C, Easter 4 - Psalm 23:1-2 "A Shepherd without Want"

Psalm 23:1–2 (ESV) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters. 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  How many times have we heard this first line of Psalm Twenty-three?  We have all heard it and said it many times, in Sunday services, at funerals, and we’ve sung it to different well-loved tunes.  The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want!

But how many times have we told ourselves when the desire to get something is strong, “I shall not want because God is my shepherd”? 

So often, the grass seems to be greener on the other side of the fence, so I sidestep the Lord, and stray off seeking what I want.

Want is desire, something sought, what a person seeks or is looking for.  What one wants is what usually pleases someone!  Want is interchangeable with the word, love. 

Wanting can be coveting or worshipping.  So the question goes begging, what gods shepherd one’s life?

Are my finances my shepherd?  When I’ve got money, does that satisfy my want? 

Are my friends or my family my shepherds?  As long as I’ve got them am I content? 

The thing that shepherds us is your god and my god, and this god is what you and I want.  The problem is, the gods we want most of the time, are idols that deceive us as we seek them.

In the twenty-third psalm it’s as if the Psalmist is proclaiming to his own heart, “Yahweh is my shepherd, because I have got him there is nothing that I want!”

Rooted beneath this much-loved line from Psalm Twenty-three, is the First Commandment, “I am the Lord your God, you shall not have any other gods.”  What does this mean?  Luther rightly teaches, “We are to fear, love, and trust God above anything else.”

Another good description of what a loving shepherd looks like, is what we believe God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, is and does, as our provider and protector.  The Small Catechism again teaches…

“I believe that God has created me and all that exists.  He has given me and still preserves my body and soul with all their powers.  He provides me with food and clothing, home and family, daily work, and all I need from day to day.  God also protects me in time of danger and guards me from every evil.  All this he does out of fatherly and divine goodness and mercy, though I do not deserve it.  Therefore, I surely ought to thank and praise, serve, and obey him.”

Like King David telling his heart to not want because the Lord is his shepherd, we confess to ourselves and each other that God has created me and all that exists, etc.

However, the only person to ever not want, is Jesus Christ.  He is the only one who truly looked to the Lord as his shepherd. 

Although King David wrote Psalm twenty-three or authorised someone to write it, the writer was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write down the word of God, which has its origin in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

Jesus says of himself to the Jews who were looking for a preconceived Messiah for themselves, “The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,  but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.” (John 10:25b–30 ESV) 

The Jews were looking for a Messiah like King David, and not to he who inspired King David to write the Psalms and lead Israel, all while submitting to he who was truly shepherding Israel through the shepherd boy anointed as King.

They did not want Jesus, the Lamb of God, to be their Messiah.  They wanted a zealot king to toss out the Romans, they wanted what  pleased them.  They wanted to be saved from everything else, but they did not want to be saved from themselves or their slavish wants.  Nor did they want the Romans to be saved.

The grass was greener on the other side of the fence, in oh so many ways!

The Jews did not realise the grass on their side of the fence was dead, because of what they had bound themselves to, what they wanted they had got in the past, and it had fenced them into a dead corner.  Now a shepherd had arrived to bring them and all nations to greener pastures and calm waters.  

Where was the grass greener?  Where they were, or where they wanted to be, or where this Messiah was seeking to lead them?

In the same way we confuse ourselves with what we want!  We double face ourselves, turning back on our tracks like a fox avoiding the spotlight, after devouring the landowner’s lambs.

But the Shepherd who desires us to trust him as our true shepherd, makes us lie down in the green pastures he wants us to lie in.  He leads us by his sustaining waters of peace.  Not to the pastures of our powers or pleasures, nor the surging temptations of seemingly progressive worldly human opinions.

Our Shepherd was the Lamb of God, who takes your sin away, when he took away the sin of the world on the cross.  But now this Lamb of God, is the Shepherd of God, who will guide to springs of living water that flows from the eternal throne of heaven.

Until we stand before that throne in heaven, our Shepherd causes us to lie down in green pastures on this earth.  Where he causes us to lay might not always seem green to us.  In fact, without faith, this pasture will seem dead to the hearts of sheep continually wanting a shepherd to justify what they want.

