5th Sunday of Easter - May 22, 2011 (alternate sermon @ St. Peter)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Today, Jesus gives us a very simple command; he tells us to be perfect like God. 

He tells us to be perfect like God.

He tells us to be perfect like God.

Now that is quite a command!  When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments, at least they seemed realistic.  The people of Israel still weren’t able to keep them, mind you, but at least it seemed like they had a fighting chance.  What are we supposed to do with this new commandment from Jesus?  This sermon is going to be about how three different people understand God’s commands, particularly this big one from Jesus. And at the end, it will be a sermon on what we as Lutherans know about such things.

Now there is a certain kind of person who hears God’s command to be perfect and gets excited.  Lets call this person Tom.  Tom gets excited because he is an observant man.  He pays attention to the news.  He is involved in his community.  He has noticed what happens when God’s law is broken or ignored.  All kinds of trouble!  Abortion, drug abuse, violence, divorce.  Tom is a kind-hearted man and he wants good things for people.  “If only we would take God’s commands more seriously then we wouldn’t have so many of these problems,” he says.  Tom gets excited when he hears God’s command to be perfect because he has faith that if we just tried harder, God would work through the law to make us into better people.

There is another kind of person and we will call her Jane.  Jane hears God’s command to be perfect and she cringes.  She takes God’s law seriously too, but she’s well aware that she hasn’t kept it very well.  Jane made some bad decisions when she was younger, got pregnant when she was still in high school, married the father.  Divorced the father because he had a drinking problem.  She’s always trying to do the right thing.  But it’s always seemed out of reach for her.  And so when she hears God’s command to be perfect she just feels guilty.  “God, why does it have to be so difficult,” is what she says.  “Oh well, I guess I’ll just keep trying.”

Bob is another kind of fellow altogether.  He runs his own business and places high value on getting things done.  He hears God’s command to be perfect and it strikes him as unrealistic.  Bob is a practical man, after all.  “Clearly,” he thinks, “Jesus was just exaggerating to make a point.”  For Bob, God’s commands are more or less good moral suggestions that sometimes are relevant and sometimes aren’t, depending on how well they work.  What’s important is “living right.”  That is what God is really interested in, after all.  Each person needs to use a little common sense to live right and that should be fine.

So there you go.  Three different kinds of people who hear God’s command in three different ways.

As you might imagine, there are problems with all three.  Or rather, there is a particular problem with all three.  When Tom, Jane and Bob hear the gospel lesson for today and when they hear Jesus say, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect” their minds are trapped.  They immediately start thinking about whether or not they have kept the command.  “How well have I done?” is what they are thinking.

• Tom thinks that he’s done pretty well, by the grace of God.
• Jane knows that she’s messed it up and wishes she could go back and do a better job of it.
• Bob congratulates himself for being reasonable enough to live right without getting hung up on being too literal.

All are thinking about how well they have done.  And I don’t blame them one bit.  That’s just how people think.  It’s perfectly rationale.  In their own ways Tom, Jane and Bob are each responding rationally to the command of Jesus.  But so long as they remain stuck there on the command, they are missing the part that really matters.    

The gospel is not rationale.  God’s choosing you to be his child is not rationale.  Quite to the contrary, the gospel comes out of left field.  It’s about the most irrational thing that you can think of.  Trying to explain it can rob it of it of its beauty and its power so here it is.   

When God looks at you, he isn’t trying to figure out whether or not you’ve been perfect.  God does not say, “Well, you’ve really shown some improvement.”   God does not say, “If only you’d just try a little harder!”  He looks at you and he sees his son, Jesus Christ, absolutely perfect and without fault.  And then he says to you, his voice swelling with pride, “I am pleased with you.”

Funeral of Edna Louise Boysen

I wish that I could stand before you today and honor Edna by saying some personal things about her.  I wish that I could speak specifically to her experience and her life.  I wish that I had had the chance to meet her and spend some time talking with her.  I do wish these things, but to no avail.  You are the ones who have known her and loved her.  You are the ones with stories and memories that mean so much on a day like today.  So be it.  For my part, I can only tell you about someone who knew Edna too.  And I’ll tell you about that person, Jesus Christ, using the scriptures that Edna wanted read today.

