Sermons for the Third and Fourth Sundays of Easter

We are blessed with guest preachers for the next two Sundays! Rev. Dr. Carl Beckwith of Concordia Theological Seminary for the Third Sunday of Easter, who is with us as the speaker for our Good Shepherd Seminar, and Chaplain Jonathan Lorenz for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, filling in while Pastor Douthwaite is on vacation. If you'd like to listen to their preachment, click here to go to our YouTube channel and watch the livestream recordings.

The Congregation at Prayer devotional pages for the next two weeks have been posted below. Scroll down for those. 

Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Peace Be With You”

Text: John 20:19-31; Revelation 1:4-18

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] Alleluia.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

In School Chapel on Thursday morning, I told the kids that - being completely honest - that if I was Thomas, and my friends came up to me three days after I had just seen my friend and the man I had been a disciple of for the past three years die on a cross and then be laid in a tomb, and they came and told me He was alive, I wouldn’t have believed it either! I probably would have said the same things Thomas said. Yeah, right! Alive? Bring Him to me, let me see Him - then I’ll believe. Because that kind of thing just doesn’t happen.

Except Jesus had said it would. 

Jesus had told these disciples a number of times that He would be crucified and then be raised. He told them just before He was arrested that He was going away for a little while, and then after a little while would come back. So this shouldn’t have been a complete surprise to them. AND, they had seen Jesus raise three people from death before this - the young daughter of a man named Jairus, the son of a widow from the city of Nain, and his friend Lazarus. 

But I get it. It’s one thing when it happens to others. It’s one thing to raise others from death. But the dead don’t raise themselves. When YOU die . . . I mean, you’re dead! What can you do then? So alive now? Yeah, it’s hard to believe. This isn’t normal. This just doesn’t happen in our world. There is life, and there is death. And when you die, you die. That’s normal.

Except death isn’t normal. This isn’t how it was supposed to be. When God created the world, there wasn’t life and death - there was only life! Good life. Abundant life. Perfect life. It’s only when Adam and Eve sinned and plunged themselves and the world into sin that death came into the world. So this is exactly what Jesus had come to fix. He came to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). So if death came into the world because of sin, if you take away sin, you take care of death. And that’s exactly what happened on Easter.

That’s why when Jesus came to His disciples that first Easter night - their bodies locked in that room for fear of the Jews, and their hearts and consciences locked up in guilt and shame - the first thing He did was say, Peace be with you. Which wasn’t just a greeting, like saying hello. They were words which gave what they said. Peace. Shalom. Which means, everything is alright. In the midst of this time when everything was not alright, everything is alright. Don’t be ashamed, don’t be consumed with guilt. I’m here for you. With forgiveness and life. And when He had said this, John tells us . . . only after that did Jesus show them His hands and His side. Then He showed them His resurrection. Forgiveness first. Then the resurrection.

And then Jesus sends them to do . . . what? Forgive. Isn’t it interesting that He doesn’t tell them to go tell everyone that He is risen and alive? They will. But first and foremost, He sends them to forgive. Because this is what we all need! First and foremost. Forgiveness.

So I wonder . . . maybe that’s what they forgot to do? When Jesus came to the disciples He forgave them and then showed them His hands and side. But when the disciples went to tell their friend, Thomas, we don’t read of peace, shalom, and forgiveness. It seems like they forgot that. They went right to: He’s alive! He’s alive! And I wonder if that’s why Thomas said what he said. If his sins and guilt and shame were getting in the way. Because what he really needed is what the others needed: forgiveness.

So when Jesus came to them again, eight days later, on the next Sunday, He did it right. The same as He did the first time. First, peace be with you. First, shalom and forgiveness. Then, the resurrection. Look Thomas. Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.

You see, the order is important. For if Jesus didn’t forgive us, how would we know His rising from the dead was good news? And, in fact, I assert, not only would we not know, with our sin and shame and guilty consciences, we would assume it’s not! Like . . .