Here again Luther teaches in the explanation of the fourth petition  “God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all people, though sinful, but we ask in this prayer that he will help us to realise this and to receive our daily bread with thanks.”

These days the Shepherd of God sends his holy sheep dog to help us.  The Holy Spirit continually rounds us up and seeks to bring us back to our Shepherd.  We need this because we are continually tempted by many dangers.

In fact, we are in the great tribulation, and the great tribulation goes on within each of us, and around us, as the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit struggle with your human spirit, and all the idols luring us towards a false salvation that has no hope.

Yet as the battle rages, it has already been won!  In the bloody battle we stand with Jesus Christ in the victory, having been washed in the blood of the Lamb he now shepherds us in robes of his holiness and righteousness.

Look and see not what you want, but what you need and already have!  See your Shepherd on the throne in heaven, see yourself in eternity with him, having received him whom you wanted. 

And as you look forward to the victory feast, see to it that you remain in the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, by confessing your sin, and believing confessed sin is forgiven.

See with the eyes of faith as you hear of your heavenly celebration with the eternal congregation, who… “are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:15-17 ESV)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; now and forevermore, Amen.

C, Easter 3 - John 21:19 "Summoned to Death"

John 21:19 This he (Jesus) said to show by what kind of death he (Peter) was to glorify God. And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

In the three readings today, Saint Paul, still as the Jewish “Sargent at Arms” Saul, is challenged by Jesus.  Saint John is also challenged as the hidden realm is uncovered to reveal the transcendent dominions of good and evil.  Likewise, Saint Peter too is challenged as Jesus reveals himself a third time to him and the disciples fishing on Lake Galilee.

These three men are challenged to glorify God in their deaths.  However, for us, it is important to know when their deaths occurred, and for what purpose?

We might presume that their deaths came at the end of life.  And in a very narrow context they do.  But death for them, and for us, is the process (or the event) of our existence in this world as we submit to God and his will for us. 

We may call this event, life or living, but the reality is, this existence is one of dying.  But only after our resurrection, or Christ’s return, death will cease to exist and then all will truly live.  That is living with God in glory and victory or living without him in eternal unfulfilled desire and darkness.

So let us hear more about the three examples we have before us in today’s readings.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus is revealed three times after his resurrection.  The first is during the evening after Jesus’ resurrection, Easter Sunday, when the disciples were locked away in hiding, so they wouldn’t be found by the Jews.  The second a week later when Thomas is present.  And in the Gospel reading before us today, while the disciples fished on the Sea of Tiberias or Lake Galilee.

When something happens three times in God’s Word, we are called to stop and pay extra attention to what God is saying to us.  Here at the end of John’s Gospel, Jesus is revealed to the disciples three times.   These are accompanied by three bestowals of peace, together with his breathing the Holy Spirit on them.  Then Peter is summoned three times to feed and tend Jesus’ sheep and lambs, after being asked three times if he loves Jesus.

Peter the archetypal disciple, who denies Jesus three times at his crucifixion is restored with three calls to love. 

Hear Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit and the threefold bestowal of peace he gives the disciples before the crucifixion, so that they might endure all the tribulations of his crucifixion.

Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:25–27 ESV)

“Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.  I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:32–33 ESV)

Now after the resurrection, after he had overcome the world, Jesus reinstates Peter in threefold peace and love.  The archetypal leader and blunderer is restored to be the archetypal administrator of Jesus’ love, and be the prototypical recipient of forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.  Peter is called to follow Jesus and pass on the peace of God.

The second of the three men in our readings today is Saul.  He too was challenged in a very physical way on the road to Damascus.  But, within the physical challenge of blindness, Jesus lays upon Saul a greater challenge. 

Saul persecuted the church after approvingly watching Stephen be stoned to death.  After this he went house to house dragging people off to prison.  He was going to Damascus, to do the same there, when Jesus confronted him.  But Jesus doesn’t strike Saul blind for persecuting others, rather Jesus says, “‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’  And Saul said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:4–5 ESV)

Jesus challenged Saul’s righteousness and ironically in his blindness revealed to Saul that he was the Son of God at the same time.  In his revelation on the road to Damascus, Jesus killed any faith Saul had in his ravaging assault on the believers of the resurrection.