First, Psalm 23.  Jesus Christ is a shepherd.  This means that his job is to care for his sheep, provide for them, lead them, and protect them.  Jesus Christ leads his sheep beside the still waters of baptism, giving them the promise of forgiveness of sins and eternal life. 

Jesus Christ leads his sheep through the valley of the shadow of death.  This shadow draws painfully close, touching those we can hardly bear to lose.  We can hardly bear it.  Yet he brings us through.  He brings us through this valley and he gives us comfort to endure.

Jesus Christ prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies.  That is to say, he richly provides for us even when all kinds of evil and adversity are all around us. 

Jesus Christ is our shepherd.

Next, 1 Corinthians.  Jesus Christ is the victor over death.  We read that “death is swallowed up in victory.”  We read that death has lost its sting.  I can assure you that death did not give up its power gracefully.  Its sting was not removed cheaply.  No, in fact the victory of Christ over death was very expensive indeed.  It required that the very Son of God, Jesus Christ must bear the sins of the world, and even become sin itself, and it required that he suffer and die.  The death of any innocent is a price beyond measure, too horrible to contemplate.  The death of Jesus Christ is more expensive than that and more horrible, yet this great evil is turned to good by an all powerful God.  Instead of being swallowed up by death Jesus swallows it up himself.  He puts death to death.  And so we can declare that death has lost its sting. 

Jesus Christ is the victor over death.

Next, Romans.  Jesus Christ refuses to be separated from us.  He sits at God’s right hand interceding for us.  What does this mean?  First of all it means that we require intercession.  We are sinners.  We do what is evil in the sight of God.  We fall short.  We rebel.  We love ourselves more than we love others.  In short, we sin against our God over and over again.  We require intercession.  And this is what Jesus does.  He says, “Father, you must forgive.  For I have died and been raised for that one.  She has been baptized in my name as well as yours.  Do not regard her unrighteousness, but instead look at my righteousness.  For I do not wish to spend eternity without that one.  I refuse to be separated from her.”  The strength of the love of Christ is such that it will not allow any such separation. 

Finally, John.  Jesus Christ brings us to be with himself and with the Father.  An oft heard religious message is that we must seek God, make a decision for him, invite him into our hearts, turn our lives over to him and so on.  This is nothing else but to say that we must bring ourselves to Jesus.  And if we’re responsible for that, then it’s really not much further to say that we must bring ourselves all the way to the father.  This is not true.  It is false.  We do not bring ourselves to the Father, nor do we bring ourselves to Jesus Christ.  In his Small Catechism, Martin Luther explained it like this, “I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him.”  No, it is Jesus Christ who comes to us.  And having collected us and sealed us with his blood, he brings us to the Father where he has prepared a room for us and where we shall live with them forever. 

As I said at the beginning, I wish that I had had the chance to meet Edna and know her.  By all accounts she was a wonderful woman.  But thank God that Jesus Christ knew Edna.  Thank God that Jesus Christ was her shepherd and that he conquered death for her.  Thank God that Jesus Christ has interceded on her behalf and has promised to bring her to live eternally with God. 

As for us who remain......  May God work repentance in us and may God cause his gift of faith to grow in fullness, bringing forth fruit in this world, until the day that Jesus brings each one of us to be with him also.

Amen

4th Sunday of Easter - May 15, 2011

The gospel lesson for today, taken by itself, is pretty hard to understand, I think.  At least for me.  I mulled it over for a couple of days, talked with the men’s group about it and still felt like I didn’t have a hold on it.  It’s about sheep and I don’t know much about sheep.  Plus, the little I know I already preached about a month or two ago.  What more can I say about it?  It wasn’t until I put the ten verses of our gospel lesson into its context that it started getting a little clearer.  You see, John chapter 10, verses one through ten is  actually just a portion of a larger storyline that is going on during one of Jesus’ visits to Jerusalem.  Our gospel lesson is a smack-down that Jesus delivers to the Pharisees, the religious leaders.  But we don’t get that if we don’t read the whole thing together.  So even though it seems like a pretty long passage, I’m going to read it so that we can hopefully understand what’s going on. 

