Author: Sonya

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April 21, 2017 – like it or not; you’re religious!

Sonya

(there’s about a minute and a half in the beginning of the recording where I’m correcting a problem with the PowerPoint.)

April 21, 2017 – like it or not; you’re religious!

What do baseball, Bette Midler, and Rachael Ray all have in common with the gospel? We’ll circle back to that but for now let’s turn our attention to the reading from Acts.  It’s a long reading and marks an interesting point in Paul’s life.

Notice that Paul was distressed by the many idols he saw in the city. But rather than leave and take the gospel away with him, Paul brings the gospel into that mix of religions. Now we know from history that Christians were persecuted in that day especially because they did not have idols or any sort of representation of a God that could be seen.

For Christians God was, and is, present by the promise of Jesus in the gospel lesson today. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Our form of religion was not something that was easily received by the people of that day. They needed idols and talismans, temples and trinkets that they could see and use to show how religious they were.

The same is often true today in our culture. Look at all the religions and fanatics around us that use trinkets and talismans; everything from the lighthearted to the evil and deadly. There are the fun and trivial fanatics – sports teams and music fans. We can all indulge in the fun aspects of those things.

However, we all know some people for whom such things really do become their religion. Not just by the bumper stickers on their cars but also by the way they talk and act and spend their time and money. It can become so pervasive in their lives that their families are hurt because of how much money and time are squandered and wasted.

And then there’s the darker side of the religions around us. And beyond that, we’ve all encountered people who think they choose no religion. And also those who, in our society, are free to practice religions that truly hurt the soul. The satanic and cultic religions that draw people away from healthy loving relationships and into sad and twisted things. So how do we spot them? Well it’s the same way you can spot a fellow believer. It’s by how they talk, act and spend their time and money.

Often times, a person’s religion is revealed by their checkbook and their date book. Where time and money are spent, that reflects what a person values. In keeping with the epistle reading from Peter that speaks of baptism, the story is told of a new convert who when he was about to be baptized in the river was asked if he wanted someone to hold his wallet so it wouldn’t get wet. His reply was, that he wanted all of himself baptized including his wallet. He wanted his religion to be reflected in his spending.

After all look how God has spent His time and resources, His valuables. He sent His only Son to earth to gain for us the inheritance of heaven! God spent all He has on you – on this world. God showed us that His love for us will not be stopped, even by death. Death has been overcome. All cultures know death, but only the Christian can bring the good news that Christ is risen… He is risen indeed into any culture. And because He lives, as we read in to gospel, we too shall live.

The idea is that how we spend our money and time is important. We all need religion. Even if our religion appears to be no religion at all. And, we get rather religious about it! That’s because we’re more than body and mind; we have a soul – a spirit that has need to express itself in devotion, commitment and zeal. We’re created with a spirit, and that spirit will find a way to express itself. The question is how… how will your spirit be expressed? Will it happen by chance or choice? Will your spirit be given the freedom to receive the gift of grace from its Creator, God the Father in heaven above? That mercy is what we long for and that’s why God has given us His word, to allow our mind and spirit to learn of His love, grace and mercy, of His religious devotion to us!

That mercy and grace, that passion of God for His creation is what St Paul brought to the Areopagus in the lesson from Acts today. The setting of the Areopagus was that of a ‘public square’. It was a place used for open discussion and the debate of ideas. And into this arena St Paul brought the teaching of God in Jesus Christ raised from the dead. And how he did that is what leads us back to baseball, Bette Midler and Rachael Ray. And I’ll tell you how. St Paul found something in the culture he saw in the Areopagus that he could use to relate the gospel to them and their situation.

He quotes two poets that they would have known. From Crete a poet named Epimenides who said, “In him we live and move and have our being.” And from the Cilician poet Aratus “We are his offspring.” St Paul takes what they knew in their culture and used it to introduce the gospel to them.

That’s something you and I can learn from. Taking baseball as an example, we can use the idea of the sacrifice out. When a player deliberately lets the other team get him out so as to advance or score a runner, he sacrifices himself for the sake of the team. And there’s the natural bridge to speaking of Christ sacrificing Himself for us. He took the penalty so that we could advance to heaven.

