John 10:11-18 Jesus Our Good Shepherd

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

       I’m sure you remembered what happened. Jesus healed a man who was blind from birth. The spiritual authorities disapproved and conducted an investigation in hopes of discrediting the Lord. The man he healed stood up for Jesus and said that he had come from God. Jesus then said to the Pharisees and other officials that he came into the world for judgment so that those who do not may see and those who see may become blind. The Lord’s antagonists were mystified. They wondered if they were blind, too. Jesus then told them the parable from this morning’s gospel, and they were even more puzzled. By the grace of God, this morning’s parable doesn’t confuse us. He has given us the ability to unwrap the mystery.

       Jesus wanted to draw a distinction between faithful spiritual leaders and those, like Pharisees – we have plenty with similar temperaments in our own day – who try to put themselves or their own rules in the place of God.

       In Bible times, sheep lived in square stone enclosures with an entrance on one side. Sometimes more than one flock would spend a night in the same fold. When a shepherd came to gather his own sheep in the morning, he stood at the entrance to the enclosure and called for them. He had a special name and a unique call for each one. Every sheep knew its shepherd and responded obediently to its own special call. After he gathered his flock out into the open, the shepherd walked in front of them and led them to the pasture for grazing.

       There were – and are – faithful spiritual leaders – shepherds – who point there people – the flock – toward Christ and the salvation he offers. But there are others, as we said, who put themselves and their teachings and practices in the place of Christ. Jesus called them thieves and robbers. They took what people had to give them and offered false teaching in return. But the people – the flock – weren’t stupid. They didn’t pay attention to the pseudo-shepherds. They wanted to live and flourish, and so they listened to the shepherds who brought them the good news of salvation in Christ.

       “I am the door of the sheep,” Jesus said. True shepherds stick with him. He came to bring life and abundance. He is the door to the kingdom of God; the only way to enter is through faith in him. The true shepherd leads his flock by directing them to Christ and no one else.

       Now, you and I hear many voices in the course of a week – on the TV, radio, the voices of friends, neighbors, the people we work with, and family. Some of these voices talk about large questions that touch the spirit – that the world is a mess, say, and there is no hope for it. Some folks tell us not to worry, just be happy and others urge us to spend and buy and keep up with the Jones’s. Or it may be that a little voice inside us nags away persistently. Stronger than all these voices, though, is the voice of our Lord – clear, steady, trustworthy, assuring us that he has come to bring life. He promises that his blood washes away our sins. We pay attention to what he says, for he is the door to abundant life.

       Jesus also called himself “the Good Shepherd”, who calls to us by his Word, the gospel and the sacraments, not a general call like a news broadcast, but highly personal. The Good Shepherd knows our names. He sustains a personal relationship with each of us and he does not let go. He intends to bring all of us into heaven on the last day.

       We keep faith with him now. The world, the devil, and our flesh work on us so that a part of our souls resents the idea that we need a shepherd to watch over us. We humans aim for independence and self-reliance; we feel defeated when we discover that we can’t achieve very much on our own. We depend on God and on others. The Shepherd pardons our waywardness; he draws us back to him in faith. He teaches us that folks who are aware of their weaknesses have an advantage. We know that we need help; we welcome the Good Shepherd who protects us and guides us through every evil.

       Satan influences many things. He takes pleasure in tempting Jesus’ beloved sheep; he wants to scatter us and divide us and destroy our faith. Jesus is stronger than the devil, however; he has already conquered Satan. His victory strengthens us and gives us confidence that we’ll cope well with every situation that comes our way. “Even though I walk through the valley of death,” King David wrote, “I will fear no evil.” Jesus makes us brave and stout-hearted and hopeful of eternal blessedness beyond the grave.

       He protects us now from the damage the devil wants to do to our minds. Satan works to shatter our joyfulness. He’s happy if we think we can’t do anything right or that bad things will inevitably happen to us. The Shepherd restores our joy in life and our trust in ourselves. He teaches us that despite the presence of sin, including our own, the world is not a miry swamp but God’s good creation, when with his help we keep on with our activities in joy and hope. Because we are Jesus’ sheep, our power to act for good is stronger than sin and evil. We don’t fear that the bad parts of life will conquer us. The Shepherd rules our thoughts and feelings so that temptations don’t overpower us. Instead, they become occasions for the strengthening of our faith.

       The Shepherd is a friend who rejoices in our happiness and who is close to us during hours of trial. He sticks with us and doesn’t leave us to seek his own advantage. He knows us through and through. The misunderstandings of our neighbors may wound us, but we have a friend in our Shepherd who knows us the way we need to be known, even better than we know ourselves. We trust his knowledge; we thrive on his mercy; we rest in his love.

       At the same time, our Shepherd uses us. We represent him. We make sure that our neighbors see by our example that Jesus is the kind of Shepherd who accepts everybody, especially the weak and sick and folks in need. When others see Jesus’ hospitality in us, then they are likely to turn to him with hope and expectation.

       Martin Luther once said that it’s a terrible evil when one person judges another. Jesus’ kingdom is designed to heal souls that are sick and needy. He is the only judge. We make a mistake if we think highly only of people who are strong and holy and self-reliant, for we can’t see into the hearts of our neighbors. All people are by nature sinners to the core, so we don’t insist that they put on a show of piety and devotion for our benefit. There are only weak and sickly people in Christ’s flock and his pasture is really a hospital where the sick and infirm, whose souls need loving care, are gathered together. Jesus’ sheep welcome other needy folks and make room for them.