                                                           

[Read John 9:1-10:10]

So how does our gospel lesson fit with that whole story about the man who was born blind?  The blind man whom Jesus heals is a sheep.  All his life, people have looked down on him.  They have robbed him of his dignity.  In his culture, it was a widespread assumption that diseases and physical handicaps were caused by sin.  Being blind meant that he must have sinned pretty badly.  But since he was blind from birth, maybe it wasn’t him who had sinned, maybe it was his parents.  Either way, all his life people have looked at him and seen the stain of sin.  And in so doing they have robbed him of having a decent life.  The religious leaders, the Pharisees, should have been the ones to declare God’s mercy.  They should have been the ones declaring God’s lovingkindness to this poor man.  They should have been the ones to declare the worth of each of God’s creatures.  But they have not done so.  The man born blind was a poor defenseless sheep in the sheep pen and they have treated him with contempt.  Instead of being his protectors, they have been thieves and robbers.

And then one day a voice comes.  This blind man hears a voice.  The voice speaks to him as mud is put on his eyes.  Then the voice tells him to go wash it off in a pool of water.  He hears that voice and without really having any reason to believe it, he goes and washes his eyes, his useless eyes, his blind eyes that were the symbol of how sinful and shameful he has been all of his life.  And when he does, all of a sudden he can see. 

So again, in the terms of the images that Jesus uses, this man is a poor sheep, stuck in a sheep pen where he is beset by robbers and thieves [the religious leaders], even though it should be a place of protection.  And the voice of a shepherd comes and calls him out.  And he hears and he trusts and he goes out through the gate...... into a better life...... into green pastures...... into abundance.  For that is what the shepherd has called him to.

Jesus is using these images to deliver some news to the religious leaders. Jesus is telling them to their faces, that they are the thieves and robbers.  He is telling them that they are not really the leaders of the people.  Jesus is attacking them, accusing them.  And the funny thing is, they just can’t see what he’s talking about.  They “see” themselves as being the leaders; they “see” themselves as being the righteous ones; they “see” themselves as being the judges of everyone else.  According to the religious leaders it is everyone else who is blind.  But here Jesus tells them, “No, you are the blind ones.  You think so much of yourselves, but you’ve been a curse for the people you should have been protecting.  You’re not shepherds, you are thieves and robbers.” 

Further, Jesus is announcing to the religious leaders that he will be calling his sheep out, that his sheep will no longer be subject to them.  He is talking about the establishment of the Christian church, where people will believe in Jesus and escape the authority of the old religious system, which only robbed them.  These people whom he is calling out, these sheep, are the first Christians. 

So, to summarize, this is what Jesus has told the religious leaders.  “The people are not yours.  The authority is not yours.  I will call my people and they will believe in me and have life and they will have it abundantly.  They won’t listen to you.  Take this blind man.  He heard my voice and he received his sight and he has come to believe in me.  He is just the beginning.  There are many more to come.  You’re going to try to destroy the work I’m doing, but it’s all over for you.”

So that is the explanation of our gospel lesson for today.  It is an accusation and it is a statement of intent, a promise.  Jesus accuses the religious leaders and he tells them and the others what he is going to do.

Now this is the work that Jesus Christ has been doing ever since.  He has been calling his people into abundant life, freeing them from thieves and robbers.  What does that look like these days?  What robs people of abundant life?  Alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, greed, busy-ness, abortion, racism, self-fulfillment at the expense of responsibility....... and so on.  These things (and others,) as well as the people who condone and encourage them, rob us of the abundant life to which Jesus calls us. 

But my point this morning is not to end here, dark and grim, with the thieves and robbers.  For that would be to miss the point entirely.  When Jesus declares his intentions, he is declaring a promise.  He does not say, “I am going to try to do battle with these things.”  No.  He declares victory and says, “I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly.”  Jesus has life for you.  It is an abundant life.  And it is an eternal life.  Given to you.  Because you are his sheep and he has called you.  Amen 

3rd Sunday of Easter - May 8, 2011

The sermon this morning is really very simple.  It has two main points that lead to a problem and a conclusion: 

The first point is this: God prevents us from knowing and seeing himself. 

The second point is this: God reveals himself to us. 

I. Unrecognition

On Easter afternoon, Jesus meets two guys on the road.  As it happens, these two guys are disciples of his.  They weren’t part of the inner circle, but they’ve been around him before, heard him speak, seen him do miracles and so on.  They say as much in their own words, “Jesus was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.”  They knew Jesus.  But strangely, on this particular day they just don’t recognize him.  Why not? 

