Christ's Promising Word

Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 25, 2010
Voice Recognition
John 21:19-31

This Sounds Phishy

Alleluia, Christ is Risen. He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!

Evelyn and I had quite the experience two months ago. Towards the beginning of Lent we received an email in the church office.

It was from what claimed to be the Toledo Community Foundation. It said that an anonymous donor wanted to give Emmanuel some money and so it asked that we send in all our financial information from the previous year.

And Evelyn and I both said, “Who in the world from Toledo would be interested in giving Emmanuel some money? We know what this is. This is one of those scams called “phishing.”

And so, we put it in the “Junk Mail” folder and dismissed it as a scam.

But about a week later someone called from the Toledo Community Foundation saying they had sent us an email and wouldn’t we please respond. Some anonymous donor wanted to give us money.

And I said, “This is strange. Why would somebody phishing call us on the phone. Maybe we should check this one out.”

100% Legitimate

And so, I called Bob Lessing, and he suggested that I call Brian Fredericks, the president of Lorain County’s  Community Foundation, whom both Bob and I know personally.

And Brian said to me, “I know some people over in Toledo. Do you want me to check it out?” And I said, “Yes, indeed, would you please.”

And about 20 minutes later Brian called back to say that this was 100% legitimate.

And so I called Steph Thompson, and she and I hustled to get the info in.

And wouldn’t you know it? On Good Friday, I received a letter from the Toledo Community Foundation saying the grant had been approved. And inside it was a check for $10,000 to be used for Phase II of our organ renovation.

And if you are the anonymous donor, we thank you. We really do. Thank you for your gift.

But what a fortunate thing that the Toledo Community Foundation was persistent and called back a second time. We almost looked a gift horse in the mouth and walked away. And what a tragedy that would have been.

Someone wanted to give us a gift. And we were not ready to received it…because…we did not believe it. We didn’t recognize the voice. The name. Or ever expect that someone would do such a thing.

The Gospel is Money in the Bank

And there you have a parable of the very the Gospel works.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gift, the greatest gift in the world. That gift is already there. Jesus already died and rose again.

And yet, what good does that gift do if we don’t believe it and receive it? Through Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, God pours out the riches of his grace—the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. “Phase II,” you might call it, of our own personal restoration.

It is money in the bank. These gifts are already there. Waiting for us. On deposit. Held in trust. Just aching to be given.

And through the Gospel witness, God is sending us email after email saying these gifts are yours. They have your name on it. God did this all for you. Please respond. And claim them as your own so that God can get these gifts into your hands.

But what good are they if we simply dismiss this all as junk mail?

Martin Luther once said that Jesus could have died for us a 1,000 times and not one of them would do us any good today if we did not believe it.

A Good Shepherd: What Kind of Claim is This?

There were some Judeans back in the days of Jesus who looked a gift horse in the mouth.

Jesus told them that he was the Good Shepherd, the way, the truth and the life. He told them that he came with God’s gifts in hand. It was money in the bank just waiting for them. It had their name on it.

But, they could not believe it, for they did not recognize his voice. It wasn’t what they were expecting. What good could come out of Nazareth? It was just like I was thinking about Toledo. What good could come out of Toledo?

“I am the Good Shepherd,” that’s what Jesus said. But what kind of claim is that?

That is godly, kingly, messiah language from the Hebrew scriptures—Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34. But Jesus didn’t look like a king or a messiah. Certainly not like the kind they had in Judas Maccabeus, the very man they celebrated during the festival of the Dedication, or Hanukah as we more commonly call it.

Judas was the great warrior who 190 years earlier kicked out a foreign overlord. That is the kind of Messiah they wanted. A mighty one. A militant one. A political one.

But Jesus! Jesus was starting to sound a lot more like the very schnook, the Syrian ruler whom Judas overthrew, Antiochus Epiphanes, who claimed to be a god himself and got some Jews to follow him.

What a piece of cake he was! In his pictures he is nude like a god or holding a lion skin like the god-man Hercules. His coins say, “Image of God. Bearer of victory.”

Wasn’t Jesus doing the same when he said that he and the Father were one? Wasn’t Jesus making a “god” of himself? And wasn’t that another scam and blasphemy?

No wonder in the very next sentence after this scene the Judeans try to stone him.

