3rd Sunday of Easter Video

Click here for 3rd Sunday of Easter Sermon video [John 21:1-19] (14 April 2013)

3rd Sunday of Easter [John 21:1-19] (14 April 2013)

This sermon was preached at Trinity Lutheran Church, Tailem Bend (9 am) and St. John's Lutheran Church, Karoonda (11 am).  

Today's reading, it's not the first time Jesus gave a miraculous catch of fish. The difference this time is that it's after his resurrection from the dead. For John, this is much like when a movie has a scene after the ending credits. It's an epilogue. It's one more reminder for the apostles and for the Church, that Jesus doesn't stop performing miracles for the Church, that the Church itself is a miracle.

Jesus keeps pulling miracles out of his hat.

So to speak.

But right off the bat, these are miracles that are according to his promises, and they are miracles of the Word, miracles of the forgiveness of sins (just ask Peter). And if they are, why does the Church keep trying to pull miracles out of a hat in every other way than these?

Let's look at the disciples who went fishing, as we heard in today's Gospel. They tried their very best to catch some fish, and they got nothing. The text says, “that night they caught nothing.” But that word “caught”, John uses that word other times in his Gospel account, but every other time it means “arrest”, as in Jesus' enemies wanting to seize him, take him by force. This certainly shows that the disciples with their best efforts, couldn't catch any fish that night. But is that all it shows? If they can't “grab” fish, can they “grab” people? In last week's Gospel, Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” He sends them out as apostles. Is it the same thing when it comes to their “church work” to use the modern phrase? Can they forcefully bring about faith in people's hearts by an act of their will? Can they bring about success in fishing for men as little as they bring about success in fishing for fish? That's right.

Now fishermen know that putting a line in the water (or in the case of the apostles, a net) is no guarantee you'll catch anything. But we still fish. We just don't demand that every time we fish that we'll catch something. It's not up to us. Therefore, no one says, “I'm going fishing.” “Oh, where are you going?” “To the fish and chip shop. I always catch something there.” That's just redefining the phrase “go fishing”. Do we know this as a Church, however? If we can't “catch” people with the Gospel of Christ, do we change the definition of what that means? The European churches did. They drew a circle around the church building on the map and said “Everyone in this circle is a member of the church.” And that was the end of it. At the same time,

All the best efforts to “grab” people add up to the same nothing. If we did “grab” people, then that would mean that all we need are the right techniques, the right vision and mission statement, and then we would grow the Church. But do we grow the Church at all? Who brought about the miraculous catch of fish in today's Gospel? This is how the Church keeps trying to pull a miracle out of a hat. It happens every time a church looks elsewhere than God's promises in Christ, elsewhere than the Word, elsewhere than the forgiveness of sins. And it always starts the same way: “If we can just. . .” “If we can just be more relevant.” “If we can just have better leadership.” But whatever the IfWeCanJust is, it always starts in the wrong place: we. Us. We're in charge. What we decide is what's right. All we need to do is __. The lie of IfWeCanJust sounds so good and disagrees with the Word of God so much, because it relies on our own strength at all.

This doesn't take away our responsibility, the Lord does use us to pass on the faith, but it reaffirms that we aren't the ones who create faith. Again, not only did the disciples not catch any fish until Jesus made it happen by his word, but when they brought in the catch, “although there were so many, the net was not torn.” Even bringing in the catch was a miracle.

And this is not surprising: we can't “grab” people for God because we ourselves can't even find God. Those who think they can aren't able to find comfort that they've done it just right; there's always the worry in the back of your head about __ . Whatever __ is, it doesn't matter, you'll never be able to do it well enough.

Our faith is a miracle. It's not that Jesus just shows you the way, and if you obey you've earned eternal life. John doesn't even talk about the disciples' obedience being enough to bring about a big catch of fish, because when they do as Jesus say, they don't even know it's Jesus. This way they can't say, “Oh yes, he told us, but we, yes we obeyed him.” This way all the glory goes to God in Christ. Trying to find God and to grab other for God is in the end the same lack of fear, love and trust in him and putting our trust in our works.

But on the other hand,

Jesus keeps actually pulling miracles out of a hat because he brings eternal life through his death, and brings it by his word. Jesus performed a miracle for his disciples even after his resurrection; so don't be surprised that the Church is a miracle, and in the same way – by his word! (What made the catch of fish happen? The disciples putting the net in the water? No, that's how it happened. What made it happen is Jesus' words: “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.”)

Jesus brings the miracles: Jesus brings about the catch, just like he brought about the feeding of the 5,000 (parallels) – fish and bread should remind us of something here. Jesus didn't need help to multiply the fish and bread at that time, but it was still the responsibility of the disciples to be the stewards, to hand it out. He brings about faith and the growth of the Church through repentance and baptism, and these come to us as miracles also – by his preaching we hate our sin and trust in him for forgiveness by his cross. By his word and Spirit we are baptized.

