John.14.15-21 Sixth Sunday of Easter. April 27, 2008

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“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:15-21, ESV)

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

I know it sounds like a silly question, especially in light of the words of Jesus we just heard, but I’m going to ask it anyway. “Does Jesus really want us to keep the commandments?” You know it’s easy to go “all Lutheran” here and say, “Ya God wants us to keep the commandments, but we can’t so we should feel bad and turn to God for forgiveness.” And that’s true, the commandments are the law that show us our sin, they show us very clearly that we don’t live up to God’s perfect standards. Especially the way Jesus defines them. “If you are angry at your brother you are guilty of killing him.”; “If you call your brother a fool you deserve to burn in hell.” (Matt 5:21-22) Those are pretty harsh words, and if that’s what Jesus really means when he says he wants us to keep the commandments we’re all in trouble. After all, he says right here “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” So doesn’t that mean that if we get angry at someone we don’t love him? If Jesus really wants us to keep his commandments, we’re all in trouble. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been angry this week.

Maybe we should look into what Jesus is saying here just a little deeper. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Are we really talking about the Ten Commandments? Or is there some other commandment that Jesus is talking about? It wasn’t that long ago we heard Jesus say something about a “new commandment.” Remember back to Maunday Thursday (that’s what Maunday means: command). He washed the feet of the disciples and then said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have love you, you are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) Does that really let us off the hook? Well actually it doesn’t. The commandment isn’t anything new in the sense of something completely different. A confirmation student could tell you that the commandments are divided into two parts. The first three are about our relationship to God. The last seven are about our relationship to other people.

Jesus was asked this very question once by Pharisees who wanted to see if Jesus really knew the law. They wanted to catch him in some hypocrisy. “Teacher,” one asked Jesus, “which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus answered by dividing the Ten into the two parts, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39, ESV) So when Jesus is talking about keeping his commandments, when he says to love one another, he’s talking about the same, The Commandments. And at first, we might think that that’s not a very good thing at all. But notice how Jesus defines them. Look at the word that he uses most in his definition: According to Jesus, keeping the commandments, all of them, is to love.

It starts with Commandment one: “You shall have no other Gods” or “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.” If we could just do that one we’d also be able to do the “Love your neighbor as yourself” too. Sounds a lot like what Jesus says too, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

But our inability to completely love God isn’t our only problem. We also have a problem with understanding the commandments as love because have been affected by the definition of love that’s been floating around our culture. At the prompting of the world around us we tend to think that love is a feeling. We think it’s something that happens here… in our hearts. God makes it clear that it’s not… with all your heart, soul and mind, that’s not just an emotion that much more than that. We connect love with the euphoria that comes from personal contact with a person we want to be with. But according to Jesus, love isn’t something that’s only found here (heart) it’s something that’s found here (hands)… keep my commandments. In other words, love isn’t just a feeling. Real love is much more than emotions, real love is a promise and a choice to keep a promise.

The best example I can think of is something that you’ve all heard:

Bridegroom, will you have this woman to be your wedded wife, to live together in the holy estate of matrimony as God ordained it? Will you nourish and cherish her as Christ loved His body the Church, giving Himself up for her? Will you love, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others remain united to her alone, as long as you both shall live? [Eph. 5:29]

Bride, will you have this man to be your wedded husband, to live together in the holy estate of matrimony as God ordained it? Will you submit to him as the Church submits to Christ? Will you love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others remain united to him alone, as long as you both shall live? [Eph. 5:24]

Marriage vows from Lutheran Service Book Agenda, (CPH, 2006)

Our picture of love comes from romantic movies. There’s always that heartfelt scene between parent and child… “I know you’re going to get married, but do you really love him?” Did you notice that’s not the question we ask at the wedding? That’s not what God asks a newly weds. The vows don’t say “do” you love, they say “will” you love. Love is stated here as an act of the will, a promise, a decision. There’s nothing there about a burning feeling in the bride and grooms heart. Love isn’t just here (heart) love is here (hands). Any long married couple will tell you that. If marriage is based just on feelings found in the heart, there’ll be trouble: feelings and emotions don’t last, they change frequently. In fact, this misunderstanding of love and marriage is probably why one in four marriages end in divorce (even among Christians!). Marriage that is built on feelings that are thought to be love will always falter. God wants more than good feelings between a man and his wife. He wants them committed to each other in sickness and health, good times and bad, wealth and poverty, anger and calm. The world says that lack of loving feelings is a reason for divorce. In God’s eyes divorce never acceptable and is always sinful. (Mal 2:16; Matt 5:32; Mark 10:9, 11; Luke 16:18; 1 Cor 7:10 etc.) True love keeps its promise. The love that Jesus commands us to do in marriage and in every day of our lives isn’t just found in here (heart), it is found here (hands). Ask any wife, she’ll tell you doing the dishes can be one of the most loving things a husband can do.

Well marriage is one thing. But there are other commandments than the one talking about marriage (6^th). Our wife/husband might be our closest neighbor but what about all the rest. Jesus wants us to love them, too. Right? Well, yea.

There was this man traveling on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho… he got beat up robbers and left for dead. The people who were expected to help him didn’t. The priest and the bible teacher just walked by because they had better things to do. The Samaritan is the only one who stops and helps. The story tells us that this unlikely person had compassion on him. That compassion isn’t a just a feeling, it’s an action. The priest and Levite undoubtedly felt bad for the beat up man, but they didn’t do a thing for him. But the Samaritan’s compassion shows in his actions. He bound up the wounds and took the man to the inn. That’s what Jesus means. According to Jesus, that is loving your neighbor. He’s saying, love isn’t only found here (heart) but here (hands). And what’s more, love found here (hands), acts even if there’s no feeling here (heart). It takes away the idea that’s often in our heads that we’ve got to have good feelings for someone to love them. We can show love in our actions even if we don’t feel it in our heart.

Well, if that’s love, then we are going to need some help. It’s hard to put that kind of thing into practice. It’s hard to do things for people who don’t seem to appreciate it, or even abuse the help. It’s hard to do things for people who are different from us. We want people to earn our help, and deserve our help. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition wouldn’t be a very popular program if they were dealing with undeserving families. “Joe’s been on Welfare because he’d rather sit on his butt all day watching cable and sucking down beer. Good Morning Joe! We’re here to tear down the cockroach infested shack you live in and build you a multi-million dollar house! We’re here to fulfill all your consumerist fantasies.” Well, I admit that’s a little extreme but that’s how we feel on a smaller scale. We aren’t able to love that way.

But Jesus does. Jesus’ love is a perfect love. It has feelings, he wept over the people who would kill him (Matt 23:37), and Lazarus his friend who died (John 11). But he really shows his love in action. He healed, taught, fed, and forgave undeserving people who gathered around him. Remember he ate with tax collectors and sinners. (Matt 9:10-13) He got his hands dirty serving dirty people. He shows us love that’s here in his hands. In fact, Jesus’ love is shown right here (hands) most clearly when he allowed nails to be driven right through them. He took our sins into his own hands and carried them to the cross. He served us. Like the Samaritan on the road, he helped us when we were helpless. There isn’t any better description of God’s love than John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17, ESV)

And remember the word “so” at the beginning means “in this way.” “God loved the world in this way that he sent Jesus to die on the cross for your sins and mine.”

