Month: March 2024

He Is Risen, Indeed!

The story is told about an incident in the early days of the Soviet Union. A commissar and his cohorts arrived in a small town and gathered up the locals into the town square. There he began to harangue the crowd about the blessings of the new soviet state. After two hours his speech took aim at the local priest and his church, claiming that religion was obsolete. After another hour directed against Christianity, the commissar concluded his speech with a smug smile, knowing his arguments were unassailable. He challenged the priest, saying, “And what do you have to say?” Then the priest stepped forward and cried,”Christ is risen!” to which the people replied in one voice:”He is risen, indeed!” It is amazing that even in the days of the atheistic Soviet Union, the Russian word for Sunday was Воскресенье (pronounced voskreseniye), meaning “Resurrection Day.” And we in the West named our day after the sun!

“Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”

That chorus will be heard proclaimed in churches around the world this Easter Sunday, just as it has been down through the centuries for almost 2000 years. Jesus Christ’s resurrection is the most life-changing, world-overturning, and hope-creating event in all of history. Without it there would be no Easter, of course. Without it, neither would there be a Christian Church. Without it, (shudder!) there would be no pastors emeriti! Without it, there would be no resurrection for you and me, nor hope of eternal life to come. But, Christ is risen (He is risen indeed!) and therefore we do have the sure and certain hope of our own resurrection to come, based on the historical fact of Christ’s resurrection and the biblically-revealed significance of what happened that first Easter.

Many people doubt that the resurrection happened, or is even possible, because they have never witnessed one in their life. But, the Bible recounts 10 resurrections, instances when people died and were brought back to life. Briefly, these are:

  1. The son of a widow in Zarephath. Raised by Elijah in 1 Kings 17:17-24.
  2. The son of a Shunammite woman. Raised by Elisha in 2 Kings 4:18-37.
  3. A man whose body was tossed into Elisha’s tomb and came to life after touching Elisha’s bones. (2 Kings 13:20-21).
  4. The son of a widow from Nain. Jesus raised him in Luke 7:11-17.
  5. Jairus’s daughter. Jesus raised her in Luke 8:40-56.
  6. Lazarus. Jesus raised him after four days in John 11:1-44.
  7. Dead saints at Jesus’ crucifixion, recounted in Matthew 27:50-53.
  8. A girl named Tabitha (also called Dorcas) raised by Peter in Acts 9:36-42.
  9. A man named Eutychus raised by Paul in Acts 20:7-12. (The man had fallen asleep during one of Paul’s sermons, and fell out a window to his death!
  10. I may have preached a long sermon or two, but at least my listeners didn’t die from them!)

10. Finally, we come to the most important resurrection of all: Jesus Christ. You could call all the other events “revivifications.”

  • Only Christ’s resurrection was permanent. The people who were raised were only temporarily alive. Eventually they would die again, and would have to await the final resurrection to come. But Christ being raised will never die again. He is bodily alive right now, seated at his Father’s right hand.
  • Only Christ’s resurrection was prophesied. As we say in the Nicene Creed, “On the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures.” Christ told his disciples, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day” (Matthew 20:19, also 16:21, 17:23).
  • Only Christ’s resurrection saves us. First, his crucifixion provides for our forgiveness by canceling our debt of sin. Colossians 2:13-14 says, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” Then, with our sins forgiven, we are made alive in Christ. Because Christ was raised, we too who believe in him will be raised to eternal life. His resurrection is not only a wonderful historical event; it is the seal of God’s approval that Christ did indeed cancel our sins and win life for us. Because he was raised, we too will be raised. Romans 6:4-6 tells us, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into 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. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

The question is not whether Christ rose from the dead; his resurrection is one of the most attested events from ancient times, affirmed by multiple witnesses and physical evidence. Rather, the question is: how do we live, knowing that Christ, indeed, was resurrected?

First, we live in the strength  of faith.  Our faith is not anchored on a mere philosophy or fable, but in historical fact. As the Apostle Peter testified, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16). Our faith gives us strength because it is more than just intellectual knowledge – it has the power to save. Romans 10 :9 promises, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Second, we live in the confidence of hope. Because Christ rose, we know that our life does not end at death, but instead will continue for all eternity. Therefore, no matter what affects us in this life, no matter how this life ends, we know with confidence that, like Christ, we too will be raised. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die ” (John 11:25-26). And according to the Apostle Paul, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:17-21).

