A Little Sorrow, A Lot of Joy

 John 16:16-23

"A little while, and you will no longer behold Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me."  Some of His disciples therefore said to one another, "What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not behold Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, ‘because I go to the Father'?"  And so they were saying, "What is this that He says, ‘A little while'? We do not know what He is talking about."

Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, "Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not behold Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'?  Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy.  Whenever a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she remembers the anguish no more, for joy that a child has been born into the world.  Therefore you too now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you.  And in that day you will ask Me no question."

Sermon for Jubilate Sunday                4/25/21

A Little Sorrow, A Lot of Joy

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

This morning is I want to begin by reminding all of you who have been parents of the reality of parenting.  Parenting bears a certain similarity to our theme, this morning: a little sorrow, and a lot of joy.  Children can be a challenge, and heartbreak, and an opportunity for unneeded and unwanted worry.  But I have met remarkably few parents who would trade their children to avoid or eliminate the little bit of sorrow that their children occasion.  Children can bring us a little sorrow, but they also bring us a whole lot of joy!

I can remember the early years myself.  When I was a young father, and working two jobs to support my family – full-time in the Air Force and full-time at any of a host of different jobs I held, I would often wonder why I bothered working sixteen hours a day – until my son would run across the room when I got home at night hollering "Daddy!" and wanting to be held, and thinking I was just the greatest guy alive.  Then I would remember.  It was the little sorrow and a lot of joy kind of thing.

Our text holds just such a thing before our eyes this morning.  For the Disciples, the little sorrow was seeing Jesus die.  The lot of joy was seeing Him alive again.  That was then.  Later, it became something else for them, as it is something else for us.  Let us consider the words of Jesus in our Gospel lesson this morning and measure a little sorrow, a lot of joy.

Jesus didn't always make sense to those who were listening.  He always made sense, but those listening didn't always hear it.  Our text is such a case.  Jesus said, "A little while, and you will no longer behold Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me."  Of course, the Disciples weren't tracking very well that day.  They give us hope.  We don't always follow what God is telling us, or understand what He is doing with us, and on this day the Disciples didn't understand too well or too consistently either, until God made it clear to them by special enlightening after Jesus rose from the dead.  So, our text says, Some of His Disciples therefore said to one another, "What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not behold Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, ‘because I go to the Father'?"  And so they were saying, "What is this that He says, ‘A little while'? We do not know what He is talking about."

Jesus was speaking to them about His approaching crucifixion and His subsequent resurrection.  They were not ready to hear about the approaching crucifixion so they were not going to understand what Jesus was saying.  That's okay, of course.  Jesus used the same principle with His Disciples that we use in Catechetical Instruction leading to Confirmation.  He taught them the stuff now, and figured that it would make more sense later, when they were ready and the circumstances were right.  We make our adolescent students memorize facts and doctrines and Bible passages now, and we know that they will spend an entire lifetime saying, "OH!!  So that's what that passage meant! – Now I understand!"  Of course, if they had never learned them, that sort of discovery would never happen.

The Disciples were learning at this point in the work of Jesus what would only make sense to them later.  Jesus was preparing them, just as He prepares us.  They asked, and He wanted to explain, so He did.  He explained like this, "Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not behold Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'?  Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy.  Whenever a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she remembers the anguish no more, for joy that a child has been born into the world.  Therefore you too now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you.  And in that day you will ask Me no question."

He described their pain and sorrow that they would experience when He died – and the joy that the world would have at the same event.  The unbelieving world was almost giddy with delight when Jesus died.  Not everyone, of course.  Not everyone knew.  But the Jews who knew who Jesus was and hated Him anyhow were thrilled.  They stood at His cross while He was suffering and mocked Him.  At the same time His Disciples we bewildered, and terrified, and horror-stricken.