. . .  when the Pastor wants to come over to your house and talk to you. Uh oh! Bad news! What have I done? Or what does he want me to do?

. . . or when the boss comes up to you and says, we need to talk. Uh oh! Bad news! He knows I screwed up! He knows I’ve been taking too long for lunch. My project is behind schedule.

. . . or when the doctor come into the room after a test and says, Well . . . Uh oh! Bad news! I’m going to die! 

So, Jesus is back? Oh man, He must be so disappointed with us. He’s going to scold us or fire us as disciples. Three years and this is what He got? Peter, you didn’t sell your boat, did you? I think we’re going to need that again . . .

But what if . . .

. . . your boss first tells you your doing such a good job. We need to get you a bigger office or cubicle, or one with a window. Come, let’s talk!

. . . or if your doctor first says, Everything looks good! Here’s what we found out . . . 

. . . of if the Pastor first says how glad he is that you’re here and a member of the church, and he just wants to come over to find out how we can better help you and serve you.

That would be a little different, wouldn’t it?

So Jesus first says, Peace be with you. Shalom. Well-being. Everything is good. I’m not here to scold or punish, to reject or fire you. I’m here to forgive and raise YOU to life again, too! Just as I am. I can do that. For look, I’m risen from the dead. I took care of that for you, your sin and death. Look at you, locked in this room like it’s a tomb! Go! You’re free! I took care of everything. This is good news.

And they did. They left that room with that great burden of guilt off their shoulders, with that great millstone of shame removed from their necks. And the next week, Thomas did, too.

And that’s why Jesus then said, Have you believed because you have seen me? That is, do you think that’s what happened here, Thomas? No. Blessed comes from My Word. Blessed comes with forgiveness and peace. The reality is, Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. And so blessed were the ten in that locked room, who heard, and then Thomas, who heard, and now you and me, who hear. You and me who hear Jesus’ Word of forgiveness and peace every time we gather here. 

(1.) First and foremost, we hear that we are forgiven. That because Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for us, for His sake He forgives us all our sins. And just as He sent those disciples out from that locked room to forgive, so He has put a called and ordained servant here to speak this word of forgiveness. I forgive you all your sins. The Pastor’s voice, Jesus’ words and forgiveness. And you have peace. Shalom.

(2.) Then in peace, we pray for peace. For others. In peace, let us pray to the Lord. . . . For the peace from above . . . for the peace of the whole world . . . We’re not just praying that we would all get along. We’re praying for forgiveness and new life for all people. Peace with God. That kind of peace. Shalom.

(3.) Then we sing of the one whose blood set us free - free from being locked up in sin and guilt and shame - set us free to be people of God. 

(4.) Then we hear again how Jesus did that, in His Word and in the sermon. And we repeat that - we confess it, we same the same thing - in the words of the Creed.

(5.) And then our risen Lord comes to us in this room His Body and Blood. Thomas and the others may have gotten to touch His hands and side, but we get to do one better! We get to eat His Body and drink His Blood. And after we do, you depart from the altar with these words: Depart in peace. In Shalom. 

(6.) Then we pray in thanksgiving that our heavenly Father has given us pardon and peace in this Sacrament. And finally in the Benediction, we hear it again, in the very last words of the service: The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.

From first to last, we hear word after word after word of peace. Peace for troubled consciences. Forgiveness for our sin. Healing of our guilt and shame. And we are blessed, though we have not seen. 

But one day we will. When Jesus comes back again, for us, on the Last Day, in glory. John gave us a glimpse of that in the reading we heard from Revelation. And do you remember how Jesus was described there? A long robe with a golden sash. The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. Even whiter than mine! His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet like burnished bronze, and his voice like the roar of many water. From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. Yikes! Right? No wonder when John saw him, he fell at his feet as though dead. 

