Sermon – May 24, 2020 – Ascension

/in /by

Printable PDF:  5-24-2020 Ascension Sermon 2020

Pastor Jacobson  ~  Jesus’ Ascension  ~  May 24, 2020  ~  Ephesians 1:16-23

16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

THE ASCENDED JESUS IS ABOVE ALL

“Sometimes I dream that he is me. You’ve got to see that’s how I dream to be. I dream I move, I dream I groove like Mike. If I could be like Mike.” The last 5 Sundays, ESPN televised a 10-episode docuseries on the 1998 National Basketball Association champion Chicago Bulls. The docuseries features retired Basketball superstar Michael “Air” Jordan. The docuseries allowed young fans the opportunity to learn what the fuss was all about with that team. The docuseries allowed older fans a chance to relive those championships in the 90s and perhaps learn something about them that they had missed. And what I learned is that Michael Jordan had a little bit of a “potty” mouth and that his “Air Jordan” shoes are still selling more than any other basketball player today.

I know Michael “Air” Jordan better, but the player we want to dedicate the rest of our study time today has much more hang time than Michael “Air” Jordan. When the Apostle Paul wrote a 6-chapter document to the Christians gathered in the city of Ephesus, the ascended Jesus had been above the clouds for about 30 years. In the words before us today Paul gives his past and current readers deeper knowledge of what Jesus’ Ascension is all about and what it means for us today.

  1. Let’s get to know him and his ascension better.

The Apostle Paul was certainly upbeat when he wrote, “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” There was much to be thankful for in Ephesus. Paul was happy to hear they were continuing to live in their Christian faith. Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving quickly turns into a prayer of intercession, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

It’s important to note that Paul’s prayer isn’t asking for the Ephesian Christians to do anything more than they were already doing. They were reading their Bibles and studying their Scriptures. They listened to their preachers and asked questions in the synagogue. Paul is not asking them to do anything differently, but Paul is asking God to do something. Paul wants God to give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that they can know him better.

Maybe you have had this experience. You are reading a book, a real book, not an I-pad book or a Kindle book, but a book with pages you need to manually turn. And you can read the book just fine, but then someone walks behind you and turns on a light. And wow, you can read much better. The Holy Spirit does us the same favor. The Holy Spirit helps us see what we are reading. The Holy Spirit helps us understand what we are hearing. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, Paul wants his readers to have a better understanding of three things. The first is, “That you may know the hope to which he has called you.”  You were born with a calling. At birth you were called to be a son or a daughter of your parents. In life you have taken any number of different callings in your family and in society. The hope in your calling as a Christian is that you will be in heaven. In heaven you will be seated with Christ in his heavenly realm. In heaven you will see God face-to-face without the shame that comes from sin. In heaven you will serve the Lord without any of the shortcomings of a sinful nature and a fallen world.

Your hope of heaven is certain because of its connection to the riches of his glorious inheritance. That’s Paul’s second prayer point. An inheritance is a gift. An inheritance is gifted after the testator dies. When Jesus died he gifted you with the forgiveness of sins. Your forgiveness of sins inheritance fully covers the multitude of transgressions you charged onto your account. Have you been like the Lost Son in Jesus’ parable? Have you squandered your resources in wild living? The Father welcomes you home though the blood of Jesus Christ. Are you like Rahab in the Old Testament? Is your name forever known among people because of a specific sin? Rahab, by God’s grace, became a member of the promised line of the Savior. And you, by God’s grace, were brought into his family through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. You are a rags-to-riches story because of your inheritance of forgiveness when Jesus died on the cross.

And the third purpose of Paul’s prayer benefits you right now. His incomparable great power for us who believe. Paul has more to say about this power. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”  You have all kinds of power. You have leg power. Get up and get it yourself. You have horse power. Get in the car and drive. You have 5G power. Go online. You have all kinds of power, but none of that power is comparable to the power at work when you contemplate God’s Word in your life. That power is only comparable to the resurrection and ascension of your Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a miraculous power at work in you and for you.

And you need that power! Without that power, you will constantly doubt God’s ability to provide you with what you need. Without that power, you think you need to sidestep God’s commandments in order to get what is good for you. Without that power, you will always fail to do what is right in the face of pressure and persecution. God’s power helps you believe what God’s Word says and not what this world says. God’s power enables you to be more like Christ and less like yourselves and your sinful nature.