       I once read in a newspaper that some of Canada’s leaders have said that Canadians are losing their ties to politics and government and even to one another. Canadians long for a system that creates enduring, respectful ties among people. In other words, our neighbors are looking for fellowship, communities, friends, faith, and sound values to live by. No one builds strong, meaningful relationships the way Christ and his church do. What people need is the Good Shepherd and his flock.

       We rejoice, then, in the community that the Good Shepherd sustains at St. Peters – and throughout his kingdom – and that he will keep on going with his loving guidance. He has built up among his people what everyone needs. When our neighbors are ready to find a better way than the worldly one, they’ll come to the church. We trust that the Shepherd will make us ready to receive him.

       Now, we don’t expect droves of people to come to the church and we don’t accuse ourselves of failure because they stay away. Lots of people take offense at Christ and his flock, for the church doesn’t fall into step with the ways of secular society. The church challenges the world around her, while worldly people don’t like to have their comfortable ways disrupted. Besides that, human nature responds to what we can see and touch and count, where Jesus is hidden from our view and we take hold of him by faith.  Then there are times when he conceals himself even from his church and he acts as if he’d forgotten that she exists, because he allows his flock to be humbled and oppressed. The church’s opponents, meanwhile, delight in his humiliation and wallow in it.

       Even so, Jesus loves his sheep. He calls to us. His knowledge of us comforts us. It might look like the opposite at times, but he won’t forget us or forsake us. He claims us as his own and gives us satisfying, steady ways of life that won’t perish, lives of joy and hope that will last forever because the Good Shepherd has defeated death and the grave and all the devil’s schemes. He makes sure that we receive the fruits of his victory.

       What do we do in return? We know the shepherd and give thanks. Although he’s hidden and we hear his voice with ears of faith and not our physical ears, Jesus makes it possible for us to hear him. His words are the only ones we can trust completely. And so we give thanks that he is our shepherd. And we ask him, in faith that he will grant our wish, to keep us in his flock. In his name we rejoice. AMEN

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. AMEN.

John 21:1-14 -- The Lord's Generosity

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

       This morning’s readings bring us a picture of the fullness of God – the extent of his creation and his generosity. John, the author of Revelation, describes the thousands and thousands of angels encircling the throne of grace singing and rejoicing and praising God. Just before this passage, John mentions a great multitude of resurrected believers, too numerous for anyone but God to count, standing before the throne and the lamb, crying in loud voices in praise of God.

       The Lord is not a miser; heaven will be full on the Day of Judgement. He fills the world with love, and creation responds in praise. He spreads the gospel lavishly. Absolutely everyone who believes in Christ is saved. All sins are forgiven. Jesus’ blood washes us clean. The Father’s loving arms are wide open. He breaks down barriers, too, so that reluctant hearts and sluggish minds can take hold of him with the joy of faith.

       We see God’s generosity, as well, in his concern for earthly things. He provides abundantly. The disciples had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. The Lord knew about their struggles and provided more fish than they could have hoped for. He rewards effort. He blesses folks who strive in faith. He frequently makes us wait, but he does provide, and often with surprising abundance.

       We should remember, as well, that he has been generous toward his church in this world of turmoil. He has kept the church going, even though she has numerous critics and despite the many flaws of the faithful that result from sinful flesh and contact with the turbulent world that surrounds God’s kingdom. He provides servants, and St. Peter’s has a few of those. He brings together people from various backgrounds and with different personalities and he makes us into a community. He changes us and stretches us. We see three examples in our readings this morning.

       Paul, for one, was a dynamo, a greatly gifted man. He had a powerful brain; he knew how to discipline himself. He wasn’t afraid of work or sacrifice or unpopularity. If he didn’t serve the church, he would have been as productive public servant, a cabinet minister, say, who did a lot for his country. But the Lord gave him a new personality and the ability to devote his talents to the gospel. He turned him into a gift to the church.

       Peter was a different sort of person, strong and impulsive. He worked by intuition and liked to get his way. He knew how to look out for himself and loved to be at the center of things. Somebody said about Peter that his impulses were generous, but he followed them as much because they were his own feelings as they were generous ones. He chose his own path and walked wherever he wanted. This would change, though, as the years passed, so the Lord said to him, “When you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will…bring you where you do not wish to go.” This is often the way. We’re free when we’re young, but responsibilities mount with the years and God’s people find that we make a sacrifice of ourselves and live for others. Peter became this kind of servant. – a gift from the Lord to the church. Like the Lord, according to church tradition, Peter, too, was crucified. An old story tells how Peter escaped from his prison in Rome the night before his death. As he was coming along one of the Roman roads, a familiar figure bearing as cross came to him. “Lord, where are you going?” Peter asked.

       “I’m going to Rome to be crucified again.”

       Peter turned and went back to his prison. The guards found him in his cell when they came for him the next morning. So an old church legend tells us that the Savior used Peter and gave him a new self, but he didn’t change Peter’s nature. He battled with sin and selfishness just like the rest of us. Peter is a source of encouragement, then. His weaknesses were obvious, but the Lord claimed him as a friend and servant and gave him a position of leadership in the kingdom. By his generosity, God doesn’t despise the imperfect, but he molds us and uses us as vessels of his glory. We each in our own way are gifts to the church.

       John’s story was unique, too. Where Peter and Paul would have done well at whatever they turned to, John’s qualities could shine only in the church, for his great gift was the capacity to love. He was an expert at loving. He loved the Lord and his fellow believers; he loved the Christian community. “Beloved, let us love one another,” he wrote, “for love is from God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God…In this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another…if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us…God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God.”