Simple.  And this is the first main point.  It was God who actually prevented them.  Verse 16 says, “Their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”  Though they knew Jesus and though we know that they will recognize Jesus again, for the time being at least, God blinds their eyes and prevents them from seeing him.  Why?  Why wouldn’t God want them to recognize his Son?  Maybe there’s a good reason.  But it doesn’t say what it is.  We don’t know why.  What we do know is this: God prevents them from recognizing Jesus.   

This lack of recognition is not limited to the Jesus who is right in front of them.  They also do not recognize how God works.  They thought that the Messiah was going to be a powerful prophet who would save their country Israel.  They thought that Jesus was that man.  But Jesus has been crucified so they are in confusion.  They thought they understood God’s plan.  But they didn’t. 

These two men also had some information from the women who had gone to the tomb that very morning.  The women had told the other disciples that the tomb was empty.  These two men had heard this testimony, but they did not understand what it meant.  They were in the dark.  It had not yet been given to them to understand.

            In any event, without knowing it, they walk along the road in the presence of the risen Christ.  Without knowing it, they listen as the Son of God explains the scriptures to them.  Without their knowing it, God is alive and at work. 

II. Recognition

            They arrive in Emmaus, the little town at the end of their journey.  Jesus makes as if he is continuing along down the road, but they invite him to stay with them, using words that we know from the Holden Evening Prayer service that we sing for Lent, “Stay with us now, for it is evening, and the day is almost over.”   They sit down for supper.  Jesus takes the bread. He blesses it.  He breaks it.  He gives it to them. And it is then they recognize him.  Why?

            Simple.  And this is the second main point.  It was God who revealed himself.  Verse 31 says, “Then their eyes were opened.”  It wasn’t them who opened their own eyes; their eyes were opened.  Why?  Why does God choose to reveal himself now?  Maybe there’s a good reason.  But it doesn’t say.  We don’t know.  What we do know is this: God reveals himself to them.

            In any event, just as they are allowed to recognize him, Jesus disappears.  And so they turn around and go back to Jerusalem where they can share this good news with the others.

So there are the two main points:

1) God prevents us from knowing and seeing himself.

2) God reveals himself to us.

III. Problem

Now I promised that the two main points would lead to a problem.  The problem is this.  Those two disciples didn’t have any choice over the matter.  They don’t get to choose when and where God is revealed and when and where he stays hidden.  It isn’t that they didn’t recognize Jesus.  It’s that they couldn’t.  God prevented them from seeing.  He prevented them from knowing.  And then, when and where it pleased him, he revealed himself to them.  What in the world are we to make of that?

First, I want to connect that to us.  I want to say it bluntly.  God keeps things hidden from you.  God prevents you from seeing and understanding what you would like to see and understand.  This runs contrary to the modern mythology of man, which presumes that all things can be explained and understood.  We can collect evidence and explain how something happened, just as the disciples became aware that the tomb was empty, but there is a limit here.  We don’t know why.  We can explain how a tornado works.  But why does it hit and destroy a town?  We don’t know why.  We can explain how a hurricane works.  But why did it hit and destroy so much of Haiti last year?  We don’t know why.  Pat Robertson famously tried to explain why, by saying that two hundred years ago Haitians had made a pact with the devil in order to get their independence.  If these things are so easily explained, what did the people of Mapleton do?  Again, I will say this bluntly, God keeps things hidden from us.  God prevents us from seeing and understanding what we would like to see and understand.

Of course this is not limited to natural disasters and matters of science.  We experience this in our individual, private lives.  My grandfather was a Lutheran minister.  When he was about 40 years old he was diagnosed with a rare spinal disease called syringamyelia.  Due to the severe pain it caused him, he was forced to retire about ten years later.  Normally speaking, it would have killed him sometime soon thereafter.  But it didn’t.  It just got worse and worse, year after year.  He slowly lost the ability to use his hands, to walk, to do anything other than endure.  He endured for twenty-five years after being forced to retire.  Looking back at those years so filled with pain, I ask, “Why did he have to go through all of it?  Why did he have to suffer so much?  Why didn’t God have mercy and take him sooner?  Why?”  I don’t know.  God keeps things hidden from us.  God prevents us from seeing and understanding what we would like to see and understand.  