Jesus brings about the Lord's Supper (“took” “bread” and “gave” are in this chapter and in every account of Jesus instituting the Lords' Supper; one meal's a miracle, what about the other?), Jesus brought about Peter's restoration (Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus asks him three questions.) [Aside: Repentance does hurt, Peter was grieved the third time Jesus asked him, but the result is to our comfort and God's glory], and Jesus brings about pastors to shepherd his flock with individual absolution (parallels) - “Follow me” he says to Peter. These simple words link back to Jesus calling his disciples way back in John chapter one. Jesus tells Peter to shepherd his sheep, which links to the Good Shepherd chapter (10), and Jesus' prediction of Peter's death which glorified God links back to John 13 where Jesus says the disciples can't follow but later they will (when they are put to death for being followers of Christ.) (And Jesus' gift of forgiveness to Peter links back to last Sunday's Gospel, where the poor scared disciples aren't scared anymore when Jesus appears, and they are to use their office to apply Jesus' forgiveness to the same sort of poor miserable sinners as Peter was.)

The miracle of the feeding on the beach isn't bigger than the miracle of the Church and the things the Church lives by: the cross, the resurrection, the Word, and forgiveness. These are continual miracles. They are God's work. This is God finding us. These things are way more important than we give them credit for.

This is a comfort for pastors and for those who worry about the Church. (It's there to keep us from playing the IfWeCanJust game by continually repenting of our arrogance that 'it's all up to us.') The reminder is to lock on to the Word which does the evangelizing. We don't grab, we present the means by which God creates faith and enlivens the heart: the Word. We don't act as if Jesus is absent. (Jesus isn't an absent Lord of the Church, not through the work of his Word and Sacrament by the Holy Spirit).

Jesus even says “bring some of the fish you took”, as if to say “you know you didn't really catch that fish.” He says this as a reminder that it wasn't them, and when they preach and baptize, it won't be them at that time either. Jesus has done it just right because he's able to and compassionate.

We define things like “Church” and “the Lord's Supper” according to Jesus' words, not our opinions or what the world thinks. If Jesus can do one thing, he can do another thing when it comes to miraculous meals and the Lord's Supper. (today's reading isn't the Lord's Supper but it's his qualifications that he can do the Lord's Supper if he says so. Again, he's able to, and he's compassionate.)

 

Conclusion: This epilogue is a bit of a failsafe for the apostles and for the Church of all times and all places. The overtones for the work of drawing people into the Church are everywhere. They are everywhere, and they are given form and definition by our Lord Christ himself. May he grant that his definitions once again are brought to open and joyous confession in the Church that is the work of his hands. Amen.

2nd Sunday of Easter [John 20:19-31] 7 April, 2013

This sermon was preached at St. John's Lutheran Church Karoonda at 9 am and Trinity Lutheran Church Tailem Bend at 11 am.  

Sometimes a personalised gift is one of the best things you can get. Sometimes it's like the money clip I keep in a box of junk. I never use money clips, but I can't get rid of it, because it has my name on it. So when somebody tells you “Hey, you know you're mentioned in the Bible”, you never know if it's a really great thing with a promise attached to it, or if it's as lifeless as a mass produced knick-knack that just so happens to have your name on it. So when we come to today's Gospel reading

Jesus has proved his resurrection, and you have the words by which you are blessed!

Transition: But a lot of things happen in the text before we hear this promise. First, a lot of things just plain happened in these short verses: Jesus appears to the disciples in the locked room, proves his resurrection, institutes absolution, which they report to Thomas who refuses to believe that their words are Jesus', and when Jesus backs it up, Thomas confesses him rightly, but Jesus says that the people who don't get that same experience but believe these words are blessed! That's a lot. And it means there's a lot of things that needed to be addressed.

The disciples remained in the locked room, even after Mary Magdalene's words, out of fear of death. They were afraid of suffering the same fate as Jesus, but in the end they did receive the same fate as Jesus (all except John), but after seeing Jesus risen from the dead they're too glad to worry about that fear of death business, because they all receive the same eternal life that Jesus has in victory over the grave.

Our fear of pain and death need to be addressed as well, because they make gods out of our pleasure and enjoyment and out of life on this earth. Neither are gods who can give eternal life.

Thomas remained in disbelief even though he had Mary's and the disciples' words. Mary Magdalene had told the disciple what Jesus gave her to say “but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" ”; the disciples had told Thomas what Jesus had said and done: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." ²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”. The problem was in rejecting Jesus' words, not that he missed out on seeing Jesus like the disciples did. (So it's a comfort that Jesus deals with Thomas so gently. He lets him also put his finger in Jesus' hands and side.)

When we look for something more than Jesus' words, we end up with so much less. When we look for more than Jesus' words, we end up with our own opinions, the world's unbelief, and the devil's lie (and when we say it like that it seems so easy, 'of course Jesus' words are better', but in real life is where it is so hard).

Jesus had something else to address in that locked room. Sins remain in need of forgiveness according to the Lord's way. Jesus appeared because he had something to address that was outside of the room where the disciples were (as well as inside it): sin. He's pretty consistent that way: born to destroy sin, died to destroy sin, says to his apostles “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” to destroy sin.

