Three Violent Wolves Threaten Us And You Won't Believe What Happens Next!

Text: John 10:11-18

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

As sheep, we really don’t want a shepherd.  I mean, who really does?  Our hearts are just too un-tame, too wild, and too rebellious to have a restrictive overbearing authoritative figure above us. 

With that said, it might be nice to have a hired hand around at times, so that we can at least get some of our basic needs met.  You know, someone that doesn’t own us, but is required to serve our basic needs.  This way we can still keep our independence, yet have those extra benefits. 

As far as a shepherd though?  Having a shepherd over top of us, a shepherd that rules us?  No thank you!  We would rather not.

The reason why this is so?  We want our freedom.  We want the ability to choose our own destiny, to do what we want, when we want.  We want independence to graze in the paths of unrighteousness.  We want to go here and go there, without any restraints or consequences.  Give us an open field to graze, but hold back on that authoritative shepherd.

Maybe this is for the best not having a shepherd over-top of us.  For most people know that shepherds do not raise sheep as their beloved pets, but exploit them.  Most everyone knows that shepherds are primarily into the sheep for what they can get from them.  These shepherds use the sheep for their wool, meat, and economic profits.  Also, when a predator comes after the sheep, it is common knowledge that the shepherd is not really concerned for the sheep but is concerned about his bottom line investment in the sheep.  When push comes to shove, if there was a decision between giving up his life defending the sheep or letting a sheep die, the shepherd would most surely let the sheep die and save himself.

It appears that you and I may be justified in not wanting a shepherd, since so many shepherds out there are really a bunch of dirtbags, only concerned with their own well-being.  However, in our Gospel reading from today we hear that Jesus is no ordinary shepherd.  We hear that he is the ‘Good’ Shepherd. 

The word ‘good’ should not go unnoticed though.  It is a word that means excellent, noble, and heroic.  Otherwise stated, Jesus is not simply a dirtbag shepherd or some deadbeat shepherd who is only interested in Himself.  No, he is the ‘Good’ Shepherd. What makes the Good Shepherd good is that He lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) Jesus described Himself as the shepherd who loves his sheep by willingly surrendering His life for them.  This sets Good Shepherd Jesus apart from all other dirtbag and deadbeat shepherds.

This may change things having a Good Shepherd, or does it?

This actually does not change anything.  The Good Shepherd “makes [us] lie down in green pastures, but [we] spy grass that is greener on the other side of the fence [and wander away].  He leads [us] beside the still waters, but [we] know of still more exciting places where [we’d] love to drink [our] fill.  He leads [us] for His name sake, but [we] want to make a name for [ourselves], [we] want others to envy [us]…”[1]

What this means is that no matter if the shepherd is a self-serving dirtbag or a good and noble hero, we tend to be and do the same.  We are sheep that go astray, wanting to be independent and shepherd-less.   

Dear friends, repent.  Return to the Good Shepherd of your souls.  “For the freedoms you crave are slaveries in disguise, chains that hell’s butchers cast around your neck to pull you under the slaughterhouse blade.”[2] 

Indeed, there is an infatuation and addiction with this freedom that we desire, but embedded in this desire is deception.  That’s right, the very deception that betook Eve in the Garden of Eden is the very deception that modern mankind has bitten into; the deception that mankind is able and capable of surviving as spiritually, emotionally, and physically independent beings.  When we fight for our personalized freedom, or believe that we have the ability to function on our own, we are actually closing ourselves off to the calling of the Good Shepherd, and it is in this sense that when we fight for our own independence that we are banishing the Good Shepherd from us.

Apart from the tragedy of running from the Good Shepherd, sheep are not meant to be without a shepherd.  The harsh reality is that you and I are not built this way, nor are we able to deal with the pressures of life on our own.  We are not able to define our own meaning, grant self-comfort, and accomplishing our own salvation, as much as we may try to convince ourselves otherwise.    

Repent, return to the Good Shepherd of your souls.

The Lord is your Good Shepherd, not some deadbeat second class false shepherd who will lead you astray.  He is the Good Shepherd who cares for you and lays His life down for you.  Thus, He wants you, you who have gone to the other side of the fence.  The Good Shepherd wants you, you who have cursed His staff, ignored His call, and gone your own way.  The Good Shepherd wants you, you who often act more like a wolf than a sheep.  He wants you, all of you, nothing held back.  He wants you, for a life without Him means that you are left with self-salvation, which is no salvation at all but pure damnation.      

There is more to this though.  No matter how spiritually mature, no matter how devoted, no matter how forcefully independent, and no matter how faithful you think you are, you are not able to take care of the wolves.  That’s right, no matter how much “time sheep spend in the weight room and at the martial arts dojo, [sheep] are not going to be able to take on the wolf.  If the sheep has to defend itself, the wolf will have an easy lunch.  The wolves that come after us are sin, death, and the devil.”[3]

Make no mistake, a false shepherd and a hired hand run at the sight of these wolves.  You will attempt to run from these wolves as well.  However, sin, death, and the devils are like a pack of wolves that surround you, leaving you no room to escape.  There is no escape from them; resistance is futile.  Everyone dies.  Sin must be accounted for. 

