Shepherds Watch Out for Wolves

Fourth Sunday of Easter

April 26, 2015

Acts 20:28-30

Shepherds Watch Out for Wolves

In the name of the Father and of † the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. (Acts 20:28)

In his final sermon to a group of fellow pastors, Paul told them above all to keep watch like a shepherd. First of all, pastors should keep watch over themselves. Secondly, pastors should keep watch over their congregations.

Shepherds in the field watching over their flocks at night or by day might have thought that their work was routine. It would have been tempting to find a tree and sit down and daydream. It would have been easy to become bored; some shepherds probably even fell asleep on the job while the sheep wandered around and away.

My guess is that the best shepherds are the ones who understand that their routine of watching was important. The best shepherds looked at their sheep as part of their family. They wouldn't sit under a tree; they'd walk among the sheep and get to know them. When one started to wander off, the shepherd noticed. If wolves were around, the alert shepherd would be on guard and protect the sheep from danger.

Pastors will learn from the best practices of good shepherds.

First of all, pastors should keep watch over themselves. The wisest way for me as a pastor to watch over myself is to look at myself through the Word of God every day. So every day I need to be listening to Jesus' words: His rebuke of who I am, a sinner, and His promise of who He is, the forgiver.

A pastor who doesn't pray is going to end up faking his way through his job. He won't hear Jesus speaking into his ear every day killing him and raising him back to life. He won't be reminded of how much Christ loves the members of his church who are under his spiritual care. The work of the church will become routine to the non-praying pastor because he won't be daily confronted by the fact that he and all his members are sinners. If a pastor isn't grounded in the reality of his sin, then while he might be very busy, he won't be using his time to focus on the most important things.

Now a pastor with a family and a congregation doesn't have a lot of time. My wolf inside me keeps on suggesting to me that spending time in daily prayer could be better used in more productive ways. But my flesh is hungry wolf trying to destroy me and needs to be regularly smacked down with God's Word. This is one of the reasons I have been talking about daily prayer at church in our newsletter.

I put Matins in the newsletter every week to force myself to pray. If I wasn't afraid of one of you showing up at 6:30, I'd be awfully tempted to skip. So I do this more for myself in my daily watch with Jesus than for any other reason. Good habits come with difficulty (like praying daily) and bad habits come easily (not praying), so a wise shepherd, who knows how foolish he is, knows how helpful is it to have others watching out for him.

This is why weekly time with other Christians in Bible Study is so helpful for me. Pastors need to be sounding out their theology with their members a lot. So come and do that today. Some of you never or rarely come to study with us after the service. Whatever your reasons are, please considering coming to help me, your shepherd. You will have questions and insights that I don't have. Please stop keeping your faith to yourself; share it with me and your fellow sheep.

Pastors also need to be sounding out their theology with other pastors; we need to be asking each other questions and digging into God's Word a lot. I go to several pastors' gatherings throughout the year. The purpose of my continuing education is to sharpen my thoughts about Jesus' words with others who are wrestling with many of the same thoughts. Just as doctors, engineers, and teachers seek the wisest approaches to their work, and wisely keep honing their knowledge, pastors need to examine our doctrine and practice, too.

Secondly, pastors should keep watch over their congregations, like a shepherd watching out for his flock. Paul warned his fellow pastors:

[S]avage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. (Acts 20:29-30)

Paul was correct and what he predicted sadly came true. False pastors came and lied about Jesus. Perhaps worse was that some believers became convinced that they knew Jesus better than Jesus knew Himself. Loud voices in the church of Paul's day insisted that faith in Christ alone was not enough to be saved. This directed contradicted Christ who said

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)

Many were fooled and led away by these falsehoods, like sheep lead away by false shepherds. They added themselves into their own salvation and lived on this new motto: "I and Jesus together are the way and the truth and the life." Their inner wolf was trying to eat them alive.

Paul was speaking about external threats to the Church and dangers that come from within the Church. We live in similar times—we face wolves from without and within the church. And these threats often ooze into one big lie.