We certainly don’t deserve the forgiveness Jesus works for us on the cross. But he didn’t die for deserving families (there are no deserving families, we are all sinful from the time we are born) he died for sinners and tax collectors. He died for people who don’t feel like giving a hand to other people, especially when they are different or dirty. Jesus death on the cross forgives your sin and mine, even the sin wanting to pass by the helpless man on roadside.

Jesus knows you need help. He puts his love into action. He knows you can’t get rid of sin in your life, so he dies on the cross to remove it. He also knows that you don’t always feel like helping other people, so he gives you another Helper. That’s the very next thing he says after he says, “keep my commandments.” “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.” (John 14:16, ESV) Just as he promised, Jesus gives you and me the Holy Spirit as a Helper. I really like the choice of translation in this text (ESV). “Comforter” in some of the other translations makes the Holy Spirit sound like someone whose been sent to make us “feel better.” But he’s so much more than that. He puts God’s love in action in our lives. He makes the love of Jesus flow from here (heart) to here (hands). In fact, the word there (helper, comforter, paraclete) can even be translated “the one who kneels beside.” Think of the Good Samaritan kneeling beside the man on the road. That’s Jesus working through the Holy Spirit in you; helping you when you need help, and helping other people through you. Jesus makes it very clear, where the Holy Spirit is He is too. He doesn’t leave us as orphans. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19, ESV) He’s right there with you when you help your neighbor who’s behind on his planting. He right there beside you when you give a can of food to the food bank. He’s there when you slap a pork and bacon patty on a bun for a biker.

You see, if you love Jesus, and every Christian does love Jesus, because they know that Jesus loves them first, with his life, death and resurrection… if you love Jesus, you will keep the commandments. Jesus makes sure of it. That’s love here (heart) and here (hands). Amen.

The peace of god that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Psa146 - Easter 5, April 20, 2008

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Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 146, ESV)

Faith Walk;

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ;

Did you ever go to camp and do one of those "faith walks." You know how they go, one person is blindfolded and the other leads them all around… up and down steps, around corners, through doorways, maybe even outside… The whole idea is that, if you are the blindfolded person, you're supposed to learn to trust the person who is leading you around. If you're the leader then you are suppose to show yourself as trustworthy. You do it by example, by showing that you can trust someone else, or that you are trustworthy. The "faith walk" is supposed to begin to help you to develop a new relationship with another person, a relationship based on trust. I toyed for a few moments about doing that this morning, pairing up a couple of people who we all know are in disagreement and, put on the blindfold and have them lead each other around the sanctuary. But alas that would be pretty "un-Lutheran" to do that. So I'll just have to trust that you have the image in your head. And I'll leave you guessing who I might have picked.

Trust is very important in life. Just think about how people react when their trust has been violated. Remember the time when you broke a promise to a friend? Remember how you felt when the secret you told came back to you from a different source? Are you loosing money in the stock market, did you trust the word of a financial advisor? It isn't just feelings that are hurt when trust is violated. When trust is violated, relationships are broken.

Life is full of placing our trust in one place or another. In a way life is a faith walk. It's important to be able to put your trust in someone. It's important to learn who is actually trustworthy. Life is a faith walk…. In some sense you have the opportunity to pick who you want to lead you around while you are blindfolded. When I was younger going to youth events around the state of Nebraska and we would often have a faith walk. And just like every other teenage boy, I always tried to get next to some pretty girl; it was a chance to hold her hand… in fact I think that's how I met my wife.

Today's text for this message is the psalm we read together in place of the Introit this morning. The author of this poem isn't known, and we don't know when it was written either. But, some of the language suggests that it was written by someone who was far away from home, experiencing an exile. It makes sense because in the history of Israel they were exiled from the land that God had given them. They had a trust issue with God. They put their trust in themselves. They put their trust in their kings. They put their trust in everything except for their God. In our relationship to God our actions have consequence. God wanted to get their attention so he had them removed from their country and sent to a far away and foreign land… like… North Dakota… or Carthage… you know they just think differently there…

The Psalmist says, "Don't let the princes of this world lead you! They will fail you. They will lead you astray." He must have known it from personal experience. He might have under a government that failed. Maybe we've got something in common with him. In many ways we trust our government far too much. We trust it to bail us out of our financial mistakes. We trust it to get us out of poverty. We trust it to take care of us in times of disaster. We trust it provide for us when we retire. Counting on social security for your retirement? Want the government to take care of your health care? Many would say these things are foolish to place in the hands of any government. We trust it to keep the peace, and we trust it to be just. Peace and justice are very fleeting things; no government has complete control of things. While God has given us government to protect us and keep a lid on sin, we are not to put our trust in it. Governments fail all the time; ask people in Nigeria, or Iraq, or Afghanistan. And don't think for a moment that the United States has some special blessing from God that He promises it will never fall. The US isn't the new Jerusalem. Our government isn't so strong and perfect and perfect that such a thing could never happen. God gives us fair warning "Don't trust in princes." The Psalmist says.

The psalm also warns us not let mere human beings lead you in your faith walk either. Don't trust what human beings say or do. Don't make glorious plans with them. Human beings are most often motivated by self interest, even in the church! It is a part of our sinful nature to think first of ourselves, our money, our desires, before others. When we look at ourselves we know that it is true. We constantly make promises we don't keep. We constantly forget to do the things that we should. Most of the time we want to keep our promises, but there are times when we make them and we have no intention at all of keeping. We know who we are, and we know that other people are the same. But even more than that, our plans are temporary at best. Death is in our future. When we die all their plans come to nothing. Death is the great equalizer. It removes wealth, it cancels plans, it ends partnerships, and it ignores social status. On the day you die, all your plans for this life will quickly evaporate. There's a movie (Unforgiven, 1992) where a killer played by Clint Eastwood says, "It's a [heck] of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have." The character he's talking to replies, "Yeah, well, I guess he had it coming." Eastwood comes back, "We all got it coming, kid." You too, "got it coming." You are not trustworthy. Your friends and family are not trustworthy. Don't trust human beings either.

Life is a faith walk… but, you can't trust in yourself, you can't trust in other people, you can't trust in government. Who can you trust in? Well, the Psalm has an answer for that; it says God is the only one who is trustworthy. "Blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob; whose hope is in YHWH his God." When God leads you around, even when you can't see where you are going, you can trust when here leads you.