A God Who Dies for Us

But Jesus is not a human making himself “god,” the way we do. But rather, he is God in human flesh and bones already made human. Jesus is the true “Image of God” and the “Bearer of Victory.”

And quite fortunately, he does not give up on any one of us. But rather he keeps calling and calling and calling and calling until we become a flock that hears his voice and recognizes him in trusting faith and follows.

He doesn’t want to lose one. No, not one! That’s what makes him the Good Shepherd! He wants you!

We all have our doubts about Jesus. Our questions and suspicions. He doesn’t always act the way we think he should. And all too often he keeps us in suspense and waiting.

And we just want to shake him sometimes and say to him, “If you are the Messiah, tell me plainly. Give me some clear signs. Fix whatever current mess I am in. Usually a mess of our own making.”

But the only sign we have is the sign that has been given. A death and a resurrection. A God who dies for us and rises again. Not to lord it over us but to lift us up. And to show how serious he is about the gift he gives. And what it is he gives to accomplish our salvation.

No Scam

This is no trick. No con. No scam. It is the real thing.

A gift from God—that has your name on it!—a gift that’s even better than $10,000 in the bank. And all that is needed now is for you to recognize his voice and take him at his word. To believe it and claim it as your own.

Don’t do what I did with that email from Toledo. For great gifts do indeed come in unexpected ways from unexpected places.

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

© 2010 Pastor Paul Jaster

Third Sunday of  Easter
April 17, 2010
It is the Lord!
John 21:19-31

Do You See Jesus?

Alleluia, Christ is Risen. He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!

Today we have a simple sermon with a simple Gospel message. And that sermon is simply this: Jesus is alive. He is very much alive…and standing by your side.

Jesus is here with you here today. Do you see him? Do you see Jesus? And do you recognize him when you see him?

What I am saying is that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and that He lives and rules, and He appears to us in sickness and in health, at work and play, and in the middle of life’s routine, and that he puts our minds at peace with his closeness and his help. Jesus is alive. And so now EVERY day is an Easter day.

But do you see him?  Do you see Jesus? And do you recognize him when you see him?  Do you realize “It is the Lord?”

Gone fishing

This question comes to us in another one of those fishing stories from the bible. Jesus had already appeared to his disciples twice, and still, Good Friday’s grief had not yet gone away. The news of the resurrection was just too much for them. Too wonderful, too impossible to be true.

“I’m going fishing,” Peter said. “We will join you,” six more added.

So there they were (Peter, James and John, and four others) back in the familiar waters of their youth, pre-Jesus and pre-Good Friday.

Now that their lives were shattered and confused, what was left except to go back to the Sea of Galilee and try to put things back in place again? Maybe they could get their heads in order. Fishing is a good way to clear one’s head.

Without Jesus We Can Do Nothing

But like a lot of fishing parties that I know, this one wasn’t too successful. Without Jesus, they can do nothing. All night long they fished and their nets kept coming up empty.

But as dawn began to break, they saw a stranger on the shore who called out through the morning fog, “How’s fishing?  Caught anything this morning?”

And when they answered “No,” he told them to throw out their nets again and this time on the right side of the boat, and when they did, they couldn’t pull them in. The nets were full of fish. Jesus provides for them with an unlimited supply.

An Unexpected Appearance of the Lord

Hadn’t something like this happened once before when Jesus first called them as his disciples? Well, it does not matter. The point is that they saw the Lord, and it was John, who said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” John recognized his voice and his provision.

And the other point is this, that Jesus gladdens with his presence and his help, he puts our minds at peace, usually when we least expect his presence and his help—which are always there even when we fail to recognize him.

The disciples were not in church when Christ appeared. They were not dressed up in fancy suits and ties, their hair in place, their shoes neatly cleaned and polished.

It did not happen the way we usually want it: for Jesus to appear only the times that we are ready for him. We prefer that Jesus email ahead for an appointment so that our house is tidy and the kids on their best behavior.

But the Risen Jesus is not limited to Sundays only. He is a constant companion in our lives, each and every day. Do you see him? Do you see Jesus? Do you recognize him when you see him?

Christ is a Constant Companion in our Everyday Lives

Jesus lives in every home—including yours—24/7. He is with us on the job, at school and in retirement.

And there are many things we thought just happened or we credited to luck or our good fortune that were, in fact, arranged with care by those same loving hands that once were pierced with nails for us.