But it was only for a time, Jesus said, like the labor pains of a woman giving birth to her child.  Sort of like the woman who swears she will never have another child, while she is in labor, but four hours after the baby is born – or four days later for some of you – wants to have another, or a whole bouquet of them!  The deeper their sorrow, the brighter the joy of the Disciples on Easter when their Lord and Savior was risen, and alive again!

Of course, that is not what Jesus was actually talking about.  It fits, except that the Disciples did ask questions of Jesus after the resurrection.  The Bible tells us about them.  And Jesus said that on that day they would ask Him no questions.  Besides, if that were all this text was about, then it would be about them, way back then, and really have nothing to do with us.  But it does have to do with us.  We live in that little while, and endure that little sorrow right now.

The pains and troubles of our lives are the sorrows that Jesus was referring to.  The world rejoices.  They are delighted to see us suffer.  They are pleased when life gives us no immediate evidence to support the existence of God, or we fail to perceive for a time His goodness and gracious guidance in our lives.  When illness strikes, when sorrow comes a'calling, when hardship knocks on our door – the world tells us to keep a stiff upper lip, to tough it out, and reminds us that if God were real, if He really loved us, we wouldn't be suffering like this.  And sometimes were are strongly tempted to believe it.

Add to that our sorrow over the corruption of our world.  Who can watch the decay of our society, and know what is wrong, without sorrow?  And yet no one who can make a difference seems to listen to us!  We see the sowing of so many sorrows in the lives of young people, and it is at the insistence of the world!  They are trained to use drugs in the schools, and then told to be responsible when the message should be to avoid them like the plague.  They are instructed in sexual behaviors in classes, even sexual deviancies, and then encouraged to act responsibly within them without any moral foundation being added.  They are told to not just tolerate but to celebrate the perversion of others around them.  They are counseled to hate authority, and despise teaching, and to feel good about themselves without having accomplished anything to which they might anchor that self-esteem.  So we have poorly motivated, undisciplined, immoral people crowding our society, which leads to a drug problem, children killing one another with guns, children giving birth to children, and a troubling sense that too many simply do not understand how life works.  Our leaders, charged with preserving public decency and paid handsomely to enforce laws and maintain that which is good in our society, pander to the corruption of our nature and manipulate the sorrows of our age for their own short-sighted advantage.  We can see this working itself out in the issues in the news.

We sorrow.  We groan.  We pray.  We cry out in pain at what we see and must endure, and our world plays and sings and says everything is just fine.  It is nothing new.  Lot experienced it.  Peter wrote in His second epistle, about righteous Lot who was oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men in his society, saying for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds.  Like Lot, we often feel almost physically assaulted by the growing corruption around us.

But it is only for a short time.  In the scale of humanity, in the time of this world, our lives are short.  They seem long, at least when we are in pain.  It always seems long, too long.  But God has promised that our sufferings have a limit.  However long they may seem, or however great they may appear as we endure them, they are soon over – and God has something wonderful for us.  It is so good that Paul, writing on this same topic says by God's inspiration, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Jesus said that we would weep and lament, that we would be sorrowful, but that our sorrow would be turned into joy!  He has already accomplished that on Calvary!  He has taken our sins and the causes of our sorrows and sicknesses and borne them to the cross.  There He died for us – the death that we have earned, and the death that we should have died.  And God the Father raised Him from the grave to declare to us that His death was a sufficient substitute, and that our sins have been forgiven.  The answer to sorrow and pain and sickness and even death is Jesus Christ.  He is our hope and our joy.  He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.

Of course, in this world that is so hard to see.  When a loved one dies in the flesh this good news does not stop our tears or our sorrows.  It is a comfort, yes!  But we still cry and we still sigh and we still suffer the torment of this world.

That is why the words of Jesus are so precious here!  Therefore you too now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you.  And in that day you will ask Me no question.  Sure, we have sorrow here and now, and pain and frustration!  But when Jesus returns, and He is coming soon, that will all be over with.  When we see Jesus, our hearts will be filled with rejoicing and glory and praise and delight!  The world will then have the torment, and will draw a collective gasp on that day.  But we will rejoice!  We will see at an instant how wise and good the plan of God has been.  We will delight in His grace and love and will be so utterly happy that God held us steadfast that even the worst of our sorrows and trials here will seem well worth it – insignificant by comparison.  