Contrary to most people’s inclination to run from these wolves, our Good Shepherd goes after these wolves.  He attacks them by laying His life down before them.  He bears the bite of sin for you, He gives Himself into the fangs of death for you, and He lays Himself between you and the satanic wolf.   This is how it is with the Good Shepherd. It is what makes Him truly good. 

So then as a result, the wolf of sin causes the Good Shepherd to suffer, the satanic wolf licks up the blood of the slaughtered Good Shepherd, and the wolf of death devours the Good Shepherd into his stomach.  Into the stomach of the wolf—the grave that is—Christ goes. 

And after the Good Shepherd attacks the wolves of sin, death, and the devil by giving Himself to them, He takes His life back again.  “The Good Shepherd vacated the stomach [of  death] that had entombed Him, leaving behind Him a predator that you, O little flock, need not fear any more.  Shall you fear the wolf with a burst belly, broken teeth, and his howls of his own defeat?”[4]  No, you shall not fear death, sin, and the devil, for Christ has risen.   

Beloved sheep you are not alone.  You shall not be left to fend for yourself in life and in death.  You do not have to face the wolves of sin, death, and the devil.  You do not have a hired hand or a dirtbag shepherd.  The wolves have not and cannot overtake you.  You have the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. 

Have no fear blessed flock, He knows you, calls you by name, and has made you His own.  The Good Shepherd was not content to let you wander and run from Him, but rather, He sought you ought, called you by name in baptism, raised you up, and placed you on His shoulders, and with great joy brings you home.  He has wrapped your name into His name and joined Himself to you in baptism, making you His own. Furthermore, He binds up your wounds with His precious Word, and feeds you His body and blood, quenching your thirst.

He does all of this for you because He is the Good Shepherd.  He is good because He gives to His flock and doesn’t ruthlessly exploit.  He declares you His good sheep.  Sheep that He not only possesses as His own, but sheep that He loves, defends, and leads.                 

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

______________
[1] Chad L. Bird, Christ Alone Meditations and Sermons (Copyright 2014), 168.
[2] Ibid.
[3] James T. Batchelor, Fourth Sunday of Easter Sermon (26 April 2015) http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=4142 (26 April 2015).
[4] Chad L. Bird, Christ Alone Meditations and Sermons, 169.

Why The Bodily Resurrection Of Jesus Is So Important For You

Text:  Luke 24:36-49

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Easter Sunday we heard the good news that the jaws and fangs of the grave could not hold Jesus down.  We heard that the grave was worthless, powerless, and unable to keep Jesus contained.  We heard that the grave was and is empty. 

With that stated, an empty tomb for some people is not enough.  For some, an empty tomb simply means that the disciples allegedly stole the body of Jesus.  Whereas, for others, an empty tomb simply means that Jesus may not have died but only appeared dead.  And there are some who believe that the empty tomb is a figure of speech or a clever metaphor at best.  Indeed, there are persons who insist that an empty tomb is not enough.

Even though it is truly great news to hear that Jesus is not in the tomb that He is not among the dead, the reality is that doubting mankind is prone to staunch pessimistic unbelief, just as the Apostle Thomas was. 

In the face of Thomas’ unbelief and all the skeptics throughout the ages, Jesus presents Himself before the disciples and an additional five hundred people.[1]  He reveals Himself after the tragic events of Good Friday as alive.  

But how did Jesus present Himself?  Did He appear to them in a dream?  Did the spirit of Jesus hover and float before them?  Did Jesus appear to them through a hologram, a three-dimensional image reproduced from a pattern of interference produced by a split coherent beam of radiation? 

In today’s Gospel reading we hear that Jesus appeared and revealed Himself to the disciples bodily—in the flesh.  Yes, bodily: speaking, touching, walking, eating, casting shadows, and making noise as He trampled across the floor.  No ghostly figure.  No spiritized ethereal being.  No hologram.  No mystic dream.  But rather, Jesus stood in their midst, body and spirit joined together.

The fact that Jesus resurrected bodily and appeared bodily to the disciples is of great importance.  It is not a finer point of theology that should be overlooked. 

You see, in our Gospel reading from today we hear that Jesus is alive beyond the cross and tomb.  He lives—unlike Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, or the Abominable Snowman.  That is to say, He is not alive in spirit only without a body or without verifiable proof.  Because of Jesus’ physical appearance before the disciples and some five hundred other individuals, Jesus is not to be considered as a myth or a legend or a mysterious story, but to be considered the God-Man who is actually alive in Spirit ‘and’ Body!  Undeniably, the very same God-Man whose cold, lifeless body was laid in the tomb before the Sabbath began at sundown, came to life again and stood right before the disciples in their midst.