Then there’s Bette Midler. She sang a song years ago called The Rose that speaks of how a rose, that lies dormant in the winter will, in the spring with the sun’s love, becomes a rose. Again, like our cold dead hearts are brought to life with love of the Son of God poured out on them, we come to life and become a thing of beauty, not because of ourselves but because of the love of the Son. So, songs can be used.

And finally, Rachael Ray. What she’s famous for is making meals in 30 minutes. But notice with her stuff, that it takes preparation and planning. You need to know what you’re going to do, where the ingredients are and have all the utensils at hand ahead of time if you’re going to accomplish the task of preparing a meal in 30 minutes.

Again you can use that to point out that God prepared all that was needed for the time of Christ’s coming to earth. Everything that was needed and necessary had been done and was ready for when Jesus was born. All the parts, pieces and people were in place so that Jesus could do the work He came to do. And, by the way, the work He has done feeds us now and for all eternity. He has accomplished all that was prepared for Him to do.

These are just a few examples of what you can take from our culture, and like Paul, use them to introduce the gospel. That’s important because of what Jesus promises in the gospel lesson today. That promise is what Paul was trying to make clear.

Jesus accomplished the work that He did on the cross and rising to new life again and in doing that He could make the promise His did to not leave us as orphans. But that He would care for us and send the Comforter who would be with us till Jesus return.

That idea of orphans really touches home. Our veterans have seen a lot of war and in war you wind up with a lot of orphans. In the recent years of wars, we’ve all seen pictures of war orphans, some infants, who have no idea that they’ll never know the love of their parents.

And then there’re the orphans from the tornadoes and storms in the south. Reuters reported, “Five-year-old Garrett LeClere survived the devastating twister, with two broken arms and a fractured skull. His parents did not make it. Rescuers searched for a day before finding the bodies of Jay and Amy LeClere beneath the rubble of their home.

“They are with Jesus,” Garrett told reporters. Many children lost loved ones in the killer tornadoes. “The trauma is deep. The wound is deep. Being orphaned is what we call a forever loss,” said Dr. Jane Aronson, Chief Executive of Worldwide Orphans Foundation. “You cannot tell them when to heal, and that can take a very long time.”

That reality is a very powerful way for us to realize that the promise Jesus makes today, that I will not leave you as orphans, is a promise that gives us a hope that many may never know. And yet if we can reach them with the promise of the gospel, they will learn what we’re learning, that Jesus keeps His word and He will be with us and watch over us always.

Take note that when Jesus is making this promise He is in the upper room the night before He goes to die on the cross. He knows that’s coming and this helps make it clearer to the disciples. Though they will not understand it for some time. They only know of orphans what we know, that they are those whose parents have died. It is a picture of lost intimacy.

Jesus says this will not be so of you. You will have security and protection because I will send that to you and it will be the Holy Spirit who is your guide, comforter and protector.

The idea of orphans also matches up with what Paul did back in the story from Acts when he spoke about the ‘unknown God’ in the Areopagus. Those people were abandoned by their ‘gods’, which never existed apart from the work of their own hands anyway, as idols. They were abandoned, orphaned, before they even began. But in the promises of God through Jesus Christ and His resurrection we have the assurance that we are never alone.

He is with us through His word of promise and the power of the Holy Spirit. So, though we can’t see Him bodily, He is with us. And we can still take His word into our culture and proclaim His death and resurrection as St Paul did so that others too may know that Christ is risen… He is risen indeed. Amen.

Sermon #892 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

First Reading                                                                            Acts 17:16-31
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.

Epistle Reading                                                                1 Peter 3:13-22
13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

 Holy Gospel                                                                               John 14:15-21
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

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May 14, 2017 – 5th Easter Sunday – Exactly Right

Sonya

May 14, 2017 – 5th Easter Sunday – Exactly Right

There’s a razor blade ad that goes something like, ‘when close just isn’t good enough’. And then there’s the famous Maxwell Smart quote, “Sorry Chief, missed it byy thhaaat much.” In your baptism however, God missed nothing. You have been given, by grace alone, everything needed for faith, life, and salvation in Jesus Christ alone.

Do you recall 6-7 years ago or so when Harold Camping and his group didn’t come quite close enough to accurately predicting the end of the world for May 21st 2011? It’d be real easy for us to take pot-shots at him, but a lot of people skewered him afterward that up till his death in Dec of 2013.