In that day, we will ask Him no question.  That is the day that Jesus was actually pointing His Disciples toward.  That is the day they were waiting for – the day when they would finally see Him again, with the vision that will not dim and the sight that will not go away.  That is the day we wait for.  The day of the full victory of Christ, and the last enemy to be destroyed will be death itself.  That is the day when we will see that the sorrow has been little – by comparison – and the joy will be a lot.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

(Let the people say Amen)

The Good Shepherd

 

John 10:11-16

"I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.  He who is a hireling, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters them.  He flees because he is a hireling, and is not concerned about the sheep.  I am the Good Shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd."

Sermon for Misericordias Domini Sunday                    04/18/21

The Good Shepherd

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Laymen and pastors often hear the Gospel for today differently.  Laymen tend to hear about the gentle, loving, self-sacrificing Savior, pictured for us as the Good Shepherd.  As a pastor, I hear Jesus, the chief Shepherd, describing the difference between Himself and all those who serve unfaithfully as under-shepherds of His flock.  You hear comfort, I hear job-description.  I also hear comfort, but I am confronted by the image of the hireling.

Now I know that Jesus was not merely saying either of the things we hear.  Surely, He meant us to see both of those messages, but He was also connecting Himself to the prophets, to Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel who spoke of the unfaithful shepherds of Israel – both the kings and the priests – and who declared that God Himself would be our Shepherd, and that He would be a good and faithful Shepherd.  Jesus wasn't just being pastoral (in the sense of pastures and countryside), He was taking His stand as the fulfillment of the prophecies, such as this one from Ezekiel 34:

For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.  As a shepherd cares for his flock in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.  . . .  I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest," declares the Lord GOD.  "I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.  . . .

"Therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey . . ..  Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.  And I, the LORD, will be their God."

The Good Shepherd is the work of God.  He is the one who does not run from danger - any danger, but pays the price.  What that tells us is that it's not that Jesus didn't want to flee.  He told His disciples that He was sorrowful to the point of death – He really didn't want to go to the cross.  He cried out earnestly to His Father in heaven that if there was any other way, He wanted to avoid the cross.  But He is the Good Shepherd.  He is not a hireling, but the Owner of the sheep.  So, He could not run.  He could not deny the need of the flock.  He could not take care of Himself first.  The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.  So Jesus died – on the cross – in your place and in mine.  He died for His sheep, because they were His and He is the Good Shepherd.

And if He is the Shepherd, we must be the sheep.  It is useful to consider the image that Jesus leaves with us about who we are.  People will often have this wonderful, warm feeling as they consider the picture, but the picture they have in mind is the one where Jesus is holding the sweet little lamb in His arms.  That is not a picture of sheep.  That is a picture of Jesus.  Sheep are another thing altogether.

Just think of the phrase, "a bunch of sheep."  It is not a positive image.  Sheep are, in fact, among the least intelligent of animals.  They will wander from safety into danger without a thought.  They will go to where they cannot get back from without assistance, repeatedly.  They are helpless in the face of genuine danger.  Sheep often do not understand the dangers that confront them – and even when they do, it is often too late for them to flee or do anything about it to protect themselves.  That is what makes the sheep a perfect image for God's people – and the Shepherd the perfect image for God Himself.  We often do not understand the depth of the danger we live in.  We do not see sin for the evil thing that it is, nor do we often see our sins as sins, until it is too late.  We do not consider what it means when we make our religion over into something we like, rather than following God.  We follow our family, our friends, our neighbors, just like sheep, into things we ought not to do, and into attitudes and values which deny our God and betray the faith we confess.  Like sheep, we allow ourselves to be drawn away from what is wholesome and good, many times, by our expectation of some pleasure, some joy, some "greener grass" on the other side of the fence.