       John was especially sensitive to the value of love among Christians, for when we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, we imitate God’s love. The love in the Christian family is a sign to outsiders that God is working among us. John recorded this saying of our Lord’s, “By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”

       All the apostles, like our Savior, emphasize the importance of Christian love, but for John it’s a special quality, the direction of his soul. He knew how to subordinate his own self, to bury his ego, in service to the Lord. For John, Christ was great and he was very small. Church tradition has it that John worked at Ephesus in Turkey for many decades and that he lived to be very old. Near the end of his days, he needed to be carried to worship and even then he could say again and again, almost like a motto, “Little children, love one another.” The more we Christians love each other, the stronger our community becomes. As John suggested, the love among Christians acts like a magnet. It draws seekers to the church and causes people to wonder about what we have and how they can claim it for themselves.

       Anyway, the church is God’s community, where different kinds of people are brought together to flourish and find their destinies. Christians aren’t all the same. We each have our own talents and our own contributions to make. The church uses many kinds of people. Jesus uses everyone he draws to him in faith. There’s more freedom in the church than in the materialistic society that surrounds us. The church has room for all of us.

        God is generous. St. Peter’s people respond with praise and thanksgiving. We’re something like Paul in our loyalty to God’s word and our willingness to bring the gospel to others. We’re like Peter in persistence and our ability, under God, to look out for ourselves. And we’re also like John, loyal to the truth, who possessed the gift that is unique to the church – the art of Christian love. He surrendered his will to the Saviour and lived in love.

        Somebody said that Christians show their love for unbelievers by spreading the gospel in works of evangelism and by patiently enduring misunderstanding and ignorance. The love among sisters and brothers in Christ is different. Christians encourage one another and offer moral support. We’re kind and forbearing and unselfish. We don’t remember wrongs. The Holy Spirit forms us into a community where sinners may lay down their burdens at the foot of the cross and receive the hope to carry on. We help one another to follow the Lord.

       A time is coming when we’ll join millions of other believers at the throne of grace singing eternal praises to our God. Right now, though, we live in the same uncertain world as the disciples, who fished all night without catching anything – and probably not for the first time. We know what it means to be unsure about employment. We know about illness, loss, the misbehavior of others. We know what it means to sin and need forgiveness. We know the blessed relief of absolution. Whatever it means to be human, both good and bad, sin and righteousness touches us. We have the advantage of faith and the trust that the Savior will provide abundantly. He sent the disciples 153 fish, many more than they needed, and then invited them to breakfast. He fed them from a single fish burning on charcoal, just as he once turned a few loaves and fish into enough food for many thousands. How often he provides for us! His promise to keep on providing is an invitation to be content and at peace. His generosity won’t fail.

       One of the things he generously provides is the fellowship of our worshipping community. As we meet the world each day, it makes a difference to us that we have a community of Christian friends, who think as we do about God and the world, who want the best for us and who encourage us to strive for what’s good and who offer moral support, not just in good times but day after day.

       What a blessing it is to know other Christians who can offer us an understanding shoulder t lean on or a piece of advice at a timely moment. Our Heavenly Father, out of the fullness of his generosity, plans it that way. St. Peter’s is a result of his wise provision.

       The love among Christians, sturdy, faithful, not drawing attention to itself, is a foretaste of the joys of heaven. The Lord prepares us now for greater joys to come. We thank him for his generosity toward us. We rejoice that he includes us, along with his first disciples, among his beloved people. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. AMEN.      

John 20:19 - 31 Fruits of the Resurrection

Grace and peace to you from him who is and who was and who is to come,

    
   It didn’t look very promising. Only Jesus could make something of it. The disciples were so frightened that they had to make sure that the doors to the building they were in were locked, and one of them didn’t believe in the Resurrection at all. At least they were together in one place, though, and ready for something to happen.  They must have been amazed to see Jesus suddenly standing in their midst in his glorified and risen state. Nothing could confine him or keep him from going where he wanted to go. His appearance was a miracle. We don’t understand it now, but we will understand better when our own bodies take on their heavenly form.

       The appearance of the resurrected Lord changed the disciples. The came to believe that Jesus is the Messiah the Jewish people had been expecting for centuries and they had life in his name through their faith. They felt the effects of the Resurrection in their own lives. And that’s our topic this morning – the effects of the Resurrection.

       Peace first. Jesus said “peace be with you” three times. Like the first visitors to the empty tomb, the disciples had been frightened.  They had seen the crucifixion or heard about it and wondered if the gospel would fade away, along with the good news of salvation and the presence of God in their lives.  Moreover, what would secular authorities do to people who’d been close to Jesus? A lot of things concerned them. The Risen Lord quieted their fears and brought them the peace of soul they needed to pick themselves up and go on with the work he’d given them. He didn’t promise to keep them away from danger and difficulty – after all, look what he’d endured. Instead, he removed their fears and warmed the chill in in their hearts. He gave them courage, confidence, and cheerfulness.

       The peace that comes at the end of fighting or when poverty or sickness are taken away are great blessings. War has taken the lives of millions of people in the last century and disrupted millions more.  We pray that civil peace come quickly there and give thanks that Canada is at peace at home and that her people find peaceful ways to settle disagreements.

       Jesus has taught us, though, that peace from God reaches deeper than civil peace. God’s peace changes us and brings us joy. Jesus calms us and carries us through troubles and times of tension. Sickness and poverty may strike, news reports of war and crime may unsettle us, sin and the devil may threaten, but because his peace is in our hearts, Jesus protects us from numbing distress and to such a degree that we Christians are stronger and braver when conflict is present than during serene days. His peace reaches deep into our souls. The Lord lets the devil frighten us; earthly troubles vex us. Never mind. The Spirit of Jesus – the Holy Spirit – gives us courage. He brings rest to burdened consciences so that we’re brave and sturdy no matter what comes our way.