The lie that shepherds and their flocks must confront together is the claim that everyone has the right to be happy. And the wolves within the Church insist that Jesus agrees. They claim that Jesus just wants everybody to be happy. It's hard to argue against Jesus and happiness.

But shepherds who treat their flocks as their own will argue against this lie. They will recognize this lie is the first lie, the original lie, told not by a wolf, but by the snake in the Garden of Eden. The snake lied to Adam and Eve that eating the forbidden fruit would make them happy because they would be like God. I always am amazed at how quick they were to eat the fruit, until I look at myself and see the same speed to sin in me. Behind my lamb-y eyes is a wolf staring back at me. As Paul said in Romans:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24)

Who will save me? Jesus' answer to Paul's lament is the answer that is for Paul and for your pastor and for you.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. . . . I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me—just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. . . . The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life—only to take it up again. (John 10:11, 14, 15, 17)

Our Good Shepherd sacrificed Himself to the wolf, to Death, and by dying He decisively defeated the wolf. The proof of His victory on the cross is that empty tomb. He is our Good Shepherd because He is risen. He's risen indeed!

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. Alleluia! Amen!

Another Servant Recognizes Peter's Voice

Third Sunday of Easter

April 19, 2015

Acts 12:14

Another Servant Recognizes Peter's Voice

In the name of the Father and of † the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

This could have been Peter's good Friday. There are many parallels with what happened to Peter in Acts 12 and what happened to Jesus before He was crucified. But there are a couple of big differences.

Let's mention the similarities first.

One thing that was the same was that after Jesus died His disciples gathered in a house and shut themselves inside because they were afraid. This happened again when James was murdered by King Herod and had arrested Peter, too. Jesus' followers were afraid.

Another thing that was the same both times was a servant girl heard Peter's voice and recognized it. While Jesus was on trial, Peter's voice gave him away as one of Jesus' followers. Tragically, Peter denied knowing Jesus at all, just as Jesus had said He would. Later, when Peter was arrested himself a few years later and then was set free, he went to house of his fellow believers and knocked on the locked door. A servant girl named Rhoda heard Peter's voice and recognized him. And this time it was a happy recognition; His words weren't important and weren't recorded, but the fact that he was talking and breathing outside her door was a miracle from the Lord!

Something else was the timing. Jesus and Peter both were arrested during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the time of the Passover. Their enemies planned to execute them after the Passover. It would be hard to imagine that Peter wasn't mulling over that coincidence as he sat in his prison cell.

Then there were the angels. They came to help Peter and Jesus during their time of suffering. In Gethsemane before Jesus was arrested the Father sent one of His angels to strengthen Him, as His answer to Jesus' request:

"Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. (Luke 22:42-43)

And right here is where the similarities end, and the wonderful differences begin. The angel was sent and strengthened Jesus to prepare Him for death; on the other hand, an angel was sent to spare Peter from death. This reversal of events was so stunning that even Peter thought he was dreaming his rescue.

Peter came to himself and [he] said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent His angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating." (Acts 12:11)

The differences in these events demonstrates God's mercy on us. He takes people who have been humbled by their sin, their love of themselves, and makes them whole in His blood. Peter's love of himself is found out by the words of a nameless servant girl; he is brought to the brink of death by her simple questions and accusations.

So often we experience the same humbling that Peter went through. A child notices our inconsistency in our words and deeds; someone you hired pointed out that your big idea had a big hole in it. We are all big and important to someone and so often those who are small in our life show us our hypocrisy and sin.

Don't despair. Be like Peter in this way also. After the rooster crowed and woke Peter up from his lies about how he didn't know Jesus, Peter was correctly ashamed. But even then on the night Jesus was betrayed, Peter's rescue wasn't his own doing; Jesus brought Peter back from the brink of death with His divine words, "Peace be with you," on the night of His resurrection.