In his letter to the Philippians, Saul now Paul, speaks of his death, saying, “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:  circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.  But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:4b–8 ESV)

Peter and Paul, both are summoned to die in Jesus’ resurrection and revelation. 

The third person in the text for today is John.  He was the last of the apostolic witnesses left alive.  He survived all the other witnesses of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension.  When they were martyred, John had to patiently endure with the knowledge of their deaths, of which his brother James was the first to die at the hand of Herod.

Years after witnessing the resurrection, Peter’s reinstatement, the Ascension, Pentecost, and waiting for Jesus’ return, John endured and led others through tribulations.  Like the last one to be picked on a school sporting team he waited and watched to be chosen next.

But different to Peter and Paul, John is allowed to see the revelation of what is to come, after he has suffered many deaths throughout his life.  Before he finally dies, he is given a glimpse of the heavenly victory to assist us and sustain us as we too are summoned to undergo the many deaths of self we suffer in this life.  And as we do, we glorify God in the many deaths he summons us to endure.

Like Peter, Paul, and John, you and I too are called to glorify God in the many deaths we face. 

Every time we forgive others who sin against us, we die and glorify God.  When we confess our sin, bringing it into the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we die to self and live to righteousness.  Learning about our sin leads to the death of pride, the death of privilege, and the death of vain pleasure.

Added to this, the death of health and self-confidence, are all deaths we endure so God can be glorified and worshiped above all.

From our existence in this world, we only see glimpses of the holy life to come.  We patiently endure tribulation in what we call this life, which is really an event of death. 

But just as the dawn of Jesus’ resurrection followed the darkness of night, we follow Jesus.  The darkness of our existence in this world of death is endured in the joy and hope of waiting to see for real what was revealed to John.  We now live eternally, despite death, knowing we will be raised to eternal life at the dawn of eternity, at the death of death. 

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, may Jesus glorify God the Father in your death and mine, in our baptism, in our existence, and in our resurrection.  Amen.

C, Easter 2 - John 20:19-31 "Peace is with you"

John 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week (the day of Jesus’ resurrection), when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Y

On Easter Sunday, Peter and John left the tomb of Jesus confused and bewildered that Jesus’ body was gone.  Now we hear today on that first Easter evening the disciples were huddled together hidden away from sight so the Jews might not find them. 

Imagine the speculation which took place behind those closed doors…  What went down at the tomb?  Did the Jews now take his body too?  What has happened to him?  Was this now going to happen to them?  What was going on?  Could this whole thing be a trick? 

One thing we know is they still didn’t understand from Scripture — from the Old Testament, as we know it — that Jesus had to rise from the dead.  Understanding this in itself would have been confusing enough, but adding the pressure of being wanted themselves, the disciples’ lives were in complete turmoil.  They were powerless without any direction or peace.

It’s a completely different picture to that of the time before Jesus’ crucifixion.  Even in the midst of suffering, beatings, and the piercing pain on his body, Jesus knew who had ultimate power.  He believed and trusted his Father in heaven despite what he was going through.  His humanity cried out for God to take the cup of wrath away, yet he remained obedient to he who had all authority and power.  Jesus suffered horrendously at Calvary, and in his hands, feet, and side bore the marks of his sacrifice and suffering. Jesus endured the disciples’ and our powerlessness over sin and death, which causes the lack of peace, power, and perfection in our earthly life.

Surprisingly, after Jesus’ death and resurrection from the grave, although he was perfect and without sin, he still bore the marks of sin and death.  One might think — being the obedient Son of the Father, God the Son, the Creator of all that lives — these marks would vanish due to his divine perfection.  Yet they don’t, so even in his complete obedience and perfection, what was still visible, were the marks of our imperfection and his passivity as a result of our sin.

These nail marks and spear wound are the source of great joy to the disciples as he appears amongst them and calls them to peace in his power over sin and death.  Right at this moment Jesus re-creates his disciples and breaths new life into their weak, frail bodies. 