Jesus is near at hand in times of sorrow, want, and need. He is the Savior still who “saves the day” each day for us to put our hearts at rest.

We Feast on Christ’s Provision

And so they came to shore, those seven in the Galilean ship, for breakfast with the Lord: to once again feast on his provision through no effort of their own.

Peter couldn’t wait, of course, but when he heard, “It is the Lord,” he jumped headlong from the boat.

And on the shore the Savior waited for them with fish already fried and the bread. And none of the disciples dare to ask Him, for they knew it was the Lord.

He took the bread and gave it to them, and they ate—now that should sound familiar!

This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after he was risen from the dead. And they saw him. And they recognized him. And they knew, they just knew “It is the Lord.”

Christ Never…Never…Never Stops Feeding Us

Do you see Him? Do you see Jesus? Do you recognize Him? Do you know “It is the Lord” as He appears among life’s burdens. And picks up your load. And provides for you in unexpected ways. And as he blesses your joys and days of celebration?

Jesus is alive. And Jesus is doing good for you. And Jesus is always near at hand to put your mind at peace and to provide in time of need.

And it is a great reminder when we gather with Jesus at this table—this breakfast table—week after week and he continues to reveal his presence in our lives through bread and wine.

Jesus is not a Lord long dead in Joseph’s tomb. Jesus is a risen, living Lord who never stops…never stops…never stops…never stops feeding us with his grace and love.

Those Who Are Fed are Sent

And those who are fed are “sent.” We are “sent out” to feed others. The charge to Peter is our charge.

Three times it is said. Three times. Once for each denial. “Simon son of John, do you love me more than fishin’ even with a record haul? Be honest now. Be honest.” “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” “Feed my lambs.” “Tend my sheep.” “Take care of the flock.”

The presence of Jesus as the living Lord calls us all to mission.  We who see Jesus active in our lives can do no other than speak the things that we have heard and seen

Our time with Jesus is not designed for our own personal comfort and pleasure, but as the very power that propels the Gospel witness on the most gigantic fishing expedition ever undertaken.

So, let’s hear it then. Tell others! Have you seen Him?

Do you see Jesus present and active in your life? Do you recognize Him when you see him? If so, do what John did and let it be known: “It is the Lord!”

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

© Pastor Paul Jaster

Second Sunday of Easter
April 11, 2010
Thomas, 0ur Twin
John 20:19-31

Have You a Twin?

Have you ever met a person who could be your twin? A person of the same age and height and girth. The same contours to their face, the same mannerisms, the same patterns of expression? What is that experience like?

I sometime wonder what it is like for people who are twins to look across at their “identical” and see the spitting image of themselves. Is it comforting to know that there is another person out there who looks and acts like you? Or, is it disturbing?

I can hardly stand to see myself on a mini-cam in a video. What would I ever do if a person jumped off the screen and came to life and stared at me eyeball to eyeball—my Twin!

Met Thomas, the Twin

Each year on the Second Sunday of the Easter season, we meet a man named Thomas, who was also called “the Twin.”

Whose twin? Well, the bible never says. The bible never says who bore the same face and appearance of our Lord’s disciple, Thomas. His twin is never named in the record of the past.

Which very well could be intentional. For in one very significant respect Thomas is our “Twin,” in that he was not there either the day the Risen Lord first appeared to his disciples.

From that first small band of twelve disciples, there is one who shares with us the same handicap, the same misfortune: the disadvantage of not having our fears and doubts instantly removed by a visual sighting and a tangible experience with the crucified Jesus risen and alive.

How Easy it Was for Those First Disciples

How easy it was for those who had locked themselves behind closed doors on Easter day…how easy it was for them to believe!

They could see the lips of Jesus move when his tender words of peace swept away their troubled fears and stirred within their hearts a solid joy.

The marks on his hands and in his side where plainly evident. They could clearly see this was not smoke and mirrors or computer generated graphics. They could first see…and then they could believe.

Death’s Question Mark

Not so for second-generation Christians living outside the land of Palestine around the end of the first century when the book of John was written.

They could not see or touch the risen Lord. And what was worse, by the time this gospel book went to press around the year 90 AD, the last of the twelve, the very last, John, had died.

Gone was their living link to the living Lord. Gone was any chance to look John in the eyes, while he was telling his amazing story, and search them for the truth.