Third, we live in the power of love. We love, because he first loved us. The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:10-11, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” As Martin Luther once wrote, God does not need our works of love, but our neighbor does. Because Christ rose, we know that all his commandments and all his promises are true. This knowledge empowers us to act sacrificially for the benefit of others, caring, serving, and proclaiming to them the good news of forgiveness and resurrection to eternal life. Rather than timidly hiding our faith, we should be bold in telling others the good news, the greatest news, that anyone can hear: that Christ is risen, and will raise us as well!

There is a Gospel song written by Bill and Gloria Gaither that sums up the faith, hope, and love we can have in knowing that Christ rose from the dead that first Easter. It’s titled, “Because He lives, I Can Face Tomorrow.”*

God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone,
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: John 11; 1 Corinthians 15

*Written by: Gloria Gaither, William J. Gaither. Lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing.

 

Spoiler Alert!

If you have ever read or watched a movie review, you have come across the disclaimer, “Spoiler alert!” It is meant to warn the reader/viewer that the reviewer is about to reveal a plot twist or surprise ending that will “spoil” the experience for someone who has not yet seen the movie.

This happened to me years ago when a group of high school buddies and I went to see a movie that one of our group had already seen and raved about. We were all enjoying the movie until it came to a dramatic scene. Just as we became engrossed in the suspense, our (former) friend blurted out, “Oh, I hate this scene! The bad guy wins!” We almost did to him what the bad guy did on the screen.

Well, today, I am going to follow in his footsteps. I am going to spoil the ending to what appears to be a tragic story. For today is Good Friday, the commemoration of a horrible event. On this day, the holy and sinless Son of the living God was arrested, tried, flogged, and crucified. Before the sun set, his lifeless body was sealed in a tomb and guarded by  soldiers to make sure no one stole his corpse.

His followers scattered, fearing they would be next. One of his twelve closest disciples had betrayed him, another denied him three times. The betrayer hanged himself, and the rest hid out of fear. Their hopes and dreams seemed to be over; the man they had followed as the long-promised Messiah was dead. Like other pretenders before him, Jesus and his kingdom were dead and buried.

“Good riddance!” said the religious leaders, who could brook no rival to their religious monopoly. “Good riddance!” said the Roman occupiers, who could brook no rival to Caesar. “Good riddance!” said the spiritual powers in dark places, who thought their enemy was defeated, leaving them free to tempt, torment, and destroy the creatures which God made in his image. Jesus was dead and gone, a joy for evil, but a devastation for those who hoped in the Lord.

So, that was that. End of story, right? Well, SPOILER ALERT! It’s not over! There’s more to the story. That well-guarded tomb, filled with the dead body of Jesus of Nazareth, would soon be empty, and the Occupant would be seen alive! He would appear to his  followers, men and women, eat with them, and invite them to  touch his healed wounds. He would teach them from the Scriptures about himself, and would ascend bodily into heaven. And because of that, his timid followers would boldly take the good news into the world, even at the cost of almost all of them being martyred for their faith and proclamation.

Yes, this has been a spoiler alert – but not as you might think. The real spoiling has been to those who thought they could destroy the Son of God and his mission to save us from our sins. For by killing him, they enabled his redemptive work to be done, and brought about their own defeat. Death could not hold him. Instead, Hebrews 2:14 tells us, “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.”

As Tony Campolo, a Christian writer and speaker put it: “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s comin’.”* That’s one spoiler I don’t mind hearing!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Mark 15.

*Campolo, Tony. It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Comin’. Contemporary Classics. 2002.

P.S. Watch for a new blog on Sunday!

What Would Saint Patrick Do?

A number of years ago (just like this year), St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Sunday. As I was scheduled to preach that Sunday, I told my Senior Pastor, Pastor Deuel, that I planned to preach about Saint Patrick. He asked why, saying “We’re not Roman Catholic.” To which I replied, “Neither was Patrick!” So, even though he shook his head, I did in fact preach a first-person sermon, a monologue, that Sunday about the patron saint of Ireland.

Of course, the sermon was actually about the Gospel; Saint Patrick was only the vehicle for presenting the Gospel, which his own words and writings show he would have completely endorsed. To know why Patrick’s life was all about the Gospel, it would be helpful to remember some of the details about his life and why he came to be called a saint.

First, we recognize that Patrick was neither Roman Catholic nor even Irish. Patrick was born a Romanized Briton named Patricius in the 5th Century AD. At age 16 he was captured by Irish raiders who took him to Ireland to work as a slave in a pig farm. While slaving for six years, he became more devout in his Christian faith. Then one night he dreamed that a ship was ready to take him home,  so he escaped and found the boat and sailed back to England. He then studied and was ordained as a missionary. Again he had a dream, in which a man handed him a letter called, “The Voice of the Irish.” Patrick later wrote that he seemed to hear a certain company of Irish beseeching him to walk once more among them. “Deeply moved,” he says, “I could read no more.” Therefore, he returned to the land and people of his slavery and brought them the freedom of Jesus Christ. He became their bishop and spent the rest of his life preaching, teaching, and baptizing them, though often opposed and threatened by kings and their pagan priests.