Sadly, he provides us with an example of what happens when you try to replace good solid bible doctrine with speculation and man’s reasoning. It isn’t enough to just sound good or sincere – it isn’t enough to come close – you must get it right. Exactly right. You can’t just sound like you know what you’re talking about, you have to know!

When guys like Harold Camping spout their sadly foolish words by trying to reduce the word of God to their own formulas, it reminds us that we all need to grow in our baptismal faith and trust and be well-studied in God’s revealed word in order to not be taken in by – sometimes sincere – but wrong people. Eternal truth is what God has revealed through Jesus Christ and not just what someone wants it to be.

Jesus made it clear in the gospel lesson today that He alone is the way to heaven, to our Father in heaven. There’s no formula that any man can come up with that will ever supersede what Jesus says of Himself today, I am the way the truth and life no one comes to the father but by me. Jesus is the only and exact path we travel to heaven. Jesus and Jesus alone. And in the gospel lesson today Jesus spoke quite a lot about travel and His father’s house.

In verse 2 Jesus speaks of traveling to His Father’s house to prepare a place for His disciples. In verse 3 Jesus speaks of traveling to return to His followers – then more travel as they, together with Jesus, travel back home, to the place that Jesus has prepared for them in His Father’s house. All of this traveling happens by or with Jesus Christ alone. There is no other direction, path, compass heading, longitude and latitude, road, boulevard, or thoroughfare that any man can choose. And that travel will happen only at a time of God’s own choosing not any sooner or later.

This travel talk is taking place in the upper room the night before Jesus is to be crucified. The setting is Maundy Thursday; the night He gave us His ordinance establishing Holy Communion and the night He gave the new mandate to “love one another as I have loved you”. Before giving that command, Jesus has washed the disciple’s feet, Judas has left to betray Jesus, and Jesus has foretold Peter’s denial.

This sets up why all the talk of traveling to the Father’s house is so important. Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” Why does He say this? Because, peace for troubled hearts comes only through belief, through trust, in Jesus Christ alone.

There’s an old Japanese proverb that says, you will never see the sunrise if you keep looking to the west. That proverb reminds us that looking for peace in things, religions, or people other than Jesus will never work. Seeking the assurance of heaven by some formula of man will never bring the peace of our heavenly Father’s house that Jesus speaks of today. Only by looking to the Son of God, by focusing on Him, do we have the comfort and peace of a relationship with God. That peace is what was poured out on you in your baptism and what we take into mouths when we partake in Holy Communion.

This is a very intense and intimate passage in the upper room. Jesus is bringing to a close His three years of ministry with these people and now, before He goes to the cross and resurrection, Jesus needs for them, and for us, to hear and understand that what He does in dying and rising to life again is exactly the right thing needed to bring the realty of God’s word to the entire world.

That comforting word is what Jesus brings in today’s readings. He knows that in this world we have cares, concerns and troubled hearts. In speaking of going to the Fathers house, of preparing a place for the believers and the coming back to take them there, He’s saying that we have a place beyond this world that He assures us is ours. That’s one of the reasons why this passage is so often chosen for funeral and memorial services. It focuses us on the heavenly home that Jesus promises to those who believe in Him and that’s the place that awaits us in His Father’s house.

When He speaks of going to prepare rooms in His Father’s house, that’s the language of a bridegroom. That’s what a bridegroom did before getting married in Jesus day. The groom would go to his father’s house and add-on rooms so that he would have a place to bring his bride. It would be their own place, but within the protection of the Father’s house.

The Father’s house provided safety and it was a place that showed you belonged in the family. It’s a haven, a place of safety, and it’s a place for children. This is the intimate picture that Jesus is giving them on this night before going to the cross to make the way to that home He’s just promised.

And that’s why He goes to the cross. That’s where He does the work of God’s mercy in preparing our way to heaven. To prepare a place for them, and for us, means Jesus must suffer and die on the cross for the sin of the world. And by His resurrection God assures us that Jesus’ work is complete. Jesus, by doing that work has made the exactly right way, the only way of salvation for us.

Our salvation, as spoken of in the text from First Peter that we read, is what we all are to grow up into. When we were baptized, God did His work of bringing to us the salvation that guarantees our place in His heavenly home. That was done by God’s command through Jesus’ word as we read. And it was exactly right! There’s nothing short of what’s needed.

