They Who Have Seen and Yet Do Not Believe

Second Sunday of Easter

April 23, 2017

Matthew 28:17 & John 20:29

Thomas, You, and They Who Have Seen and Yet Do Not Believe

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Thomas was skeptical when he heard that Jesus was alive. And today we in turn can be skeptical of Thomas’ devotion to Jesus: “This Thomas guy is a bit of wobbler.” But Thomas did get at the heart of the most important turning point in history: Is Jesus alive?

Thomas knew that Jesus had power over life and death. He had seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead just days before. Indeed as they were finally headed to Bethany to go to the tomb of Lazarus, Thomas was the one who said:

“Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

JOHN 11:16 NIV

There’s no reason to doubt Thomas’ devotion to Jesus at that point. He’s all in, ready to die. And then days later when Jesus dies and comes back to life, Jesus comes back and visits with the disciples when Thomas isn’t around. And without trying to climb into God’s brain (which is always dangerous to do), Jesus purposely comes back and visits the disciples when Thomas isn’t around. Jesus made a lot of home visits and road visits during Easter (using His divine power helped), but He could have appeared to Thomas much earlier. It wasn’t like He showed up behind the locked doors and went: “Oh no, Thomas isn’t here?” He knew. He’s God. So what’s He up to?

Again, this is God being God and God’s way of doing things is to create and preserve trust in Him through His word. The Marys heard the word (“Died and risen!”) from the angels. The disciples heard the word (“Died and risen!”) from the Marys. Thomas heard the word (“Died and risen!”) from the disciples. And on and on for centuries and centuries until there was you. And Jesus disciples’ told you the word and through this word (“Died and risen!”) you also believe.

What has always struck me much more than Thomas’ doubt is the doubt of some disciples 40 days later.

When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

MATTHEW 28:17 NIV

These doubters had the evidence standing in front of them. He was talking to them! But they doubted. And that’s all that Matthew tells us. Thomas doubted that the impossible had taken place—that Jesus was alive—and yet when confronted with the evidence, He believed. But these others were confronted with Jesus, and they doubted. What they doubted is unclear, but it is presented in contrast to the disciples who worshiped Jesus.

So for anyone who wants something other than the Word of God before they believe, Jesus instead gives us His presence through His body and blood, which we know are present in the Lord’s Supper through His Word.

At the end of this chapter of John (20), John mentions in passing that Jesus did a whole bunch of other miracles. That’s the stuff we want, the glory and the power, but instead Jesus gives us words. And that’s the point to take to heart. God’s Word creates trust in Him and drives doubt away from our hearts.

And we will wobble like Thomas and those other doubters. When we sin and make terrible choices, we blame God. Then we come to our senses, but the devil tells us that God is angry and will not forgive us for blaming God. And we wobble because we aren’t listening to Jesus’ word.

When we presume to treat the Lord’s Supper as a chore that we are doing for God and doubt that His body and blood are there or that they are doing anything, we doubt like Thomas because we aren’t listening to Jesus.

Our wobbling is bad, but it shouldn’t surprise us. Even people who saw and heard Jesus doubted. But our comfort is to run back to His Word and listen to Jesus, who died and is risen:

Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

JOHN 20:29 NIV

And through His Word we can join Thomas in saying, “My Lord and my God!”

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many, for you. Alleluia! Amen.

https://soundcloud.com/pastor-luke-boehringer/2017-04-23-sermon-wobbler

Why He Went Out the Back Way

EASTER MORNING

April 16, 2017

MATTHEW 28:9

Why He Went Out the Back Way

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

MATTHEW 28:2

It is strange that Jesus sent His angel to kick down the front door of the tomb. It would have made more sense if Jesus did it. Indeed some of the art on social media this morning has Jesus walking up steps and presumably out the front door. But Matthew makes no mention of this grand departure from the tomb. Jesus seemed to go out the back way. And instead we get an angel. He’s glorious, to be sure, but he’s not Jesus.

But Jesus gives this faithful messenger the tremendous honor of being the first creature on the face of the earth to announce that the tomb is already empty:

“Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay.”

MATTHEW 28:5-6

Along with being the very first Easter well-wisher, his other task was to allow humans to see the evidence of the impossible: life from death. And since humans can’t get in the back way, he rolled the stone out of the front way.

And one of the great miracles of Easter is that the women believed before they saw Jesus—with fear and joy they began running to tell the disciples what the angel had said. And then they saw Him. And He talked to them:

“Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me.”

MATTHEW 28:10

Again Jesus continues this pattern of hearing about the resurrection second-hand (“Go to Galilee”) and then later seeing Jesus in the flesh (“There you will see Me”). So why make the disciples wait to see Him?

Because He wants His disciples to trust His words because His words create fear and joy in the hearts of His women and men. His word that He is alive makes us alive.

And so on first day of the week Jesus went out the back way (through solid rock!), sent angels to tell what had happened, and then found His people and talked directly to them.

It is the same for us. First He speaks to us, and then shows Himself to us later. For the women the time between the Word and the seeing was minutes; for most of us the time is years. But in the end you will see Him with your own eyes. So on the day Jesus calls you home or if today turns out to be the day when Jesus returns, it will be your Easter morning!

For even the Son of Man did not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Alleluia! Amen!

https://soundcloud.com/pastor-luke-boehringer/2017-04-16-sermon-door

A Friend’s “Do This”: Demand or Promise?

Holy Thursday

April 13, 2017

1 Corinthians 11:25

A Friend’s “Do This”: Demand or Promise?

*

In the name of the Father and of

the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Go back in time to 1904 and across the land to Adenville, Utah¹. A man is dying. He is starving. He hasn’t eaten in weeks. But he is too proud to seek help. He is too proud to be seen as poor.

