Sermon-Sunday-May 20, 2007
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our lesson from Acts today, a jailer asks Paul and Silas what they must do to be saved. This jailer has just experienced something that had to be pretty amazing. There was an earthquake that was so huge that it shook the foundations of the prison and all the doors came wide open. When the jailer saw this, he was about to kill himself because he assumed that all of the prisoners had escaped. Paul and Silas could have just let the guy kill himself and then escaped, but Paul shouts out and tells the jailer not to hurt himself and that he and the rest of the prisoners are all there. He probably didn’t score any points with the other prisoners by doing that, but Paul is clearly not too concerned about that.
And then the jailer asks that question "..what must I do to be saved?" So what do they tell him? Do they tell him recite a prayer or make a decision for Jesus or join a certain church, no they make it simple. They tell him to "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved; you and your household." And then they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and his household, washed their wounds and then they baptized them, without delay.
Now obviously when Paul says "Believe on the Lord Jesus.." he is not just talking about believing that Jesus is real. This jailer would have been very aware that Jesus was a real person. He would have been aware that Jesus had been crucified. And there was probably a pretty good chance that was aware of Jesus’ resurrection. At the very least, he had probably heard the reports of it.
But Paul was not just talking about believing that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection were real and that they happened, but that they happened for you. That is faith. That is the faith that saves you. It’s the faith that you are called to in the waters of baptism when you are claimed by Christ Jesus.
That is why Paul baptized them without delay, because he understood that God is the actor in baptism. Paul understood that in baptism you are brought into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Paul understood that the very God who had appeared in their midst and shook the very foundations of that prison in a way that would cause the doors to be flung wide open, is the same God who comes to you in baptism. He comes to you and claims you and brings you into the death and resurrection of His Son Christ Jesus, and in baptism calls you to the faith that frees you from bondage to sin, death and, the devil.
Even in the midst of your doubt and despair and denial of that reality, He still comes to you. Even in the midst of the sin that you give into everyday. Even as you daily fail to live out your calling to your neighbor, your Lord comes to you daily as you live out your baptism. Even as you prioritize the desires of your body before the needs of your soul, your Lord comes to you daily.
In baptism your Lord comes to you daily in word and sacrament and puts one more nail in the coffin of your sin even as you daily try to revive that sin. In baptism your Lord comes to you with the same urgency that he showed that night when He shook the very foundations of that prison and flung the doors wide open. He comes to you with that same sense of urgency because your justification, redemption, and forgiveness is just as important to your Lord as the justification, forgiveness, and redemption of that jailer, his family, Paul, Silas or any other of God’s people.
And so what happens after they were baptized? They went to the house, they set food before Paul and Silas, and they rejoiced. They rejoiced because the jailer had become a believer in the redeeming work of Christ. He became a believer. He didn’t make himself a believer in Christ. He didn’t just up and decide he was going to be a believer. It was passive. His becoming a believer was something that happened to him through word and sacrament, as they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and baptized him. And as he was baptized, the same Lord who had just made this great earthquake, now came to this jailer and claimed him as his own, in the same way he did for you at your baptism, and in the same way that He comes to you daily as you live out your baptism.
OK now you know that it is through faith in the Lord Jesus that you are saved. And now you know that faith means more than simply believing that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus really happened, but that they happened for you. And now you know that it is through your Lord coming to you daily in baptism, and calling you to faith in Christ through word and sacrament, that you are made a believer and sustained in your faith.
In light of this, how is your Lord calling you to live out your faith? As a baptized believer in Christ, you have the security and comfort of knowing that one day you will walk in the glorious and eternal light of the resurrection, but how does your Lord call you to live out your faith now, in light of that glorious promise?
In our Gospel lesson for this morning, Jesus makes a prayer to His Father. This prayer takes place in the final days before Jesus’ crucifixion, and He makes this prayer on behalf of His disciples; past, present, and future. He is not just praying for those whom He is currently surrounded by, but it says that He is praying for those who would believe in Him through their Word. That’s us, that’s you. He prays that we would be brought into the unity that He shares with His Father. And the reason that Jesus wants this is so that the world will believe that He has indeed been sent by His Father.
It’s the will of our Savior that we be united. But notice that He does not put that unity in our hands. He entrusts it to God the Father in prayer. Our unity is not built upon denominations, it’s not built upon ecumenical agreements with other denominations, it is built by God’s drawing us together through faith.
The future of the church is in God’s hands and is not dependent upon you, but you are called and invited to be a part of it. That calling is to continue the work that we saw in Paul and Silas from today’s lesson from Acts. Paul and Silas found themselves arrested, beaten, and placed in prison and they did not lament or complain over their situation. Instead they prayed and sang hymns to God.
And when the earthquake struck and the doors to the prison were flung wide open, Paul and Silas did not try to flee the scene, but instead they remained united in their faith, and in light of this the jailer got a glimpse of the glory that was given to Paul and Silas by God in faith and was prompted to ask them what must he do to be saved? In that moment he saw these two faithful disciples being held together in unity through their faith, and that revelation made him realize that this Jesus whose name they proclaim had in fact been sent by God the Father.
Providing the answer to that question of what one must do to be saved is at the heart of how we are called to live out our faith. Through the faith that we are called to in baptism we are brought into the unity that Jesus shares with His Father, and we are sent out to boldly proclaim in faith that Jesus was in fact sent by His Father and that it is through the faith that we are called to in baptism that we are saved. There are many people out there just waiting for the answer to the question of what one must do to be saved. Some of them are probably included among your neighbors. Amen
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our lesson from Acts today, a jailer asks Paul and Silas what they must do to be saved. This jailer has just experienced something that had to be pretty amazing. There was an earthquake that was so huge that it shook the foundations of the prison and all the doors came wide open. When the jailer saw this, he was about to kill himself because he assumed that all of the prisoners had escaped. Paul and Silas could have just let the guy kill himself and then escaped, but Paul shouts out and tells the jailer not to hurt himself and that he and the rest of the prisoners are all there. He probably didn’t score any points with the other prisoners by doing that, but Paul is clearly not too concerned about that.