  1. Let’s understand what his ascension means for us.

Paul continues, “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” It helps to see these verses played out in time and we see these verses played out in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts. In the Gospels it only looks like Pontius Pilate is the head, and Christ is something else. In the Book of Acts it only looks like the enemies of Christ are in change, and the apostles are done for. Looking back, in the gospels, Christ was head over Pilate for the sake of the church, and in the Book of Acts, Christ was head over persecutions for the sake of the church. And so it will always be in times of war and in times peace, in a soaring economy and in a great depression, and in good health and in a mysterious pandemic. Christ is always in charge, and we as the church will always benefit. We are his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

It’s strange to think Christ needs us, that Christ would somehow be incomplete if the church were to cease to exist, but that is exactly what Paul is saying. Christ is the Head. The Church is the body. The body is dead without a head. The head doesn’t function without a body. So it is with Christ. The ascended Jesus is above all. He rules over everything for the benefit of the Church. And as our Head he rules in us, the Church, for the benefit of this world. In Christ, we as a Church live and move and have our being. We are his legs. We as a Church go into all the world. We are his hands. We as a Church serve the Lord with all our abilities. We are his voice. We as a Church have the good news of all the great things he has done. I don’t know what I’ll watch on television tonight. I think the History Channel will have old war documentaries this weekend. The story of Ascension continues as Christ continues to rule over the world for the Church, and Christ is ruling in us, the Church, through the gospel for the benefit of the world. Amen.

Sermon – May 17, 2020 – Easter 6

/in /by

Printable PDF:  5-17-2020 Easter 6 Sermon

David R. Clark  ~  1 Peter 3:15-22  ~  May 17, 2020  ~  Easter 6

You Have Been Cleansed by Christ

15But 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, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18For 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. 19After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—20to 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, 21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the legal claim of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

          I have had some interesting conversations with people over the last eight weeks. Many people expressed a desire to come back to church. Others expressed concern. But some felt guilty about not coming back.

          Guilt is a tough emotion. When people sin, they should feel guilty. Those who have been forgiven should not. It’s a subject about which people don’t like to talk. I did a Google search on the word, “guilt.” I found the following:

  • definitions of guilt
  • many, many self-help steps to get rid of guilt
  • a recipe for “guilt free late night nachos.”

Most amazing was the 176 million hits for a subject people don’t like to talk about! Christians are a little more willing to talk about guilt, but when it comes to sin, death, and guilt doesn’t it seem we talk way more about sin and death than we do about guilt. St. Peter wants you to know that Jesus’ resurrection also washed away guilt!

 

  1. Cleansed to witness Christ.

          I haven’t heard this much about washing my hands since I was in Kindergarten. I do it so that I won’t get sick. I also recognize that medical people wash their hands and even wear gloves for a slightly different purpose. It’s so they can treat others. You and I are cleansed of our guilt. We are also cleansed to treat others. That’s what Peter says in verses 15-17. 15But 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, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

          Guilt is suffering because of sin. When we do something wrong, our conscience makes us feel bad. It’s God’s way of showing us when we don’t measure up. Sometimes it makes us feel bad for things that happened years before. So when Jesus rose from the grave also to take away guilt, it means so much! It’s why we revere Jesus in our hearts. We revere Jesus in our hearts and in the way we think, talk, and act.

          That change is noticeable to people still ruled by guilt. Some people will notice. It’s kind of like what happens when someone loses a lot of weight. Some notice and ask how they did it. This is losing the weight of guilt. It’s noticeable.

          It is so noticeable Peter encourages us to be ready when someone asks us about it. Have an answer, even if it’s as simple as “Christ is risen” or “Jesus took away my sin, so I don’t have to feel guilty about something that is taken away.” You have been cleansed of your guilt so that you can witness Christ!

 

  1. Cleansed by Christ’s resurrection.

 Some might be threatened by guilt-free behavior. They will think you are judging them or worse. They are like that person that feels jealous because they have not lost weight, but someone else has.

So what do we say when people question why we don’t live in guilt? We don’t because we know this: 18For 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. 19After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—20to 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, 21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the legal claim of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

          It’s kind of ironic, but during the Flood, the very water that destroyed every living being on this earth saved Noah and his family. Today the water of baptism stills saves us. Baptism is not washing your hands to keep COVID-19 away or simply a pious tradition. This water washes away sin and the guilt from sin through the power of Christ’s resurrection.

          We need that. In our moments of weakness, we need that assurance all over again. When our faith is weak, we can resort to the way the world deals with guilt. The world uses harming yourself, overeating, drug/alcohol abuse, promiscuity, or shopping yourself into debt. All of these solutions offer some momentary pleasure, but in the end these are Satan’s solutions which means they make guilt even worse. Satan is like a spiritual loan shark. You pay and pay and pay the interest, the guilt, but you never pay the principle, the sin. Finally he will take your life.