Unlike a ghost or a fantasy or a legendary myth or a dream, the physically glorified Jesus, with all the crucified scars, not only made the assurance of the disciples doubly sure, but makes our assurance doubly sure as well.  The fact that Jesus ate in front of the disciples shows that there was a real resurrected body before them, a body that functioned as their did.

Again this is important for us.  The reason why?  If Christ is not raised from the grave bodily, our preaching, the church’s foundation, and your faith are all in vain and you are still damned in your sins.  If this Jesus in not raised from the grave bodily it also means that those who have fallen asleep in Christ have died forever with no hope.  If Christ has not risen bodily, nothing has changed, death still rules the age.  If Christ has not risen bodily, then all the best sympathy cards, all the prettiest flowers, and all the best sappy compassion slogans will not cheer us up when we must struggle at the end of our lives or when we painfully put our loved ones in the grave.  Frankly put, if Jesus wasn’t raised bodily, what makes us think we will rise bodily?  The grave would be the end, with nothing beyond. 

On the other hand, because Jesus ‘has’ risen from the grave bodily and ‘has’ appeared to over five hundred people bodily, we believe, teach, and confess that Jesus is not some sort of powerless ghost or angel.  This story of Christ’s death and resurrection is not some speculative Big Foot or Loch Ness Monster story that airs on the Sci-Fi Channel rerun segment.  No, Jesus is the resurrected God-Man who defeated death, sin, and the devil—for you.  In point of fact, because He is the resurrected God-Man, He is your advocate with the Father.  He is your bodily resurrected high priest who has endured all of your temptations, bore your sins on His body, died, and overcame death for you.

Jesus lives, not because He appeared as a ghost.  He lives, not because He came as a spirit only.  He lives, not because He appeared in a hologram or dream.  He lives, not because He lives in your heart.  This is all foolish and nonsense!  He lives because the wounded, crucified body that mankind abandoned on Good Friday was resurrected.  He lives because Jesus walked, talked, ate food, cast shadows, and was able to be touched.  Make no mistake at all, He was resurrected and is alive.  He showed the wounds that make for peace.  He breathed out the Holy Spirit on the disciples through human speech.  He is alive because it is His true body.

There are further implications of Christ’s grave being empty and Christ being bodily resurrected as well.  Dear friends, the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead not only means that our savior lives victorious over death, hell, and the devil, but it also means that we who will be put in the grave will not remain their forever.  It means that the dark valley of death, the deep tomb, and the heavy tombstone are not your final word.    In other words, the resurrection of Jesus means that the day will come when neither death nor the grave will keep you, but you—like Jesus—will be bodily raised again. 

We confess this central truth each and every Sunday in The Apostles’ and Nicene Creed when we say, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.”  That is to say, when you face your death, you will not face it alone.  Another will stand by your side, one who is stronger than death.  Through Him, through Jesus Christ, the sharp sting of death, which is sin, is washed away.  No one can bring an accusation towards you, not even Satan.   Thus, you will pass through death into life.  You will go into the direct presence of your dear Lord where there will be no pain or fear anymore.

But this is not enough of a victory. Christ Jesus is not satisfied with merely giving you immortality as a spirit.  You will not be some floaty spiritized mist bouncing on the clouds cuddling ultra-soft Charmin paper rolls, but you will be resurrected bodily.  Yes, Christ loves you too much to leave your body behind in the cold grave. So Christ has also redeemed your bodies. Christ died for all of you: mind, body, heart, and soul. Although your bodies will sleep in the grave when you die, it will awaken on the last day. Your spirit and body will be reunited as Christ raises you on the Last Day.

It will not be the same kind of body though. Your body here was subject to pain and illness and sin and death. But the Lord will raise your bodies far better than it was before. The physical difficulties will never touch you again. You will be raised imperishable - nothing will ever go wrong with the new body that Christ will give you. You will be full of strength and health.  No signs of age, physical defeats, or suffering, since all of these are the consequences of sin.  Our bodies will be like Jesus’ body: raised, imperishable, spiritized; the same body, yet better. 

Blessed Saints, Christ Jesus has won this victory for you. He won that victory by His perfect life and His innocent suffering and death. He won that victory by crushing Satan's head. He won that victory by smashing to pieces the power of the grave. The wonders of the life that you have received and will receive are beyond our comprehension. When we remember that Christ purchased all these things for us by dying on the Cross and rising on the third day, how can we put a limit on the value of what He has done? There is no limit to the value of the Cross or the Empty Tomb. There is no limit to the preciousness of the Blood shed on Calvary. So the value of the life given to you is limitless and endless and perfect.

Jesus is alive bodily.  Death is swallowed up. Death is defeated.

Thanks be to God, who has done all this for you and for me through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

---

[1] See 1 Corinthians 15:6

You Are Not Left In Dark Gloomy Pessimism Or Sugarcoated Optimism, But Given Peace

Text: John 20:19-31

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Apostle Thomas is probably best known as the apostle that doubted.  In fact we have given him the unofficial name, “Doubting Thomas.”  He was the apostle that famously said,

“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.”