So that is the problem that I mentioned.  We are not in control.  We can ask why, but often we do not receive the answers we want.  Painful events happen out in the world and close to home.  We desire to know why, to understand.  But for some reason, God does not share his reasons with us, he prevents us from knowing.

IV. Conclusion

At the beginning I mentioned that there was a conclusion, not just a problem.  Face to face with this problem, what can the conclusion be? 

The conclusion, God’s conclusion, is simply this, Jesus Christ.  That is all.  Maybe that doesn’t seem to answer the question that you have.  Too bad.  Maybe that isn’t emotionally satisfying.  Too bad.  Maybe you want something more or something tailor-made just for you.  Too bad.  Whatever questions or heartaches or tragedies you have, this is God’s answer.  This is the conclusion that God has for you.  God has given Jesus Christ to you.  And like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, he is revealed to you in the breaking of the bread.

2nd Sunday of Easter - May 1, 2011

Aside from Judas the betrayer, there is no other disciple who has a worse reputation than Thomas.  Or should I say, Doubting Thomas?  Throughout the history of the church Thomas has been pointed at and warned against, “Don’t be like him!  He’s the one who refused to have faith in Jesus until he had proof.”  These days, however, there are folks who are rehabilitating Thomas, who even think that he outdid the other disciples in faith because he confessed that Jesus was God before any of the others.  So which is it?  Is Thomas a bum or a hero?  Is he doubting Thomas?  Or someone else?

First of all, what really happened?  Just how did Thomas get stuck with such a lousy nickname?  The traditional interpretation goes like this.  After Jesus was crucified the disciples gathered together in a house.  They were legitimately concerned about their own safety, so they were keeping their heads down.  Plus they were comforting each other in their grief.  Then they got the word from the women that Jesus wasn’t dead; he had been raised from the dead.  Later that night Jesus appeared to them and they all believed; they had faith.  Thomas had taken off somewhere, though.  And when he returned and when they told him what had happened, he refused to believe.  He insisted on physical proof, “Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”  All the other disciples believed, but he did not.  Therefore, he is rightly called Doubting Thomas. 

It is true that Thomas did come to believe after Jesus again appeared to the group the following week.  Thomas was there this time and saw Jesus for himself.  At this point, he had his proof.  But the traditional interpretation is that his faith didn’t quite measure up to the faith of the other disciples because he had needed proof.  What Jesus says to him seems to reinforce this view, “Have you believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”  Reading between the lines, this sounds an awful lot like Jesus is rebuking Thomas.  Hence, he has been saddled with the unfortunate nickname all these years. 

Now this interpretation follows pretty closely the bible text.  But it isn’t the only way that one can interpret the events that took place.  As I said, these days there are many who are trying to rehabilitate Thomas.  Perhaps he wasn’t as bad as we have been led to believe.  Their interpretation might be a bit more like this:

After Jesus was crucified, his disciples were terrified.  And so they hid behind locked doors.  They hid on Saturday and they were still hiding there on Sunday.  Some of the women had some courage and they went out to see the tomb.  Once they came back with the news that Jesus had been raised, a couple of the men went to check, but by evening time, they were all locked behind closed doors again out of fear.  It was on the evening of that first Easter Sunday that Jesus appeared to them.

There was, however, one disciple who was not there.  Thomas.  We are not told where he was or what he was doing, but it seems possible, maybe even probable, that he had more courage than the other disciples.  He wasn’t immobilized by fear and hadn’t shut up himself up behind locked doors.  In any event, he missed out.  Upon his return the disciples told Thomas, “Guess what?  We saw the Lord!” 

“Yeah right.” 

“No, really.  We saw him.  The door was locked and everything and then all of a sudden he was here.” 

“You bunch of sissy cowards.  You’re too chicken to leave the house and so you sit around and conjure up fantasies to try to make yourselves feel better.  He’s dead.  I saw him die.  Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Interpreters who are sympathetic to Thomas will point out that Thomas wasn’t asking for any more proof than the other disciples had gotten.  And this is true.  Jesus had shown them the nail marks and the surely could have touched them.  And in any event, it’s no great example of faith that they had displayed.  Sure they believed, but they had seen him.  It’s easy to bring yourself to believe when you see with your own eyes.