But, the Psalm isn't just speaking in generalities; it tells us exactly why God is trustworthy. "Because" it says, "God is the one who created the heaven and the earth, the sea and everything in it!" It sounds like the creed we are going to confess in just a few moments. God created everything, he preserves and protects is. He has an interest in how it all goes. If can make it he guards and keeps it. Psalm 121 says it like this.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2, ESV)

In those days the false religions put their altars on top of the hills so that they could be seen all around. The psalmist is saying, "I look up to the hills, but my help doesn't come from there, it comes from the God who made the hills."

There's more though, and here is where the faith walk becomes even more interesting. God is faithful and trustworthy forever. Even when 'blindfolded' people are oppressed, He helps them. Here the Hebrew language for oppressed means economically. It means to not have the resources one needs to live. God helps those who are lead through hunger. He leads prisoners so that they become free. He helps the blind to see. He leads the humble people who have no place to call their own; and even the widow… God helps, you see, no matter where He leads you on your faith walk. No matter what the situation He places you in. When your trust is in "the God of Jacob" you will find that He is faithful.

Sometimes we find it difficult to trust in the "God of Jacob." Many of you know that it is true from personal experience. As you go through life, as you go on the faith walk, sometimes you trust God a lot, and sometimes you don't feel like you can trust him at all. He just doesn't lead us where we think we should be led. No one wants to go through an illness that threatens our life; no one wants to get old and unable to care for you, no one wants to loose a lifelong friend. We struggle with God just like Job did. God allowed all that happened to him to happen. He lost everything and found himself sitting in ashes, scraping the sores on his body with a broken pot. He didn't like it and he complained to God. "I'm innocent! He insisted." God's answer to him wasn't an answer we like to hear. "You don't know what you are talking about… I'm God and you are not!" I've told you before about a poster that used to hang in my parents house. "There are two fundamental facts of human enlightenment. There is a God. You are not Him." We do not understand how God works, and He doesn't work the way we expect. It's not unusual, because sin constantly threatens to separate us from God. While we are walking around blindfolded, we will at times try to pull our hand out of God's hand so that we can rip of our blindfold. We don't always trust where God is leading us. Those are the times when God is most faithful. If you remember the Gospel lesson from last week, Jesus is the one who said that no one could snatch us out of our Father's hand. (John 10).

The point is that we are not, and can not be faithful. God is, and always will be faithful. We see it most clearly in Jesus Christ. He shows us exactly how faithful God is. "I am in the Father and the Father is in me." "I and the Father are one." What you see me doing… you see God doing. Jesus was faithful in everything. People came to him for help and he helped them. People came to him with their sin and he forgave them. In fact the psalm describes Jesus perfectly;

who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

Jesus Christ is God who is faithful. He loves the least, the last, and the worst. He loves unfaithful you. He loves unfaithful me.

Just exactly how faithful is God in Jesus Christ. He is so faithful that He allows himself to be nailed to a cross and suffer great pain. He is so faithful that He is not willing for us to suffer eternal separation from God, even though our unfaithfulness deserves just such a punishment. We unfaithfully follow the God of Jacob, thinking first of ourselves, imagining that God is unfaithful because he allows us to suffer. We want God to act as we would have Him act. But God is too faithful to do things our way. Instead he does things his way. Just look to Jesus on the cross to see God's faithfulness in action. He bears the pain and suffering of the whole world. He hangs bleeding and dying for the forgiveness of sin. He is so faithful He knows the only way to save us from our sin. We can't be faithful, so Jesus is faithful, even unto death, for us.

Life is a faith walk… Jesus Christ the faithful one, places your hand in his, right there next to the nail print. No one can snatch you out of His hand. He leads you on your faith walk through all kinds of interesting places. He leads you in places you would never go yourself. He leads you through pain and suffering but promises that you will be better for it. Even though you are blindfolded you can trust in Him to lead you because he is trustworthy. He proves it through His willingness to die for you. He proves His is faithful by His resurrection from death. If He can control death, He can control life. Remember Death, the great equalizer; the canceller of plans, Jesus defeated him. It didn't thwart Jesus plans. Jesus Christ wasn't a mere mortal man; He was God and Man together, united. He alone is worthy of trust. He is God himself.

The psalm begins and ends the same way. "Praise the Lord," is says. Praise him because of what he has done. Praise him because he is worthy to be praised. Praise him because he alone is worthy of being trusted. Life is a faith walk… Trust Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God, keep your heart and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Luke.24.13-35, Third Sunday of Easter, April 6th, 2008

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That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?" And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see." And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?" And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:13-35, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

There's a painting. You've all seen it. It's a beautiful landscape with huge arching trees and bright light… and a road… maybe I should call it a "Way." On the Way are three men walking. One of them, the one in the middle, is obviously engaged in conversation. He has his arm raised in the air to animate and important point. The other two who are walking with him, are listening intently leaning ever so slightly toward the Traveler between them. The artist, a man named Robert Zend (1827-1909) has captured a pregnant moment. You can tell in the picture that something very important is happening. Maybe it's the majestic trees that frame the scene, or the bright light that seems to reach out of the background and envelop the Speaker. The painting is about this text for today. It's called The Way to Emmaus. I remember seeing the picture when I was very little. It was one of the many prints that hung in the basement of my Grandmother's church (Along with a print of Christ of St. John of the Cross). Every time I hear or read this text that picture pops into my mind. In my mind, that must be exactly as it looked that first Easter Sunday. (Never mind that the trees are grossly out of place for the road between Jerusalem and Emmaus).

Today, I don't think it'd be very difficult to put on our sandals and walk with these brothers of ours in that picture for a while. We could join them a little while before Jesus joins them. It will be easy to join in the conversation. We know about their pain. We know the kind of sorrow they are feeling. We know the kind of doubts they have. We know about death and the pain and sorrow and doubt it brings. Let's join the conversation: (Spoken by "Travelers" from the congregation)

"He was so young. Why did he have to die?"

"Why did he have to die like that?"

"He was such a good person he didn't deserve to die."

"After all the miracles he did why did those people want to kill him?"

"Couldn't he have found a way to avoid the … cross?"

"He deserved better than that."

"We all thought he was Messiah, but how could it be that Messiah would die?"

"The women said that angels told them that Jesus was alive."

"That's just wishful thinking… foolish talk."

"He's not alive. I saw his blood dripping on the ground. I saw pale death cross his face."

"Why didn't God do something to stop it all?"

"Dead is dead. But… why is his body gone from the tomb?"

The more we walk, the more we struggle. The more we struggle, the more sorrowful we become. But, we have cried all the tears that we have. We just have to get away. Emmaus seems like a good place to go. It is as far as we can bear walk in a day. A place far away from all that has happened.

The problem that our brothers on the way have, the problem we share with them is that we are unable to believe. You see, the road to Emmaus is the road away from Jerusalem. Even though we have all the facts; the words and promises of Jesus before his death, the angels announcement, and the empty tomb. We can't believe. We can't make a faith appear in our hearts. We can't build a faith that is strong enough to believe that Jesus is raised from the dead. We can't choose to believe what can't possibly be true. We know the reality of death. We've carved too many names in stone monuments. We know that our names will be there all too soon. Any faith we would drag out of our own hearts, stands in the face of cold death. Any faith of our own making is full of doubt.