While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself! Touch Me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, He asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate it in their presence. He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:36-45)

He opened their minds not with some special knowledge that has been lost to us through the centuries. He isn't giving them a top secret briefing for apostles' eyes only. He told them what you have already been taught: Jesus is the fulfillment of the Scriptures; He is the one who saves you by His death and blood. And now He gives you His blood today to forgive you from all your shame and humiliation. He brings you back from the brink of death with His life-giving body. And now because of His mercy not only will the great and small here on earth recognize your voice, but He does too, now and forever.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. Alleluia! Amen!

Paul Preaches Resurrection to Slaves and Kings

Second Sunday of Easter

April 12, 2015

Acts 26:19-29

Paul Preaches Resurrection to Slaves and Kings

In the name of the Father and of † the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Before Jesus was arrested and brought to trial, He told His disciples:

Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. . . . Everyone will hate you because of Me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Mark 13:11, 13)

Jesus' prediction came true for Paul in Acts 26, our first lesson this morning. What you heard there was Paul's back and forth with the local king Herod Agrippa and the Roman governor Festus. Let me explain why they were in the same room.

About two years earlier Paul had returned to Jerusalem from his missionary travels. He had gone to the Temple to worship, but was spotted by Jewish pilgrims who had heard him while he had preached in Asia. They hated him because he preached Christ alone for salvation. So they stirred up the crowd and grabbed Paul at church. They would have killed him immediately, but the local Roman soldiers stepped in and took Paul away from his fellow Jews. They didn't care about Paul; they just wanted to stop a riot.

Indeed they cared so little about Paul that they were about to flog him to punish him for getting attacked by his countrymen! The only thing that saved his back was revealing that he was a Roman citizen and entitled to the Roman version of due process.

The Romans then transport Paul to the local Roman headquarters in Caesarea along the Mediterranean coast. There he confessed Christ's crucifixion, death, and resurrection to the Roman governor for two years.

Then a new governor was appointed in A.D. 60. His name was Festus and was making the rounds visiting his new posting. The local king named Herod Agrippa came to pay his respects to the new Roman headman. The topic of Paul came up and Agrippa wanted to talk to him.

And so we come to the scene today. In the first half of chapter 26, Paul explained how he was once a mortal enemy of the Christians. But that all changed when Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus. He told them how in the days that followed Christ used His Words to kill the old Saul and to create a new man named Paul whom He sent out to proclaim His death and resurrection to forgive the sins of the world. Paul went on:

So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen―that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to His own people and to the Gentiles. (Acts 26:19-23)

Two points: first, Paul is not creating a new religion. He's not inventing a new way to believe. He's simply a prophet of the New Testament, like Moses of the Old, who spoke of the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. Moses looked forward to Jesus' death and rising; Paul looked back and confessed that Jesus had died and was risen.

Secondly, this joyful truth was all people, both small and great. What is marvelous is that while Paul was under arrest for two years, he was preaching and singing and praying every day in prison. He was allowed to have guests. He had to have guards. His words about the risen Christ were heard. Many rejected Christ; for others the Holy Spirit created or strengthened trust in Christ through their hearing.

At this point Festus interrupted Paul's defense, shouting, "You are out of your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane." Paul replied, "I am not insane, most excellent Festus. What I am saying is true and reasonable. The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do." Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" Paul replied, "Short time or long―I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains." (Acts 26:24-29)

The reaction of the powerful men demonstrated something useful. For those outside of faith, the resurrection of Christ is outside of reason. Though unbelievers trust many things they can't prove and haven't seen, when it comes to Christ, they demand proof. They echo Thomas' demand to see the hand and side of Jesus.

And so Paul can't persuade them through his great learning or his reasonable words. And he's doesn't try to do that. When Agrippa asked if Paul thought he could convert him, Paul prayed. And not just for Agrippa or Festus, but for all the court toadies listening. For all the soldiers and commanders listening. For all the servants and slaves listening. He prayed that they might thought insane by the world, because trust in Christ is unreasonable to the world. But to believers it is sanity because it is reality. It is truth. It is life. It is the way. And thus Paul wrote to his fellow insane believers in Corinth.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. Alleluia! Amen!