The interpretation continues like this: when Thomas finally did see the risen Christ, he not only believed that Jesus was risen.  He also confessed that Jesus was God.  This confession went beyond what any of the other disciples had said.  And so, according to these interpreters, Thomas is actually a better example of faith for us.  Sure, he didn’t believe right away, but when he did come to believe, his faith went further than all the others.  You might even call it, “better faith.”

So which is it?  Are we right in calling Thomas, Doubting Thomas?  Is he really an example of a poor kind of faith?  Or is it just the opposite?  Was he more courageous than the other disciples and did he show a better understanding of who Jesus really was?  Did Thomas have better faith?

Perhaps you won’t be too surprised if I tell you that neither of these are right, that both of them completely miss the point.  How so?  Both of these interpretations teach that belief, faith, is somehow the responsibility of the individual.  They both teach that the individual is responsible for having faith and for the quality of that faith.

Let’s look at the first interpretation.  The disciples who saw Jesus believed.  Thomas didn’t.  Disciples = good.  Thomas = bad.  Those disciples must have done something right.  Thomas must have done something wrong.  Simple.

This is bunk. 

How about the second interpretation?  It makes the same kind of error.  The other disciples only call Jesus, “Lord.”  Thomas calls him, “My Lord and my God.”  Therefore Thomas has better faith.  Simple.

This is also bunk.

There is something here that he is hiding in plain sight.  There is an obvious point that has to often been missed.  Nobody had faith.  Nobody.  Not the women.  Not the men.  Not Thomas.  Not the other disciples.  When Jesus died, absolutely nobody had faith.  Period.  Nobody deserves to pat themselves on the back.  They didn’t have faith because faith isn’t something that a person can produce.  It’s not the result of a decision.  It’s not the result of being a good person.  Faith comes as a gift.  Mary Magdalene was the first to receive this gift.  Some of the disciples received it when she told them about the risen Lord.  For some of the disciples, faith was not given to them until Jesus came and spoke to them that first night.  And for Thomas?  Thomas did not receive the gift of faith until the next week.

The point of this is to hopefully make it clear that faith is not some kind of great thing that we choose for ourselves, something that makes us better than anyone else.  Faith is an amazing gift that has been given to us.  That explains the meaning of Jesus words to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”  These words do not mean, “Good for those folks who believe without evidence.”  No, not at all.  Jesus’ words mean something more like, “Those folks who will come to believe?  They are getting such an amazing gift.”  “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe.

And so I tell you this morning, You all are so very blessed.  You have received an amazing gift.  You haven’t gotten to see Jesus in the flesh just yet.  Nevertheless he has given you the gift of faith, the same gift of faith that he gave to the disciples and the same gift of faith that he gave to Thomas.  Or should I say, “Believing Thomas?”

1st Sunday of Easter - 04/24/11

And so we come to this day of triumph, Easter Sunday.  For six long weeks we have been moving through Lent.  For the past seven days we have been in the darkness of Holy Week.  Finally, blessedly, we have come to Easter morning when we can celebrate with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, when we can cry out, “Alleluia, Christ is Risen!”  (He is risen indeed.)  But it is worth noting that the first Easter morning did not begin with “Alleluia, Christ is risen.”  The first Easter morning did not start with joy.  Quite to the contrary.  So this morning, I would like to move through our gospel lesson with these two women of faith, spending some time in the moments that they experienced on the way from sorrow to joy. 

I. “After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.” 

When the two Marys awoke that first Easter morning, joy was the furthest thing from their minds.  Jesus was dead; they knew this.  They had spent Friday watching him die.  The suddenness and the cruelty of it all made them sick.  How could darkness and evil win?  How could Jesus die?  It didn’t make any sense.

His ministry was dead too.  The healing of the sick, the mercy for the outcasts, the teachings, the hope for God’s kingdom.  It was all over.  Had it all been a lie?  Or had it just gone terribly wrong?  It was difficult to say.  One way or the other, hope had died along with Jesus on that cross. 

After he had breathed his last they had to get back indoors to observe the Sabbath.  You couldn’t work on the Sabbath and so they were condemned to think about the horror that they had just experienced all day long with nothing to distract their minds.  At least there was that mercy this morning.  They could at least go to the tomb and try to prepare his body for burial.  Better late than never.  And so they went. 

