Sunday, April 26 2009
Third Sunday in Easter
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I first read the lesson from Acts for this morning which begins with verse 12 from chapter 3, my instinct was to think well we gotta read the first eleven verses of Acts 3. The passage opens with the words “When Peter saw it, he addressed the people.” But the problem is that the ‘it’ that the passage refers to takes place in the first eleven verses. What is the ‘it’ that Peter refers to?
The passage continues with Peter saying to this crowd “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” There the picture becomes a little more clear. Peter appears to be talking about some sort of miracle healing, but still it’s not included in the lesson, so you’re not getting the whole context.
Plus they leave out this wonderful event of this crippled man who was miraculously made able to walk through Peter commanding him to walk in the name of Jesus.
But actually, Peter and the testimony that he bears in this lesson is the result of an even greater miracle. For it was not long before this that Peter was hiding for fear of the Jews. And it was not long before that, that Peter had denied Jesus three times in the courtyard.
Within the course of probably a few hours Peter had gone from claiming he would never deny Jesus to denying Him three times. And then even after he had been told by the women who saw the risen Jesus that Jesus had risen from the dead, he still goes and hides in his doubt and despair. And then in this morning’s Gospel lesson, there is Peter once again with the rest of the disciples hiding out once again, still not quite convinced apparently.
And so Jesus appears among Peter and the rest of the disciples and says to them “Peace be with you.” And how do they respond? They are terrified. In fact, Luke writes that they thought that they were seeing a ghost. I mean what do you think was going through Jesus’ mind at this point?? You almost expect Him to say something like; “A ghost?? Really?? Is that what you’re thinking?? I told you I was going to do this.”
But He doesn’t. He doesn’t scold them. He says “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?” And then He tells them to look at and touch His hands and His feet to see that it is Him. A ghost does not have flesh and bones. And then to really kind of drive home that He was not a ghost but their real and risen Savior He eats in front of them.
And then Jesus tells them that everything that He told them while He was with them, which would have included telling them of His death and resurrection, was the fulfillment of everything that had been written about Him in the scriptures; in the prophets, the law of Moses, in the psalms-all of it. And it wasn’t until the disciples understood this, we read that their minds had been opened.
Their minds were opened for the very purpose of understanding that all the scriptures testify of Jesus-specifically that the Messiah had to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations-and that they, the disciples, were witnesses of those very things. And this witness went bursting forth from the upper-room to all nations not long after this when the Holy Spirit-who binds Himself to the witness of Christ Jesus-arrived at Pentecost.
And so from this it becomes a little more clear as to why it’s not necessary to include in the reading from Acts-the miraculous healing that takes place before verse 12. For as I said, Peter’s bold testimony is the result of an ever greater miracle than the healing of a crippled man. Peter’s bold testimony that we see in the lesson from Acts is the fruit of the miracle that we see in the Gospel lesson-the miracle that our Lord Jesus did not leave Peter and the disciples in their unbelief and despair.
Christ Jesus came to them in their unbelief and gave them faith. And He opened their minds so that they would finally be able to connect the dots and see that all of scripture testifies of Jesus. Finally they were able to see that this Holy and Righteous One Whom they had denied and abandoned was the One Whom the prophets of their ancestors said would bring forth a new covenant; finally they could see that He is the suffering Servant by Whose stripes we are healed. Finally they could see that He is the One that John the Baptist himself had told them about-the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world-through the blood that He shed on the cross for you.
And so you see, today you will witness more fruit of this miracle taking place among you. Today on confirmation Sunday you will witness seven young people standing before you and affirming their baptism, professing their faith, declaring to you that they too are witnesses of all these things. Today you will see seven young people stand before you and declare unto you that they have heard the Word of Christ-the Messiah who suffered and died for your forgiveness and was raised for your salvation as the prophets foretold and they believe it-faith has come to them. Faith has come to them and will take hold of them and repentance and forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name will be proclaimed in them through the Holy Spirit.
But in spite of all the hoopla and the pomp and splendor connected to confirmation Sunday-there really is nothing unique about today. What you see today is really nothing more than the acknowledgment of what we experience daily-the miracle of Christ Jesus coming to us daily and giving us faith an nurturing and sustaining us in that faith.