Sin separates us from God, so whether we feel fine or not, the problem doesn't go away. Now when Martin Luther preached on this text, he quoted Romans 7:8-10 “For apart from the law, sin lies dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. ¹⁰ The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.” Listen how a good preacher explains this text: “In other words, sin is always in us, but when the Law does not come, sin is for all practical purposes asleep, for it causes no pain; it does not bite or gnaw at us. As long as sin lies dormant and dead, we do not ask how to repent and be converted, but when God's law strikes the heart like a bolt of lightning, it arouses your conscience and manifests God's judgment. Because of your sin he is about to punish you and damn you. Sin now springs immediately to life; you see what a powerful thing sin is, separating you from God, delivering you into the hands of the devil, and casting you into hell. And neither emperors nor kings can do anything about it.”

The end result is that Jesus addressed all these things with a promise for you that mentions you (and with promises for you all along the way). Jesus broke the disciples fear with a triple “Peace”, the peace which he has gotten by his death and resurrection and dispenses. Three times Jesus says “Peace be with you” in today's reading: twice when he appeared to the 10, once when he appeared to the 11 (Thomas being there too). It's more than a greeting; it's what he has and gives.

The word of Jesus' death and resurrection is the speaking of that peace. Nowadays, peace means “no war”, meaning the absence of bad things. But in the Bible it means the presence of everything that is good, as God intended his creation to be. So the same Jesus who greeted his disciples here is the Jesus who said in John 16 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." ” These words are a promise.

Jesus broke Thomas' unbelief by backing up the disciples words (his words), and brought about this amazing confession of Thomas. It's not so much that Jesus proved that he was alive to Thomas; it's that he confirmed that what the rest of the apostles had said to Thomas is what he himself had said to them. He backed up his words.

And thanks to Thomas we have the phrase “Doubting Thomas”, which means a sceptic. But Thomas is first Disbelieving Thomas and then Believing Thomas. Believing Thomas said something really good to Jesus, calling him “my Lord and my God!”

It's a comfort to us when we hear of even the apostles falling into disbelief and needing to be restored. It reminds us that all Christians are to repent daily, and are restored not by anything they do but by the Father restoring them through the word of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus brought about Thomas' great confession of faith, and the Triune God brings about both forgiveness and faith in you.

Sins don't just go away. Sins get forgiven, as the only way to take away the terror when the Law awakens sin.

And these words of forgiveness are put into an office, the only one the Church has from the Lord, and the authority of this office is the authority of the forgiveness of sins, the authority that Christ has given to the apostles and those who come after them. When they do it, they're doing what Jesus through the Church has given them to do.

This reading does mention you, but in a surprising way – for something you haven't done, and for a promise you've received. The promise that Jesus gives is a promise for you who receive these words even though you don't see Jesus the way Thomas got to –

This is a promise that is for sure placed into mouths because without Christ making sure of this, we can't do it, we can't get it (we can't earn or obtain forgiveness; Christ must bestow it, and he has provided that this happens.)

Here is the true authority of the pastor, and kings can't match it, as Luther reminded us, because it's the forgiveness of sins. Jesus doesn't call Thomas blessed (though he is), but calls you blessed, that you may rest assured that putting your hands in Jesus' hands and side isn't the way you receive faith, but by his words.

And just to prove that this is the preaching of the apostles, even in the face of pain and death, we have to look no farther than the first reading of the day from Acts 5. The Jewish ruling council told the apostles not to teach in Jesus' name, and Peter, speaking for all the apostles, says “We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised Jesus [resurrection], whom you killed by hanging him on a tree [crucifixion]. ³¹ God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior [ascension], to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins [the Church]. ³² And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him [there's the office of pastor, an office given by Jesus to the Church, those who come after the apostles, not as apostles, but come with the same authority to absolve and retain sins.] There's the preaching of the apostles, and all for the purpose that John ended this reading with: “ but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”." ”

Conclusion: The promise that mentions you by name in this reading (it just doesn't say your name) is “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. It's not a lifeless word, but a life-giving promise. But it's based on what Jesus has done for you through absolution, forgiveness of sins, and not based anything you have done. And forgiveness is placed in the Church to be used in an office: the office of pastor. That's of much more value than a money clip with your name on it. Amen.

Easter Sunday [Luke 24:1-12] (31 March 2013)

This sermon was preached at Trinity Lutheran Church Tailem Bend at 9 am and St. John's Lutheran Church Karoonda at 11 am. 

The apostles left us an important thing when it comes to Easter: most importantly – their eyewitness testimony. Secondly – that they preached it so hard. It's not just today that people mock and ridicule that we rejoice that Christ Is Risen. We know why people think that just can't be. But in the days of the apostles the people ridiculed the resurrection for two different reasons. “Oh, the body is raised from the dead? How . . . physical.”. And “Oh, this Jesus was raised at a particular time at a particular place? The most important event happened in far away Jerusalem on a Sunday. How . . .small seeming.” But they didn't stop proclaiming it; they proclaimed it harder. That's because, Christ's resurrection isn't optional, even if it's unpopular to say. It's for you. And here's the formula for Easter:

History + Word → Faith (and don't worry, this is all part of the plan)

Let's start with the history. And that means we start with the empty tomb. The tomb was empty because of the historical fact that Jesus rose from the dead. But here's how the women reacted to the fact of the empty tomb: (these were the women who went to prepare the dead body of Jesus for permanent burial, or so they thought) “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this”, and let's stop right there. They were perplexed. They didn't know why the tomb was empty. That's their reaction to the fact of the empty tomb. They went in, they saw, they couldn't deny – the tomb was empty, and they were perplexed.

