Where Can We Show Christ’s Love Like Saint Nicholas?
Sunday’s Verse:
From 1 John 4:19 ESV
“We love because he first loved us.”
On Saturday, the Church remembered Saint Nicholas, pastor and bishop from the fourth century. Saint Nicholas of Myra (modern-day Turkey) was a 4th-century Christian bishop, but we do have glimpses of a man with firm faith and generous love, who lived as Christ shaped him.
And yes, this is the historical man we patterned as "Santa Claus.”
We know very little about his life. But the little that we have is clear and compelling. He was a man who took the Gospel seriously, who cared for the poor and the needy, who protected the vulnerable, who stood for the truth of Christ’s divinity at a time when the Church was torn with conflict. Nicholas was a man who lived in accordance with what the Apostle John says: “We love because he first loved us.” He did not clothe the poor in ragged garments so as to earn anything from God. He did it from grace. In Christ, Nicholas had already received everything. Therefore, he gave.
As Lutherans, we do not pray to the saints, and we do not put our hope in them. But we thank God for their example, because their lives point us back to Jesus. Saint Nicholas reminds us that the mercy we receive in Christ does not sit idle within us. It moves. It acts. It serves.
His witness is before us today, a quiet reminder that asks a simple question: Where can we show Christ’s love with the same courage? Who needs our generosity, our protection, our steady confession of the truth?
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus Christ, you filled your servant Nicholas with faith and compassion. Grant to us the same trust in your grace, the same readiness to serve our neighbors. Keep us bold in confessing your name and gentle in showing your love. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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