Ah, but thanks be to God, he doesn't leave us to generate faith from our own sinful hearts. God gives us the faith we need to believe. And the faith that God gives is just that—the faith that God gives. It is faith to believe. It is faith that saves. That's what's just about to happen on the Way to Emmaus. Right there in the middle of our pain and sorrow and doubt, a Man, appears walking with us. We didn't really notice when he joined us but he doesn't carry the same painful expression we have. But he's walking the same way we are. He's come from Jerusalem, too.

"What are you talking about?" (Luke 24:17) He asks.

It's hard to believe that someone from Jerusalem wouldn't know what we've been talking about. It's hard to believe that someone from Jerusalem wouldn't feel the sorrow and pain over innocent death that was the center of so much of last few days. His question stops us dead in our tracks.

Cleopas, our fellow traveler says what we are all thinking, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?" (Luke 24:18)

And when the new Traveler answers, "What things?" it all spills out again; Jesus the great prophet of God, crucified, dead and buried, three days in the tomb; Jesus who we thought had to be Messiah, the one who would redeem us all, turned over to the Romans and death on the cross; Jesus' whose body is now missing, and claimed to be alive again by angels. We want to believe, but how can we possibly believe that Jesus is actually alive.

The Traveler looks at each of us with a smile. "O foolish ones," He said, "and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" (Luke 24:25-26) And he gives us a gift. Well, actually two gifts, one gift to bring the other. From beginning to end, he tells us about Jesus using nothing but God's Word. He shows us Jesus in what Moses wrote, Adam, Eve, and the fall into sin. He shows us that Jesus is the one who God promised would crush Satan's head. (Gen 3:15) He shows us that Jesus is promised in the way that Moses lifted up a bronze serpent on a pole, so that any of God's people who looked at it would be saved from the poison bite of snakes in the desert. (Num. 21:4-9) He shows us how the prophets tell us that Jesus is the one who is born of a virgin (Isa 7:14), suffers under Pontius Pilate (Isa 50:6), is crucified (Isa 50:13-53:12), dead and buried, and raised again to life. On and on he goes, with each step we take down The Way to Emmaus. This Traveler tells us that every word written in the bible is really all about Jesus. He opens to us the real meaning of God's Word. And what's more, that Word about Jesus brings us faith in Jesus. That's the second gift that we receive as we walk along the way. As we hear God speaking to us about his promise of forgiveness of sins through Jesus, life, death and resurrection, our doubts disappear. It's as if our hearts are burning as we learn the truth about Jesus. And because the faith that we now have comes from God through his word we know it's faith that saves us. Faith that God gives is sure faith, it's not filled with the doubt of sin.

Finally, we reach our destination: A small house in the village, a place to spend the night. But we are hardly finished listening to what Our New Friend has to say. And it looks like He's going to continue traveling and not stay with us. (Spoken by "Travelers" from the congregation)

"Stay with us!"

"We want to hear more about the Messiah!"

"It's too late to travel any farther, stay and eat, and talk."

"We want to hear more about how Jesus is our Savior."

Our hearts fill with joy when He agrees to stay. So we gather around the table to eat with Him. It's funny, that as we sit at table with this Traveler, our pain and sorrow and doubt are gone. Suddenly, the most amazing thing happens. As He takes the bread blesses it, breaks it and gives it to us to eat, we all realize that all this time along the way, we've been speaking to Jesus. And just as we see it's Him, He's gone. Jesus didn't leave us doubting. He didn't leave us to make our own faith from deep inside our hearts. He came to us on the Way to Emmaus. He came to us in His Word, and brought us the faith we need to believe. That is, in fact, what he does every time we gather to hear His Word. He didn't leave us alone to find the strength to live our lives in faith; He came to us in the breaking of the bread to give us the faith we need. That is, in fact, what he does every time we break bread together, and celebrate the special meal that He gave us.

You and I don't have to generate the faith that God gives. There's nothing that we do deep in our hearts to make it grow either. Since it's a gift from God we can be sure of it, even when we have doubts. Jesus doesn't say to us, "Stay away from me until you believe in me." The risen Jesus who was crucified, dead buried, comes to us and gives us the faith to believe.

So what do we do? We live in the faith that is given. Do you have doubts? Of course you do. So do I. Life is difficult and full of trouble. Talk to God anyway. Jesus says, pray these words, "Our Father who art in heaven…" Does the death threaten you with helplessness and despair? Of course it does. It does me, too. Gather with the rest of God's people where the Gospel, the Good News about Jesus, is told in its fullness and truth. Go where the bible is proclaimed as the story of God's love for sinful people, centered in Jesus Christ. Gather with other believing Christians, break the bread, and drink the cup that is Jesus very body and blood, there for you. Don't look to yourself to make your faith strong. Look to Jesus who comes to you and gives the gift of faith through His Word and Sacraments. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

"On the Way to Emmaus"

Pastor

… Let's join the conversation:

(Travelers stand)

Traveler 1

He was so young. Why did he have to die?

Traveler 2

Why did he have to die like that?

Traveler 3

He was such a good person he didn't deserve to die.

Traveler 1

After all the miracles he did why did those people want to kill him?

Traveler 3

Couldn't he have found a way to avoid the … cross?

Traveler 2

He deserved better than that.

Traveler 4

We all thought he was Messiah, but how could it be that Messiah would die?

Traveler 2

The women said that angels told them that Jesus was alive.

Traveler 4

That's just wishful thinking… foolish talk.

Traveler 1

He's not alive. I saw his blood dripping on the ground.

I saw pale death cross his face.

Traveler 3

Why didn't God do something to stop it all?

Traveler 4

Dead is dead. But… why is his body gone from the tomb?

(travelers are be seated)

Pastor

… And it looks like he's going to continue traveling and not stay with us.

(Travelers stand)

Traveler 1

Stay with us!

Traveler 2

We want to hear more about Messiah!

Traveler 3

It's too late to travel any farther, stay and eat, and talk.

Traveler 4

Tell us more about Jesus our Savior.

(travelers are be seated)

Easter Sunrise, March 23, 2008. Matthew 28:1-10

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Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” (Matthew 28:1-10, ESV)

He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

As I was preparing for this service this morning I noticed something that I hadn’t noticed before. Something that at first seemed strange and different. Maybe you’ve noticed it, or maybe you just took it for granted. But, for me it was really the first time I really took notice of it. The Easter story, the account of the Resurrection of Our Lord, the highest point in the church year, “The most holy Christian Holiday” (as they so often say in the News media), the most joyous day of the year for Christians, all it takes place in a cemetery. Maybe that doesn’t seem strange to you. But I have a difficult time putting all the normal events of Easter, all of our celebrations, in a graveyard. Maybe I can explain it this way. Little Billy is 2 years old. He’s wearing he new Easter suit, its one of those with a white shirt and a little vest. He’s running across the grass in search of Easter eggs. Mom is standing there with her hand at her mouth holding back tears of joy, “He’s just so cute!” she says to herself. Dad is following close behind making sure Billy sees all of the eggs hidden in the grass… Dad kneels next to his son. “Billy, I see a really nice one. Look over there, next to that gravestone!”