That's the fact of history for them (before they saw the angels). But there's the history we need to know to celebrate Easter. History: The tomb was empty. Jesus' 12 disciples after Easter, all but one died because they confessed that Jesus rose from the dead. If it was something they made up, why die for it? History – this happened just outside Jerusalem, almost 2,000 years ago. History – If Jesus' 12 disciples made the Resurrection up, why do they come off sounding so thick in the Gospels? When you make something up, you make yourself look good in it. They don't, even when the women come in and tell of what they saw and heard, the disciples don't believe them, like they're delirious. Jesus' resurrection is a fact of history because the tomb is empty and there were so many eye-witnesses, and we have their accounts.

 

But the historical facts were confusing (remember how the women, upon seeing the empty tomb, were perplexed?) The words of Jesus interpret the historical fact of the resurrection. Why was the empty grave perplexing to the women? Because the cross was perplexing. They saw both with their own eyes, they couldn't make sense of either. And their guessing what it meant wouldn't have gotten them anywhere. Christ had to do it by his words!

 

The angels words bring to remembrance Jesus' authoritative words. In Luke, “remember” is a word only for something that God does. And the angels tell the women to remember what Jesus said. Jesus is God! So what he does and says carries authority. (If this is a work of God, then of course it's so amazing that you can't guess it. For example, you could feel that Jesus lives on in our memories or hearts or by being nice – that's what we would come up with and it is so far from “He is risen.”.)

 

And the apostles do worse. The apostles rubbish the women for these words because they were perplexed by the cross and the news of the empty tomb. It's as if they needed something more, needed to hear something more for it to make sense, and that only shows that the resurrection is nothing we could have guessed. And we're no better when we go around needing something more than the good news of Christ's death and resurrection (and most of the time that something more is a message of how great we are or a way we can be more happy instead of hungering and thirsting to hear the Gospel as a matter of life and death!).

So what are the words that must interpret Jesus' death and resurrection? Let's use a series of questions: Did Jesus rise from the dead? Yes. Why? . . . Um. Well, Luke chapter 24 gives us a threefold answer to this question, starting with today's reading. 1) “"Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷ that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise." ⁸ And they remembered his words” - and that made all the difference. Jesus himself said this must happen way back in Galilee – first crucifixion, then resurrection. And Jesus says to the disciples on the road to Emmaus “"O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Again, it was necessary that this happen, so necessary that the whole Old Testament is about Jesus and what he would do. And last, to the 11 disciples, “"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things.” This was necessary, the Scriptures speak of it, and because of this, repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in Jesus' name to all nations (and the disciples are the eye-witnesses). That's pretty simple as an answer to “why?”.

 

But there's a simple way to complicate it all – just take out Jesus' words. Then all the things mentioned above gets taken out, and everything false floods in. These are wonderful facts because they are saving facts, and the only way we know they are saving facts is if we hear that they are saving facts in the Bible! We need the Word! So if you were the devil, where would you attack? “Did God really say. . .?” Yeah, it's an old trick.

 

But notice how Jesus explains his resurrection, but never leaves out his crucifixion? Yeah, they always, always, go together (and in that order). So for us, the cross is never left behind when we confess that Jesus is risen – never a distant memory heard once and then never again. Why? Because we're interested here in the full picture of Jesus, not just a day to celebrate on the calendar. The cross was necessary, and God's Word interprets history for Christians. And don't worry – this is all part of the plan, the plan to restore the whole broken creation.

The faith that comes from this history and this Word of God is the plan to restore the broken creation and empty your graves. The plan is for you to believe, and believing, to have life in his name. That's why the final word of Christ in Luke is the word that this message of the cross, this Gospel, be put in mouths and sent into the world, and through the Word the Holy Spirit is active bringing faith by his power.

 

This is the plan – all those “it is necessary”s. It is necessary that Jesus win and bring the forgiveness of sins. It is necessary for him to bring salvation. It is necessary for him to bring the new creation of eternal life in himself to the broken creation that fell in Adam's fall. It's necessary because God's love would have it no other way. Jesus Christ died for you, that sin may not harm you and death may not kill you.

This is the plan – marvelling at the mighty works of God. That's how our reading today ended: “ But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.” Two words should sound familiar, about 4 months ago familiar – linen cloths, and marvelling. The shepherds found the baby Jesus wrapped in linen cloths, and they went away marvelling. Peter found the cloths in the grave, but no Jesus, and went away marvelling. Both are the mighty works of God. Both are for you.

 

The plan is the Word applied to you in baptism, absolution, and the Supper. All of them deliver the eternal life with which Christ our Lord was raised. If the plan is the forgiveness of sins, well there it is. There's Christ doing it, physically and particularly. Preaching these things hard is preaching Easter hard.