All that was left were his words written in book. The ones we read today. The death of the last eye-witness had put its question mark over all his words of life.

And doesn’t death always do that? Put a question mark over all of life and make us wonder if it is so? It did for the disciples & early Christians. And it does for us today.

Thomas Blew It

A lot of dying has happened since the day that Jesus rose. And should we have our doubts about the truth of the resurrection and of a dead and buried Son of God coming back to life again, it may be good to know that we have many “twins” who share our company, including the man they called “the Twin.”

O yes, Thomas! Here Thomas had the tremendous opportunity to be the very first person in all of human history to come to faith solely on the basis of the Gospel word proclaimed by his ten brothers.

Here Thomas had the chance to come to faith the way everyone must come to faith since the day that Christ ascended: by hearing, not by seeing.

And he blew it! “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

And much to our surprise, the Lord obliged him. Jesus appeared to Thomas.

Just as Jesus had broken free from the prison hole of Death and just as Jesus had broken through the locked doors of the disciples’ room, so also Jesus broke through the locked doors of his disciple’s mind and heart so that Thomas could throw away his question mark and replace it with an exclamation point, “My Lord and my God!”

Blessed are Those Who Have Not Seen and Yet Believe

And what are we to say of all of this? Is Thomas more fortunate than we because he had his doubts removed by a command performance of the Risen Lord?

Is he more blessed than we because he was finally included among that privileged group of the first eye-witnesses? He is—the way we see it. We envy him.

But, he is not—the way that Jesus sees it. “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Up to this point throughout the entire gospel, Jesus had a private “reality show” going on with his twelve disciples.

But, now at the very end Jesus finally turns and stares into the camera and has a word which is said to us as well: “You, people watching. You Christians at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Elyria, Ohio. I did it all for you. Blessed are you, when even though you have not seen, you still believe.”

And there we have Christ’s word on it. It is not the original eye-witnesses who are more privileged and more blessed. But rather it is you and me when we believe without the benefit of having seen.

For when Christ rose again and opened up the door to that locked room, he broke down every barrier which can separate him from his disciples of every time and place including those of us who are his disciples now—in this time and this place.

My Lord & My God!!!

Thomas by be our “Twin” both in the initial doubts he had and in the bold confession which he finally made. But that does not mean that we have to see like him before we can believe like him.

The resurrection of Jesus both written and proclaimed is more than sufficient to straighten out our question marks and turn them into exclamations—“My Lord and my God!”

We may not know everything we would like to know about the things which Jesus did which never got written down into any book. But what we have is quite enough.

For it is written, the gospel word is written, “so that you might come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

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

© 2010 Pastor Paul Jaster

The Day of Resurrection
April 4, 2010
No Idle Tale, Remember
Luke 24:1-12

Remember What He Told You?

It is so obvious, isn’t it, now that the angels say it.

“He is risen! He is not here. Why do you seek the living among the dead?

“Remember how he told you,… that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”

Yes! Yes! Yes! That rings a bell, now doesn’t it?

Three times in each of the first three Gospels.

Three times Jesus said that it was “necessary,” yes, it was so “necessary,” for him to undergo great suffering…and be killed…and on the third day to be raised again. He “must.” He “must.”

Time and time and time again, Jesus tried to prepare his disciples for what was coming down the pike.

Yet They Were Shocked!

And yet, they were not prepared when finally it happened. They were shocked. And they were devastated. And they moped around in daze wondering how in the world they would take the shattered pieces of their lives and put them back together once again.

The women who came to the tomb on that first Easter day did not expect to find a Risen Lord. Their only thought was of the dead and who had rolled the stone away.

And the men…well, they were no where to be found. They hid in dark corners like a wounded animals licking their wounds. They did not dare to go outside at all.

And isn’t that just like us? A tragedy hits. A disaster strikes. And we forget everything that Jesus ever told us. We weep. We cry. We despair. And we forget every promise Jesus ever made.

Until the gospel word hits us right between the eyes. And we “remember” what Jesus said, that it was necessary for the Messiah to die and to be raised from the dead, so that repentance and the forgiveness of sins could be proclaimed in his name to all the nations of the world.

It was the love of God behind this “must.” This sacred “must.” Must die. Must rise.

The death of Jesus Christ was no accident. It was not a sad accidental mishap or a very bad mistake. It was God’s plan and purpose all along to save and to redeem an entire world.