And so by His grace through the Holy Spirit-Christ Jesus comes to you once again today. For you see the only real difference between how Christ Jesus finds us daily and how He found those disciples in the upper room is time. Sure were not hiding out in an upper-room like they were, but were also not being actively persecuted by authorities. But the truth is, in many ways we are locked away for fear of an inconvenient understanding of our Lord. For the truth is all of us have failed to understand who God is and what He has come to do for us, among us and is doing for us.
We reduce Jesus into a new law-giver whom we follow in our hopes of achieving a better life now, or simply to live holier lives, or to somehow overcome our shortcomings through our own best efforts and good-works. Or we have reduced Jesus to merely an example of love and compassion to emulate.
But Christ Jesus is much more than that. He is the One who took our sin upon Himself for us on the cross so that in exchange we would receive the righteousness of Christ for our salvation. And daily Christ Jesus comes to us in Word and sacrament and in fellowship with each other and brings us back to that eternal hope that we have in Christ Jesus and in Christ Jesus alone-and away from the false hope and deception of sin and the devil and the false images of Christ Jesus that we create.
Confirmation is not about some big transformative Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues moment where everything is suddenly clear and makes sense. It’s about the Holy Spirit- but it’s about the Holy Spirit doing what He does for you on a daily basis; calling, you, gathering you, enlightening you with His gifts and sanctifying you and keeping you in the true faith-in Christ alone. It’s about the Holy Spirit doing what the Holy Spirit does-testifying to Christ and Christ alone.
And this doesn’t begin and end at confirmation. It’s daily. So Kayla, Collin, Corey, Cassidy, Josh, Tyler, and Alex, if you don’t feel any different today than you did yesterday, that’s no big deal. Now, that also means today is not a graduation or an ending. Today is simply the continuation of the Holy Spirit keeping you united with the whole Christian church on earth and keeping you united with Jesus Christ in the one true faith-just as He did for you yesterday and the day before and will do for you tomorrow and the day after that on and on and on.
These gowns that you are wearing are white to symbolize the righteousness of Christ that you received in baptism. You will be taking these gowns off at the end of the service, but you cannot remove the righteousness that they symbolize. You are God’s children, and because of what Christ Jesus has done for you on the cross, and is doing for you daily uniting you with Him and His church in faith-your Heavenly Father will always see you robed in righteousness. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
Amen
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I first read the lesson from Acts for this morning which begins with verse 12 from chapter 3, my instinct was to think well we gotta read the first eleven verses of Acts 3. The passage opens with the words “When Peter saw it, he addressed the people.” But the problem is that the ‘it’ that the passage refers to takes place in the first eleven verses. What is the ‘it’ that Peter refers to?
The passage continues with Peter saying to this crowd “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” There the picture becomes a little more clear. Peter appears to be talking about some sort of miracle healing, but still it’s not included in the lesson, so you’re not getting the whole context.
Plus they leave out this wonderful event of this crippled man who was miraculously made able to walk through Peter commanding him to walk in the name of Jesus.
But actually, Peter and the testimony that he bears in this lesson is the result of an even greater miracle. For it was not long before this that Peter was hiding for fear of the Jews. And it was not long before that, that Peter had denied Jesus three times in the courtyard.
Within the course of probably a few hours Peter had gone from claiming he would never deny Jesus to denying Him three times. And then even after he had been told by the women who saw the risen Jesus that Jesus had risen from the dead, he still goes and hides in his doubt and despair. And then in this morning’s Gospel lesson, there is Peter once again with the rest of the disciples hiding out once again, still not quite convinced apparently.
And so Jesus appears among Peter and the rest of the disciples and says to them “Peace be with you.” And how do they respond? They are terrified. In fact, Luke writes that they thought that they were seeing a ghost. I mean what do you think was going through Jesus’ mind at this point?? You almost expect Him to say something like; “A ghost?? Really?? Is that what you’re thinking?? I told you I was going to do this.”
But He doesn’t. He doesn’t scold them. He says “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?” And then He tells them to look at and touch His hands and His feet to see that it is Him. A ghost does not have flesh and bones. And then to really kind of drive home that He was not a ghost but their real and risen Savior He eats in front of them.
And then Jesus tells them that everything that He told them while He was with them, which would have included telling them of His death and resurrection, was the fulfillment of everything that had been written about Him in the scriptures; in the prophets, the law of Moses, in the psalms-all of it. And it wasn’t until the disciples understood this, we read that their minds had been opened.
