Apr 19, 2020  SERMON ARCHIVE

Let us pray. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer, AMEN

The text for our meditation on this 2nd Sunday After Easter is the Gospel Lesson for today, John 20:19-31. There we read these words:

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld." Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe." Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

We begin in the name of Jesus, AMEN

You don't know how little you've got until you realize that all you have is you. Let me say that again. You don't know how little you've got until you realize that all you have is you.

Consider the disciples on the third day after the crucifixion, locked in a room for fear of the Jews. After following Jesus for the past three years, what do they have left? They left everything to follow the Lord; and as long as He was there, it was obviously the right move.

As long as Jesus was around, the disciples witnessed sound teaching, miracles, healings and deliverance, storms stilled, thousands wondrously fed, lepers cured…even the dead raised. In fact, as long as Jesus was around, they even worked a few wonders themselves: it was obviously on His authority, though. It was all Him.

And now, all of Him has died and been laid in the tomb. Sure, the women say He's risen from the dead, but the disciples appear to dismiss this as foolish talk, nothing more. Jesus is gone, and the disciples are dismayed to find out that all they have left is…themselves.

After all, without Jesus, what are these eleven men? They're uneducated men. They're guys who gave up their livelihood a while back to follow a teacher. They're guys who can't work miracles, and there are plenty of those around.

And they're guys who are probably going to be killed quite soon by the authorities who want to make a clean sweep of things. Even if they aren't executed themselves soon, they're still going to die like everybody else.

The hope they had was all Jesus. Without Him, they really have nothing at all. The purpose they had was found in Jesus, too. If the disciples survived the next few days, what were they going to do?

Simon the Zealot could go back to the politics of zealotry, scheming with others as to how to get Rome out of Judea by any means possible; but if Jesus lost to the Romans, what's a ragtag band of malcontents going to get done?

Matthew could go back to tax collecting. There was good money there, but so what? He had seen plenty of examples like the rich young ruler and Judas, men whose obsession with money led them to despair. Good money doesn't give hope and purpose, because hearses don't have luggage racks.

Peter, James and John could go back to fishing. Nothing wrong with that: it's a way of providing. It's a living. But it's not life. With Jesus dead and gone, life has a futility that's overwhelming.

When people lose a loved one, they often feel the sense that life is not worth living; and trust me, friends, I am not belittling that grief as anything less than devastating.

But the disciples have been exposed to a grief that is far worse: not only have they lost one, but they believe they've also lost the hope of everlasting life. Jesus declared that no one came to the Father but by Him: He was the Door, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

If He was gone, there was absolutely nothing left to trust in. And yet, this terrible and debilitating realization was in fact a peculiar blessing for the disciples, for they now more fully understand what life was without the Savior. You don't know how little you've got until you realize that all you have is you.

But no matter their perceptions and errant conclusions, they were not left to them selves. Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst, in a locked room, and declared, "Peace be with you." He showed them His hands and His side, demonstrating that He was indeed dead but now was alive again.

What joy the disciples must have had: they were not stuck with just themselves. The Resurrection and the Life is risen from the dead, and so they had hope once again-for if the grave could not keep Jesus from breaking out, how could it ever keep Him from raising His people? The certain hope of eternal life is restored. They would live forever!

Furthermore, purpose was restored. Their lives would not be exercises in futility, because the Lord would use them as His instruments. He breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit. He would then send them to proclaim His Word, that they might forgive and retain sins on His authority. So the Word of life will spread, that more might be delivered from hopelessness.

Jesus Christ was crucified. But Christ is risen.. And because He lives, the disciples would live also.

You know, you live in a society today that largely lacks purpose and hope, especially in light of what we face today. Look at the live-for-the-moment attitude of college students and young adults. The Spring break mentality of booze and promiscuity, excessive tattoos and piercings are thought to display a bold, "I'm going to live the way I want to" sort of attitude.

In the end, though, these actions are so short-sighted that they really proclaim, "I have no idea who I am or why I am really here. I have no grasp of the big picture, of purpose, of eternity."

Look at the aimless materialism of our day. A decade ago, it was a popular bumper sticker that read, "He who dies with the most toys, wins." The stickers are gone, but the quest for material things is not gone. And as long as the debt is there, those things don't really belong to them.

But this is nothing compared to the debt of sin that man has apart from Christ, for life doesn't really belong to him, either.

Look at the escapism of our day, where reality shows are popular. I wonder why an ongoing series of people trapped on a primitive island is considered "reality," but that's another matter. Don't misunderstand: you can watch the stuff for enjoyment, with discretion; but such programming has a following in part because so many desire to escape who they are and identify with those who are surviving, racing, becoming the latest and greatest idol.

But on the Last Day, all of this will crumble to dust and be nothing.

Look at the trouble of being a workaholic. Work can be an honorable vocation, but it can also be a means to escape other vocations and worries.

Even those who seek to give purpose to the lives of others often seek to do so for the wrong reasons. I give thanks to God for the many people in this world who are diligently seeking to help those who are sick, those who facing this pandemic, those who are disadvantaged around them, for this is part of loving one's neighbor

But I wonder how often this help is provided because there is no hope, because "this world is all there is" so we have to make the best of it. It's done with no hope for eternal life. Now, all of these trends make perfect sense…if there is no hope that Christ is risen from the dead. For if Christ is not risen, you have no ultimate hope. You have no ultimate purpose.

Forget society "out there." Let's talk you and me. In a society that lacks so much purpose, the devil will use trouble to reduce you to futility as well. He can use money, relationship, health and career or the loss of such to lure you away from your Savior;. When finances crash or relationships fail, when health problems become chronic or the career dead-ends, then comes the temptation of futility. Those events will argue that life is aimless, or that you have no hope, or that you have no purpose.

This is not quite correct, but there is a nearby hidden blessing in this: it teaches you that apart from Christ, life is ultimately an exercise in futility because eventually, everything fails, falls apart, breaks down, dies.

This is why St. Peter writes in today's epistle: "now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ… (I Pet. 1:6-7). Peter declares this important truth:. although all else fall apart around you, Christ died to redeem you from sin, and Christ is risen; and He is a very present help in time of trouble.

To the aimless disciples that Easter evening, He came into their midst, body and all, and said, "Peace to you." He gave them the forgiveness, hope and life that He had won for them on the cross. He has given you the same thing. Soon, soon, we can gather again and receive those gifts from His hand in the supper He prepared for us.

In the meantime, you have hope. Life is not a futile exercise as you wait for death and eternal oblivion. This life is a journey through the wilderness as you await the Promised Land.

In this desert, there is suffering and grief. But as you suffer, you do so as one for whom Christ has suffered, and so you can endure with the confident hope that He will raise you up on the Last Day, for an eternity without pain and suffering anymore.

You do so with the glad confidence that He forgives you all of your sins. And as you grieve the death of others, you can do so with the knowledge that your Savior has conquered death and grave and is risen again; He raises up all of His people to everlasting life.

Christ is risen. Therefore you have hope. You also have purpose, because you are the Lord's instruments for service in this world. The Lord uses you in your vocations to serve those around you, no matter what job you do. You don't know how little you've got until you realize that all you have is you.

Know for certain that Christ is Risen.