       Jesus’ resurrection proclaims to us that he conquered sin, death, and the devil. He will provide for all our needs so that we never lack what is necessary. We bring our sinfulness to the resurrected Lord and receive his pardon. We cling to him if we are sick or in difficulties or if resources are slender, trusting that he will provide for us, comfort us, and give us strength. He promises that no evil is so great that it will injure us permanently or bring us to despair.

       Martin Luther said that confidence in rocky times is the hallmark of a Christian. If we aren’t at peace when earthly trouble strikes, we are not yet Christians. A Christian trusts that Jesus has risen for him or her and that he guides her or him through the tangles and challenges of everyday living, and so we ask Jesus to keep faith in his promises alive in our minds and deep in our souls so that we may experience the peace of a Christian.

       Joy is another fruit of the resurrection. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Risen Lord. Faith in Christ brings the greatest joy we will ever know. He takes away whatever is bad for us – sorrow, sadness, the effects of stress, sin. He conquered death and the devil for us. We live because he lives. He does for us what we can’t do for ourselves. We take a heavy burden on ourselves if we struggle to win God’s favor on our own because he demands perfection. Jesus lifted the load from our shoulders and put it on himself. He makes up for our poor performances and calls us to rest in him.

       Jesus’ work for us doesn’t mean, however, that we can lean back and take advantage of a free ride. It means that we know where we stand with God, so we dive into the tasks he’s prepared for us with joyful hearts. The freedom we have in Jesus brings us the fullness of joy that comes to people who have been released from captivity. Rejoice in the Lord always, Paul wrote. We rejoice because Jesus offers us a life with God that nothing can ever take away from us. He expects obedience from us, but he takes note of our weaknesses and never asks for more than we can give. Our Savior never shuts the door on anyone. He reaches out and lifts us up and invites us to walk along beside him. We rejoice and ask him to keep on giving us the joy that comes with living by faith in him.

       And so we come to another fruit of the resurrection – the blessings of faith. After he heard reports that the Lord had risen, Thomas said that he needed not only to see the Lord but also to touch his wounds. Now, we make a distinction between doubt and the unbelief that rejects God. The Pharoah with whom Moses pleaded for the release of his people and Jesus’ enemies Judas and King Herod all rejected God totally and with hardness of heart. Thomas was different. He wrestled with a challenge. Faith isn’t always easy, even for folks who have walked with God all their lives. The Crucifixion must have shocked Thomas. If a man like Jesus gets treated cruelly and unjustly...He had good reason to believe what the apostles told him, though, because they were his friends and honest men who had nothing to gain from telling a lie. If ten people from St. Peters told us about something they’d seen with their own eyes, we would believe them. Thomas wanted more than reliable reports. He wanted to see the Lord for himself. He yearned to believe, but he found obstacles standing in the way. Reason, past history, and experience all taught him what he thought was the truth about life. He overlooked God’s promises and the dimension of faith.

       It’s natural to believe in Christ, as natural as breathing or the abundance of the earth, and Thomas longed to overcome the obstacles that thinking had put in his way. He wanted the joy of faith that he couldn’t create on his own. He needed God’s help, and Jesus graciously reached out to him. Thomas responded with gratitude and understanding. He called Jesus what no one had called him before – “my Lord and my God.” By the grace of God, the resurrected Jesus became personal for him. He pardoned Thomas’s sins, including his doubt; he took away his anxiety; he assured him that God was not his enemy but a friend who would guide and protect and guide. He offered Thomas a place in eternity and found him work to do for the kingdom. Thomas would live by faith from then on.

       The same goes for us. We live by faith. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” Jesus said. How blessed in God’s eyes are Jesus’ brothers and sisters.

       Power, as we said, is another fruit of the resurrection. Church tradition tells us that in later life, Thomas founded the Christian church in India. The Holy Spirit empowered him to leave his home and his friends to serve the gospel of Christ. God’s power works in us, too. Martin Luther wrote that it comforts and strengthens us to know that God arouses in us the same power that worked for Jesus. He gives us the power to resist temptation and to overcome evil, to rise above everyday troubles and to live by faith. When we speak to our neighbors the words that Jesus gives us in the Bible, they count just as much as if he were speaking them himself. And even though we don’t have the power to create faith in someone we know Jesus does empower us to pardon offenses and to speak the good news of salvation in him.

       We share Jesus’ teaching about sin and God’s mercy, about our needs, and how God meets them. We set examples of faith, and we lift up our families and our neighbors in prayer.

       So – to sum up – peace, joy, faith, and power are some of the fruits of the resurrection we prayed for a few minutes ago. Our Heavenly Father wants us to keep asking him for them. We may be tempted to sit back and say that comfort is our goal. God’s word opens our hearts to receive our Lord’s gifts to us, day by day, Sunday by Sunday.

       The resurrection is more than words on a page. It’s a living, personal, powerful reality, our own possession. We ask our Heavenly Father by his grace to keep the resurrection working fruitfully in us, and so we rejoice to hear his promise that he will go on acting in our lives, building us up in peace, joy, faith, and godly powers. In his name we give thanks. AMEN.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. AMEN.   

Luke 23:1 - 49 The Centurion: An Eyewitness to the Crucifixion

 Grace and peace to you from him who is and who was and who is to come,

        St. Luke, who was a gentile convert to the Christian faith and friendly with St. Paul, said at the beginning of his Gospel that he wanted to write an orderly account of the story of Christ. He did a lot of research, and since he wasn’t present at many of the events he wrote about, he talked to many eye witnesses. Some experts think he even interviewed the centurion who led the Roman soldiers at the crucifixion, the one who came to believe that Jesus was a righteous man.