The Theology of the Cross: Means, Motive, Opportunity

Resurrection Sunday

April 5, 2015

Mark 16:1-8

The Theology of the Cross:

Means, Motive, Opportunity

In the name of the Father and of † the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

It was the scene of the crime: a bloody cross on a hill. And then they took the body down and placed the dead body in a new tomb. And finally on the third day the dead body wasn't dead anymore and the tomb was empty.

These two scenes are the pivot points of history: the cross upon which Jesus hung and the tomb which He left empty. And they proclaim the means, the motive, and the opportunity that our merciful God used to commit the mighty act that rescued us.

The motive behind the full cross and the empty tomb was our sin and God's mercy. The Lord God hates sinners and their sins, but He also loves us. So He sent His Son to proclaim His motives that have led Him to act opposite of what we sinners deserve. Jesus explained:

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because He has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." (John 3:16-21)

God's verdict was condemnation for all our crimes against Him and others. And His decision is right because we are born desiring our own way against anyone else's, especially God's way.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way (Isaiah 53:6a)

We turn to our own way daily: we lose our temper when we don't get our way. Maybe we can contain it; perhaps not. We turn to our own way when we make decisions about babies and marriage based on what we feel is best. We turn to our own way when we believe that being nice to others is how we get God to like us, maybe even love us. It isn't.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

The means behind the full cross and the empty tomb is Jesus who hung on the cross and Jesus who left the tomb. Jesus is the means of our salvation; He is the only reason God loves you, and because Jesus is the reason, He loves very much, which means He forgives you all your sin, all your turning to your own ways.

His verdict against your sins still stand, but in His mercy, He gives the opposite of what we deserve—forgiveness and life—by giving Jesus the opposite of what He deserved—suffering and death.

God made Him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The Father punished His Son for our sin, our hatred, our greed, our lust, our grudges, all of it, even the sins of which we aren't aware. And the Father treasured and honored His Son by raising Him to life. He used all of history to lead up to the opportunity to carry out His plan to save you. All of history led to that cross and tomb just outside Jerusalem. And now you personal history has brought you here, where Jesus takes this opportunity to give you His forgiveness through this fellow sinner, who speaks on His behalf and with His authority: "I forgive you all your sin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." This is the theology of the cross that is all for you, and what the angel proclaimed just outside the tomb:

Don't be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here." (Mark 16:6)

The full cross and the empty tomb are the historic scenes where God's motive of mercy against our sin was accomplished, using His Son as the means to accomplish it, and now He uses this opportunity to bring you His promise of forgiveness.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. Alleluia! Amen!

Guest Sermon on Good Friday

GOOD FRIDAY

Service of Darkness Commentary

By Pastor Wade Johnston

Does it bother you? The crucifix—does it bother you? I don’t mean this crucifix. I mean the crucifix the holy evangelists set before us today. Does it bother you? Does it seem too gruesome, too depressing? Does it bother you?

Look at what we’ve done. We’ve killed God. Who will be God now? Will you be God? Will I? That may work for a while, but what will we do when God dies, as we all will? We’ve killed God. Where do we turn now? Shall we cease praying? Shall we surrender all morality since we’ve crucified absolute Truth? Shall we despair of life and do what God did: die? We killed God. What shall we do?

Look at him. This is not he; this is a representation of that day. Look at him. Close your eyes and look through the lenses of whatever faith you have left. Look at him. Who would believe in him—weak, naked, bloody, covered in spit, sunken and dead? Look at him. There is your God, you Christian. How foolish can you be?

Nietzsche said it long ago and today it is true: “God is dead.” And Nietzsche is dead too. And we will be dead soon as well. What a world? Dirt and worms, pine boxes and makeup on a cold, lifeless face.

Does it bother you? Why should it? This what you wanted, isn’t it? You got your way. Every thoughtless word, every carnal deed, ever wayward thought—this is what you wanted. You killed God. Does it bother you? I don’t see why it would.

