Dear Christian friends:

During these Sundays before Christmas our lessons admonish us to prepare. The Gospel lesson tells of John the Baptist whom God sent to prepare men's hearts for Jesus Christ. Again this Christmas Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior of the world comes to us. But if He is to come into our hearts we must prepare our hearts for Him.

This means that we must be honest with ourselves and with God.


Anyone who is not honest cannot accept Jesus Christ. Our text says God judges the secrets of men. So to help us prepare for Christmas let us consider. It is easy for anyone to tell a lie to an earthly judge. Children often lie to mother and father and fool them. Church members sometimes lie to their pastor and fool their pastor. Or people lie to their boss about sickness and work and often fool their boss. So often people think they can fool God. They think that God is like a man. They join a church and go to church but do not really believe in Jesus Christ and love Him in their hearts. They join a church for various false reasons.

Some come because they want others to honor and respect them. All the important and respectable people in town belong to the church so they want to join to win respectability. Some join the church for social reasons. They don't come except when we have a dinner or social. Some join because their friends join. If their friend quits, they quit also, copy cats.

One day a mother asked her son, "Did you go to church today?" He answered, "Yes", Mother, "Why?" He said, "All the young people go." One time out west a deaf lady said, "My husband and I go to church because we feel sorry for Rev. Hauptman." So we see many people go to church because of false reasons.

They act like they love and pray and worship God but really in their heart they don't care for God. They say the pastor doesn't know; other members don't know; God doesn't know." They are wrong God does know. Paul says in verse 16, that on the judgement day God will judge the secrets of men.

Your secret thoughts and desires God sees and knows. Your secret sins and your lust and hate and secret anger and displeasure against God and others He sees and knows. You may smile with your face but God sees the hate in your heart. You may be nice and shake hands with someone, but God sees the dagger in your heart.

Don't try to fool God, you only fool yourself. Don't act self-righteous and holy. You are not. Come before Him with a honest heart and confess all your sins. If you are not honest and confess the Babe of Bethlehem cannot come into your heart, and you will continue in darkness and sin and bad conscience. Finally, God will show and judge the secrets of your heart and you will have no argument and no excuse and you will be lost. (Romans 2:16)

Turn to God today, ten days before Christmas. Stop lying to yourself and to God. Be honest as the Bible says, "Let God be true and every man a liar." (Romans 3:4) Jesus told the self-righteous Jews, "Your father is the devil, not Abraham, the devil is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44)

So be honest. Confess your sins to God and make no excuse. Then you will see and know why God gave His Son as a Babe that first Christmas to live and die and rise again for your forgiveness.

If we are honest and confess we will more and more see our need for Jesus Christ to come in flesh and blood. Jesus said, "They that are well need not a doctor but they that are sick, I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:31-32) And Paul says, "Here is a true saying: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief." (1 Timothy 1:15)

Honest people see and confess their sins and then also see and believe the Gospel and are very happy in Jesus. And if they honestly confess their sins they will also try to stop that sinning. If you confess that reading dirty books is sin and ask God's forgiveness in Christ then you will also fight against dirty books. If you confess that you have been cheating and stealing from the government on your income taxes, they you will stop stealing. (Note Zacchaeus)

If you confess that you have been robbing God by not giving tithes and offerings and ask God's forgiveness then you will also try to change your life and do the works of repentance and faith. And in your fight of faith against sin you will more and more pleasure in and joy in Jesus Christ and stay close to Him by His Word and Sacrament so that you will have power to fight the good fight of faith.

With such honest confession and faith each Christmas will be more and more precious to you as you knell in humble faith with the shepherds and the wise men. Seeing the great love of God's forgiveness. How do you enjoy Christmas? More or less? Be honest and you enjoy it more each year!

Amen.