Or picture this; a large group of people has gathered together, they are all wearing their “Easter Best.” It is a joyous Easter festival! There are little girls in new spring bonnets… flowers butterflies, ribbons and curls, perfume and makeup; little boys in new spring suits, women in fresh flower print dresses and men who normally are found in coveralls, actually wearing ties. Everyone is joyful and happy. There is laughter and singing, even trumpets. As you look out over the crowd here and there between the people are gray and white tombstone stones sticking up. And even a mound of fresh dirt marking a recent burial. It seems to me an odd picture, an inconsistency. Something is defiantly out of place. Somehow, Easter and the graveyard don’t seem to go together.

Well, I guess it really isn’t hard to understand… Easter is a springtime festival. Everything we do reminds us of life. Mountains of lilies, bright Easter colors, buckets of pastel M&Ms, even the white paraments on the altar remind us of life. The grass is at least thinking about turning green again several of you farmers are already itching to get into the fields. (some of you have already been there) Easter is about life. It’s about spring, or so it would seem.

The graveyard on the other hand, is about separation and death. When we visit there we do so with tears, not joy. We do our best to make them pleasant places, with green grass and trees; nice quiet peaceful places to visit; but they are not places of great joy. They are not places of life. So it would seem, Easter and the graveyard don’t really go together.

Yet, here we are with this text in front of us, an account of how the two Mary’s went early in the morning to “look at the tomb,” to the graveyard. I wonder exactly what they expected to see there? Were their steps a confusing combination of grief, sadness, and yet hope? Did the words Jesus spoke about his death echo in their minds? Did the words Jesus spoke about his resurrection give them some small portion of hope? After all, they wanted to look at the tomb. Maybe, just maybe, Jesus wouldn’t be there, dead. Maybe, just maybe, they’d find just what he had told them they’d find, that he was really alive again. One thing is for certain. They went to the graveyard to see Jesus. And it was Jesus that they found. Well, first they found an angel, and an empty tomb. I wonder how it felt to stand in that graveyard, that place of death, and look at the place where a dead body should have been and find it empty. “I know you are looking for Jesus, the one who you saw crucified, dead and buried….” The angel said to them, “but you won’t find him in the grave anymore. He is risen! See the grave is empty! And that is good news that you need to tell his disciples.” The women were afraid, but they were also filled with joy; an uneasy combination of faith and unbelief; of hope and fear. And so they ran. They ran to do what the angel told them to do. And suddenly there in that place of death, there in that graveyard, stood Jesus, not dead but very much alive. The angel told them that he was alive. What the angel had told them was true. Jesus had told them that he would rise from the dead. What Jesus had told them was true. Jesus Christ, their crucified Lord had conquered death. There he stood before them, and all they could do was grab hold of him and worship at his feet.

Jesus conquered death! Two nights ago we gathered in this same place and remembered the price paid by Jesus for our sins. We remembered the punishment he bore for us as he bled and died on the cross. We all left in silence, maybe even with a confusing mixture of sadness and joy. Because we knew that what Jesus did, he did for us. “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” That means that his death on the cross was our death, too. When he died for the sins of the world he died for your sins and mine. “We were therefore buried with him, through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised form the dead through the glory of the father, we to may have new life. If we have been united with him in his death, we will certainly be united with him in his resurrection.” You see Jesus conquered death. He conquered your death. The resurrection of Jesus is assurance to you that even though you will die, you too, will rise again, just as he did. And that’s what those women found when they visited that graveyard in Jerusalem. They found the resurrected Jesus. They found the living Jesus and the promise of their own resurrection.

We’ve made some visits to the graveyard this year. We’ve been there. And we will undoubtedly be there again this coming year. What do we expect to find there at the graveyard? Do we go with an uneasy combination of sadness and joy? Do we go there looking for Jesus? Do we go there remembering that Jesus stood in a graveyard, resurrected to life? You see, it may seem that Easter is about life. But would it surprise you if I said that Easter isn’t really about life. Easter is really all about death. It’s about an end to death forever. It’s about the victory our Lord won over death. It’s about Jesus Christ standing in the cemetery alive. It’s about you and me, and all those we’ve laid out in the ground of our cemetary, alive again, because of Jesus Christ our Risen Lord.

Well ok, I’m not saying that we should have met in the cemetery this morning. But I am saying that the cemetery is the perfect place for Easter! That is where Easter means everything. That is where we see first hand what it means that Jesus Christ is risen today! Amen.

He is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Seventh Sunday of Easter, May 20, 2007, John 17:20-26

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²⁰“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, ²³I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. ²⁴Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:20-26 (ESV)

Grace and peace to you from Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Here in this text Jesus prays for unity. I’ve been thinking a lot about unity. Maybe you have, too. What exactly does it mean to be “united?” It’s a tricky word for us, isn’t it? Do you think that we here at St. John’s are united? I’m not so sure. Actually, I think that unity is something the whole world is looking for. In some sense lots of the violence of the Middle East is about unity. And closer to home more and more, every day we hear again and again about the false unity of men who want to marry other men, women who want to marry women. Make no mistake; God is not pleased with such arrangement. It is wrong to pretend that it is ok. It is wrong not to tell our children that that behavior is sinful and against God’s commands. On the other hand, it should also be noted that we shouldn’t threaten people who desire these things badly either. God isn’t pleased with violence against anyone. But it isn’t wrong to clearly, out of love tell someone that a lifestyle they have chosen is against God’s plan for their life. There are other attempts at unity, too. It’s nothing new for a man and a woman to live together without being united in marriage. They believe that marriage isn’t necessary, and yet the statistics show couples who live together before they are married will most likely divorce. But more than that, this arrangement, too, is against God’s will. When we don’t stand up and say so, when we don’t encourage unmarried couples to change their sinful situation we are participating in the sin. God holds us accountable for what we don’t say and don’t do, especially for those who are in the church. Political correctness tells us that if we just say things the right way we can create unity by not causing offense. And I don’t know if you feel the pressure (but I certainly do) to say that Muslims worship the same god that we do, or to say that all religions are the really the same and each leads to God, each in its own way. Or even that it’s ok for our brothers and sisters in Christ in other denominations to believe false things about God’s Word and His Sacraments. We don’t have to look very hard at these attempts at unity to see that they really don’t work. They collapse under their own weight, because they are unity that is based on things that are not true. They are based on misunderstandings of the way that God had made things.