When we do discover the danger, and see what we have done, we don't know how to put it back, or to get back ourselves.  Even when we know we have gone astray, we are all too often unwilling to be turned around, unwilling to do the things that we know would bless and benefit us, unwilling to give up the things we have become accustomed to or the high regard of the people we have learned to treasure.  Instead we just stand still, right where we are, and await disaster rather than repent, or forgive, and turn away from whatever it is that threatens us.

And what can threaten us?  Lives accustomed to sin.  Too much free time and too great a hunger to be tickled and pleased.  Too great a pride to admit our errors.  Too much wanting wealth and happiness of a worldly sort, and too little willingness to set aside the desires of our flesh for what God lays before us.  The devil, the world and our own sinful flesh can threaten us and destroy us if we are unwilling to give up whatever it is that draws our hearts and our attention from a holy life of faith, whatever it is that keeps us from His Word, whatever it is that makes us too busy to pray or too important to put the others first.  Anything which delights us or frightens us into placing God and His grace out of our minds or out of our priorities is one of those things that threatens us.  Anything that causes us to forget to trust God or causes us to despair of God's love and good will and forgiveness threatens us.

Of course, there are many people who do not understand Jesus either.  Of course, you cannot blame them.  The Bible tells us that we cannot understand Him until and unless the Holy Spirit changes you and enlightens your mind and heart.  Such people often make of Jesus a new Law-giver, like Moses.  They see Jesus as a task-master and a fun-spoiler.  Others think of Him as a buddy, a Friend, something like the social director on this giant cruise ship, whose business it is to make us all feel good and have fun and be jump-up-and-down-with-joy happy, and give us a modicum of success in the bargain too.  We humans are naturally as clear headed as sheep.

The truth about Jesus is the Gospel.  Jesus is the Son of God – True God Himself – who came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was made man.  That means that He became one of us, taking on human nature and flesh and blood and was born fully human, while still truly and fully God as well.
The truth about Jesus is that He lived without sin, and spent the last few years of His life teaching His disciples and doing things that should have identified Him as the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, the Savior intended by God for our rescue from the mess of sin into which we had gotten ourselves.

Then Jesus died.  "The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."  He died on a cross, as we just celebrated on Good Friday.  His death was ours.  We had earned it and we deserved it and He did not, but He died for us and in our place anyhow.  Because of His great love and His self-giving sacrifice, we are forgiven.  Our sins are not held against us.  We are no longer reckoned as guilty and deserving punishment and death, but holy and righteous because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Jesus won this for all men, and God has promised that all that trust His promises, and expect what He has promised will receive and possess those promises -- forgiveness and love and blessings now, and life everlasting and resurrection of these tired bodies from our graves, only they will be outfitted for unending and eternal life before God in Glory, which is His gift to those who believe, though Jesus Christ.

Jesus' sheep hear His voice and follow Him.  We follow Him into our graves trusting in His power to raise us from the grave to eternal life.  We follow with lives of faithfulness and holiness, by His help and power.  We will follow Him in His resurrection, also by His help and power.  In the course of this life, we hear His voice where He has placed it, in the called servants of the Word who are faithful.  We follow by faithfully doing what He has given us to do.  We believe in Him, and we cling to His Word and His truth – that is sound doctrine – and we follow His voice.

Others don't.  That is an unfortunate truth.  Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice.  Those who cannot hear it are not His sheep.  Those who will not listen are not His sheep.  Those who will not believe the things His voice says are not His sheep.  Those who will not follow Jesus are not His sheep.  In the days of Jesus, shepherds led their sheep, they did not drive them like in a cattle-drive.  In fact, you cannot drive sheep as one might drive a herd of cows.  You have to lead them.  Shepherds of old would meet and their flocks would mingle, but when it came time to part, the shepherds would simply walk away singing their song or calling out their call, and their sheep would each hear his shepherd's voice and follow the right shepherd because he was their shepherd, whom they knew and trusted.  Jesus' sheep hear his voice.  He said so.  Those who do not hear and follow Him are simply and sadly not His sheep.

And Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  There are other shepherds out there.  They speak different words and lead in different directions.  Each has his own agenda.  But they do not care for the sheep, except as a means to their own ends.  They do not love the sheep because they do not own them, and they cannot save them, because the kind of saving the sheep need is beyond anyone but Jesus.  When the dangers of life, or death and hell confront the sheep, those false shepherds, those hirelings, run away and abandon the sheep to their destruction.

But Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  That means you are safe.  The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.  He will keep you in all your ways.   He will guide and guard and bless you.  He will not desert you in the hour of need, because He is not merely a hired hand.  You need have no fear of life or death.  He is Your Shepherd.  He has loved you to death and into everlasting life, and He will keep you until you arrive at the heavenly sheepfold.

You and I are the other sheep that Jesus mentioned in our text.  We are the ones whom He has added to His flock.  Ancient Israel was His flock.  We have been added.  He knew that we were like sheep – not able to understand, and not able to sense the danger we were in, and not able at all to help ourselves, so He has done it, worked our salvation on the cross, and has spoken His love to us in Word and Sacrament.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

There are still many false shepherds and hirelings out in the world today.  They are those who have their own agendas.  Some want to build a large flock that they can lead wherever they will.  Some use the sheep for their egos, or they are serving another who would be shepherd, but is not and cannot be.  Some just want to fleece their flock.  Whatever their goal or agenda, only the Good Shepherd has forgiveness and life and salvation.  Only the Good Shepherd can bless and only the Good Shepherd can save.

Only the Good Shepherd is the One promised in ancient prophecy, "I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest," declares the Lord GOD.  "I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment."  He has sought you.  He has gathered you together into His flock.  He has healed your deepest wound - sin and death.  And He gives you the rest - the peace and joy of the Gospel.  Only those who are too strong and too comfortable to listen to His call are in danger. The Fat and the Strong.  Those He will destroy.

So listen for His voice.  Be careful to hear His voice and not another.  And when you have heard His voice, and you will know that it is His voice, follow Him.  Do not let anything, not fame or wealth, not family or friends, not pleasures, or fear, or troubles, or sorrows, or any other thing stand in your way, but follow Him.  And be at peace in whatever circumstance you may find yourself, for the Jesus Christ, your Shepherd, is the Good Shepherd.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
(Let the people say Amen)

The Power to Forgive

 

John 20:19-31

When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus therefore said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, ""Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."

And after eight days again His disciples were inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst, and said, "Peace be with you." Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing." Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."

Many other signs the
refore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Sermon for Quasimodogeniti Sunday 04/11/21

The Power to Forgive

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Every year, when I come to the Sunday after Easter, I think about the Hunchback of Notre Dame. His name was Quasimodo. This Sunday is called "Quasimodogeniti." It means, "Like newborn babes". The name is drawn from the first words in Latin of the traditional introit, "Like new-born babes, long for the pure spiritual milk of the word." The reason that Quasimodo was so named was that he was left - or found on the steps of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France (according to the story) on the Sunday after Easter - Quasimodogeniti.

And, every year I come to the gospel lesson, I see something different about which to preach. Some years, I preach about Doubting Thomas. Although I have often heard him ridiculed, I think doubting Thomas is a divinely worked piece of evidence for us. Here was the skeptic, and the evidence, evidence we cannot personally see, brought him to his knees, confessing Christ.

Some years I preach about the peace which John writes about. Jesus bids His disciples to have peace in a situation loaded with tension and fear and confusion. They fear the Jews, that they are coming to get them. They are justifiably spooked that a man they witnessed executed is now walking and talking among them, and somehow He managed to get into a securely locked room! Jesus is suddenly there, and He does what God seems to do invariably when He comes to His people, or sends them a messenger, He bids them to cease being afraid and to have a sense of peace and well-being. That is God's will for us, after all, although it is not every detail of the will of God for us.