And so as he lays on his bed, his friends figure out that he is dying. They break into his home and find him. And they try to give him food.

“Eat this,” they say.

“Drink this,” they say.

Are these friends demanding this dying man do something?

Or are they making him a promise?

What will the man on death’s door do?

What will you do?

The devil desires you to be proud like this dying man: proud, not wishing others to see you as weak, not wanting help, not wishing to be a burden on anyone. The devil encourages this pride because pride forces you to starve. And then you die.

Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Do what? Eat and drink His body and blood to keep you alive because you cannot live with your sinful pride. It’s trying to kill you.

On the other hand, Jesus is trying to keep you alive. As His pastor says in blessing at the Lord’s table: “And now this true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen and keep you in the true faith unto life everlasting. Depart in peace. Amen.” Keep you alive in the true faith.

Jesus is not demanding that you keep a new law when He says, “Do this.” Jesus knows how miserable you in keeping His laws. So instead Jesus is making you a promise, a new testament in blood He shed on the lonely cross. He says, “Eat this and you will live. Drink this and you will live. I promise.”

Many years ago, the dying man in Utah died, even with all his friends. But you, dear friends, will live, now and forever, because your one true and faithful friend has made you a promise. And He will always keep it.

For even the Son of Man did not be served, but to serve,

and to give His life as a ransom for many, for you. Amen.

1  This fictional town is the setting of John Fitzgerald’s The Great Brain series (1967-1976).

Just One Day?

Palm Sunday

with First Communion

April 9, 2017

Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 10:45, 2 Corinthians 5:21, and 1 Timothy 1:15

Just One Day?

What does it mean to profess Jesus before others

and to receive Him in the Sacrament?

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

On the Sunday before He was crucified many voices loudly professed their faith and trust in Jesus as He rode into the city of Jerusalem. Hosannas were flying through the air; adults and children were openly giving their blessing to this Messiah from Nazareth.

Many on that day probably hoped this joyful day would go on and on. But it turned out for many to be just one day.

This is the danger and temptation to sin that we face today. That today turns out to be just one day. On Palm Sunday some in the crowd were just out doing their routine; others had come from a distance. Today we also have a large crowd from near and far. There are doings today that are out-of-the-ordinary: three believers are going to receive Jesus’ body and blood for the first time.

Selena, Kaitlyn, and Ceci, we’ve talked about this day many times. How today will simply and wonderfully be the first of many Sundays, when you will receive the first of many Communions from the Lord Jesus.

On the other hand, today is not so unusual because you’ve been professing your trust in Jesus for years and years already. You’ve prayed with your family since before you can remember. You’ve been brought to God’s house, to church, on more Sundays than you can count and joined with your fellow baptized saints as you have confessed the Creeds of the Church. You’ve sung the hymns of the Church that confess Jesus as your Savior.

So today is a milestone, but not because you believe in Jesus now. You always have since you were baptized, and by His grace and through His Word and Body and Blood, you always will. Today is one special day because on this day, on the ninth day of the fourth month in the Year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, you finally receive the Lord’s body and blood for the forgiveness of your sin.

But for the sake of Christ, today will not just be one day. After the spectacle of the parade of Jesus on the donkey, the crowd went home. And that was that. Just one day. A memorable day, to be sure, but just a day.

For many these days, it is no different. Their special day was a memorable day, because it really turned out to be just one day. So for those who are wondering what to do, find your pastor, if you still have one, and ask him to forgive you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And begin again in the Lord’s name.

What is His name? All that He has told us about Himself. He is the One who gave His life as a ransom for many, including you. He is the One who became sin, including yours, so that you are now right and innocent before God. He is the One who came to save sinners, including you. Now today, the first of many, come to His table and eat and drink His body and blood.

Amen.

Why Did Jesus Wait Two Days?

Fifth Sunday in Lent

April 2, 2017

John 11:6

Why Did Jesus Wait Two Days?

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

¹Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair. ³So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

JOHN 11:1-3 NIV 1984

Why did Jesus wait two days? Why did Jesus wait two days to begin walking to Bethany after He had been told that a dear friend was near death?

Was He waiting for a deeper show of love from the sisters, Mary and Martha? Others had traveled many miles to beg Jesus to heal their loved ones or had actually brought the sick person to Jesus to heal. Mary and Martha sent someone else to tell Jesus about this critical situation. Was that the problem? They didn’t show enough respect?

Absolutely not! We have seen these pious sisters before: Mary at Jesus’ feet listening to every word that He spoke and no doubt Martha also at Jesus’ feet after Jesus had gently rebuked her for missing the point as to why He was there in their house. There were few, if any, who would have had more trust and respect for Jesus than Martha and Mary.

So why wait two days? Jesus said:

“This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” ⁵Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days.

JOHN 11:4-6 NIV 1984

He waited so that He, God’s Son, may be glorified. And this glorifying would happen through death and resurrection. His death and resurrection. That’s what it would take to get Lazarus out of the tomb and back home to Mary and Martha. Lazarus has to get out of the tomb, so that Jesus can get into it. Someone had to die. Justice had to be satisfied.

And so Jesus Christ, innocent and holy, dies as Lazarus’ substitute. Jesus will soon be taken into the tomb, where Lazarus had lately slept. Not the same tomb, but it may as well have been. Jesus trades Himself for Lazarus. And He does the same for you.

He is the resurrection and the life and He gives Himself as a ransom for you, paying our ransom not with gold or money, but His own life-blood. And so the tomb and death will not have the last word; Jesus will have the last word, for if you die before He returns, He will stand over your grave on the last day and say, “Come out!”

And unlike Lazarus, you will never die again because He already has.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.