Aren’t translators nice? They’ve cleaned things up for you. We closed our Service of Seven Words earlier with Hymn 137. We sang in verse 2: “Oh, sorrow dread! God’s Son is dead!” But, uh oh, they made your pastor learn German in college, cruel slave drivers that they were. Let me tell you what the German says: “O grosse Not! Gott selbst is tot, am Kreuz ist er gestorben.” In English, “O great sorrow! God himself is dead, on the cross he has died.” But that might offend you. That might convict you. That might make you think the unthinkable: we killed God.

Will you smile as you leave? Will you leave the nave in silence but engage in trite chatter in the narthex? Will you say, “Nice sermon, Pastor,” and go watch Michigan State as if nothing happened. God died today. Do you care? Will you care? Why should you care? He’s dead, what can you do about it?

You can believe. You can believe that God cannot die, that God lives, that although he dies he lives forever, and in him you will live as well. You killed God. It is true. But it is also true that you cannot kill him. He gave up his life. He held himself to the cross—your nails cannot hold God. You killed God, and God let you kill him, that he might never have to kill you, kill you with everlasting death in the fires of hell. You killed him, and it could happen no other way.

“Go!” “Suffer!” “Die!”—these are the words we must yell today. Do not be so naïve as to think they are not, because if he does not go, suffer, and die, he cannot rise, and if he does not rise, you will never rise as well. This is what he was born to do. This is why God became man. God must forsake God. God must punish God. God must hate God, for the Son has become our sin. The Father must hate him with the burning hatred only justice and holiness knows. The Father must look on him in hatred now so that, through him, he can then look on you in love. Look at him, and be ashamed. Be ashamed of him, because he is you, and the worst part of you, the part you do your best to hide. He is your sin.

You are Lutherans, and Lutherans stand and watch today—don’t turn your head! We preach Christ crucified, because if he is not crucified, you are not baptized into his death and there is no value in receiving his body and blood. But he was crucified, and you are baptized, and you will receive the very instruments of your salvation for the forgiveness of your sins on Easter: his crucified yet living and life-giving body and blood.

The disciples ran and hid. Do not do that today. Watch. See how ugly your sin is. See how beautiful your Savior’s love is. See both those things as your God hangs on your cross. Look at what we’ve done. Look at what God has done. “It is finished.”

       Amen.

Pastor Johnston is Assistant Professor of Theology at Wisconsin Lutheran College.

Look Up by Looking Down

Holy Thursday

April 2, 2015

Mark 14:22-24

Look Up by Looking Down

In the name of the Father and of † the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps you've always wanted to travel to an exotic location. Or better yet, live there. Maybe it's the rolling green of Ireland. Or the culture of Paris. Or the blue water and coral of Tahiti. Maybe you'll get there. But even if you get there to visit, you'll still have to go back home. And even if you manage to buy a place in Dublin or a spot with a view of Eiffel Tower or end up on one of those gorgeous huts on the blue water of Tahiti, then what? How long can it last?

We look at heaven in a similar way. It's the place you want to go to and live. We hear it's pretty wonderful, and we may even imagine what it'll be like, like we might look up at a postcard from a place we wish we could see it in person.

But all this dreaming might lead us to miss what is right in front of us. Jesus says to focus on things above, not on earthly things, but He doesn't intended for us to have our heads in the clouds. He wants you to receive His richness that He sends down from heaven above to the you below.

So we look up by looking down at His supper table. And we no longer have to imagine heaven; it's right before our eyes: His body under bread and His blood under wine. Heaven is where Christ chooses to be found, and in the Sacrament of Holy Communion He unhides Himself and we find Him through His true body and blood. This is the Bread of Life that feeds us and makes us alive. His real presence is His promise delivered to His people. And so we pray, "Thy kingdom come," and it does through the Holy Supper.

Even in the most beautiful places this Earth can offer, you'll still get hungry and sick. You'll still get old and lonely. And you'll still die.

Wherever you may travel and live in this world, intensely beautiful or painfully ordinary, through eating and drinking His body and blood you are in His kingdom right now and always.

While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. (Mark 14:22-24)

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

Amen. Amen.