Still other years I focus on the last verses of the passage, which say that these things have been written that you may know and believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing you might have life in His name. I then preach about the Word of God as a means of Grace. The text has so much in it, I could scarcely preach on everything that the text says or cover every point in just one normal sermon. And I haven't even gotten to the message for this week in this year.

This year our theme is "The Power to Forgive." Our verses are the first few in our Easter Gospel lesson; "When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.' And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus therefore said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.'"

Some of you may have noticed that when I read the Gospel this morning, the last verse of the section I just read was different from what you have on your inserts. The reason for that is that the Insert is the ESV, the chosen version of the Synod. But verse 23 is mistranslated in the ESV, saying that, "if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld." No other translation translates it that way, and it is not what the original Greek says. The original words translate, " if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained." The Greek speaks about the sins, while the ESV speaks about the forgiveness. I do not believe that we have any warrant to alter the words of our Lord so significantly, so I used the correct translation for that single verse.

This verse is not the first time Jesus had ever said anything like this to His disciples. He actually said it two other times. The first time is reported in Matthew 16. Jesus said, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The second instance was in Matthew 18:18. Jesus spoke the same words, "Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

The words were not precisely the same as in our Gospel today but the context, particularly in Matthew 18, shows us that forgiveness - or retaining sin - is what Jesus was talking about. In the Matthew 16 situation, Jesus calls this authority "the keys of the kingdom of heaven". That is because this authority opens heaven to the penitent sinner, or closes the doors of heaven to one who will not repent. Forgiveness or retaining sin does that, opens or closes heaven because it is sin that causes death and closes the door to eternal life in the first place.

Some have taken these passages to mean that only the ministers have such authority because Jesus spoke these words to Peter or to the twelve. And in Matthew 16 Jesus was apparently speaking to Peter - although in the presence of the others. And Matthew 18 is spoken to, and I quote, "the disciples", without actually limiting that title to the twelve, and John 20, our gospel this morning, just says that the disciples were there - and the verses we are focusing on make it clear that not all of the Twelve were there that day because Doubting Thomas was not. So, the Church has historically understood these words as being addressed to the entire Church, as it existed in that day, and this authority to forgive sins as being given to the Church, and not merely to any specific member of it.

The words were not precisely the same as in our Gospel today but the context, particularly in Matthew 18, shows us that forgiveness - or retaining sin - is what Jesus was talking about. In the Matthew 16 situation, Jesus calls this authority "the keys of the kingdom of heaven". That is because this authority opens heaven to the penitent sinner, or closes the doors of heaven to one who will not repent. Forgiveness or retaining sin does that, opens or closes heaven because it is sin that causes death and closes the door to eternal life in the first place.So, the Church has historically understood these words as being addressed to the entire Church, as it existed in that day, and this authority to forgive sins as being given to the Church, and not merely to any specific member of it.

I also want you to notice that Jesus gave this authority both before His death on the cross and after His resurrection. This authority to forgive is an important thing. You wouldn't be able to tell that, of course, the way some people talk about it. Some churches, and their leaders and teachers, speak boldly against this authority, just as the Pharisees did when Jesus exercised it in His day. They say they don't need it. They can go to God and get forgiveness. They claim that no human being really has the power to forgive. It is just a personal thing between them and their God.

Judging by our text, I would say that they are calling Jesus a liar, and that is blasphemy. Yes, it is true that God forgives. You can repent and confess your sins before Him all by yourself, alone, and in your closet. And God does forgive. But Jesus called this power the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. And Jesus also granted to the Church the power to retain sins - that is, to deny forgiveness to one who is not humble and penitent, and when their sins have been thus retained, there is no forgiveness. That power would be useless if someone could go behind the back of the Church, as it were, and get forgiveness outside of and without the body of Christ.