Their minds were opened for the very purpose of understanding that all the scriptures testify of Jesus-specifically that the Messiah had to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations-and that they, the disciples, were witnesses of those very things. And this witness went bursting forth from the upper-room to all nations not long after this when the Holy Spirit-who binds Himself to the witness of Christ Jesus-arrived at Pentecost.
And so from this it becomes a little more clear as to why it’s not necessary to include in the reading from Acts-the miraculous healing that takes place before verse 12. For as I said, Peter’s bold testimony is the result of an ever greater miracle than the healing of a crippled man. Peter’s bold testimony that we see in the lesson from Acts is the fruit of the miracle that we see in the Gospel lesson-the miracle that our Lord Jesus did not leave Peter and the disciples in their unbelief and despair.
Christ Jesus came to them in their unbelief and gave them faith. And He opened their minds so that they would finally be able to connect the dots and see that all of scripture testifies of Jesus. Finally they were able to see that this Holy and Righteous One Whom they had denied and abandoned was the One Whom the prophets of their ancestors said would bring forth a new covenant; finally they could see that He is the suffering Servant by Whose stripes we are healed. Finally they could see that He is the One that John the Baptist himself had told them about-the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world-through the blood that He shed on the cross for you.
And so you see, today you will witness more fruit of this miracle taking place among you. Today on confirmation Sunday you will witness seven young people standing before you and affirming their baptism, professing their faith, declaring to you that they too are witnesses of all these things. Today you will see seven young people stand before you and declare unto you that they have heard the Word of Christ-the Messiah who suffered and died for your forgiveness and was raised for your salvation as the prophets foretold and they believe it-faith has come to them. Faith has come to them and will take hold of them and repentance and forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name will be proclaimed in them through the Holy Spirit.
But in spite of all the hoopla and the pomp and splendor connected to confirmation Sunday-there really is nothing unique about today. What you see today is really nothing more than the acknowledgment of what we experience daily-the miracle of Christ Jesus coming to us daily and giving us faith an nurturing and sustaining us in that faith.
And so by His grace through the Holy Spirit-Christ Jesus comes to you once again today. For you see the only real difference between how Christ Jesus finds us daily and how He found those disciples in the upper room is time. Sure were not hiding out in an upper-room like they were, but were also not being actively persecuted by authorities. But the truth is, in many ways we are locked away for fear of an inconvenient understanding of our Lord. For the truth is all of us have failed to understand who God is and what He has come to do for us, among us and is doing for us.
We reduce Jesus into a new law-giver whom we follow in our hopes of achieving a better life now, or simply to live holier lives, or to somehow overcome our shortcomings through our own best efforts and good-works. Or we have reduced Jesus to merely an example of love and compassion to emulate.
But Christ Jesus is much more than that. He is the One who took our sin upon Himself for us on the cross so that in exchange we would receive the righteousness of Christ for our salvation. And daily Christ Jesus comes to us in Word and sacrament and in fellowship with each other and brings us back to that eternal hope that we have in Christ Jesus and in Christ Jesus alone-and away from the false hope and deception of sin and the devil and the false images of Christ Jesus that we create.
Confirmation is not about some big transformative Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues moment where everything is suddenly clear and makes sense. It’s about the Holy Spirit- but it’s about the Holy Spirit doing what He does for you on a daily basis; calling, you, gathering you, enlightening you with His gifts and sanctifying you and keeping you in the true faith-in Christ alone. It’s about the Holy Spirit doing what the Holy Spirit does-testifying to Christ and Christ alone.
And this doesn’t begin and end at confirmation. It’s daily. So Kayla, Collin, Corey, Cassidy, Josh, Tyler, and Alex, if you don’t feel any different today than you did yesterday, that’s no big deal. Now, that also means today is not a graduation or an ending. Today is simply the continuation of the Holy Spirit keeping you united with the whole Christian church on earth and keeping you united with Jesus Christ in the one true faith-just as He did for you yesterday and the day before and will do for you tomorrow and the day after that on and on and on.
These gowns that you are wearing are white to symbolize the righteousness of Christ that you received in baptism. You will be taking these gowns off at the end of the service, but you cannot remove the righteousness that they symbolize. You are God’s children, and because of what Christ Jesus has done for you on the cross, and is doing for you daily uniting you with Him and His church in faith-your Heavenly Father will always see you robed in righteousness. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
Amen
posted by Steve at 9:41 AM
1 Comments:
This one just didn't seem to mesh very well.
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