          That is, until we know a risen Jesus. His resurrection assures us that all the payment has been made. Satan won’t like it when he can’t get you to feel guilty, so he will try to make you doubt. That is also why God gives us baptism, a specific promise on a specific day that we can point to as an assurance that God’s promise of salvation has been applied to us personally.

If people ignore or reject or downplay Jesus’ resurrection in their words and actions, they should feel guilt. It’s God’s way of getting their attention. But for you and me, Christ has risen! He has risen for your sin, for your life, and also for your guilt. Rejoice, brothers and sisters, and live guilt-free in Jesus! Amen.

Sermon – May 10, 2020 – Easter 5

/in /by

Printable PDF:  5-10-2020 Easter 5 Sermon

Vicar Jason Lindemann  ~  1 Peter 2:4-10  ~  May 10, 2020  ~  Easter 5

CHRIST IS OUR CORNERSTONE

4As you come to him, the living Stone-rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him – 5you 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. 6For 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.” 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8and, “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.

9But 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. 10Once 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.

 

JESUS IS THE LIVING STONE

When you are writing, do you prefer a pen or a pencil? I always needed a pencil because pencils have erasers, and I was constantly making corrections. When you want your writing to be permanent, then you can use the pen (and if you make a mistake, you can still scribble out what you wrote). From a carpenter I learned the phrase “Measure twice, cut once.” You can measure over and over, but what you cut off is off for good. You can always cut off a little more, but what you cut is permanent. The most permanent thing I can think of is setting something in stone. When something is set in stone, it’s not changing. It takes jack hammers and intense work to change what is set in stone. Peter reveals something even more permanent than stone. Jesus is the Living Stone. He is permanent and reliable. That Stone fits in only one place and that stone builds something special.

  1. The Stone fits in only one place. (verses 4-8)

In Peter’s time, they didn’t have big construction equipment to build houses with steel and concrete. The ancient builders built with stones. Peter used this picture of building with stones to teach us the only place where the Living Stone fits. He shows us where Jesus fits in our lives. The cornerstone is the most important stone of the whole project. The cornerstone needed to be perfect. The cornerstone was the foundation. The cornerstone made the wall strong. The whole building had to rely on the cornerstone. Ancient builders carefully selected the cornerstone. They had to reject any stone that wasn’t perfect. Peter also described God as a builder. God had an incredible project in mind, and God had the perfect Cornerstone. Jesus is the Living Stone, the Cornerstone that God chose. Jesus fits perfectly there. No other cornerstone would work.

Some builders don’t want Jesus as their cornerstone. They don’t think that the Stone that God chose is the right stone for their cornerstone. Those builders are the unbelievers. They could be like the religious leaders who had Jesus crucified, or they could be like anyone who trusts in someone other than Jesus. Those builders reject the Cornerstone. They don’t like the way God’s Cornerstone looks, they think they have a better idea, or they just don’t want to be told what to do. Unbelievers reject Jesus. They don’t believe in him or rely on him. Since they reject Jesus as their Cornerstone, they only trip and fall. People are full of sin. Anything they replace God’s select Cornerstone with is full of sin. Anyone that doesn’t rely on Jesus falls apart.

Jesus is our precious Cornerstone because of what he does. Jesus has made those who believe in him and rely on him acceptable to God because he covers all their sins. Those who rely only on Jesus will live. When the storms come and everything else falls apart, those who are built on Jesus will still stand. Jesus is the holiness that people need. God loves believers built on Jesus.

The Living Stone fits in only one place. How will you builders build your lives? Is there a temptation to reject him like the unbelievers do? Many people look at Jesus and think, “I just don’t like the way that looks,” when they see that Jesus needs to have the number one spot in their hearts and they can’t just live according to their own rules. They might think they have a better idea than relying on Jesus, like relying on human wisdom or their own power or on what others rely. They might see Jesus, the Living Stone, placed as the Cornerstone and think, “No one is going to tell me what to do; I’ll figure this out for myself.” Some try to fit Jesus in their lives somewhere as an afterthought. But when they rely on anything besides the Living Stone, they will crumble.

The Living Stone fits in only one place in your lives. Rely on Jesus. God has given you the precious, living Stone. He hasn’t given you an afterthought. God has given you his own Son. He loved you so much that even though your sins will make you stumble and crumble, he gave you Jesus, so that you will live. Jesus is holy; Jesus is sinless. God has carefully placed his precious Jesus as your Cornerstone so that you are holy, sinless, and precious to God.