No, the power to forgive is given to the Church. No single individual has the power all to themselves. It is not given even to the visible church to use or abuse by manipulating people with it - although that has been done by some in history. The authority is granted, however, and so it is safe to say that there is no forgiveness outside of the church - and anyone who despises the absolution of the pastor, when He speaks it in the course of faithfully performing the duties of his office, has no forgiveness. If there is no church near, and you cannot come to confess your sins and hear the words of the absolution, yes, you can go directly to God. But if you seek to deny your sins and deny the words of Christ by keeping it all internal and silent and private, then you are despising the gift of Jesus Christ in the absolution, and you should not expect any forgiveness that does not include the absolution from those in whose hands Christ has placed it.

He has given this absolution for your comfort. How easily we could turn forgiveness into some abstract thing, not a reality at all, if we just pray silently about it, and take it for granted that we are forgiven. Soon it would become an intellectual exercise, not unlike a fantasy. But Jesus has given this authority to the Church, to be exercised publicly by pastors, and privately by any Christian as we forgive one another in our daily lives. He has given this power to be used out loud and in response to the confession of sins so that we may know that this is not just an intellectual game or fantasy and were are not just pretending or imagining it, but we hear the words, spoken by the command of Christ, and we know that our sins - our personal sins - have been forgiven.

Now and again, we find little comfort in the public, communal absolution. It is valid, but it is also impersonal. Sometimes we need to know that it is aimed right at us, and focused on our sins. We need to silence that guilty voice within that says, "If the pastor knew what I have done, he would not forgive me. This absolution is spoken for the others standing around me, who haven't sinned the way I have." For those moments, we still offer private confession and personal absolution. Then you can speak of your sins, as hard as that is, and be sure you have truly confessed. And you will then hear the absolution, spoken just to you so that your guilt cannot deny that your Lord has sent this man to speak His pardon to you. In those moments, we truly sense the wonder of this power to forgive.

And this power to forgive is all wrapped up in Easter. It was the death of our Lord that paid the price, and His resurrection that declares the divine verdict of righteousness on all who believe. Jesus cried out, "It is finished!", and with that declaration, announced that forgiveness, life, and salvation were purchased, won, and available. When He gave us the power to forgive, He was just working on the distribution side - giving us all the right to hear, and the right to say that when Jesus died, it was finished, and our sins are atoned for, and we are redeemed by Christ, the Crucified.

"Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool." Ahhh, the power to forgive.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

(Let the people say Amen)

Do Not Be Amazed!

 

Mark 16:1-8

And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.  And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  And they were saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"  And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.  And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified.  He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.  But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He said lo you.'"  And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Sermon for Easter Sunday                            04/04/21

Do Not Be Amazed!

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

He is Risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

How exciting that first Easter must have been!  And yet the women were filled with fear -- so much fear that they did not tell anyone what they saw, at least not right away.  They did not do as the angel told them.  They were confused - such a quick trip from the deep grief to the excitement of the resurrection.  And they saw the angel, and they were amazed!

Amazement is always the response of humanity when it sees God at work!  But the angel told them not to be amazed - not that this was not God at work among us, but that this is what Jesus came for, and this is what Jesus promised would happen, and this is what we ought to have expected.  But we did not, and they did not.
It seems a little silly telling twenty-first century Christians not to be amazed on Easter.  I mean, who is?  We have seen this day come and go for years - and our families, often, for centuries.  What is there to amaze us?

That is a good question, and one that we will answer this morning.  It should amaze us that all of this Gospel stuff is true.  God is not like mankind always pictures Him, when they depart from the book.  He is not a God who demands human sacrifice.  He is not the sort of God that wants to make man miserable.  He is not a God of caprice, like the ancient Gods of the Romans and the Greeks, who came to earth with human lusts and human weaknesses and overweening pride.  Nor is He distant from us and disinterested in us.