 

The plan is the faith created by God's Word interpreting history. And there's one more interpreting word: The Word interprets our graves too – that death is not death, but the gate to life immortal, as surely as Christ is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. Christ's resurrection and ours go together. He's done the one, he can do the other. He applies these promises to you. This is most certainly true.

 

Conclusion:

History + Word → Faith (and don't worry, this is all part of the plan)

The plan remains the plan, whether it's popular or not. The Word remains the Word, whether it's popular or not. The resurrection remains the resurrection, whether it's popular or not. The Gospel remains the Gospel, whether it's popular or not. Don't worry, this is all part of the plan. He Is Risen! Amen.

Good Friday [John 19:17-30] (29 March 2013)

This sermon was delivered at St. John's Lutheran Church Karoonda at 9 am and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Tailem Bend at 11 am.  

The highest point of the year for Christians are Good Friday and Easter. But they didn't come out of nowhere. Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and the rest of Holy Week all look ahead to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. And for Jesus himself, a lot of things led up to his cross, which we familiarize ourselves with every Lent. But these things aren't just found in the four Gospels. They go back before his birth in Bethlehem. The whole OT describes the coming and the work of the One who would make it so that sin and death can't harm you. And that's Jesus. And he says “It is finished”.

The lost and condemned creation requires Jesus' “It is finished” for salvation, or there won't be salvation.

I'm not too familiar with country songs from the year I was born, but I do know the title “Looking for love in all the wrong places”, if that's the only thing I know. And that's what comes into sharp focus on a day like Good Friday: the whole world is looking for God in all the wrong places. It's the reason why there is a Good Friday.

And here's where sinful humans look (and keep in mind, all these things are really good things, except, they're not not the way to find God by trusting in them): our hearts, our heads, and our hands. God isn't found in the work of our heart. Simply put, our heart is untrustworthy. It changes with the blowing of the wind, our emotions fade and change all the time. It's not a solid base to build on. The disciples went around, each of them, promising that they'd never leave Jesus when he said they would (and they meant it). And they all ran off when he was arrested. Only Christ's heart was constant, and stayed on the road to the cross at all times.

God isn't found in the work of our hands. “This time I'll really get it right” (which should sound familiar to us) would be great if it actually worked, but what it means is “this time I'll make my own rules and follow those” and then we can't even do that. The Law of God says “you're never finished.” Only Christ can say “It is finished” and have it be actually finished – your salvation, that is, and his keeping the Law in your place by his perfect righteousness.

God isn't found in the work of our head. Our head hears that God actually died according to the Personal Union that Jesus is both True God and True Man; our head hears that on the cross Jesus is sin for our sake – and our head says “that can't be!” And in saying that, rejects those things which Scripture says.

These are all the beliefs of a false religion: the one we're born with. We're born without fear, love, and trust in God above all things and with a false religion because of sin and the consequences of sin in the world. Unbelief is the reason Jesus was born to die, and that comes into sharp focus at the cross.

For when it comes to our hearts, our heads, and our hands, salvation isn't found in any of these, not one little bit, or Jesus would have said, “It's mostly finished.” Then we could have done the rest of the job with our hearts, heads, hands, or you know, whatever works. But we don't need to look far to see that Jesus is the type of Savior who can do an entire job by himself. On the cross, he hands over Mary his mother to the apostle John, that he might take care of her, which we hear that he does. Now this reminds me of the letters of one of the first Lutheran missionaries in Australia, Klose by name. His letters have been published by the Lutheran Archives. And in one of the early letters he tells of the awkwardness he experienced with his family when he travelled to them to say goodbye before leaving for far away Australia. He couldn't stay long, and he could tell his family wasn't pleased, but there just wasn't much he could do and he reports leaving uncomfortably, we'd say. He wouldn't be the only one to have an awkward goodbye. But compare Jesus. He takes care of it all, perfectly, even down to honoring the 4^th commandment at the last, by entrusting his mother to John, much unlike our last minute awkwardness. If he can take care of even that detail at the very end, then he can take care of your salvation from beginning to end.

For Christ fulfilled the whole work of salvation; his “It is finished”, and his voluntary death, and his handing over of the Spirit do the job of salvation. Christ's work of fulfilling all salvation doesn't come out of nowhere either: ask the prophets of the OT about what he fulfills, they'll tell you. For example, and a very good example, Isaiah. Here's a prophet who in the very reading we heard today, describes the suffering of our Lord almost more clearly than the Evanglists in the New Testament! So ask the OT prophets. They will tell you why Christ suffered. And, they will tell you, as great as his suffering, so great is his love. Every time the OT mentions words like “steadfast love” or “mercy”, those words should leap off the page – because there [at the cross] is the steadfast love we're talking about, there is the mercy we're talking about. So what Christ has to fulfill is a lot, and we could never exhaust ourselves rejoicing over it.