God has made him precious to you, too. Jesus paid for your sins. Jesus took your fall so that you never will. And Jesus rose from the dead and lives so that you will also live. You don’t rely on a dead stone, but a Living Stone. So what will you do with him? Reject him? Far from it. “The one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” You have everything when Jesus is your Cornerstone. When temptations come, especially temptations to reject him, don’t rely on yourself to defeat them, but even then rely on Jesus. Jesus will remain strong for you. He will take care of you forever.

Your Cornerstone is Jesus – your living and reliable Savior. God carefully chose your Cornerstone and has given you what is most precious to him, and now Jesus is there for you. So what has God built on this Cornerstone? He’s built you on the Cornerstone.

  1. The Stone builds something special. (verses 9-10)

That precious Living Stone has built something quite special. Peter calls it God’s special possession. The building on the Living Cornerstone is not something made with hands – not a house or even a church building. It’s much better than that. It’s “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” It’s a spiritual house – the people of the Church. God has placed his Cornerstone for them all. The Cornerstone is for you and for everyone. There’s a whole nation of people that rely on him! Not a nation based on location or race, but a nation of hearts that rely on him. This nation shares the same name – Christians – and relies on the same Cornerstone – Jesus.

Christians are a treasure to God. At one time, they were not his treasure. At one time, we separated ourselves from God because of our sin. We were not his people, we were in the darkness of sin. But now, through Jesus Christ and faith in him, we are God’s people. We have the wonderful light of his mercy. His spiritual house is “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” Not a tagalong, but specifically chosen. Not disgraceful people, but royal. Not sinful, but holy. Christians have Jesus’ perfect sinless status before God, so they are his treasure.

By his mercy, you are his. At one time you were not his. You were lost in sin, separated from God, giving into temptation after temptation and relying on yourself. But he chose you. He showed you mercy. He gave you Jesus and built you into his spiritual house. Your location and the status of your family does not matter, because he built you together with other Christians to be his precious family. God has made you into something special to him through Jesus Christ.

Often times, it may not feel like you’re precious to God when the world rejects you. Like the world rejected Jesus as its Cornerstone, it rejects those who follow Jesus, too. They may treat you like a disgrace and try to make you feel worthless. The devil wants you to feel rejected and alone. But even though everyone – the world, your friends, maybe even your family may reject you, God will not. God cannot, because you rely on the Living Stone who cannot fail. You are precious to him because you are built on Jesus. Through Jesus, God has things in store for you because you are chosen by him, royal and holy in his sight. Jesus rose from the dead, and you who rely on him will also rise from the dead. He has mercy on those who are built on him.

You are set in Jesus, the Living Stone. He fits in only one place in your life and in your church. He is the Cornerstone. He is the one upon whom we rely. God makes something special out of the ones who are built on the Living Stone. He has made an everlasting family who believe in Jesus and who will live with him forever in heaven. That’s not written in pencil or ink; it’s set in Living Stone. Amen.

Sermon – May 3, 2020 – Easter 4

/in /by

Printable PDF:  5-3-2020 Easter 4 Sermon

Pastor Mark R. Jacobson  †  Easter 4  †  May 3, 2020  †  1 Peter 2:19-25

19For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20But 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. 21To 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.” 23When 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.” 25For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

26 Martyrs MonumentTHE SHEPHERD RETURNS HIS STRAYING SHEEP…

The picture to the left is the Twenty-Six Martyrs Monument. This monument commemorates the 26 Christians who lost their lives in Nagasaki, Japan on February 5, 1597. They were crucified and lanced to death. All these Christians had to do was deny their faith and freedom was theirs. According to a report, one of the 26, a 12-year old boy, when asked to deny his faith said this, “Sir, it would be better if you yourself become a Christian and could go to heaven where I am going. Sir, which is my cross?” The stunned official pointed to the smallest of the crosses on the hill. The young boy ran toward that cross, knelt in front of it and embraced it. It is also said the 26 martyrs sang God’s praises until they could sing no more. How commendable! That’s what the Twenty-Six Martyrs Monument does! It commends them. These martyrs bore up under the pain of unjust suffering because they were conscious of God.

  1. …from the sin of retaliation.