And we now share the hope and certainty of the salvation that Jesus Christ has won for us all. It’s now for all who’ve been baptized to be taught and to grow daily in that baptismal grace.

We have been given mercy as Peter said because we are now, by the blood of Christ, the people of God. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation. We have been given the gift of faith to trust in the word of God alone for our way home to heaven. And that way is perfect in the blood and empty tomb of Jesus Christ; there’re no mistakes, detours, or wrong directions. It is exactly right, it is exactly what is needed by everyone in this world. And it’s what gives us the right to say, Christ is risen…

Today and every Sunday we proclaim Jesus’ death and resurrection till He comes again. And that day and hour only God, our Father in heaven, knows. No one will know or find that day out apart from when God chooses the exact right time to reveal it. And that is the comfort and assurance we grow-in as we read, study, and inwardly digest His word to us,  Jesus Christ our Lord. In His name amen.

Sermon #891 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

First Reading                                                                             Acts 6:1-7
A  1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Second Reading                                                                  1 Peter 2:2-10
A  2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,     a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him     will never be put to shame.”

7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected     has become the cornerstone,”

8 and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble  and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

 Holy Gospel                                                                           John 14:1-14
14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

 

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May 7, 2017 – 4th Easter Sunday The Substitute

Sonya

May 7, 2017 – 4th Easter Sunday The Substitute

During the time of Napoleon a young father was drafted into the French army. Because of the very young ages of this man’s children, a friend volunteered to go in his place. There was a provision in French law for a volunteer to take the place of someone who’d been drafted. The substitution was made, and sometime later this friend was killed in action. Through a clerical error, the young father was drafted a second time. “You can’t take me,” he told the officers who’d come to take him into the service. “I’m dead. I died on the battlefield.”  The officers argued that they could see him standing right in front of them, but he insisted that they look on the list of the deceased to find confirmation of his death. Sure enough, the man’s name appeared there, with the name of his substitute written beside it. Not satisfied with this explanation, the officers contested the case until finally it went to the emperor himself. After examining all the evidence, Napoleon declared, “Through a legal substitute, this man has not only fought, but has also died in his country’s service. No man can die more than once. Therefore, the law has no claim on him.”

Christ is our substitute who has died so the law can have no claim on us. By taking our place, by being The Substitute, Jesus died in our place. He is the true ‘sacrificial lamb’. And now, just as a shepherd does for his sheep, Jesus Himself provides all that is needed for us. He’s become not only the lamb of sacrifice He’s also the shepherd who leads and guides us. St Peter today says – For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. We are His sheep and are in His care. He has substituted and sacrificed Himself for us and He now cares for us by leading us and guiding us.

We learn this from the gospel lesson today also where Jesus refers to Himself as the shepherd of the sheep of God. He’s the one way to heaven and He leads us there, as a shepherd leads his sheep. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Ok, now, think a moment about the relationship of sheep to shepherd. I know not many of us have ever owned sheep or been around them much, but we know that sheep supply the shepherd with his livelihood… just by being sheep. They produce wool and provide food.

Just by being who they are, they are what the shepherd needs them to be. The sheep are to be looked after by the shepherd and not the other way around. But for the shepherd’s care to be effective, the sheep listen to the shepherd. Only by listening and following the shepherd are they led where they need to go. In listening to the word of the shepherd, the sheep are kept safe, fed, watered, and given all that they need to be sheep that are cared for.

That’s us! That’s what Christ died on the cross to give us – His care. We don’t have to earn it, we can’t earn it, instead we’re called to fully live in it, by faith. We’re given faith as a gift and that gift is what gives us the power to live fully, not the other way around.

We aren’t given a full life so we can earn our faith; we’re given faith so we’re free to live fully by the word of our Shepherd alone. Hear that again; we aren’t given a full life so we can earn our faith; we’re given faith so we’re free to live fully by the word of our Shepherd alone.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit expressed in God’s holy word, we hear our Shepherd’s voice directing and calling us to live a joyfully full life! And because of the faith that we’ve been given as a gift, we gladly listen and live in and by His word.