But here we might say, “How great are the Scriptures, that's Christ's highest focus is to fulfill them for you, which he focuses on more than the excruciating pain of his suffering and death.” Or do we think little of it that the text says, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.” so that he might fulfill Psalm 69:21, “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”

And also how great is the love of the Father and the Son that this is all fulfilled for you? How great is the love of the Father that he delivers up his Beloved and Only Begotten Son for you. How great is the love of the Son that he willingly gives up his life in great agony that you may live.

For God is found, yes, gives himself to you, where Christ says, “It is finished.” It's so much more than that his time on the cross is finished, or his life is finished. Your salvation is completely finished/fulfilled/brought to completion. His fulfilment of the Law in place of lost and condemned sinners is finished. The punishment of all sins, the great visitation of the Lord upon his creation, is finished as Christ bears it all so that by the promises of his cross salvation may come to you by grace through faith that when he says “job done” it's job done for me. We can't really exhaust these words; they are the high point of the whole Gospel of John.

And the salvation of Christ is done when Christ hands over his life, no one takes it from him, as we hear, “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” – that's how much victory he has over the grave, he lays down his life and takes it up again, and the grave can't take you from him.

And Christ does the whole job of salvation because Christ is found where the Holy Spirit brings the promises of his cross for you – which is to say, Christ hands over a new religion. When John records Jesus death, he uses these words, “he bowed his head and handed over the Spirit.” Yes, he means that Jesus gave up his life, but in such simple language, we can see that the Holy Spirit is given to the Church through the work of the cross. It's become popular to dislike religion but like Jesus. But Jesus gives a new religion, his, because the false religion we are born with is no good for us; sin is no good for us. But the cross is our highest good. Jesus puts the Church throughout the world, and that's the greater miracle than putting Mary in John's house (and it's good news for our houses).

Conclusion: Behold Jesus on the cross. Behold the cost: sin. But behold the gift: “It is finished.” Amen.

Maundy Thursday [1 Corinthians 11:23-26] (28 March 2013)

This sermon was delivered at St. John's Lutheran Church Karoonda (6:30 pm) and Trinity Lutheran Church Tailem Bend (8:30 pm).  

You squint your eyes in the sun, you line up your shot, you adjust for wind, you wind up . . . and put the ball through the wind screen of the car 3 meters behind you. That's what we call 'stumbling out of the blocks'. But just because the ball leaves your hands, or just because the runner gets a good start off the blocks, doesn't necessarily mean they'll clear every hurdle, or that they won't stumble just in front of the finish line. It means that you won't even be able to get that far. Now, the Corinthian church was stumbling out of the blocks, so Paul has to put in lay in front of them the entire race, so to speak. So this sermon is about the Lord's Supper.

But how did the Corinthian church stumble out of the blocks? What had they done? It was all about their practice of the Lord's Supper, and it was harmful to them. The Maundy Thursday reading every year is Paul's sharing of the solution to the problem, but the problem itself is found in the surrounding verses: he moves from one problem in their worship service behavior to this one: “But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸ For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, ¹⁹ for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. ²⁰ When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. ²¹ For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. ²² What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.” and “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰ That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. ³¹ But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. ³² But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. ³³ So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another-- ³⁴ if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home-- so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.” And that's the context.

And the context reveals two things: first, they had split themselves into groups who were either at odds with each other or at the least looked down on each other. That set the stage for a problem in the divine service itself. And it went like this: the congregation gathered before the start of the worship service for what we would call “fellowship time”, but what they would call “a meal of love.” And this isn't the Lord's Supper – that's in the divine service. This is the shared love of the congregation expressing itself in sitting down and eating together. But there was a problem, not everybody in the congregation was exactly like everyone else. Some of them had to work, and some of them didn't. So those who didn't have to work would arrive at the place where the divine service would take place, and the ones who had to work would arrive late. But the ones who arrived early ate too much and drank too much, and the latecomers who were less wealthy to begin with also received less food (and since this was a meal of love: less love). So the problem with the Lord's Supper started even before the divine service started! The people were celebrating their own supper, as Paul says, meaning that in their despising of their fellow congregation members, they were despising the Lord's work. And you have to wonder, did it get to the point that they had eaten all the bread and drank all the wine so that there was nothing left over when the service started and it came time to celebrate the Lord's Supper? Talk about stumbling off the blocks. And the scary thing is you can just picture how easily the problem came about.

The problem came about as easily as our problems at our dinner tables come about. First, you get in the habit of being so busy that you can't actually sit around a table together. That's stumbling out of the blocks, because just being at the table isn't the whole job either, but it takes the listening and respect that comes from being together at the table. But you cut all that out if you're not even at table.

That's how the selfishness of the Corinthian members who were at fault prevented them from keeping the Lord's Supper the way it should have been done from start to finish. They couldn't even get to the start: and the start was having the bread and the wine (according to Christ's institution) and having the people there united in their confession of what they were receiving (and how could you have that if they're not even united about being together at the dining table, much less the Lord's table?)

This is harmful to the Church of all times and places because it destroys the gift of Communion by breaking 2^nd and 5^th commandments. The 2^nd commandment is broken also in terms of teaching, and in that type of situation, the teaching is that the Lord's Supper is nothing important, which is false teaching. And the 5^th commandment is broken in terms of love, and it is broken in these types of situations with individualism.

