remember.” But in Scripture, to remember means much more than merely recalling a past event as something that has no real, lasting effect on today; rather, the opposite is true. For instance, God remembers His promises by acting to fulfill them in each believer. For us, to remember means to bring a past promise or act to take effect in the present. Today we hear how the newborn Jesus, as the firstborn of Mary, was presented in the temple according to God’s law, a command to remember the Lord’s deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt. Every firstborn was to be a reminder that the Lord still delivers His people from the slavery of sin and death. So to remember that it is still Christmas is to believe that the Christ Child who came to free us comes now to each believer. Remember, that is, believe that Christ was born for you to save you. Remember, that is, believe that the forgiveness He won for us on the cross is actually given to us in the Sacrament of the Altar when, as He commanded, we do in remembrance of Him.