Thinking about the word ‘doubt’ though, we may not properly understand Thomas’ full disposition and outlook by this one term.  Otherwise stated, was Thomas the disciple who simply felt a lack of certainty?  Was his faith a little bit weaker than the rest of the Apostles?  Was he simply hesitant to believe? 

Truth be told, we must take a closer look at today’s Gospel reading and note that there was a ‘sharpness’ to Thomas’ unbelief.  In other words, it wasn’t like Thomas was wavering in faith and just needed a mere faith pep rally or some motivational speaker to energize his faith so that he could be placed into the non-doubting category.  No, Thomas said, that he would ‘never ever’ believe unless he could see tangible proof.  Indeed, Thomas demanded a visible and tangible proof before he was willing to budge even an inch away from unbelief.  I don’t deny that he doubted, but rather my point is that he stubbornly insisted in this either or proposition.  “No, proof, then I am quite alright not believing!”  He was a staunch skeptic. 

But why the staunch skepticism, you may ask?

“When the disciples told Thomas that they had seen the risen Jesus, it wasn’t [as if] he didn’t want this to be true [for he was a disciple of Jesus].  [But rather,] Thomas wanted to protect himself against the disappointment that it might not be true.  Thus, he said, ‘I will not believe.’  Thomas was [preparing himself] to face it not being true.  He would expect the worst.  Then if it didn’t turn out that way, he would be in the position of being pleasantly surprised.”[1]

We could probably say that Thomas should be labeled more as exemplifying staunch pessimistic unbelief than mild wavering doubt. 

This pessimistic thinking is a sort of mechanism that we all use to guard ourselves from a letdown.  If we expect the worst, then we are not caught off guard when the worst happens.  Conversely, if something good happens, then we are pleasantly surprised. 

We do this all the time.  For example, we plan on bad weather, so that when good weather blesses us, we are enjoyably surprised, but not let down too much if the weather is indeed lousy.

There is another way of thinking like this too.  There are those who are the very opposite of Thomas, who see everything sugarcoated, or as they say, see everything through rose colored glasses.  These optimists expect the best and live their lives with hope and blissful anticipation, but are then devastated when things are not positive; they are shocked when the going gets tough. 

Whether you are an optimist or whether you are a pessimist like Thomas, the fact remains that both optimists and pessimists are reacting to the same misfortunes of life.  Deep down we all resent and we all rebel against our hardships.  We all have this innate feeling that things shouldn’t go wrong.  “We feel that our lives ought to mean something, our lives ought to be happy.  This feeling could not really have been taught to us by experience.  It must come from somewhere else.  Yet we all have it.  Without it, it would be impossible to know or say that something has gone wrong.”[2]

Undeniably, we protect ourselves from tragic letdowns by either trying to preemptively anticipate these letdowns or by trying to guard our hope by rising above the letdowns through positive sugarcoated thinking.  Either way, both these alternatives are two sides of the same basic idea.  They are ways that we attempt to guard ourselves.  Yes, both the way of false optimism and the way of cloudy pessimism are really centered on us; they focus on guarding and protecting, “me, myself, and I” from the chaos produced from the pitfalls of life.

It is this way because we don’t want the sufferings that these disappointments produce and we certainly don’t want to be classified as losers, rejects, and ragamuffins.  But more specifically we don’t want the chaos that these letdowns create; we don’t want these storms of mind, we don’t want unsettledness, and we don’t want to live in fear.  Naturally, this unsettledness and fear—this lack peace—frightens us, for they destroy the illusion that we are in control of our lives and they destroy the illusion that we are the master and commanders of our own destiny. Thus we fight back; we pessimize and optimize, trying to convince ourselves that everything will work itself out, that we are o.k.

Today though, I am thankful for Thomas’ pessimism and I think you should be too.  I am thankful for this story; for we see that the Lord Jesus Christ does not abandon Thomas in the sea of his pessimism.  Furthermore, the Lord does not leave all you optimists in the false hopes that you may have created for yourselves.  That’s right, Christ does not leave you and me in the dark gloomy clouds of pessimism and He does not leave you and me with the rose colored glasses of false optimism.  But rather, in our Gospel reading we hear that Jesus stretched out His nail-scarred hands and pulled Thomas to Himself saying, “Peace be with you.  Do not be faithless, but believing!” 

Dear friends, dear cloudy pessimist, dear sugarcoated optimists, the Lord Jesus Christ takes your “doubts and your fears and your shame and your bitterness [and your pessimism and your optimism] and He makes them His own.  And He takes His faith and His hope and His life and His joy and His glory and He makes them your own.  He doesn’t remove your outward troubles; He gives you something [far] better: … peace.”[3]  Yes, my friends the Lord does not forsake you leaving you in your cloudy pessimism or false optimism, he does not leave you in fearful petrified unbelief, but He connects Himself to you in your baptisms, in the Word, and in the Lord’s Supper, thus giving you salvation, faith, and peace.  In faith you are connected to the Lord where you are guaranteed the expectation of victory.  Yes, you are given the real thing, life and salvation.  “Life and victory are ours because we are connected with and share the life and victory of Christ, and these are as solid and as certain as God in Christ.”[4]

But what of my dysfunctional family, my disease, my addiction, my pain, my discomfort, and so forth?  Please tell me Pastor that it is the worst it will get or tell me something positive and encouraging about my situation. 