       We’ll use our imaginations and try to picture what a conversation between Luke and the Roman officer might have been like. Luke was a physician, we remember, and he notices from the expression on his face that the centurion isn’t feeling well. So as not to burden him, Luke comes to the point quickly. What inspired you to say that Jesus was a righteous man?”

       “I wasn’t the only one,” the centurion replies. “Some of my men, too. The way Jesus behaved impressed them. The fear of God was in them. They said he really must have been God’s Son.”

       “Can you recall what convinced you to think that way?” Luke asked.

       The centurion said he’d been to many crucifixions. “A cruel way to take someone’s life. A man can hang on the Cross for days before he dies. This crucifixion was different. There’s usually a time of waiting between the sentence and the execution. This time, the officials were in a hurry to be done with it, as if they were afraid there was something special about Jesus. The bystanders mocked and scorned him in a way we hadn’t seen before. There was nothing righteous at all in their behavior, while Jesus suffered this abuse with great dignity and a heart full of forgiveness.  And I’d never heard anyone in the situation he was in cry out to God the way he did just before he died. I can still hear his voice calling out to his Father. Jesus was at peace when he died, as if he knew he was leaving the troubles of this world for a better life. And other things took place – an earthquake and the splitting of rocks. Some of his followers later told me that the curtain in the temple, which separated worshipers from the most holy place, was torn in two as a sign that now there was no barrier between God and the human race. I knew even at the time that the death of Jesus I’d helped to bring about had been arranged by the hand of God and was full of meaning. I’ve told the story many times.”

       “I must be sure to thank you for details for my gospel,” Luke said. “I know you’re not feeling well, so we can stop now if you like.”

       “In a minute,” the centurion replied. “Just something I ate yesterday. I haven’t said anything about the word ‘righteous’ yet. The terrible strain he was under didn’t break Jesus’ spirit. I know one thing: if you call a person names and revile him and show him that the power of authority is against him, because he is a criminal, he’ll fight back and you’ll have to subdue him or else he’ll try to persuade you that you’re wrong or else his soul will be crushed and he won’t see good in anything. Jesus never lost his perfect assurance that he was right with God and that he didn’t do anything to hurt his neighbors. The opposite, in fact. He’d served God and worked to lift up everyone who came to him. He was calm and patient throughout his ordeal. He didn’t bear a grudge against the people who tormented him. He wanted them to know that they were sinners and to receive the pardon he offered them.

       “I learned later on that in God’s eyes the whole world – and even the proud, mighty Roman Empire – is full of sin. Most of the people don’t strive to know God or trust what he does for us or strive to live by his commands. The empire is orderly, to be sure. Who wouldn’t follow the rules when law-breakers are punished so severely? But lots of people are afraid and full of sadness. Jesus came to bring joy. By giving and dying and rising again, he put the possibility of happiness within anyone’s reach. By faith in Jesus, everyone can know the love of God and find a purpose for his life and live righteously. The best compliment anyone can pay to God is to trust his goodness toward us. He shows us a new way in Christ. If you want a goal in life, you won’t find it by worshiping the emperor or trying to fit yourself into the ways of the empire but by following a man who willingly became an outcast and died on a cross for us.”

       “Then he rose from the grave,” Luke says, “and ascended to heaven. God raised him up, as my friend Paul said, and gave him the name that is above every other name. Jesus is Lord. Maybe we could talk about it another time when you’re feeling better.”

      “Please wait if you don’t mind,” the centurion says. “I still haven’t got to the bottom of the word ‘righteousness’. There are two different kinds. One is outward righteousness that the empire builds in us. Live by the rules. Obey the authorities. Pay your taxes. Everyone can carry out this kind of righteousness to a certain extent by his or her own power. It’s never perfect, as my travels around the empire have taught me, but it exists. God demands it and he rewards it with material blessings. But in God’s eyes, this kind of righteousness is never enough and it’s not the most important. He also demands that we fear him and love him and believe in him. You can’t be righteous in God’s eyes if you have another way of thinking. He put righteousness into Adam and Eve when he created the human race. He made us in his image. But we lost righteousness pretty quickly, so now our weak, human nature can’t fear and love God. We love earthly things instead – power, glory, pleasure, money, and so on. The empire has lots of that, and the longer you live, the more of it you see. What counts with God is what’s in our hearts, and the human heart by nature is weak and corrupt and there’s nothing we can do on our own to improve the situation. If anyone thinks he’s succeeded in conquering the evil in his or her heart is deceiving himself and is in a worse spiritual condition than someone who’s convinced of his unrighteousness. We need a Savior to rescue us from eternal death by dying in our place, which Jesus did. He intercedes for us now. His righteousness covers us like a garment. The apostle Paul said that Jesus didn’t die for righteous people, because in God’s eyes there aren’t any. He died for sinners – the helpless and the corrupt. He saved us from the wrath of God. His death brought reconciliation between God and the human race.

       “Jesus passes his righteousness to us as a gift,” the centurion goes on. “He doesn’t make us righteous so that we may enter his presence. He declares that we’re righteous already – through our faith in Christ. We live by faith. Because God blesses us and places his trust in us, we trust him in return and do the good works he expects of us, the most important of which is faith in him, and then come the works of love, large and small, that we do for him and our neighbors – picking up around the house, taking care of someone in need, helping out at the church. We go about our business in confidence that God is pleased.

       “Now, it could be that a terrible time will come to us, as if did for Jesus, when all good things desert us, including our friends, and people criticize us for this reason or that. We do not despair or give up. We cling to Jesus who walked along the path before us. We trust in faith that we are righteous in heart and deed and pleasing to him. We believe that he’ll empower us to keep on serving in faith.”