And then the jailer asks that question "..what must I do to be saved?" So what do they tell him? Do they tell him recite a prayer or make a decision for Jesus or join a certain church, no they make it simple. They tell him to "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved; you and your household." And then they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and his household, washed their wounds and then they baptized them, without delay.
Now obviously when Paul says "Believe on the Lord Jesus.." he is not just talking about believing that Jesus is real. This jailer would have been very aware that Jesus was a real person. He would have been aware that Jesus had been crucified. And there was probably a pretty good chance that was aware of Jesus’ resurrection. At the very least, he had probably heard the reports of it.
But Paul was not just talking about believing that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection were real and that they happened, but that they happened for you. That is faith. That is the faith that saves you. It’s the faith that you are called to in the waters of baptism when you are claimed by Christ Jesus.
That is why Paul baptized them without delay, because he understood that God is the actor in baptism. Paul understood that in baptism you are brought into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Paul understood that the very God who had appeared in their midst and shook the very foundations of that prison in a way that would cause the doors to be flung wide open, is the same God who comes to you in baptism. He comes to you and claims you and brings you into the death and resurrection of His Son Christ Jesus, and in baptism calls you to the faith that frees you from bondage to sin, death and, the devil.
Even in the midst of your doubt and despair and denial of that reality, He still comes to you. Even in the midst of the sin that you give into everyday. Even as you daily fail to live out your calling to your neighbor, your Lord comes to you daily as you live out your baptism. Even as you prioritize the desires of your body before the needs of your soul, your Lord comes to you daily.
In baptism your Lord comes to you daily in word and sacrament and puts one more nail in the coffin of your sin even as you daily try to revive that sin. In baptism your Lord comes to you with the same urgency that he showed that night when He shook the very foundations of that prison and flung the doors wide open. He comes to you with that same sense of urgency because your justification, redemption, and forgiveness is just as important to your Lord as the justification, forgiveness, and redemption of that jailer, his family, Paul, Silas or any other of God’s people.
And so what happens after they were baptized? They went to the house, they set food before Paul and Silas, and they rejoiced. They rejoiced because the jailer had become a believer in the redeeming work of Christ. He became a believer. He didn’t make himself a believer in Christ. He didn’t just up and decide he was going to be a believer. It was passive. His becoming a believer was something that happened to him through word and sacrament, as they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and baptized him. And as he was baptized, the same Lord who had just made this great earthquake, now came to this jailer and claimed him as his own, in the same way he did for you at your baptism, and in the same way that He comes to you daily as you live out your baptism.
OK now you know that it is through faith in the Lord Jesus that you are saved. And now you know that faith means more than simply believing that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus really happened, but that they happened for you. And now you know that it is through your Lord coming to you daily in baptism, and calling you to faith in Christ through word and sacrament, that you are made a believer and sustained in your faith.
In light of this, how is your Lord calling you to live out your faith? As a baptized believer in Christ, you have the security and comfort of knowing that one day you will walk in the glorious and eternal light of the resurrection, but how does your Lord call you to live out your faith now, in light of that glorious promise?
In our Gospel lesson for this morning, Jesus makes a prayer to His Father. This prayer takes place in the final days before Jesus’ crucifixion, and He makes this prayer on behalf of His disciples; past, present, and future. He is not just praying for those whom He is currently surrounded by, but it says that He is praying for those who would believe in Him through their Word. That’s us, that’s you. He prays that we would be brought into the unity that He shares with His Father. And the reason that Jesus wants this is so that the world will believe that He has indeed been sent by His Father.
It’s the will of our Savior that we be united. But notice that He does not put that unity in our hands. He entrusts it to God the Father in prayer. Our unity is not built upon denominations, it’s not built upon ecumenical agreements with other denominations, it is built by God’s drawing us together through faith.
The future of the church is in God’s hands and is not dependent upon you, but you are called and invited to be a part of it. That calling is to continue the work that we saw in Paul and Silas from today’s lesson from Acts. Paul and Silas found themselves arrested, beaten, and placed in prison and they did not lament or complain over their situation. Instead they prayed and sang hymns to God.
And when the earthquake struck and the doors to the prison were flung wide open, Paul and Silas did not try to flee the scene, but instead they remained united in their faith, and in light of this the jailer got a glimpse of the glory that was given to Paul and Silas by God in faith and was prompted to ask them what must he do to be saved? In that moment he saw these two faithful disciples being held together in unity through their faith, and that revelation made him realize that this Jesus whose name they proclaim had in fact been sent by God the Father.
Providing the answer to that question of what one must do to be saved is at the heart of how we are called to live out our faith. Through the faith that we are called to in baptism we are brought into the unity that Jesus shares with His Father, and we are sent out to boldly proclaim in faith that Jesus was in fact sent by His Father and that it is through the faith that we are called to in baptism that we are saved. There are many people out there just waiting for the answer to the question of what one must do to be saved. Some of them are probably included among your neighbors. Amen
posted by Steve at 6:07 PM
1 Comments:
I really liked this-you set it up nicely and surprised me where you were going with it.
I loved the unity part. But I have to ask, what do you mean unity will not be made in denominations or our agreements with denom's? That is not very "loving" of you.
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