But then that voice again! Fear not. This is the one who gives peace. Shalom. Forgiveness. Life. Hope. This is the Jesus of the cross, risen from the dead, glorified. And if we didn’t know better, we should be afraid! He’s terrifying! But we do know better. For He has told us, over and over and over again, word after word after word of peace. He is not against us, but for us. He is coming to take us home, to a kingdom which has no cross, no death, no end.

And that’s our joy this Easter season, and even beyond that. The joy of forgiveness, peace, and new life in our risen Saviour. Joy that we now get to share. For sin and guilt and shame is not just epidemic, its a pandemic! (Sorry to bring back bad memories with that word!) But it’s true! But we have the cure, the solution, in Jesus. Peace be with you. Whatever you’ve done, whoever you are, Jesus is for you. 

That’s the message Jesus sent His disciples out into the world with, and now the message He has sent the church out into the world with, and the message WE go out into the world with, and to our families with, and to our friends with, and even to our enemies with, when we walk out those doors today. That in this messed up world, this sinful world, this gone mad world, this everything is not okay world, there is one place everything is okay again. In Jesus. In Him we have peace. In Him we have life. 

For Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

Sermon for the Resurrection of Our Lord

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Jesu Juva

“Proclaiming the Good News”

Text: Luke 24:1-12; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26; Isaiah 65:17-25

 

(Note: Our Lenten midweek meditations this year have been hearing the story of Jesus’ Passion and all that happened from the perspective of an angel. Tonight’s meditation is the last installment of that series. So, listen once more to the angel describe what happened that Sunday morning . . .)

Alleluia! Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] Alleluia.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

I wish you humans could see as we angels see. I daresay you wouldn’t panic and worry and fear as much as you usually do. Oh, not that the sin and evil and trouble in the world doesn’t hurt - it does. And not that the traitor, my evil former brother, the devil, isn’t dangerous - he most certainly is. But our Father is greater than all that! And He is working all things for your good! Even if you can’t see it. We can. And what happened these three days proves it. For if our Father can bring good even from the cross and the death of His Son, then there’s nothing He can’t bring good from! 

What in your life is worse than that? Than the cross? If you think there is, that’s a pretty audacious claim! Someone sinned against you, hurt you? Well, Jesus took all those sin upon Himself - so that’s like infinity on Jesus and one, or a few, on you. Now, I’m not belittling sin or the hurt it’s causing you, or even death and the fear it’s causing you - not at all! Watching you go through it hurts our Father as well. This is not what He wants for you! You parents know that. When your child is hurting or scared, you want to help them. How much more your perfect heavenly Father! No, I mean only to direct your eyes off of yourself and what’s happening to you, so that you plant them firmly on Jesus. For when you look at yourself and the sin and hurt and pain, you magnify it. And when you look at Jesus and His forgiveness and healing and joy, you magnify those. And that’s better.

And that’s what happened that Sunday morning. The women - bless their hearts! - went to the tomb looking for death. And since that’s what they were looking at, that’s what filled their minds - the horrible images of blood and death - they were filled with sadness and dread. So as they approached the tomb - and I saw them! I was there! I was one of the angels who came down and rolled the stone away from the tomb so they could see it was empty. You know, we didn’t do that to let Jesus out! Oh, how I laugh when I hear some people say that! Like Jesus needed us to help Him rise from the dead! No, He was risen already when we rolled the stone away and waited for the women. 

But we didn’t let them see us at first. That’s what our Father told us to do - and we always do exactly what our Father tells us to do! But we were watching . . . 

So, anyway, when they got close to the tomb they saw the stone had been moved. And then they saw that Jesus’ body wasn’t there. And they were perplexed, confused, dumbfounded, speechless, paralyzed . . . and that’s when our Father allowed us to appear to them, looking like two men in dazzling apparel. We frightened them - we didn’t mean to! That’s why we appeared as men, not in our full-out angelic battle gear! But still, I think you can understand their reaction as they fell down with their faces to the ground before us . . .