      “I can see that the Lord has touched your heart,” Luke says. “You’ve told me a lot more than I’ll ever be able to use in my Gospel. Maybe you’d like to stop now, on account of the way you’re feeling.”

       “No, no,” the centurion protests. “I need to tell you something about myself. The Crucifixion happened a long time ago, and I haven’t always been as faithful to the Lord as I may seem to you today. It isn’t that I ever lost faith completely, but there were times when my heart was cold. I used to think I was special because I had been part of the Crucifixion and because I personally heard Jesus speak words of forgiveness. I believed he had an important assignment for me and that other believers would honor me. But nothing like that ever happened. I stayed in the Roman army and moved about on the fringes of empire. I went to a different place every year or so. Instead of finding people who were interested in my story of the Crucifixion, I learned again how rough and unfeeling some people can be. I served in one unit where my fellow officers taunted me if I ever mentioned the Lord. Sometimes six months went by during which I never saw another Christian. I wondered why God had put me in such a predicament. Had he forgotten me? I was angry with him; my standards slipped. I gambled and caroused and acted in an unfeeling way toward my soldiers. I didn’t pray as often as before and I stopped reading the Scripture passages I’d copied onto pieces of parchment. If God could abandon me in the wilderness, then I could abandon him. I let myself go, and after I lost all my savings at dice games, I finally remembered the word I used to describe Jesus – “righteous”, and I realized I hadn’t been living righteously. I’d turned into a common sinner in my thoughts, words, and deeds. I dug out the parchment I’d written my favorite Scripture verses on and looked for places to worship. Jesus was gracious to me; he pardoned my sinful heart and I was convinced again that he understood me and that he’d been on my side all during my spiritual crisis, keeping things from getting worse. I wasn’t angry at him any more and resolved to be patient and wait for what he would send. As it turned out, along with other things, he sent you to me on your information-gathering trip. It’s good to know there are other Christians out there you can talk things over with. I know you’ll be gone soon – after you have lunch with me and the other officers, of course, but I want to tell you about a new idea that has come to me just while we were talking.  Instead of hiding in a corner with my faith for fear that people will make fun of me, I’m going to speak out about sin and pardon and the righteousness Jesus gives as a gift to all his people and that empowers us to serve him joyfully and fruitfully. I’m only one Christian, but I can do a lot of good, don’t you think?”

       Luke went on his way soon afterwards, but he didn’t forget the centurion or how God acted in his life. He gave thanks to Jesus for the gift of righteousness by which the Lord claims us as his strong, sturdy, and faithful children. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. AMEN.  

Luke 15:1 - 3, 11 - 32 A Christian Parent is Tested

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord,

       The story of the prodigal son, his father, and his older brother, is the most famous of Jesus’ parables. It’s full of meaning. It describes personal relationships and some folks say it reveals the spiritual problems of entire nations and civilizations. At the same time, it points to the cure for illnesses of the spirit: God’s everlasting love for the people he created.

       We’ll focus on the father this morning and look at him from two angles, as a Christian parent and as a representative or symbol of God’s love in action.

       The father certainly had his hands full. One son squandered his inheritance in riotous living, while the other was humorless and self-righteous. The father knew their ways of thinking well and knew what their errors would cost them. Their problems were basically spiritual; their hearts were turned away from the truth. The father didn’t reproach either one of them or himself nor did he blame the world for bringing him a load of trouble that he couldn’t resolve. He waited on the Lord in trust and knew that God would act. His joy at the youngest son’s return was really a celebration of heaven’s way of dealing with the world: God brought a wandering sinner back to his senses. The father’s waiting and hoping received their reward.

       All parents have many joys and apprehensions in common. Christian parents have a different point of view from others and extra resources to call on. They’re like the father in the parable. They make sure their youngsters gain a good understanding of Christian teaching and how Christians behave and they point them to the Lord for forgiveness and encouragement. Christian parents also cling to the Savior’s forgiveness themselves, because forgiveness from the Lord restores effectiveness and keeps us from dwelling on our shortcomings. The father in the parable was strong-minded in Christ, so he could rejoice when his son came home.

       He was also experienced at waiting on the Lord. He may have known by imagination what his son was passing through, but at the same time, he knew that he had given the youngster a solid grounding in the Bible’s teachings about repentance and faith. He trusted that after riotous living had brought him to disaster, his son would reach out for the help he needed. The father knew that the Holy Spirit works to bring people from sin to righteousness, and so he waited. Waiting tests us; it strengthens our faith. The waiting of Christians teaches us to form the habit of turning to God. He sustained Adam and Eve during the time of troubles between Cain and Abel; he strengthened Jacob as he learned about the escapades of his sons; he comforted David after Absalom took a bad turn. He brings all Christian parents steady faith and balanced joy.

       We can’t talk about the father in the parable without mentioning his love. When he decided to marry and raise a family, he made a decision to provide for his children as best he could. He didn’t change his mind. His firmness of commitment came from a loving heart. He didn’t disown the son who sought a life of debauchery nor did he lash out at his older son who believed he could do no wrong. Paul’s words about love apply to him. He was patient, kind, not jealous or irritable or resentful. He was self-giving and didn’t insist on having his own way. These well-known words of Paul lived in his heart: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

       These qualities come from faith; families that live by them are most likely to stay together. Christian families have an advantage. I’ve been impressed by the strong family feeling I’ve seen among Lutherans. Our people are in contact with God’s love. He encourages us to trust that his blessings will continue.