And individualism has no place at the communion railing, because the Lord's Supper is something that is received by individual mouths but believed in common from a common altar and a common confession of faith. The temptation is to say that since the Sacrament is received by an individual mouth that it is only a private matter between that person and God. And to say that is really being communal because it's welcoming. But it's individualistic, because it doesn't go back to the Lord's Word, just personal opinion.

But the most important part is what we did hear in the Epistle reading: Paul's solution is to present again to the congregation the Lord's Words of Institution. Paul would have the Corinthians receive the Lord's Supper according to our Lord's institution from beginning to end, so he gives them the words again: “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." ²⁵ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” He doesn't just say “wait for everyone else. Stop eating and drinking everything.” Well, he does, but only after he gives them the Lord's own words. He's not interested in them just getting the first part of the Supper right, but the whole part. He would have them compare their behavior with the whole doctrine of the Lord's Supper as he had delivered it to them. Because it was delivered to Paul himself from the Lord through the apostles who were there on that night when Jesus was betrayed. He refers them, not only here but all throughout 1 Corinthians back to the doctrine they had received from him, in all the challenges they had.

And there's a reason for that: the Lord's Word, and the teaching of it, is so good. He would remind them of the whole act of the Lord's Supper because it is so good for them. It's so good to take the Lord at his Word, much better than the other way (as Paul was showing them). So they should have enough bread and wine around to have the Sacrament, but they should also receive the Sacrament in agreement with all of Christ's institution. That is to say that the bread and wine is consecrated, that is set apart as holy. This happens when the pastor says Christ's own words, and the people are to believe that yes, this very bread, and this very wine is the body and blood of Jesus. But it doesn't just stop there, as if you could just parade around the consecrated elements and not eat and drink them. That also isn't in agreement with Christ's instituion. These are to be distributed by the pastor (and those assisting him). But it doesn't just stop there, as if you could just pocket the elements and take them home. They are received on the tongue and in the mouth, eaten and drunk. And those who receive them do so in agreement with what Christ says: 1)This is the true body and blood of Christ which I receive, under the bread and wine, into my mouth 2) for the forgiveness of my sins. Because 3) When Jesus says, “For you”, here he truly means me. And when all of that, from start to finish happens, the Lord's death is shown forth at the same time. We take seriously doing this as Jesus said “in remembrance of me” when we're doing the whole sacrament in agreement with his words. We take seriously that he gave thanks when he instituted the meal, and so we give thanks that we have received it.

Paul didn't commend the Corinthians because they were destroying the gift of the Lord's Supper. But that's not what Christ instituted this Supper for. Far from destroying the gift, he would have them receive the Supper by hungering for its benefits: forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

And lastly, there's a reason these words are best laid before the congregation during Holy Week. The benefits of the Lord's Supper are the benefits of the death of the one who instituted it in the first place: Christ. The Lord's Supper is so wonderful because it delivers the promises of the cross. It delivers forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. So Lutherans follow Paul and take any abuse of any part of the Sacrament pretty seriously, because the Sacrament is the visible Word, it is the Gospel applied to you according to Jesus' words.

Christ's death make the Words of Institution what they are. And here, just one word is needed: διαθήκη . This word can be translated either covenant or testament, but Luther always preferred the translation “testament” because a testament is a gift that requires a death for it to be distributed, and Jesus instituted the Supper on the night when he was betrayed.

And wow, if we can't even have a nice dinner at home, what hope is there for the Lord's Supper? According to God's Word, there is hope. God sanctifies his house and our homes by the Word of God and our prayer, not through our selfishness, but despite it.

Conclusion: When we see how easy it is to stumble out of the blocks, we appreciate all the more that it is the Lord's Supper. That's what Paul put before the Corinthians then, and puts before us now. This wasn't news to them, but a reminder of what they had been taught, and it isn't news to us, because there are many many opportunities to receive again everything included when Christ says, “This do.” Amen.

Palm Sunday 2013

Click here for Palm Sunday Sermon Video [John 12:12-19] (24 March, 2013)

Palm Sunday [John 12:12-19] (24 March 2013)

This sermon was preached at Trinity Lutheran Church, Tailem Bend at 9 am and St. John's Lutheran Church, Karoonda at 11 am.  

 One of my favorite stories is about a painting by a royal painter. The painting is nice, and there's a lot going on, but in the back of the scene is a mirror, and so the painter painted himself as he was painting the royal court. On his chest is a red cross, and it's said that the king himself painted it on after the painter died, out of respect. Sometimes the best stuff going on goes on in the background (or the worse stuff, like computer viruses or cancer). But the most enjoyable parts of today's Palm Sunday Gospel are what's going on in the background.

It's good that the crowd came and all, but the Scripture they fulfilled was better (as Christ's humiliating death was better too).

In some (arrogant) countries, the best sports players want to play in the biggest cities, the biggest stages to show their skill. Is that what the crowds showed up for on Palm Sunday? They may have come for merely surface/superficial reasons, but not Jesus. The crowd came, and they didn't understand. But not even Jesus' disciples understood what was happening. John wants to make that clear: “His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.” We do hear why the crowd went, “The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸ The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.”, we just don't hear what they expected him to do in Jerusalem. Who would really think he would suffer death upon a cross?