The Apostle Peter, in his first letter, was writing to believers who were suffering unjustly. We’re not given any specifics about their unjust sufferings, only that their suffering was related to their faith in Jesus Christ. At this time, the Romans were heavily involved in emperor worship. Emperor worship was viewed as good for national unity. The Greeks believed in any number of deities and all the metal and wooden images dedicated to them was good for the economy. And so Christians, at this time, had become viewed as rebels against national unity and bottlenecks for the local economy. We can’t be sure of the exact cause of their unjust suffering, but prior to our lesson Peter encouraged the Christians with these words, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (2:12). Peter’s message was “Be a model citizen. Be a good neighbor. Be a hard worker.” This was how they could witness to unbelievers! This was how their critics could be won over. But not all the critics of Christianity were won over. As a result, Christians endured unjust suffering. It wasn’t right! It was discrimination against Christians, but this was the point where God’s sheep were apt to stray.

Straying sheep don’t think they are straying. Straying sheep think they are grazing from the field in which they were supposed to stay, but they are not. Straying sheep leave their home field because they lose consciousness of where they are. Straying sheep wind up far from home and can’t make it back on their own. Like sheep, Christians don’t all of a sudden purposely leave Christ. Like sheep, Christians stray, and they don’t know they are straying. Straying Christians think they are believing in Jesus. They know God created the world and cares for the people it. They pledge allegiance to the flag and pray over the food they eat. Straying Christians live by the Golden rule of “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you,” but haven’t you noticed that all that kind of Christianity seems to disappear when you face unjust suffering? When you encounter unjust suffering, what happens to that ‘love your neighbor’ stuff or ‘honor your mother and father and others in authority’ or ‘whatever you do (even as you face unjust suffering), do it all for the glory of God’?

I know two wrongs don’t make a right, but when somebody wrongs me I can feel completely justified in wronging them back. And this is where I stray even when I don’t think I am straying. It’s the sin of retaliation. And the most dangerous aspect of retaliation could be that we feel completely justified in our retaliating. If my neighbor’s a jerk, I can feel completely justified in talking badly about him to others. If my company or country isn’t fair to me, I feel completely justified in not doing my best work for my company and country. And if the vast majority of people in my society think I am narrow-minded for believing in Christ or ignorant for believing in a 6-day creation or barbaric and out of touch for believing in marriage between a man and woman, I can feel completely justified in wishing for God to bring them to judgment. It’s not right for me to suffer unjustly, and I do have a right to defend myself, but it’s at these very moments when I stray from the Christian faith without even realizing I am straying from the Christian faith because I am retaliating against those who are wronging me.

Fellow sheep, we have been called to follow Christ! We are called to love those who hate us. We are called to forgive those who hurt us. We are called to pray for the best for those who wish us the worst. The sin of retaliation means we’re lost, and we might not even know it. Peter says, “You were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”  

  1. …to the example on the cross.

Straying sheep don’t find their own way home. Straying sheep need to be found and brought back into the fold. Straying sheep need a shepherd, and there’s nothing better for straying sheep than to hear the voice of their shepherd. The same is true for straying believers.  

Straying believers can’t find their way back to God. Straying believers don’t stumble back into faith. Straying believers need God to come get them. The Greek word translated, “you have returned,” is in the passive voice, not the active voice. Straying believers are not like the person who lost their car keys and is actively searching for them. No, straying believers are like the lost car keys, and if the lost car keys are ever to function as car keys again, the driver had better find the keys. What that means is our returning to God is not about us. Our returning is not about us actively making better choices and actively correcting our mistakes. We are passive. We need God to find us and to find his way back into our hearts and the only way he does that is though the voice of the Gospel.

The Gospel is the good news about Jesus. The Good News about Jesus is all he did to save us. In our lesson Peter says, “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his month.” Jesus didn’t do anything wrong. Jesus spoke the truth in love. And yet Jesus was still mocked and mistreated. Had Jesus retaliated, had Jesus made threats, Jesus would have lost credit for our salvation and we would have lost out on salvation. “By his wounds, you have been healed.”  

“Jesus entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” On the cross Jesus was conscious of his heavenly Father. Jesus was also conscious of his assignment. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” How do we die to sins? ‘To die to sins’ means we’re not going to retaliate. When someone is pushing our buttons we’re going to be like a remote control without batteries. We’re going to follow the example of Jesus. We’re going to follow in his steps. “To live for righteousness” is to live as Jesus lived, to follow Jesus’ example, to follow in his steps. That means living for Jesus and not our own comfort. It means loving those who hate us, forgiving those who hurt us and praying for the best for those who wish us the worst. Stephen in our first lesson is an example of this, so are the 26 martyrs in Nagasaki in the year 1597. They listened to the voice of their Shepherd and followed him. And when we face unjust suffering, we have the opportunity to show our God and ourselves and maybe even some others that God is our Shepherd, and we love being his sheep. Amen.