We see that that the traditional supports for families that we grew up with are weakening. Laws have changed. We’re encouraged to put money and status and possessions in first place. Our sources of entertainment don’t always hold up good models. We can’t say what the future will bring, but God does know. He will support and nourish his community of believers who will stick with him by faith. He will teach his people how to cope and how to wait. He will comfort and strengthen everyone who turns to him.

       These reflections bring us to larger questions that come up when we think about this morning’s parable. Somebody said that the younger son stands for the whole of western society today. Every nation and every culture is said to be fleeing the spiritual home that the loving Heavenly Father has created for us. We might say that the older son, too, resembles a lot of people. How many of the world’s troubles come from folks who have an exaggeratedly high opinion of their own merits? If this observation is just, the Lord must be highly displeased, though not with his church, where people wait patiently to obey his will and to receive his blessing.

       The Lord said to his people through Moses: “I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. Choose life that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and cleaving to him, for that means life to you and length of days.” God offers abundance and life everlasting through faith in him. We know that many refuse his offer. Rather than accept life with a vision of meaning and hope, human flesh loves to drift from one event to another. It is our nature to want to maximize pleasure and profit and to look on ourselves as unjustly injured if we feel deprived. How much the condition of human nature must grieve the Lord.

       A worldly mind in his place would destroy the world without a second thought because we humans have made such a mess of things. Jesus doesn’t behave that way. He goes by a different method. He’s like the father in this morning’s parable. He is patient, forbearing, and full of love. He plants strong seeds of faith by the words of Scripture and the work of the church. He uses people like ourselves who quietly and humbly set an example of love for our neighbors. He then waits for the seeds that we plant to bear fruit. He forgives over and over and rejoices along with his angels whenever a sinner comes to his senses. And turning to God is the normal, sensible thing to do. A Christian thinker once wrote: “It is a sound rational act to turn from sin, its curse and doom, to God, pardon, and salvation. The real turn to God occurs in the depths of the soul…. Much about it is mysterious, for it’s like a spark of new life that has come into a dead heart, a sudden pulse of vitality, where all was lifeless and still before.”

       Paul wrote that God’s way is foolishness to worldly minds, especially the method he used to achieve salvation – the suffering and humiliation of the cross. The father in the parable must have grieved over the way his sons conducted their lives. he must have had his hours and days of suffering, but he didn’t turn against either of his children. Jesus grieved in a greater way during his time of suffering, but he didn’t turn against humanity. He patiently endured suffering at the hands of idiots, who twisted the laws to serve their own purposes and who resorted to human strength to fight the will of God. Human strength is a shadow, though, next to God’s patient ways of working. His so-called foolishness – which the father in this morning’s parable represents – led to the glory of resurrection and the redemption of the human race from the clutches of Satan.

       God’s response to the charge that western civilization has become like the two sons in this morning’s parable is to be like the father – holding on to the truth, but loving and patient at the same time, not giving up easily on anyone and shutting the door on no sinner who repents.

       He calls his faithful people to help him, and it’s they who carry the burden of civilization. They bring God’s values into the world around them. St. Peter’s people are like that – like the father in the parable. We may feel beleaguered at times, a minority pushed to the wall, but we don’t give up. We remember that one candle can brighten a whole room. The point is not that we feel comfortable or well-adapted to the world, but that we’re servants of the Lord, willing to wait and to bring his kind of love to the folks who come our way.

       This doesn’t mean that we approve of wrong-doing or take part in it, but we live by God’s truth in patience and love. We teach God’s way by word and example to folks for whom we have responsibility; we’re quick to forgive and rejoice at signs of repentance. We reproach and encourage. We bring our own sins to the foot of the cross every day.

       In this way, we help the Lord build up and strengthen our families and take part in Jesus’ work of restoring and refurbishing the world around us. We’re like the father in the Lord’s parable, whose mind even in times of crisis was never far from his heavenly home.

       Jesus wants us to find encouragement and hope in this morning’s parable. The Christian way of faithful waiting on the Lord, which our people practice, is the best way. Faith brings confidence and confidence brings joy. This is what our Lord wants from us – trust that he became man, that our sins are forgiven, that he has saved us, and that he has prepared a home in heaven for us. Like the father in the parable, we rejoice that he finds the lost and saves the wandering. Also, like the father we respond gladly when he calls us to help him. In His name, we give thanks. AMEN.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. AMEN. 

Luke 13:1 - 9 -- Jesus, the News, and Ourselves

Grace and peace to you from Him who is and who was and who is to come,

       Folks who lived in Jesus’ time were just as fascinated by the days’ news as many of us are today, and it always seems to be the bad news that holds our attention. Wars, natural disasters, government scandals, and the misbehavior of well-known people often get us thinking. We want to know what the big events of the day mean for us. Sometimes it’s easy to find a meaning. A flood or a big snowstorm may touch the life of a friend or a relative or we may know a politician who is often in the news or we may have a friend or relative serving in the armed forces. Or it may be you have an active, curious brain and like to stay informed. Sometimes, on the other hand, we may want to get away from the news – which means different things for us at different times.

       This morning’s gospel gives us a lesson in how to interpret the news from a Christian point of view. Current events convince us that the world and we ourselves need to repent and take hold of Christ in faith. Some people wanted Jesus to interpret reports that Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, had murdered a group of Galileans who were offering sacrifices in the temple. They might have been members of a bothersome national faction that the government was worried about. It was a terrible thing for Pilate to do, in any case, and deeply offensive to the Jews, who never let outsiders into the sacred parts of the temple. Then, too, eighteen people died when a tower collapsed. Folks in those days believed that if really bad things happened to you, you and your neighbors could be sure that God was angry and was punishing you for some secret sin. Job’s friends had the same idea, you remember. They believed that Job suffered because God’s wrath was upon him.