II. “And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.  For fear of him the guards shook and became as dead men.” 

From our perspective after the fact, this might seem like good news.  This was not good news.  The appearance of an angel is reason for fear, pure and simple.  Have you ever noticed how in the Bible, angels are always saying, “Do not fear?”  There is a reason for that.  The appearance of an angel is not a comforting sight. 

When we talk about angels we might call to mind a so-called “guardian angel.”  This is a comforting thought.  We might call to mind those little figurines, Precious Moments angels.  These are cute, darling little angels that wouldn’t harm a fly.  We might also call to mind the way we use the word angel as a metaphor.  When we traveled on the plane with our son last month, he was such an angel.  That is to say, he was well-behaved. 

Bible angels, real angels, are nothing of the sort.  Bible angels scare people to death.  You can see that with the guards, who fall over as if they were dead.  You can be certain that Mary and Mary were frightened too.  The appearance of an angel is not good news; it is reason to be afraid.

III. “But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said.  Come, see the place where he lay.”

This is starting to sound like it might be good news; the angel says, “Don’t be afraid.”  Better yet, “He isn’t here.”  But wait a second......  What happened to him?  Why isn’t he here?  Has someone stolen him? 

When we look at the empty tomb, we think that this is good news, but it isn’t necessarily the case.  An empty tomb could mean any number of things.  It might mean grave robbers.  It might mean that they had gotten confused and had come to the wrong tomb.  It might mean that Jesus body has been destroyed somehow.  An empty tomb isn’t good news.

“’For he has been raised.’  Raised?  Does that mean that he isn’t dead?  Yes, that means he isn’t dead!  Hadn’t Jesus said something about this?  Yes, yes he had!”......  Now hope is beginning to dawn. 

III. “Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’  This is my message for you.  So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.”

Now this is getting better.  Not only is Jesus not in the tomb.  Not only is he alive.  They are going to be able to see him!  The women might have been thinking, “Jesus has come back from the dead for me!  He is going to come and see me!”  Can it possibly be true that death hasn’t won?  Can it be true that there is still hope?  Will there be light instead of darkness?”  They run from the tomb with great joy because of the word of promise that has been spoken to them, but also with fear, “Can this be true?”

IV. “Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’  And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.”

“Oh my God, it is true.  You are alive.  It’s real.” 

Defeat, sorrow, darkness, death.  These dark forces were powerfully present in the lives of Mary and Mary as they went to the tomb that morning.  What they discovered is that defeat, sorrow, darkness and death do not win.  They do not win.  Jesus Christ wins.  Jesus Christ takes defeat, and he defeats it.  He takes sorrow and infuses it with joy.  Darkness flees before Jesus who is the true light of the world.  And death?  On Easter morning, it is death that lies dead in the tomb.  The two women whose morning had begun with hope in tatters and sorrow like a heavy garment upon their hearts,...... these women had been set free. 

But that wasn’t enough.  Good news is only good news if you hear it, if it is given to you.  And that is why the gospel account continues.  Why it MUST continue.  For only two have heard the good news.......

V. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

This good news must be told.  People must hear that Jesus has overcome the defeat of the cross, that he has turned sorrow into joy, that he has vanquished darkness with light, that he has put death to death in order to give life. 

We really aren’t so different than the two Marys.  We all come here this morning with some measure of defeat, sorrow, darkness and death in our lives.  Sometimes we’re aware of exactly what afflicts us and sometimes we don’t know exactly what it is.  Some of us struggle against it mightily and others have made their peace.  One way or the other, we come here needing to hear the promise of good news.  And so I tell you, Hear the Good News: Jesus Christ has been raised.  He has been raised for you.  He has been raised to set you free.  He has been raised to give you life.    

Alleluia, Christ is risen!  (He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!)

Maundy Thursday - 04/21/11

Holy Communion is important to us because it is one of the ways that God has established to give us this forgiveness.  And it is a particularly special way because we have the story of its institution, of how it began.

On this night that it begins, Jesus gathers his disciples together in a room in Jerusalem.   This is the last meal that they will all have together:

·        For it is tonight that Judas will betray him.

·        Jesus will be arrested in a few hours and convicted by the religious authorities.