And that’s when we got to tell them the good news! 

Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.

Now Jesus had taught that a number of times. But it didn’t sink in. They didn’t want to believed that He would be crucified, and they couldn’t believe He would rise. But as we told them - and you see what we did there? We directed them off themselves and the pain and the trouble and the sadness and the death to the Word of God! And when we did . . . we could see them remembering . . . and we could see them beginning to realize . . . we could see the Holy Spirit working faith in their hearts through this Word of God we spoke, just as He did to Mary when Jesus was conceived in her . . . 

So with that, they ran back to the others, to the eleven, to tell them. Next thing I know, here’s comes Peter sprinting down the path towards us (though he couldn’t see us), and he poked his head into the tomb and saw the linen cloths by themselves - no body in them anymore! And he marveled. He believed but he didn’t believe . . . he thought but he didn’t think . . . he wondered, he remembered, he hoped . . . 

I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him and tell him what happened and that it was all true! But that’s wasn’t for me to do. Our Father had another plan. Jesus Himself would do that for Peter and the others, Sunday evening. You’re going to hear that story next week!

But while I couldn’t tell Peter, I can tell you! It’s all true! Jesus dead, Jesus buried, Jesus risen and alive! And I know you know that. That’s why you’re here. But maybe, still, you’re like the women, and like Peter . . . confused, afraid, a mixed-up jumble of belief and unbelief, your heart saying one thing and your mind another. Your heart, your faith, telling you to be one way, but your sinful nature pulling you in another. Your faith telling you one thing, but so much of what you see in the world and in your life making you wonder and doubt. Wars and hate and division, cultural chaos, emptying churches, fractured families and marriages, things seeming to always be going in the wrong direction . . . And you see it so much, that’s what you’ve come to expect. You expect sin, not forgiveness. Hurt, not healing. Disappointment, not fulfillment. Evil, not good. Death, not life.

But that’s what makes today so great! Because it is completely different that the expected! Here’s is everything you need, accomplished by Jesus for you. And as I said before, if Jesus can bring and work good from cross and death and the grave, He can bring and work good in your life as well. Whatever it is you’re going through. Even though you look and see no hope, remember what brought the women and Peter hope - not seeing, but God’s Word! The Word of God that I got to speak to them! That Jesus had fulfilled all the words and promises of God for you. That not only He lives, that not only He rose to life, but that you do, too. 

And that’s what the apostle Paul was talking about when he wrote to the Christians in Corinth - words that I heard read to you this morning. When he said, If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. Now, there’s a little word in that sentence that is really important. Do you know what it is? The word only. You see, some people just want their religion to make their life better and easier now. But Paul says (basically), that stinks! What good is that? Because how long are you going to live here and now? 70, 80, 90 years? And then what? If that’s true, well that’s just like fattening up the sheep for the wolf! 

But that’s not what Jesus is about. Jesus is about life that is eternal. About life risen from the dead. If your faith is only about here and now, he says you are to be pitied! There’s so much more than that. And Jesus has more for you.

But that doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t care about your life here and now. He certainly does! But here’s the thing: remember that earlier I told you that when you look at yourself and the sin and hurt and pain, you magnify it? And when you look at Jesus and His forgiveness and healing and joy, you magnify those? Well, that’s what’s going on here! Paul says don’t fixate on the here and now - fix your eyes on Jesus. For eyes focused on the victory help you live now in the struggle. 

Because as hard as things might be now, you know the end of the story. You know how it will all turn out. Oh, I know, sometimes you forget. Sometimes your eyes are blinded, like the women and Peter and the others. My evil former brother does that. Distracts you, blinds you, confuses you . . . keeps pointing our shiny evil objects and hurts . . . See? I’m winning! See? God doesn’t care! See? You’er going down! 