Dear friends, the Lord may just leave you in these situations, but He has not left you in a place where the successes of your life, or your identity, or your worth, or your value are centered on these wobbling circumstances of life.  Otherwise stated, you are baptized into Christ Jesus, you have the peace that passes all understanding in Christ—“the kind of peace that knows that no matter how unfaithful you have been, God will never be unfaithful to you; the kind of peace that knows no matter how great your sin, Christ’s love is always greater; the kind of peace that knows that no matter how bad this world may be at times, any suffering here is not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us.”[5] 

Come hell or high water, you have the Christ.  Your life is not based on what you can see and touch, the circumstances of life—the good, the bad, and the ugly.  A life that is based on what you can see and touch is fearfully breakable.  Thus, you shall not be pointed to that which shifts, changes, and breaks.  As a blood bought, baptized Christian, you are not established upon sinking sand.  But rather your life is “connected with God in Christ [and it] cannot be shattered—not even sin, pain, and death [can shatter it]—for such a life goes through these [circumstances] ‘with’ Christ, and with Him there is a victorious way through.”[6]

A life living to protect itself through the tactics of cloudy pessimism and false optimism will sooner or later make you fall to pieces, leaving you with fear.  It doesn’t work.  It isn’t real.  However, a life that calls a thing what it is while living connected with Christ, is an indestructible life. “With everything—work, play, sleep, food, family, tears, laughter, [pain, trials, joys]—with everything connected with Christ, not seen yet believed, you live solidly, happily, with that indestructible peace that the risen Lord gave His disciples, a peace that held through pain and persecution, [a peace that] gave courage to live and die for Christ, [a peace that] put a song in their hearts and on their lips even when in prison. Easter declares that it works. That is the way of life. That is the way bound up with the living and risen Lord Jesus Christ. That is the life of faith.” [7]

This is your life.  Peace from the Gospel; objectively washed, worded, breaded and wined by Christ in the midst of your circumstance of life.  This is your life, peace of heart, mind, and soul even when surrounded by ten thousand enemies. 

Fear not blessed saints, the Lord is with you.  Fear not blessed saints, peace be with you; peace is with you in Christ.

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

---

[1] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 123.

[2] Ibid, 122.

[3] Chad L. Bird, Christ Alone: Meditations and Sermons (Copyright 2014 Chad L. Bird), 189.

[4] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis, 124.

[5] Chad L. Bird, Christ Alone: Meditations and Sermons, 189-190.

[6] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis, 124-125.

[7] Ibid.

Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold This Body Down

Text:  Mark 16:1-8

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Standing over a grave is like standing over a black hole.  It is dark.  The deep soil brings coolness to the air which chills your feet.  The depth of the grave brings a biting to your bones as the grave seems to draw all hope, joy, and optimism from you into itself. 

The dark cruel grave seems to chuckle in victory as the body of a loved one is lowered into its jaws.

There the body will stay, held in the grasp of the grave’s claws.

O grave, it appears that you have victory!  O grave it appears that you have had the final word with many of our loved one. 

O grave, it also appears that you had victory on Good Friday, for you devoured up Jesus.  “You took His lifeless body into your jaws.  You captured God in the flesh.  You brought the Creator so low that you stopped His breath, broke His heart, cut Him off from the light and the land of the living.  You exacted a terrible price, the price of all the sins of all men, of the Law’s full stricture, upon the sinless and perfect Son of God, [Jesus Christ].”[1]

Is this your victory though?  Is this all you could do to the Christ?  If this is your power and if this is your victory, why is the tomb empty?  Why is the Christ not found among the dead?  Why did Jesus rise to life? 

Hear us laugh at you o grave, for the angel of the Lord rolled away the stone to show us and the entire world that you are not as powerful as you might think.  The stone was rolled away to show us that your threats of death are really a facade, for Christ escaped your jaws.  Did you hear that grave, you could not keep the Christ contained. 

On Friday night it seemed that you were the one that was alive as you consumed the lifeless Son of God into your deep cavern.  Today though we hear that the Christ has risen, which leads us to conclude that you are the one that is lifeless and dead, for Christ is alive and well, seated at the right hand of the Father. 