All this isn’t done to make us into shepherds, but it’s to let us be better at being sheep. God provides all that we need, to – be – His – people. He gives us true and eternal reconciliation with Him in the blood of Christ. In making us His own, in this way only, He gives us, to be fully what He created us to be. We can be what He designed us to be and not be bound under the slavery to sin that we were born in. We were made for a relationship of love with Him as we spoke of last week.

We’re to be His people not His replacement. We know we’re broken in our sin simply by trying to put ourselves into God’s rightful place in our own lives. It’s like, sheep trying to replace the shepherd with themselves. Sheep aren’t made to be shepherds. How foolish is that? But that’s what we’ve tried to do by our sin and by breaking the relationship God built us for. It’s important that we remain mindful of that.

It’s important to be mindful of our sin and confess it. Through repentance we are assured of being forgiven. That confession of sin allows us to be restored, by Jesus’ blood, to the right relationship with our Creator God that He designed us for. And everyone around us is in the same situation.

When we set out to ‘share the gospel’ with those around us, we must hold on to this truth – that’ll help them to understand what we know. By sharing that we too start from a place of brokenness and hurt, we come along side and bear witness that we all have messed up our relationship with God that no one can fix by themselves. That starting point must never be given up. We don’t buy into the idea that people are ‘basically good’. Jesus didn’t die on the cross for ‘basically good people’. He died for sinners.

He became our substitute in death because we owed a debt of death precisely because we are not basically good. And, ironically, that is good news. Because we’re broken, we can be mended. But only by the sacrifice of Christ. Because we have wandered off, like sheep who refuse to listen to their shepherd, Christ came to earth to be The Substitute and made the sacrifice needed to return us to the flock of God. We’re created for being in God’s flock.

I’ve heard a story that on trip in Israel a tourist bus was delayed by flocks of sheep getting water. The shepherds – after their sheep had gotten what they needed, separated their herds from one another simply by using their voices. They each had their own call and voices, and the sheep followed their own shepherds going off in different directions.

Now, listening to the word of our Great Shepherd, we live lives that are cared for and watched over. We live that way, because the Lamb of God, as we said, has taken our place as the sacrificial Lamb to take away our sins. As St Peter today tells us in vs 24, “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. So much more than the man who substituted himself for his friend and died in his place in Napoleon’s army, Jesus has taken our place, the whole worlds sinful place, and died the death we all owed and then He rose from the grave to show that God accepted His sacrifice for us.

Now, in receiving His gift of forgiveness, we’re allowed to be the sheep we were created to be. And we can follow where Jesus leads. The life we live, we live fully because we are no longer burdened with the guilt, shame, or fear that sin can use to hold us captive. By the sacrifice of The Substitute, Jesus Christ we’re no longer bound to listen to the thief, the stranger, Satan – we’re free of that by hearing our true Shepherds voice instead. And now, now we are free to live life to the fullest that we can. We are free to, as St Peter tells us today, to “follow in his steps.”

We live by His word or we miss out on living the life Christ sacrificed Himself for us to have. Again, listen to what Jesus said at the end of verse 10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” We can live our lives so free and full that it’s infectious to those around us.

Others can look at us and want what we have. That’s what happened in the first reading from Acts today, listen again to verses 46-47 “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” They exhibited in the living of their lives together, the freedom won for us by Christ. And that drew people to them and to Christ.

Our freedom in Christ, the way we live out abundant living, that can be a powerful way of drawing others to want what we’ve been given by grace through faith alone. Living in the abundance that Jesus supplies us, that gives us the renewal we needed in our relationship with God our creator. That joyfulness that’s ours, others can then see and want for themselves.

We open up and truly live that forgiveness we’ve been given by The Substitute, Jesus Christ. We’re free to embrace the life of forgiveness only because He has first embraced us by His grace and mercy alone. God has declared it to be legally ours.

Just like Napoleon declared that young father legally dead, God declares us legally alive and free. God’s forgiveness and freedom in the sacrifice of The Substitute are ours by the power of the Holy Spirit to joyfully live in. So, in the name of Jesus, the Lamb of God, we live life so that others can know that His forgiveness is for them as well. All this is because, Christ is risen… He is risen indeed, amen.

Sermon #890 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

First Reading                                                                         Acts 2:42-47

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Epistle Reading                                                                        1 Peter 2:19-25

19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

22 “He committed no sin,       and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

 Holy Gospel                                       John 10:1-10

10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.                                                                                                                 7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.