The church as a whole isn’t doing any better. It is very ironic that in a year that Hollywood gave us a great movie like “The Passion of the Christ,” the Christian church in American gave us the first openly gay bishop, “in the hope that the church can be more inclusive.” And the desire to be a united church, in spite of the differences that exist, in spite of the false teaching about many things, grows every day. But the kind of unity that is sought is the kind that simply ignores the reality of the differences in the teachings of the different church bodies. There are real significant differences in understanding who God is, even more importantly what He has done in Jesus Christ, and how He works in peoples lives. This kind of unity that is based on ignoring difference is not true unity at all. It is a unity that ignores the truth of God’s Word for the sake of an external coming together. This is the kind of kind of unity that promotes communion tables that are open to all comers without regard to what they believe or even the kind of teaching they support. It is the kind of unity where adultery, divorce, homosexuality and other sins are outright ignored; “for the sake of unity.” Even when those sins are present in those serve as the Church’s pastors. The Church, just like the world around it, is seeking unity. But it is a false unity that isn’t the unity the Jesus prayed for. It isn’t unity based on the truth of God’s Word.

And yet, Jesus prayed for the unity of the church; that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. Are we to believe that Jesus’ prayer went un-answered? I hardly think so. We can trust that what Jesus prays is true. He is the One to whom the God the Father said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” So when Jesus prays that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. We can know that it is true. The Christian church through out the whole world is united, just as Jesus said. It really isn’t a choice is it? What Jesus says is always true. He said of himself, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

Someone said to me once that when we became Christians we gave up the right to choose who we would love. We are united because of Christ. According to Christ we are to love one another, even to the point of giving up our very lives for each other. It is true. You only have to look around you and know how the church is united. Sitting in the pews around are people who have helped you when you needed help. God has given us brothers and sisters in Christ who are here for us when we need them. We are united when we hear about God’s great love that sent Jesus to live and die and rise again for us. We are united when we gather at the altar and confess our common faith, and have the gift of salvation poured down our throats. We are united as we speak the words “in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” that were spoken, when Jesus united us to Himself in Baptism. We are united because we have been claimed from the jaws of death, rescued from sin, and saved from our own sinful desires. Our unity comes only from the work that God does and what God has done, not from anything we have done or could possibly even do. Martin Luther said it very clearly in his explanation of the third article. (p. 301 in LW)

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

Because we are united, we have a responsibility to love one another. We have the responsibly to correct one another, and accept each other’s correction, and even to hold one another accountable. It doesn’t matter if we are rich or poor, well dressed or poorly dressed, from the “right” family or the “wrong” family. We are united by the blood of Jesus Christ.

But we also know that we don’t always act very much like we are united. That’s because we are sinful people. That’s because the very nature of sin is separation. Sinful people are separated from God. Sinful people are separated from one another. Sin is divisive. That’s the problem with all human attempts at unity; they are filled with, and driven by sin. Sin calls evil good and good evil. For an example just look at so called “homosexual-marriage.” It is no real marriage at all. It is a false unity that is based on a lie, a lie that two men can have the same kind of unity that God has created for men and women. The sinful heart, your sinful heart and mine, think that we can say that this kind of unity is good as long as the people love each other. It isn’t that way according to God’s Word. When we say and believe such things we are calling evil good. Or even the example of live-in couples, claiming to have unity when there is none. Because the unity that God puts into marriage is based on a commitment to love, honor and cherish in spite of what trouble may come. It is the sinful heart, your sinful heart and mine that says it’s good for a couple to test the waters first to see if they are compatible, to see if they can get along. When we do this we call “good” what God calls “evil.”

True unity doesn’t come from sinful people. It can’t come from sinful people. It comes only from and through Jesus Christ. Jesus brings unity to a divided world. He brings restoration to a separated world. Through God’s Word made Flesh, we find peace, healing and wholeness; first, in restoration of our relationship with God; and then in our relationships to other people. It’s the Ten Commandments. The first three “You shall have no other Gods; You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; Remember the sabbath day by keeping it holy;” talk about our relationship to God, the rest “you shall not steal, you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery; all talk about our relationship with other people. Jesus keeps these commandments perfectly in our place. That is how in Jesus Christ we have true unity. He is the one who has knit us together into one body. That’s what Jesus is talking about when He prays that they may be in us. We are united to God and to one another through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

It works like this: When human beings were separated from God because of sin, God united himself to the human race by becoming a human being. Jesus was conceived by an act of God, a miracle in which God took on human flesh and became a full and complete person. He grew like any person, was born like any person, and was fed by his mother like any person. And although he was a complete human being he wasn’t like any other person, because He was without sin. Jesus is God and Man perfectly united together, completely God and completely human. In order to bring an end to the separation between God and man that is caused by sin, Jesus lived a substitute life for sinful people. He was a perfect “stand in” for us, because we can’t stand for ourselves. To better understand what I’m talking about, imagine that you are the star player of a basketball team. But, in the first few seconds of the game you foul out. You can no longer play in the game but your substitute comes in and plays for you. All the points that he scores still count, just as if you made them yourself. The other teams coach can’t contest those points because they were made by a substitute. Jesus whole life was lived perfectly, as our substitute, in perfect unity with God, the Father. So that, as Jesus prayed, they may be one even as we are one. And Jesus our substitute goes even further. Jesus doesn’t just do the good things we should do; He doesn’t just live the life we should live; He suffers the punishment we need to suffer. Jesus on the cross suffers and dies as the greatest sinner that has ever lived. Not because He was sinful, but because He substitutes Himself for sinful people. All of God’s anger at our sinfulness is re-directed to our substitute. All of God’s punishment for our sin is put on our substitute instead of us. Jesus became sin for us, and the very thing that prevents our unity with God is put to death. Sin is sent to the grave with Jesus. Jesus, our substitute, is made to be guilty and we are declared not guilty. With sin done away with, with its punishment paid in full, Jesus was raised to life again. Again He rises in our place, a complete human being dead and buried, raised again to live. You see, all that Jesus did He did for you, and you are united with Him through Baptism in it all, through faith in what He has done. It’s all Jesus. It’s all His work. It’s all for you.

Now look around you. It’s all Jesus. It’s all His work. It’s all for them, the young ones and the old ones, the brother in Christ sitting next to you, the sister in Christ sitting behind you. It’s for the person here that you don’t particularly like. It’s for the person here that you love more than any other. It’s for the person here who has hurt you deeply and even the one you have hurt deeply. That’s the unity that binds us. That’s the unity that is found in the true nature of Jesus Christ. It can’t be found or seen in any way other than in the truth about what Jesus has done, and for whom He did it.

And He did it for other people, too. Many don’t even know or care about what He has done for them. They aren’t united to Him, because they don’t trust that what He has done is for them. Jesus talks about that, too. …so that the world may believe that you have sent me. He’s talking about taking the message of what He has done to people who don’t know Him. He’s talking about taking the message of what He has done to those who have been away from hearing the message for a long time. This Good News about true unity in the world isn’t just for you, and the people sitting right here. It’s for folks you know out there. It’s for the members who have neglected joining us. It’s for those out there who belong to other churches. It’s for those who don’t belong to any church. In our relationships here we share the unity that Jesus Christ has given us. In our relationships in the community we share the unity that Jesus Christ brings to all people through faith in what He has done. Jesus uses you to show what He has done to bring forgiveness of sins to the whole world.