“Where is your victory, O grave?  Show [us].  Where is your sting?  What has happened to your power?  Have you so soon forgotten how you made us cower?  Don’t you claim to be the [common denominator of all of mankind] . . . Aren’t you the ruler of the battlefield and cancer ward, the constant threat against young mothers [with child]? . . . [Don’t you lean inward on us] every time we fall asleep, [quietly whispering to us] that you are the master and will take us when you [well please]? . . . Don’t you claim that you make our bodies fail, grow weak and old and contract diseases, that you make this living death a pure misery of pain, dying, and loneliness, while you strive at all times to take away our dignity?”[2]

O grave, you may claim all of this, but we shake our heads at you in disgust.  We chuckle with the laugh of victory at your overinflated self-assessments.  We taunt you not once, but we taunt you a second time, for Christ our Lord and God has risen out of your so-called power.  Do you not see o grave, He is not in your lair of death.  He is not with you, but He is with us, His church—ALIVE. 

“And what of our deaths and caskets,” you may ask? 

O grave, do you not know that by Jesus’ three-day rest in the tomb that He made the burial places holy of all who believe in Him?  O grave, do you not know that those who are baptized into Jesus were baptized with Him in death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life? O grave, you’ve got nothing on us, because we have been united to Jesus with Him in death and we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. 

O grave you will not get us.  You will not keep us in your clinching jaws.  It is true that at the end of our lives we are put six-feet under, but there in your midst, o grave, we will sleep with peace, for our places of burial are made holy by Jesus.  We will sleep in your midst in peace until we are awakened to glory.  Behold, o grave, we tell you a mystery, we shall all sleep when we are put six-feet under, but we shall all be changed.  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet we will burst forth from your midst with resurrected bodies, and we will see our Lord face to face. 

“And what of our sin,” you may ask?

It is true that our sin puts us in a casket.  Our sin unites us with you o grave; however, have you been so quick to forget about Good Friday?  The Gospel puts us in Jesus’ grave and raises us anew daily, for Christ bled and died for us, accomplishing forgiveness, life, and salvation.

O grave, I ask again, where is your victory?  Where is your bite?  Where are the fangs of your jaw?  You have no answer o grave, for they are all gone, they are worthless, and they are nothing, for Jesus died and Jesus lives.  In fact, since Jesus lives and you are nothing, this conversation need not continue.

Baptized Saints, this Easter Morning, just in case the grave still attempts to speak its lies to you, hear now: 

Jesus Christ was crucified and was raised from the grave for you.  This is your present reality. Do not be afraid of the grave today. 

Jesus Christ was crucified and was raised from the grave for you.  This means that your sins have been truly paid for, that God’s wrath was appeased, that death is powerless, and that the devil is a defeated foe. 

Jesus Christ was crucified and was raised from the grave for you.  This means that you have a living Savior and a victorious Savior; a living advocate.

Jesus Christ was crucified and was raised from the grave for you.  This means that your Christ trampled over death by death. No scheme of man and no power of evil could hold Him down.

Baptized Saints, “there is nothing in [the entire] world that you can be more sure of, than Jesus crucified for you, risen for you.  [As they say,] “Ain’t no grave gonna hold this body down.”[3]

Baptized Saints, “Jesus lives, and by His words and Spirit He puts His death and His life into you.  You are baptized.  ‘Your life is hid with Christ in God.’”[4] 

You are buried deeply in the wounds of Jesus; the Gospel has put you into Jesus’ grave, a grave that could not hold the Messiah down, but a grave that leads to the resurrection. 

The Lord is risen!

The grave is empty!

Because He lives, you live as well![5]

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

---

 [1] David H. Peterson, Thy Kingdom Come: Lent and Easter Sermons (Fort Wayne, IN: Emmanuel Press, 2012), 152.

 [2] Ibid.

 [3] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 120.

 [4] Ibid.

 [5] The idea to personify ‘the grave’ comes from David Peterson’s Easter Sermon in his book, “Thy Kingdom Come.”

It's 'Good' Friday, Not 'Bad' Friday

Text:  John 19:17-30

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

We are here tonight to arrange a funeral.  The altar, pulpit, lectern, and so forth are stripped and decorated in black.  The lights have been dimed.  Your pastor is dressed in black.  It is a most sobering time. 

That is the way that it is with funerals.  They tend to be sobering.  They carry with them the feelings of heaviness, grief, sorrow, and sadness.  They are not good, but are bad. 

Even though there are those times when a dying person is spared from further suffering through an early death, the death of a beloved one is still never a good thing, but bad. 

The reason why this is so?

Death is our enemy.  Death is your enemy.  The Lord does not delight in death, and we do not as well.

Thus, when we come to funerals, we come with reluctance.  We even shy away from funerals that attempt to put the ‘fun’ in funeral through celebrating a person’s life.  Otherwise stated, we shy away from these so-called uplifting funerals, these “Celebrations of Life,” for no matter how hard these Celebration of Life Services attempt to downplay death, everybody still recognizes and feels the gloom of death that shines through forced smiles and the forced laughs. 

Undeniably, no matter which way you approach a funeral and no matter how much one tries to strip the funeral of the sting of death, funerals always have a dead body.  Funerals always have a dead corpse, a lifeless body that speaks to the living about mankind’s brokenness, sin, and demise. 

Funerals are bad, for death is our enemy.