These are the evil things man imagines about God, depending on whether his experience of life is good at the moment or pain-filled and frustrating.  We should stand in utter amazement at God, He is loving.  He is just.  He has granted us nearly perfect autonomy of action, even though we are totally dependent on Him and His blessings.  He is intimately involved in our lives.  And He balances all of these seemingly contradictory attributes while blessing us and protecting us.

We abused our autonomy in order to reject Him who is life and well-being.  We sinned.  We need to understand that we have no way to comprehend the depth of the offense of sin against His holiness, and we sinned by direct rebellion and rejection of Him even though we need and depend upon Him daily. That rejection is called sin, and it is evident in our gossip, in our easy and unprovoked angers, in our lies, and in our wickedness toward one another, all of which should have brought us immediate and eternal death.  We had spurned and rejected Him who gives us life and all things.

But God loves us.  We should be amazed at that, all by itself.  He loves us not only so much, but in such a way that He found the way to punish our sins with death and so maintain His perfect justice, and yet still preserve and save us.  That is what Jesus accomplished.  In point of fact, God did require human sacrifice, because He had declared that the soul that sins shall die.  And, to accomplish both His justice, and our salvation, God laid upon Jesus the sins of us all, and put Him to death in our place.

On Easter morning, the one we celebrate today, and every Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead.  His rising was God the Father s declaration for all who would see it that Jesus was the perfect substitute, and that the payment was accepted, and that our sins were forgiven, and that God was freely bestowing the gift of salvation and eternal life on all who would take Him at His Word, believe what He proclaimed about Jesus and promised in connection with Him and His life and His death and His resurrection, and trust Him.

We should be amazed at the love of God.  What a price He paid to redeem us from our own sin and rebellion!  What a marvelous and incontrovertible sign of His love He has given to us. What glorious evidence of forgiveness and life everlasting He has provided in the resurrection.

We should be amazed that it is true!  Who has ever seen a resurrection? Ordinarily, the dead stay dead!  But the message of the resurrection of Jesus is that they will not stay dead forever.  These all will rise body and soul, just as Jesus did.  We, too, shall rise!  Jesus rose - all the scoffing of the skeptics aside.  Jesus rose, teeth, hair, bones and all!  He rose to show us what rising from the dead will be like, and to demonstrate the truth of the promises.

We shall rise one day, body and soul reunited.  We shall be whole and well and alive for eternity, on that day.  We shall be ourselves and recognizably so.  Christians often celebrate Easter in a cemetery because the cemetery looks to be our final and utter defeat, and yet it shall be the field of our victory in Jesus Christ on that last day.

The world has long denied that Jesus rose.  The Jews said the body was stolen, just as the Bible says they did.  Unbelievers inside the church and outside of her have said that it never happened.  But we have the eyewitness reports.  We have the testimony of hundreds, encapsulated here on the pages of Scripture.  We have the reluctant testimony of the Jews - the grave was empty and they did not have the body! We should be amazed that it is true!

We should be amazed that we can look at the details of the most exciting story in human history and not cry aloud with joy and praise to God for all that He has worked for us!  Or perhaps we should be ashamed that we can look at such wonderful gifts and promises, so clearly witnessed and proven, and yet we are often not brought to shouting our joy and triumph!  Our sins are paid for and forgiven – taken away, and nailed forever to the cross in the body of Jesus.  We have evidence of eternal life beyond death.  We have the promise of God that we too shall rise.  We should be amazed, and thrilled, and shouting for joy, He is risen!

Do not be amazed, the angel said.  What he meant was, You should have known.  You should have expected this.  He told you Himself.  Those words apply to us too.  We should not be surprised.  We should, however, be delighted and rejoice this morning.  Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, first-fruits of those who believe.  We too shall rise!

Let us rejoice this Easter morning!  He is Risen!  He is risen Indeed!!  Hallelujah!

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
(Let the people say Amen)