So when they say their hosannas, they call him King. And they're there because they saw or heard about the raising of Lazarus. But they still didn't believe in him. John tells us that too, later in the chapter, in verse 37 “Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him”. Just because they thought he was really nice didn't mean they were keeping the 1^st commandment by trusting in him, or the 2^nd commandment by confessing him rightly, or the 3^rd commandment in worshipping him. That's the Jesus they were a “fan” of, and when we're a “fan” of Jesus all we have to do is imagine that he approves of whatever sin we like as long as we're “good”. Then we can worship ourselves, teach our opinions, and trust in our works. That's the sin that goes on in the background. That helps us to see what's going on in the background in this reading.

But Jesus came for a deeper reason than to have “fans”, a deeper reason than a free donkey ride and a free parade. He came to fulfill the Scriptures which testify of him. John quotes from Zecharaiah because Zechariah described the type of King that Jesus would be: humble. John quotes verse 9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey”, but listen to 10 “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.”. Luther says so simply about the description of Jesus here: “Here there is no violence, no armor, no power, no anger, no wrath . . . Here there are only kindness, justice, salvation, mercy, and every good thing.”

There's something important about the Bible there. Just like Easter egg hunts are so enjoyable because on them you find Easter eggs (which is why special treats on DVD menus or the background of movies that you have to look around for and find are call Easter eggs), in that same way we look in the Scripture for Christ – Old and New Testaments. And it's an enjoyable search, because it's always fruitful, because the Scriptures always testify of Christ.

We can definitely say that Jesus didn't ride into Jerusalem on a donkey just to have a good time. And that means his glory wasn't having a parade, as if he expected the rest of the week in Jerusalem would be just more of the same. He expected, and said so, that he would be lifted up from the earth, meaning on the cross. The cross is his glory. That's one of the surprises of the Gospel of John, which mentions Jesus' glory so often. It's the cross. That's why without the cross and resurrection, no one understands Jesus (and you'd think if anyone would, it would be his disciples who were constantly with him, but John himself writes that they didn't understand these things on that Palm Sunday). Only after the cross and resurrection do they understand them.

Transition: This is about what was running in the background on Palm Sunday. This is about the “foolishness” of God, the “weakness” of God.

Jesus came to bear the humiliation of the cross to comfort the small and despised by getting himself a people. Palm Sunday wasn't the last stop for Jesus. He hadn't come to be the biggest person in the most popular place. Nor did he come to teach us a “good lesson” about who knows what. He came because he knew what his glory was, he knew he was fulfilling the promises that were made concerning him in the Old Testament, he knew his glory was the cross.

And the overlooked key to his fulfilling of Scripture is: “Fear not” for those whom sin condemns. “Fear not” is an odd message to happy people but a lifesaver to people under attack. The people who were crying hosanna on Palm Sunday didn't know that running in the background was the cross. But after Easter, that's when his disciples clung onto that word: “Fear not.” Jesus doesn't just say it, but he does it. When he says 'fear not', that's what he gives. When sins condemn and Christians are under attack, that cross is still running in the background – Christ's humiliating death is better than it seems, and your life under the cross in him is better than it seems when under the devil's attack.

And 'fear not' is for those who are condemned by being too big for God and find out they aren't. Just because we're rightly condemned by God because of our sins, doesn't mean that we should despair, only that we should despair of ourselves, but not of God's love in Christ. “Fear not” means that God's foolishness is wiser than man's wisdom, which sounds like something Paul would say, because he did.

And what's that thing about Jesus getting himself a people? The last stop was that Jesus got himself a people with the “foolishness” and “weakness” of God – a death by which he promises you his steadfast love by the forgiveness of sins. He came not to be admired but to get himself a people: a holy, Christian Church. On the cross he got himself a people. On the cross is the cornerstone of the Church. On the cross he got himself the Church (and that doesn't take anything away from the Ascension or Pentecost).

And in the Church he continues to have for himself a people. By our sin we're not strong enough to gather ourselves, just as the Palm Sunday crowd saw Jesus' signs and still didn't believe in him. It takes the cross. Still today the promises of the cross are handed out. That's the miracle of Christ's Church by the power of the Holy Spirit who works through the Word and the Sacraments.

This “foolish” God has a small and despised people who aren't big and strong. Just because we're small and weak doesn't mean that we should be big and strong. “Oh, we should be, but we're not.” It means that Jesus is big and strong, but he died a death that was foolish and weak-looking to the “strong”. And if he did that, then that means he wants to be strong for us, wants us to be weak enough to receive everlasting life because of what he did, and not by what we do. And the small life of love that comes from such salvation is despised by the world, but it is also needed by the world.

Conclusion: Yes it is good that the crowd greeted Jesus on Palm Sunday, but running in the background is the cross. Running in the background and up front in the Bible is Christ. The Church is run by the promises of Christ's cross for you, and lives by the forgiveness of sins. That makes a solid start to this Holy Week. Amen.