·        It is in the wee hours of the morning that Peter will deny him.  

·        The others will slink away into the shadows out of fear.  

·        Tomorrow morning he will be brought before the Roman authorities and convicted there too.

·        He will be beaten, then crucified.

By the time the sun goes down the tomorrow, Jesus will be lying dead in a tomb. 

So, as Jesus and his disciples gather together tonight, Jesus has less than 24 hours to live.  Time grows short and so he shares something very important with them.  

• He shares with them a simple meal.
• He shares with them a way by which they will know his forgiveness, even when he is gone. 
• He shares with them a way by which they can give this forgiveness to others. 
• He shares with them his last will and testament.

So what exactly is a last will and testament?  And how is this meal a last will and testament?  Martin Luther explains it.

A testament, as everyone knows, is a promise made by one about to die, in which he designates his bequest and appoints his heirs.  A testament, therefore, involves first, the death of the testator, and second, the promise of an inheritance and the naming of the heir....... Christ testifies concerning his death when he says: “This is my body, which is given, this is my blood, which is poured out.”  He names and designates the bequest when he says, “for the forgiveness of sins.”  But he appoints heirs when he says, “for you and for many,” that is, for those who accept and believe the promise of the testator.  For here it is faith that makes men heirs, as we shall see.

You see, therefore, that what we call [Holy Communion] is a promise of the forgiveness of sins made to us by God, and such a promise as has been confirmed by the death of the Son of God.  For the only difference between a promise and a testament is that the testament involves the death of the one who makes it.  A testator is a promiser who is about to die, while a promiser (if I may put it thus) is a testator who is not about to die.  The testament of Christ is foreshadowed in all the promises of God from the beginning of the world; indeed, whatever these ancient promises possessed was altogether derived from this new promise that was to come in Christ.  Hence the words “compact,” “covenant,” and “testament of the Lord” occur so frequently in the Scriptures.  These words signified that God would one day die.  “For where there is a testament, the death of the testator must of necessity occur” (Hebrews 9).  Now God made a testament; therefore, it was necessary that he should die.  But God could not die unless he became man.  Thus the incarnation and death of Christ are both comprehended most concisely in this one word, “testament.”  (Luther’s Works 36, p38)

Jesus Christ is forgiving his disciples and appointing them as his heirs.  That is to say, he is telling them what they will receive upon his death.  When he dies, they will receive forgiveness.  This promise of forgiveness will be delivered to them in his body and blood, in the form of bread and wine.  Given what is about to happen and the shame and the guilt that they will be carrying for letting their teacher die unjustly, they will need this.  They will need this desperately.

But why couldn’t they just remember his forgiveness?  That’s not the way human beings work and God knows this perfectly well.  As I explained to the First Communion class last Sunday, on the day that I married my wife I told her that I loved her.  Imagine that I left it at that, never again telling her, “I love you.”  Never again giving her those words.  Never making them real by delivering them with a kiss, something tangible and real.  Imagine that I just left it up to her to remember this love that I had once professed.  Do you think that she will continue to believe that I love her?  No, she would begin to doubt.  Without hearing the words again she would begin to doubt.  Without feeling a kiss upon her lips she would begin to doubt. 

The disciples will need to hear this word of forgiveness.  They will need to hear it and taste it over and over and over again in order for them to believe.  In Holy Communion, in his last will and testament, Jesus is giving a way for his words of promise, his inheritance to be given over and over again, reinforced by something tangible, something that they can taste, bread and wine.

Later on, after his death and after his resurrection, the disciples, these heirs of Jesus Christ, will begin to give away his inheritance.  They will teach about Jesus.  They will preach.  They will baptize.  They will share Holy Communion with people who desperately need the forgiveness of their sins, who desperately need to be reconciled with God. 

This inheritance of Jesus Christ, this forgiveness of sins in the form of a promise given with wine and bread, has been passed down all the way to us.  From those sinful disciples who ate the body and blood of Jesus and heard his promise, all the way to us, who still hear his promise and who still eat and drink his body and blood.  And tonight, this inheritance is passed along to nine more heirs.  Nine more sinners who need to hear the promise of forgiveness and to taste it on their tongue and to believe.  And because we have the last will and testament of Jesus, such a promise can be given.  Amen.