They Dismissed It as an Idle Tale

Don’t you remember?

The women did. As soon as the two angels pointed them back to the words of Jesus, the light bulb went on.

And immediately they left the tomb. And they became the first witnesses to the resurrection. They rushed, they hurried to tell “the eleven” and the rest.

But…their words “seemed to them an ‘idle tale,’ and they [the male disciples] did not believe them.”

And isn’t that a bite? Here the women are at least brave enough to go to the tomb. And amazingly they encounter two angels in a dazzling white.

And they are shaken to the bone…until their memories are jarred. And they remember the words of Jesus. And the bells of Easter joy start ringing in their ears.

And then they go and do what one “must do” when we catch on the Risen Lord and catch a glimmer of his glory—THEY GO AND TELL OTHERS.

And yet, the men— the men dismiss it all as a bunch of “idle talk,” and they did not believe them.

Who Says There’s No Humor in the Bible?

Who says there is no humor in the bible? I think Saint Luke is taking a jab at our all too common gender stereotypes. And he is right. He’s got me nailed.

I don’t believe everything all the women in my house tell me, either. Do you?

A few of them have been known to stretch the truth every now and then. They twist the facts to their advantage.

And it works the other way around, too. They don’t believe everything I say, either.

We all do our share of “selective listening.” It is not just men who are so hard of hearing.

Easter Faith Does Not Come Easily

But Saint Luke has a very serious point for us, too. The resurrection of Jesus is no idle tale. It is the rock-solid Gospel truth!

The Easter did not come easily or quickly to the first disciples. This is not a made-up story: a myth designed by early Christians.

The earliest disciples were hard-headed realists who demanded something far more substantial than just an emotional outburst or the rumor of an angelic vision.

Ultimately, it would take a personal encounter with the Risen Lord. Jesus walking through the locked door of their hearts and minds.

Eating food and breaking bread before their very eyes. And opening up their minds to all the Scriptures. How it was necessary. Yes, it was so necessary for the Son of man to be handed over the sinners and crucified and on the third day rise.

He must. He must.

We cannot “prove” the resurrection of Jesus. It is not a piece of scientific data. We cannot explain how God can take a limp, dead body and make it come alive again.

It is a matter of faith, not of science. In fact, just ask your kids. Our secular colleges and universities raise more doubts and questions about all religions than they give answers.

Tough Questions to Explain Without the Resurrection

But, just because this is a matter of faith, does not mean that we have to park our brains at the door. And anyone who does deny or doubt the resurrection has some pretty tough historical questions to explain:

• Like how come women are the “first witnesses” at a time and in a culture that did not trust the testimony of women? What advantage is there in inventing a story like that?
• Or, why are the men displayed in such an embarrassing light? Our Lord’s closest friends are the very ones who desert him and betray him. What spin master makes up stuff like that when it doesn’t help their candidate?
• And why was there no early Christian worship around the tomb of Jesus, when the Jews to this very day still worship at the tombs of their prophets and their departed leaders?
• And why different resurrection accounts clearly written at different times in different places, and yet all with the same essential core, if this all come from one fictitious source?
• And why dream up a resurrection at all in the first place when there is no analogy to this in all of ancient literature. A dead corpse returning to an abiding life in living, physical flesh and blood that people saw and touched. There is no precedent for this in any literature of any people before that first Easter day. People didn’t want to return to this life—they wanted to move on to the next.
• And why did some Jews (from a religion, mind you, that fought quite  hard and shed a lot of blood to champion their “one God”), why did they so quickly and consistently identify Jesus as equal in divinity to their one God, too? That is a tough one, a very tough one, to explain without a resurrection
• And how did those terrified and cowardly disciples become such bold confessors of the faith—to the point of martyrdom? Who dies for a rumor?

None of this Makes Sense, Unless it Really Happened

None of this makes any sense. None of it. Unless it did indeed happen, really happen, just as the good news of the Gospel says.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is no “idle tale.” It is the “rock solid” Gospel truth, consistent with all of God’s gracious acts throughout all of history.

And it does indeed make sense, it does, when we remember. When we remember all that Jesus told us about how this had to be.

For isn’t this precisely the way that our good old faithful God has always worked? Changing death into life. And turning sorrow into joy. Much to our amazement and surprise!

Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

© 2010 Pastor Paul Jaster