As I said, we celebrate not the person named Patrick, but rather the Gospel which he took to the Irish people. So how does knowing Patrick’s life help us to know and spread the gospel, too? We could ask, “What would Patrick do?” Consider the following:

  1. Though enslaved and treated harshly, he did not surrender to despair, but used his experiences among the Irish to serve the Lord. Indeed, it was his enslavement which created in him the heart to evangelize his former oppressors.There are two passages in the Bible which encourage us not to be defeated by adversities, but to see in those conditions the benevolent hand of God.
    • Near the end of Genesis, we read of Joseph’s rise from slave to second in command of Egypt after prophesying to Pharaoh of a coming famine. In his elevated position, Joseph was able to stockpile enough food for many people to survive the famine. Later, Joseph confronted his brothers who had sold him into slavery. Though they feared retribution for their actions, he told them, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).
    • In Romans 8:28, Paul teaches the same principle, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Rather than cursing the misfortunes that befall us, we should pray to discern how God may use the situation to bless us or others.
  2. He held no hatred toward his captors, but rather forgave and sought to bless them with the Gospel. Jesus told us not to hate our enemies, but to forgive and love them. In Matthew 5:43-44, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. . .” Patrick had every right to hate the Irish and avoid going back to save them, but he gave up that right out of love and obedience to Christ. Likewise, we will meet people we just cannot stand, who have wronged us by word or action. Yet Christ calls on us to forgive them and seek to do them good, rather than evil. Do as Jesus commanded: “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.” (Luke 6:27-29).
  3. Patrick persevered, though he doubted his ability. In his writings, Patrick confessed that even as he returned to Ireland after escaping, he had serious doubts about his abilities to preach and evangelize the Irish people. He felt inadequate to the task at hand, but he went ahead, and as a result he planted churches and converted many to the glory of God. This is a great example to all of us, most of whom also feel inadequate to the task of proclaiming the Gospel to those around us. Those who haven’t gone to seminary may be afraid they don’t know enough; those of us who went may feel overwhelmed by the immensity of the task. Soon after I began my internship, I was called to the home of a man who had died. When I arrived, his widow called the grandkids into the room and told them that Pastor Eddy would tell them about what happened to their grandpa. At first I panicked inside, feeling inadequate to the task, until I heard a voice inside saying, “What do you think I have called you to do?” With that rebuke in mind, I sat down with the children and we talked about life and death and heaven (and whether there are Taco Bells there!).
  4. Snakes. Okay, so it is only a legend that Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland. Scientific articles are happy to point to Ireland’s climate and isolation from the European mainland as the REAL reasons the island is free of snakes (except as pets and zoo exhibits). But there is another meaning to that legend, and that is the connection of snakes to Satan, the original snake in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3 and Revelation 12:9 – “that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan.”). The island was under the control of Satan and those who worshiped him through pagan gods. By bringing the Gospel, Patrick overcame the angry opposition of the pagans, who threatened to kill him, with the freeing truth of the Gospel. In that sense, he “drove the snakes” from Ireland by replacing them with Christ. We must expect opposition from spiritual powers when we do God’s work, but we must not fear that opposition, knowing that “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
  5. Shamrocks. Okay, probably another legend, but it is said that Patrick taught about the Trinity using the three leaves of a shamrock combining on one stem. Whether true or not, we know two things: First, Patrick did believe in the Trinity, beginning a poem with the words. “I bind unto myself today, the strong name of the Trinity: three in one and one in three.”* And second, Patrick did not invent the Shamrock Shake, available at McDonald’s since 1970. (Besides, McDonald is more likely Scottish than Irish.)

So there you have it. Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day, but as you eat your corned beef and cabbage, washed down with a Shamrock Shake, remember the reason for the season. Consider what Saint Patrick would do, and use his example in your life as a Christian.

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.**

Read: Genesis 50:15-21.

*From the hymn known as “St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” which is #188 in our Lutheran hymnal (LBW).

** In Irish: An Tiarna beannaigh tú agus tú a choinneáil, An Tiarna a dhéanamh ar a aghaidh a Shine ar tú, agus a bheith gracious a thabhairt duit. Tógfaidh an Tiarna suas a ghnúis ort, agus síocháin a thabhairt duit. Amen. (I can’t begin to pronounce this, so I will stick with English.)