This is the day that the Lord has made!  Today is the day of Jesus’ resurrection and he resurrects our lives too, calling us to peace with his word, breathing new life into us with his breath of the Holy Spirit, and killing the power sin and death once had over us.

We like Thomas, who is called Didymus (which means the twin or double), were not there that first day to witness these things and receive Christ as did the other disciples.  We bear in us the double-nature of being Jesus’ followers yet also struggle with doubt and confusion just like Thomas, and the other disciples too, for that matter. 

Perhaps you’re thinking, “I don’t want to believe unless I see the marks of Jesus too.  How do I really know if Jesus is present anyway?  Could this whole thing be some sort of cruel trick?

When you and I enter into thought like this, our peace can be eroded very quickly.  Then you feel the weakness of your true self and see that you’re far from perfect.  One thing I can guarantee with these feelings is this:  The father of lies and trickery is pleased when our old self rises over the Risen Lord of our hearts and causes us this worry and doubt!

So how do we know it’s God calling us to abide and remain in him?  How do we know where Jesus Christ is, especially when we can’t see him like the disciples did?  How do we know we’re receiving all the benefits of Christ and the cross?  How do I abide or remain in him according to his holy and perfect will, so I might rest in assurance and peace? 

Firstly we hear the word of God.  Jesus says to you, “Peace be with you!”  We hear him say this in his word, in fact three times in the Gospel reading today.  His word has power, so listen to him and rest in peace!  See how many times God himself calls you to peace in the liturgy of the Sunday services! 

God then tells you in his word to believe, when the pastor says, “I forgive your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  It’s by Jesus’ command your sins are truly forgiven for his sake.  The pastor is the Lord’s physical mouthpiece announcing God’s forgiveness and peace with you.  The pastor is authorised to stand in the person of Christ (in persona Christi), commanded by Jesus himself to declare God’s forgiveness to all who believe and trust his instruction.

So why does God forgive your sin?  He does so for the same reason you stand in his presence in peace each week, knowing “the church roof won’t fall on you”.   In fact your life continues in him each day — as you believe you’re being recreated by his death on the cross and resurrection from the grave — as you believe you’re daily drowned in your baptism and raised to new life with him.  You live under the power of God’s forgiveness as you live each day in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, each time you come into his presence, God names his forgiveness to you, and on receiving it, you know and trust God forgives your sin, and wants peace with you!

Then you also know God’s peace rests with you, and you can rest in his peace, when you receive his body and blood.  Mysteriously Jesus Christ is physically and spiritually present in the bread and the wine, just as he mysteriously entered the room with the disciples.  Likewise you receive him with joy in knowing he is with us here, right now!  So because of his risen presence, Jesus calls you to rest in his peace and forgiveness.

All these things you receive each Sunday in church.  Each Sunday is an Easter celebration of the Lord’s resurrection and yours too.  Each Sunday you’re recreated in the work of Christ at the cross and his resurrection power over your sin and death.  In fact, each Sunday you and I receive the marks of Christ, which are the reassuring marks of the church, and by these marks, you and I are called to trust we have truly received Christ.  The nail and spear marks that scarred Jesus’ perfect body are the very marks by which Jesus is winning your salvation and healing your wounds.   

Just like Thomas, Jesus calls us all to stop doubting and believe.  And so in chapter twenty verse thirty-one of John’s gospel, hear, “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” 

Each time you come here, know you receive the risen Lord.  Rest in Jesus, knowing your past is forgiven; that he is your strength and power in the present; and, in the future he will lead and raise you from death.  The peace of the Lord is with you; rest in his peace too!  Amen. Y

C, Resurrection of our Lord, Easter Sunday - 1 Corinthians 15:22–26 "Nailed to Jesus"

1 Corinthians 15:22–26 (ESV) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.  Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.  For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

The proclamation of Jesus Christ does one of two things!  It causes belief or it causes unbelief!  For the person who believes, knows they are a sinner and freely accepts what Jesus does for them. 

But one who doesn’t believe, rejects his work, for whatever reason, and continues on being his enemy.