The church will not find unity by ignoring sin. Unity is found in repentance and forgiveness that only Jesus gives. It will not find unity by setting aside real differences that take away from the truth about what Jesus has done for us. There is no “piece”, nor “part” of the Gospel that is unimportant. The world won’t find unity by wallowing in its own misguided sense of morality. It won’t find unity in speaking so as not to offend. The unity the world is looking for is found only in a relationship with the True God. There is no relationship with the True God outside of faith in Jesus Christ. He is God’s only way of uniting human beings with Himself once again. Amen.

The Peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Sixth Sunday of Easter, Confirmation, May 13, 2007, John 14:6

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

Allissa, Thomas, and Jeremy; It is an exciting day for you. Confirmation day is the day you publicly stand up before the congregation and promise to remain faithful to what you have been taught, and that you would rather die than give up your faith. Over the past couple of years we’ve talked a lot about Jesus, about who he is and what he has done for you. You’ve learned all about it and you’ve learned it pretty well. You are ready to make this step toward Christ’s altar and receive his body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. But first…

I want your confirmation to be a memorable one so let’s talk about today’s Gospel lesson just a little bit. Especially verse 6.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, ESV)

Now this text is one of the most beautiful statements of the Good News of Jesus that there is. And what’s more these words come from Jesus himself. He’s packed a lot in those two little sentences. Unfortunately, these words have been very often misused by Christians.

Like I said I want your confirmation to be memorable so listen carefully: [droning voice] in his 26^th evening on May 1^st, 1885 Rev. Dr. C. F. W. Walther stated in Thesis XV: "In the eleventh place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the Gospel is turned into a preaching of repentance." Now it should be noted that this thesis rightly follows Thesis V which was part of his 9^th evening lecture of November 21, 1884 during which Dr. Walther stated that the grossest confounding of Law and Gospel occurs when Christ is represented as a new Lawgiver and the Gospel is turned into a doctrine of meritorious works. Got it? Yes? No?

Ok maybe not. Let’s try it another way. Imagine that I have stick… no let’s not imagine lets look at this stick. This stick is a John 14:6 stick. What does it look like? A sword. See it has a handle, that’s called the hilt, and a blade, and on the blade is written the reference to the bible passage “I am the way the truth and the life…”

Now how would you use this sword? Well, let’s imagine now that you have a whole pen full of chickens, hundreds of them. You job is to get the chickens into the chicken house through a small opening in the side. So you take this sword here and you wave it around at them and try to get them to go in. You can swing the thing at them, and shout the words of John 14:6 at them. You can even beat them with it. Of course, you know what’s going to happen. Chick Run! Mayhem and panic. You’ll chase those chickens around that pen all day with your sword and you’ll never get them to go trough the door.

Now this is church, and you know that in church we aren’t really worried about chickens. What we’re really talking about is people. We’re not trying to get people into a chicken house, but into the place that God has prepared, an eternal home with God forever. God’s desire is for all people to be with him now and forever. God wants you and me and all those billons of people scattered across our planet to be with Him now in His church, and forever in heaven.

That’s what Jesus is talking about in the text. He says that he is the way to God. He is the way that people like you and me, and all people everywhere can get from here in this sinful, broken world into God’s eternal and prefect world. Our problem is (everyone’s problem is) that we when we are born our relationship with God isn’t a very good one. In fact, according to the bible we are God’s enemies. We are born in the sin of our parents. It’s called original sin. Do you remember how we talked about that in class? Original sin is “not living in a perfect relationship with God.” That’s how we are born. Sinful people apart from a relationship with God. Jesus came to earth as a human being to restore our relationship with God. He came to be the Way to God. He was…

…conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

In the Gospel reading for today he talks about it, too. “And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the Way were I am going" (John 14:3-4).

You know the way. You have known it for many years. It’s been taught to you over and over again. You confessed “the Way” last Wednesday night. Jesus has been the way for you ever since your parents brought you to baptism here at this font. God gave you the gift of faith through the work of the Holy Spirit at this font or at another one. And he works through the Word spoken here to keep you in the way. But I want to be very frank with you. God has promised never to leave you. But you can walk away from him very easily. The place where your faith grows is here, in worship. You’re going to promise that you’d rather die than give up the faith. For most of us it’s not dramatic choice between giving up the faith and facing a martyr’s death. Like the British reporters who were abducted a few months ago, and chose to deny Christianity instead having their heads cut off. But we face that very issue every Sunday morning. If this is where your faith grows, you need to be here, every Sunday. It’s hard to get it done. You’ve so much against you; Transportation issues; Parents who can’t or won’t come with you; Other Sunday morning activities that seem to be much more important; friends that laugh at you; Every Sunday you miss, is easier to miss the next. God wants you to be here every Sunday, I want you to be here every Sunday. The voices that tell you not to be here every Sunday, or the voices that tell you that you don’t belong here, are speaking from Satan. He’s the one who wants you in Hell. The Good News is the news you’ve already heard. It’s what you’ve been taught, that Jesus is the only way to the Father, that there is no way to heaven except through Jesus. It’s Good News. Good News for you and for me because we don’t have to worry about what we have to do to get right with God. We don’t have to worry about what we have to do to restore our relationship with Him. God has done it all for us in Jesus. He’s made the way for us already. And through baptism he made it our way.

Now think about this sword again. You haven’t been chased with this sword, poked and prodded, or forced to believe in Jesus. The way to heaven isn’t through the sword of John 14:6 it isn’t the law to beat you over the head. The way to heaven is the Gospel, the Good News about Jesus. You see if you turn the sword upside down, You’ll see that it’s also a cross. Jesus made the way for you to get to heaven and be with God forever through his death on the cross.

The thing is it’s very easy to get it all turned around again. That’s because there’s a whole world out there that’s trying to tell you exactly the opposite. The minute you step outside these walls you’re bombarded with the idea that there are many paths to God and that any one is as good as any other. You’ll be told that if you’ll just allow for the idea that there are many valid expressions of faith you can believe anything you want. If you don’t you are unloving and intolerant. And what’s more, you’ll even hear the same thing said in the name of God in churches that claim to be part of the Christian church. “We’ve got to be careful not to offend people.”

The reason is that people don’t want God’s way of salvation. They want to make their own way. One of my Seminary professors once said that the essence of sin is that we want to kill God and take his place. We want to be in control and take the credit for our own achievements. Really, it makes the most sense to us. Our way of thinking about God is the same way we think about every other part of our life. Every day we have to earn our way along in life. It only makes sense that we should have to earn our way to God, too.