This is the reason why most people would rather attend a wedding than a funeral.  Furthermore, people would rather suffer through hours of excruciating painful noise with fifteen birthday children at a Chuck E. Cheese Family Fun Restaurant than go to a funeral.  Give us weddings and birthdays, but not funerals

With all of this said, tonight we gather together to arrange not a wedding or a birthday party, but a funeral.  Not a funeral for a family member or community member; not a funeral for some community hero.  No, we gather together to arrange a funeral for the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Unlike every other funeral that you have ever been to, we are actually here to celebrate the death of Jesus.  The reason why we are here to celebrate?  We are here to celebrate because today is ‘Good’ Friday.  That’s right, today is good.  It is a good day and a good night.  Not bad. 

This seems strange, does it not, that we call the death of the Son of God, good?  There seems to be so many more things in Christianity that we could hoist up as the center of our faith, other than this bloody death.  Maybe one the many healings or a profound teaching could be the pinnacle of good?  Counterintuitively though, today is good, today is the climax and pinnacle of the Christian faith.  Today and tonight we proclaim Christ-crucified as good and true and salutary—as the center of our faith.  But why is this Friday so good?  Did we not just establish that death is an enemy?

By faith we call this day good, when it seems like there is nothing positive and good about it.  Good Friday is the exception to the rule though.  Yes, even though it seems like a bad day—a day when the devil strikes the heal of Jesus, a day where the devil seems to have the upper hand, a day when the power and darkness of evil seem to triumph—it actually is ‘very’ good. 

Very much, even though it seems like a day when faith should die, not arise, today is that historic event that our whole being hinges upon and is sustained.  Today is the day we can hang our body and our faith upon. 

Painting by Stephen Dawson

My friends, today is good because on this day many years ago the “Most Holy [Lord] died the death of the sinner in order that the sinner might live.”[1]  Today is good, for on this day the Almighty Lord was conquered by the power of darkness, so that blind sinners might be delivered from darkness unto radiant eternal life.  Today is good, for on this day the source of life dried up in order to give life to the dead dry hearts of all sinners.  Today is good, for on this day God in the flesh died on the cross, reconciling the sinful world to Himself. 

Today is Good Friday, not Bad Friday.  Today we celebrate the death of the Son of God—for us.  Today, we cry out, “Worthy are You Lord Jesus for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation!”  Today and for all eternity we will praise the Christ for His sacrificial death on our behalf.

Today we do not cover our eyes and bow our heads to that, which is bad, but rather we stand boldly with our eyes and ears open to behold that, which is good. 

Dear Baptized Saints, “Behold this Good Friday the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, and yours, the very God of Very God who dies to give you life, to rise and build you up the third day as His house of living stones.”[2] 

“Behold the death that poured forth blood and water [—for you], the death into which you are baptized, that you might with Him come forth and arise, walking now and ever in newness of life.”[3] 

“Behold, the righteousness of God, the only [gift of] righteousness that counts for anything before His judgment seat.”[4]

“[Behold,] this pure righteousness this world will ever see [that] is poured out for you as a gift on this Good Friday, to be your life, your trust, your hope, your joy, your peace that passes all understanding.”[5] 

Baptized Saints, Good Friday’s cross is “your sanctuary in the agony of sin, your hope’s anchor in affliction, your victory banner in the battle with sin, world, and Satan, your heavenly ladder in the hour of your death.”[6]

Baptized Saints, behold this Good Friday the death of the Son of God and say,

“What is death?  What is hell?  Christ, the Son of God, placed himself under God’s laws and died.  But Christ’s death defeated death and gave us life.”[7] 

Behold the death of Christ and say,

“The Law cannot condemn me!  Death will not keep me in the ground!  I will not be left alone with my sins in this life or when the dark shadow of death encroaches on me.” 

Behold the death of Christ and say,

“It is finished.  It all done.  It has all been completed for me on that Good Friday long ago.”

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

---

[1] C.F.W. Walther, Gospel Sermons: Volume 1 tr. Donald E. Heck (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2013), 219.

[2] John Sias, Sermon for Good Friday from Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, Colstrip, MT (29 March 2013).

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] C.F.W. Walther, Gospel Sermons: Volume 1 tr. Donald E. Heck, 225.

[7] Martin Luther, Source Unknown.

His Body Into Your Mouth; His Blood Into The Dust Of Your Flesh

Painting by Stephen Dawson

Text: 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Son of God came to be with us in the incarnation, being born of the Virgin Mary in the town of Bethlehem.

The Son of God left us when He bowed His head on the cross and said,
“It is finished.”

The Son of God came to be with us, for death and the grave could not hold Him down. He was resurrected.

The Son of God left us forty days after the resurrection when He ascended to heaven to be seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. 

He came, He left, He came, and He left. 

We are now forced to ask,
“Are we now alone?” 

No, we are not.

“When Christ had arisen from the dead and was just on the point of going into heaven, as He parted from His own He comforted them once more with the assurance, ‘Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”[1]

This is comforting for us to hear.  He will be with us to the end of the age.  That is certain.