The criminals crucified on the cross paint a good picture of humanity and their acceptance or rejection of Jesus.  Jesus as friend or foe!

In the gospels there seems to be a discrepancy over how the two criminals treat Jesus.  In Matthew and Mark’s Gospel accounts, both the criminals revile Jesus, along with everyone else.  These two accounts demonstrate Jesus’ complete humiliation, but in Luke we hear differently. 

Luke’s Gospel says, “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’  But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’  And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’  And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” (Luke 23:39–43 ESV)

Modern day scholarship, focusing on exact detail, might assume one view to be wrong.  However, the criminals and Jesus hung there for a period of time.  I would expect if I was hanging on a cross, I would say and do anything to get off it and be relieved of pain.  So too the criminals hanging there, hearing the jeers of those standing around making fun would have railed at him too!  Not in disbelief that he would not save himself though!  But they railed him to save himself in the hope they too would be rescued.  But they are not rescued, and nor does Jesus save himself.

Both men crucified beside Jesus are both criminals.  Both are there because they were caught in their crime.  Both do not want to die but live.  But both know they will die.

It’s at this point I get a picture in my head, of the Industry Superannuation advertisement, where one puts their future in the advertised super and holds their hands in that diamond box shape as they ascend up an escalator.  The picture represents their superannuation profits rising faster than the other who doesn’t use the advertised super.

In the same way, the one criminal, who has been invested only in himself, has a lucid moment, and scalds the other crucified criminal still reviling Jesus.  Instead of holding up a shape of a diamond box, he holds up Jesus and puts his death into Jesus hands.  Perhaps instead of making a diamond box with his hands,  in his heart he makes the shape of his Saviour’s cross and says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  From little things big things grow, so the jingle in the advert goes.  So, from a glimmer of faith, Jesus causes big things to happen to the guilty criminal, saying, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Imagine here today, that we are there that first Sunday Easter morning.  We see the crosses now empty on Calvary.  The tomb is empty, it’s the first day of the week.  Jesus has died, Jesus has risen.  But what of the two criminals?  How did their investments pay off?

They both now exist outside of time.  One experienced Jesus as he descended into and passed through hell on the Sabbath, knowing forever and smarting that he missed having a Saviour by “that much”.

The other criminal has ascended hand in hand, with his Saviour, the firstfruits of heaven, with Abel, the first human to die, and with everyone since, who trusts in God’s Saviour.

Are you there with them at the ascension?  Or have you seen the backside of Jesus, as he has departed hell forever, and you now live in eternal separation from God?  The itches of pleasure you placed your trust in, now eternally nailed to you as festering forever sores, but still itching without relief.

The two criminals on the cross are a perfect picture for humanity.  Like the criminals we are all eternally guilty as enemies.  Like the criminals we will have our guilt nailed out for all to see as God sees it now.  Like the criminals we can do absolutely nothing to remove the guilt of our sins and the guilt from its reality.  But like the one criminal we can appeal to one who can save us.

This criminal came to know he was nailed beside a king.  He was nailed up beside the King of Kings, the King of Heaven.  He reviled this king yet still entered the Paradise of Heaven.  He was a sinner but was saved by a Saviour.  He turned to Jesus, from being a foe, to being a friend.  He now worships God in heaven for his salvation! 

But in heaven, there is only one who still bears the scars of the cross, and everyone worships him, our Lord and Saviour, who bears these healed wounds.  The criminal no longer bears the scars of his nails, that is, his sin, since he now glorifies God with a risen and glorified body.

You too will have all your scars of sin removed forever.  Like the criminal, you will have the blood of the Lamb wash you clean, and you will enter paradise to worship God the Father, Jesus Christ, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, in all their oneness and glory.

But for now, as we wait in time, you remain nailed on your cross!  So, carry your cross, and like the guilty criminal, look to Jesus on his cross.  Like the criminal, you too are guilty, like the criminal you too will die, but like the criminal you too will receive the sentence of eternal life.  You are in Paradise with him today! 

O the sweet joy this sentence gives, to know my Redeemer lives on this day of sweet, sweet, resurrection victory.  Amen.