Jesus Saves: Fourth Sunday of Advent

Most of my books are evangelistic, addressed to [those outside the faith].
~ C.S. Lewis, from "Rejoinder to Dr. Pittenger," God in the Dock, p181

The world is grateful for the writings of C.S. Lewis. His novels, his writings on the Christian faith, his memoirs of falling in love, of marriage, and of grief over the death of his beloved wife - these all are a true gift to humanity. For Lewis, he intended for his words to point to the Good News of Jesus.

He believed that through Jesus we could receive forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness from God was a crucial gift - it both inspired us and enabled us to forgive those who sin against us. Lewis wrote that we might better grasp the good news of the life and teachings of Jesus for our modern life. We are a better world for it.

Lewis wrote about much more than the role of forgiveness in our world and with God. But his focus on Jesus as Savior of the world is a pertinent one for our Advent series. Jesus' name means: God saves. God saves us from our own sins, from the sins of others, from the sins of the world.

God saves us to Himself, to a new kind of relationship with Himself, a restored relationship with others, a renewed relationship with the world. That's what we believe when we remember that Jesus saves - it's from sin and all that it entails, and it's to God and all that it entails.

Most people don't believe in Jesus. This is why Lewis felt compelled to make so many of his writings evangelistic. The word evangelistic means: Good News - the good news about the work of God in the world through Jesus to save us from our sins and to a new relationship with God and each other and the world. Most people don't actively reject believing in Jesus, its more of a passive rejection. And it usually stems from to many of the Christians that they know who don't ever really ever say or do anything that flows out of this Good News.

This Christmas, as you consider the year you're wrapping up, and as you consider the year ahead, consider the ways Jesus could be a gift to you. Do you need help in forgiving those who have sinned against you? Do you hang on to the bitterness, the wounds, the fear that comes from being abused, neglected, and sinned against? May this Christmas present you with a new opportunity: to have your sins forgiven in a new way. Not only have your own sins forgiven, but to give you the courage and strength to forgive those who have sinned against you.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given...
And he will be called Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

The Good News includes the gift of freedom: freedom to let go of the past, freedom to embrace a new future with a God who cares deeply about you and wants to use you to bless the world, in the name of Jesus.