Indeed, Christ is not some religious founder who only gives a bunch of theories, ideas, and inspirational bumper sticker slogans, dies, and then leaves nothing more than a bunch of philosophies.  Furthermore, Jesus is not like a jolly good ol’ fellow that only exists in our midst when we remember him.  He is not dependent upon the strength of the fond memories passed down from generation to generation.  He also is not some iconic figure that exists in our midst through statues and monuments erected to exert his ongoing presence in our midst.[2] 

Jesus Christ and His church are really different from the rest of the creation and the rest of the great leaders and teachers of the world.  Yes, “the Christian Church differs from all other religious organizations in that she has not only the teachings of her founder, but she [also] has the founder Himself in her midst.  Her Savior, her Redeemer, her helper, her protector is not absent from her but is really and truly present at all times and in all places.  This is the highest, sweetest, most blessed, and greatest comfort that the Christian Church has.”[3]

The Evil One and the World attack this reality though.  The World is convinced that we are on our own, left to fend for ourselves, and the Evil One will do everything possible to strip you of the Lord’s ever present comfort.  Satan will attempt to convince you that you do not have Jesus, that Christ is no longer with His church, and that all we have is a faint mere memory of Jesus. 

Thankfully, Jesus and this Gospel are more than a philosophy or an ideology, for if Jesus and His Gospel were only a religious idea, you and I would only have Christ’s Gospel as long as we could keep it in our mind, so that it could give us comfort. 

Very much, Christ is not some floaty and intangible Lord off in the distance or some dusty memory, but He is the ever present Lord for you, His Church. 

But if He is ever present, where shall you look to find Him? 

Should you look in the deep caverns of your hearts? 

No, we do not look to our hearts, for all that we will find in our hearts are layers upon layers of sin.

Should you look upward to the heavens and construct a spiritual ladder to find Jesus and put Him in your midst?

No, we cannot climb high enough.

Should you construct a time machine and transport yourself to 32 AD to have Jesus in your midst?

No, our Lord is not back there today.  He is no longer on the cross.  He is no longer in the grave.  Yes, at the cross forgiveness was won for you, but there it was not given out. 

So where should one look to find Jesus, for He is truly in our midst?  Where can one find the comfort of forgiveness and His abiding presence?  Dear friends, look no further, He is here with you tonight.

Where?

He is here in your midst.  Our Lord is here having His word spoken to you.  The Lord is here with you in the bread and the wine, His holy meal that He instituted that Maundy Thursday two-thousand years ago for you. 

Painting by Stephen Dawson

Forgiveness, the Lord’s abiding presence, and comfort are all here in your midst.  No need to look inward, backwards, forwards, or upward!  Here before you, the Lord delivers Himself in the bread and the wine, for He is truly present in this Holy Meal.  “In the Lord’s Supper Christ gives [you] the consecrated bread with the words, ‘Take and eat, this is My body which is given for you,’ and the consecrated cup with the words, ‘Take and drink, this is My blood which is shed for the forgiveness of your sins.’  With these words the Savior clearly wishes to say: ‘Take My body and eat it, not as food for your body but as that body which was given into death for your sins; take My blood and drink it, but not as drink for your body but as that blood of the reconciliation which was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins.’”[4]

In the Lord’s Supper, “Christ takes ordinary bread and wine, ordinary earthly things, and uses them to give Himself to us. Completely to us. Nothing of Himself held back from us. ‘Here I am,” He says, “given FOR YOU.’”[5]

Blessed Saints, tonight we remember that we are not only washed clean, body and soul, through Holy Baptism in His name, but the Lord also is present in our midst giving us “His body into [our mouths] and His blood into the dust of your flesh.  And thereby you are transformed, changed from a lowly son of the dust to an adopted son of God most high.  Every natural food we take into our bodies is transformed into our bodies.  Only the supper of our Lord [though] is different, for this food transforms you into that which it is.  You, the Church, are the body of Christ and the blood of Christ.  When you [eat and drink, Christ goes into your bellies and] you assume [Jesus’] rightful place on the Father’s heavenly throne.”[6]

“Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you.  Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”[7]

Tonight, these words are for you and they testify that Jesus is not a mere memory or an abstract idea, but is with you and for you.  He is with you always, to the end of the age.  He invites you to His Table, so that what was finished at Calvary and given over might be received with certainty by you.  Take, eat; Drink of it, all of you, this is how much He loves you. 

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

---

[1] C.F.W. Walther, Gospel Sermons: Volume 1 (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2013), 215.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid, 217.

[5] Donavon Riley, “Midweek Lent VI, Lord’s Supper Meditation 5” https://thefirstpremise.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/midweek-lent-vi-lords-supper-meditation-5/ (1 April 2015).

[6] Chad L. Bird, Christ Alone: Meditations and Sermons (Copyright 2014), 175.

[7] The Lutheran Service Book (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2006), 197.