But that’s why Easter - and all Sundays - are so important! Every week, they re-focus your eyes on Jesus and the victory. And that’s why we come - me and my brother angels - to be with you every Sunday. Did you know that? We do, because Jesus does! And wherever Jesus is, we are. You just can’t see us, like the women on that Easter morning. But one day, you will. One day, when Jesus comes back - not from the dead, but in glory - you’ll see us! Oh, that’ll be a day even greater than that first Easter! Because on that day, ALL the dead will be raised, and all sin, death, and evil done. Only Jesus, only good, only joy, all the time! 

So here’s an idea: on that first Easter, after the women told Peter and the others that Jesus wasn’t in the tomb but had risen from the dead, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to see for himself. Be like that - every Sunday! Jump up and run to church - not to see an empty tomb, but to be with your risen Saviour, who is here for you! Here speaking words of forgiveness and life to you. Here feeding you with His Body and Blood. Here giving you life and hope again. Life and hope to sustain you another week in this difficult world, and under the assaults of my evil former brother, until that day Isaiah talked about, when Jesus comes again and there will be a new heavens and a new earth, and a whole new you, risen from the dead and glorified with Jesus. That’ll be a great day, don’t you think?

But so is today! Don’t let the challenges and disappointments of life get you down. You have life in Christ. The victory is yours! That’s what this day is all about. And because of this day, everyday. That Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Homily for Easter Vigil

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Our Ancestry.com”

 

Ancestry.com has become quite a popular website today. People go there to find out not only their genealogy, but with that, who they are, where they come from, and their story. Because your story is important.

Our country has its stories. The stories of the Mayflower, the Revolutionary War, the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Manifest Destiny, and many more. These stories tell us who we are and how we got here as a nation.

Your family has its stories. Maybe your ancestors were immigrants and you know the story of how they got here. You have stories of triumphs and tragedies, joys and hardships. These make you who you are as a family.

Tonight, we hear our story as Christians. The stories we hear tonight aren’t just someone else’s story, that happened a long, long time ago. These are the stories of who YOU are and where YOU come from. These are stories that shape us, and even more importantly, bind us together as Christians. The Church is very diverse, and rightly so. But we also have much in common. 

And it is more important than ever that we hear these stories each year. So we don’t forget them and lose them, AND because it has become fashionable these days to make up your own story. To identify yourself in whatever way you see fit. This might mean cutting yourself off from your past, your history. Or it might mean appropriating a new identity as your own. When that is done, the past is no longer the rock from which we are hewn, but the clay we shape into whatever we want it to be.

But that is not the way of it with God or Scripture. We have a story, and we have an identity. This is who we are, and it is good.

Our story goes all the way back to the beginning. The genealogies in the Bible might be hard to read through, but they connect us to those who have gone before us. And the stories we read in the Bible and the people we read about not only teach us about them, but about ourselves. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Israel, Ezekiel, Jonah, and the Three Young Men - all live on in us. This is where we have come from. This is who we are.

But there’s one more story that tells us who we are and from where we have come - the most important story of all: of Jesus. When we are baptized into Him, His story becomes our story. We die are rise with Him to a new life. We ascend with Him. We are sons of God in Him. That is our identity: we are the baptized children of God. 

That’s why a part of the service tonight is a remembrance of Baptism. For it is our baptism that has grafted us into Christ and into this story. When we renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways, we are renouncing not only him, but also any other identity, HE tries to convince us of,  or even who we might make ourselves to be. NO! My identity is not here or from him or in what I do - I am a baptized child of God. 

So when we go back and read through the stories of the Scriptures - and yes, some of them are long! - this is our spiritual ancestry.com. This is our spiritual genealogical research. This is the rock from which we are hewn. The Rock that is Christ and all that He has done for us. And as that Rock fed His people manna and gave them drink in the wilderness, so He will give us the food and drink of the New Testament tonight. And our story will continue. A story to pass down to our children, and their children. A story that is important to know. This is who we are. 

Let us hear again, remember, rejoice, and give thanks.