Today's Devotion

Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – December 9, 2025 - 1 John 3:1-24

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

John spoke of himself as the disciple “whom Jesus loved.” St. John will write in the very next chapter of this letter: “God is love.” “Love” is a big theme of John. And John speaks to us as “children,” and often as “little children.” In the world, this would be an insult. To be called “childish” is not a compliment, except in the church, as when our Lord Himself instructed us: “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3), and “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 19:14). For there are many kinds of love: between friends, between relatives, between spouses, even love for one’s country – but the love between parents and children is unique. Parents will give up anything – including life itself – for their children. And this is how God relates to us. Jesus is the Son of God the Father, and our Lord taught all of us to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven” (Matt 6:9).

Parents love their children by sacrificing themselves for their children: their time, their work, their lives – and a big part of raising children is teaching them. And our Father in Heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ, and our father in Christ, St. John, all teach us how to live the Christian life. Christians are children to be taught, and we are children whom God loves. In fact, God’s love is shown for us in that He came to our broken world to rescue us. And He came as a child Himself.

In the Gospels, godly people bring their children to Jesus so that He might bless them, teach them, and love them. And we too should have such love for children. But, dear friends, no matter how old we are, “beloved, we are God’s children now.” And we need to listen when our Teacher speaks – whether He is speaking Himself, or speaking through the prophets and apostles. For children can be deceived – and it is our responsibility to protect them by making sure they know the truth. And this is true for all of us who are God’s children. “Little children,” says the beloved apostle, “let no one deceive you.” For it is important that we understand that forgiveness is not permission to continue in sin. For “no one who abides in Him keeps on sinning.” For when we children are brought to Holy Baptism, we are re-born of the Spirit. We are called to a new life. Instead of making it a practice to sin, we are called to “practice righteousness,” even if imperfectly, as children, learning how to do things with our limited abilities.

Think of how glorious it is, dear friends, to be beloved children of God! God created us. God loves us and does not abandon us in our sin. For the Father’s love is unconditional, even giving up His Son for us. And the Son loves us – and loves the Father – so as to be willing to be sacrificed, like His ancestor Isaac, who allowed his father to offer him up on the altar, only to be provided a substitute: a ram with his head caught in thorns.

In our case, the Substitute is none other than the Son of God, God the Son, the Son of Man, the Christ, the one who teaches us to pray to “our Father,” the one who bids the children to come to Him, the one who sent John, the apostles, and their successors make disciples by baptizing and teaching, the one whose birth as a child we are preparing to celebrate, whose death on the cross is what makes us God’s children, and whose resurrection from the dead fills us with childlike joy. And we continue to be the students of God, disciples of Jesus, who teaches us, as John the beloved disciple recorded in his Gospel: “Love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Indeed, “see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.