God’s Way of salvation goes against everything we think and feel. God’s Way of salvation takes our efforts completely out of the picture. And that’s why it’s such Good News because God’s Way of salvation is the only way that we can be sure of because it’s not found in our weak will and our imperfect good works. The Way to God is through Jesus. He had a perfect will. He always did what God the Father asked of Him, even when it meant death on the cross. Jesus whole life was full of perfect good works, too. His relationship with God is perfect, so when he died to take away our sins, He was raised to life again. Because you are a Baptized Child of God, Jesus perfect life, death and resurrection are yours. In other words, you have a perfect relationship with God through Jesus. Did you hear how it’s all God’s work in Jesus? Did you hear how you and I don’t have any part in our salvation? That’s the Good News. That’s the wonderful gift of faith. And that’s the hardest thing for us to accept, and why it’s so important that we hear the Good News over and over again. It goes against our nature.

That’s why God has given us this place to gather. He knows how hard it is for us to hold on. That’s exactly why he gives us his Word that he promise will work in our hearts. That’s why he attaches His Word to water in baptism. So that we can see what it means to have our sins washed away. That’s why Jesus comes to us in his very body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. He connects to us through the forgiveness that comes though the same body and blood that hung on the cross for you.

That’s what you’ll promise today. To hold on to Jesus and all that he did for you in faith. It’s just a promise to open up your arms and mouth and heart and receive the gifts that he gives here. Jesus has already done everything you need. Hold on to him in faith. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 6, 2007, Acts 11:1-18

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Acts.11.1-18

Fourth Sunday of Easter, May 6, 2007

Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” But Peter began and explained it to them in order: “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:1-18, ESV)

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

Once in a small town church on a Sunday morning as the worshippers were gathering almost ready to begin there was a huge roar out side the church. It was the deafening and unmistakable sound of machinery, motorcycles. The windows of the church rattled as the engines roared, and then there was silence. The congregation all looked at the pastor who was standing in front ready to begin. The silence was very loud. It seemed to last for a lifetime. The doors of the church opened and in walked two bikers. They were dressed in leather, unshaven, dark bandanas on their heads. The usher froze. He didn’t know what to do. One of the men grinned at him and took two worship folders. Still in shock the usher moved aside and the pair found a seat near the back of the church. For everyone the service felt odd. They did everything just as they had always done, and yet, it seemed different. When everything was finished, the bikers left greeting the pastor on the way out the door. “Thanks,” was their only comment. The others waiting to greet the pastor stood still until the sound of engines roared again and began to fade in the distance.

“Well, what do you think of that?” said one of the faithful, lifelong members. She was an elderly woman. “Pastor,” she said, “why do we let people like that into the church?”

“Well,” came the answer, “we let you in didn’t we?”

This is exactly what St. Peter is describing to the Christians in the church at Jerusalem.

“Peter, why do we let folks like that into the church? Those are gentiles! They are unclean. They do things that we don’t understand. They don’t bathe like we do. They ride scruffy donkeys. They wear weird cloths.”

Peter gives a simple answer. “When I preached the Word of God to them and told them of Jesus life death and resurrection, they received the Holy Spirit. They believed it. They trusted in Jesus for their forgiveness. They have faith. I had to baptize them.”

To understand this completely I think we could think a bit about another account from the bible. Way back in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, there was a prophet named Jonah. He was called by God to go and preach to the Ninevehites. Now, in case you’ve forgotten, the Ninevehites had a problem and it was more than just sinful behavior. They weren’t Jews. They were Gentiles. Oh, they were sinful alright, an very much so. They were blood thirsty warriors who piled up the dead bodies of their enemies at the city gates so the body could be witnessed by everyone passing by. They defiantly had that strike against them. But more to the point, and probably more important to Jonah, they were Gentiles. They didn’t deserve God’s love and forgiveness, they only deserved his wrath and anger. He didn’t want them to be saved. So he jumped on a boat in Joppa and headed out to sea as far from Nineveh as he could possibly get. God had other plans. He sent a storm to sink the boat. When the sailors found out it was Jonah’s fault the prayed that God wouldn’t hold them accountable and tossed Jonah overboard. I think it’s important to note that Jonah agreed with them. He would rather die than go to Nineveh. A great big fish (probably created for this very purpose) came and swallowed Jonah whole. And after three days in the belly of a whale, Jonah had a change of heart… mostly. He agreed to preach. The fish spit him out near his destination and he reluctantly walked into the city. “Forty days and Nineveh will be overturned.” It was a very Lutheran sermon. It had both law and gospel. The law: Nineveh will be overturned. The Gospel: forty days. In other words, God’s giving time to repent. And repent they did. From the king right down to every dog, cat and rat. They all dressed in mourning clothing and pleaded with God to forgive them. And that’s just what He did. He couldn’t way to forgive. In fact, as Jesus says, God answers our prayers even before we are finished asking. Nineveh wouldn’t be destroyed after all. No just to show how deep the distrust of folks who are different can go, Jonah wasn’t so sure. He sat outside of town waiting for the earth to open up and swallow it whole. It didn’t happen and Jonah wasn’t happy. A tree grew up over night and gave him shade while he waited, but he still wasn’t happy. The next day the tree died, and Jonah went into a tirade. But God put him in his place. Jonah! You care more for that tree than you do the people of Nineveh… who I died to save…

Wait a minute! Hold the phone pastor; I thought you said this was in the Old Testament? Jesus didn’t die yet. How could God have said that? Well, of course you are right. He didn’t say that exactly. What he said was that they were children who didn’t know God. But I think it is very telling they way God saved them. Jonah dies for three days. After he rises he brings salvation to the whole city. Sound familiar. That’s Jesus and us. Jesus died his death on the cross, stayed in the belly of the grave for three days and rose again to bring us salvation. It’s a great story. It’s a great story of God’s love and forgiveness. Jesus died to take away our sins. And through the water of Holy Baptism he brings you into the church… or should we say He “lets you in?”

The Jews in Jerusalem had a Nineveh problem with the Gentiles. They were actually shocked that the Holy Spirit came to them. It took God’s vision to Peter while he was on the roof trying to take a nap to turn even that great disciples mind about them. Peter had to see their faith. He had to see that they had received the Holy Spirit before he was completely convinced. In the end he said he simply had not choice. He had to baptize them because God had opened the door of salvation through Jesus life, death and resurrection even to Gentiles. And aren’t you glad He did? You and me sitting here, well there’s not a Jew in the pew. We are all Gentiles; people who were lost until faith in Jesus was planted in our hearts through God’s Word, water and the work of the Holy Spirit. And we’d be lost too if that same Spirit didn’t come to us every week right here in God’s Word, preached into your ears. Our faith would die of malnutrition if that same Spirit didn’t use the bread and wine, and the body and blood of Jesus to make it grow. When you look around the room here you can glorify God and say with the church at Jerusalem, Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life. (Acts 11:18, ESV)

Ah, but there’s always just a bit more isn’t there. In fact, we began toda