       The truth is actually much different. It doesn’t happen very often that we can see God’s hand clearly in a sequence of events that we hear about in the news. The Almighty works in mysterious ways that are usually beyond the power of human minds to interpret correctly. Here’s a case to think about. A group of nuns working in a South American jungle prayed for years that the Lord would send them a jeep. But instead of a jeep, a terrible war came that lasted for months and months. Many people were killed. The nuns didn’t understand why God hadn’t sent them a vehicle. When peace came back and the sisters could finally leave their convent, one of them went out for a walk and when she reached the end of a path – what do you suppose? She found a jeep with the keys in the ignition.

       Anyway, Jesus said that wars and famine, earthquakes and unexpected catastrophes will be part of the news until he returns. The significance of particular events is usually hidden away in his mind and his will. The folks who went to Jesus with their observations about current events were too quick to form opinions about the sinfulness of others. Their biases didn’t help them understand what the news meant for them. They needed a deeper understanding.

       Misfortunes that happen to other people, Jesus told them, such as storms and floods and civil unrest, shouldn’t bring on bursts of self-satisfaction and finger-pointing. It’s easy for folks who live in favored places like Canada to become complacent, smug, settled into a comfortable routine and there’s always the temptation to be callous or indifferent to the troubles of others. We don’t please God if we allow ourselves to fall into these ways of thinking. A wiser, more Christian response to news about others’ difficulties is to see a warning in them – a wake-up call. All are sinners. Everyone needs to turn to God. Those who don’t will face a greater calamity than physical hardship. Paul wrote in a different connection: “Let anyone who thinks that he stands firm take heed lest he fall.” We comfortable North Americans are always in danger of spiritual sloth. It’s easy to live for pleasures and forget that life is uncertain and fragile and to ignore reminders that everyone needs to examine him- or herself in the light of God’s Word.

       Now, this morning’s Gospel doesn’t stop there. Jesus tells a parable to show God’s way of looking on the events of the day. The vineyard he referred to is Israel; the fig tree is Jerusalem, which was the most important city. The whole nation had been corrupt, barren, fruitless. The people shouldn’t become obsessed with two incidents only: they should strive for a wider understanding – that the whole society was worthy of receiving God’s wrath. Only Christ’s death for their sins would rescue them from condemnation. They needed to turn to God and seek his will while they had the chance. Otherwise, they’d miss out on salvation.

Jesus told them what the Heavenly Father wanted – spiritual fruitfulness that was the opposite of smugness and self-satisfaction. Jesus makes fruitfulness possible. It begins with sorrow for our sins and the grateful acceptance of Jesus’ friendship and the blessings he won for us when he shed his blood and then produces qualities such as the ones Paul mentions in Galatians – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Holy Spirit uses our repentant joy to bring fruitfulness out of barren soil.

       We make productive contributions wherever we go – to the life of our families, at our tasks, and in our communities – and in a Christian way because God’s Spirit works in us and empowers us to stick with him. We read our Bibles, say our prayers, come to worship. The Lord uses us. It is He who makes us fruitful.

We aren’t perfect, of course, and our failings concern us, but they don’t break our spirits, for our Savior who pardons us and calls us to repent and think again believes in us and prevents us from being overcome with worry about our transgressions. We rest in the trust he places in us and are confident of our fruitfulness. Jesus is like the vine-keeper in the parable who asked the owners of the vineyard to spare the fig tree. He intercedes with the Father on our behalf. He wants us to be fruitful and trusts that we’ll respond to the opportunities he gives us with an abundance of fruitfulness.

       Although the news may alarm us at times, Jesus teaches us to trust that God is active and in control. He is patient and slow to condemn; he works in mysterious ways by his own timetable. He doesn’t make mistakes. Instead of cutting off sinful humanity, he invites us to stand in faith at the foot of the Cross, when we receive pardon and renewed strength. Because of the Cross, there is no barrier between us and our Creator who will persist in making us fruitful.

       Bad days and the experience of suffering in our own lives don’t mean that we’re unfruitful. In fact, tough times bring a fruitfulness of their own in that they make us patient and faithful and teach us the art of compassion. The Heavenly Father doesn’t promise to spare us from tribulation. We expect rocky times, in fact, because Christians share in the suffering of our Savior. He does promise though, that he will use miserable hours for our good. Peter wrote that sufferings refine our faith the way fire refines gold. God thinks differently from the way we do: he uses tribulations as the soil out of which sturdy blossoms grow.

Life on earth will always be a mixture of good and bad. The devil tries to use our troubles to break us, while the Savior helps us to endure them and to see them clearly. Misfortunes humble us and teach us to call on the Lord for help. Difficulties give us the chance to imitate Jesus’ meekness and patience, to look beyond rough days to the brightest of all times that wait for us in heaven. Jesus shows us how to find uses for the rough waters we pass through which we don’t see as punishments from God – though they can be for people who don’t believe in him – but as inducements to draw closer to our Lord, who experienced miseries himself and used them to bring good to all people.

       Life is full of strange events that get us asking questions. Are people who suffer from wars and natural disasters worse sinners than other folks?  All sin and fall short of the glory of God. Jesus uses the news of the day to create fruits of repentance in our hearts. As we are sorry for our sins, we rediscover that God is forgiving, patient, and steadfast. He won’t give up on us. He will persist on our behalf. We trust that he’ll keep working on us and that the fruits of faith – joyfulness, kindliness, peace, gentleness, and so on will about in our lives. In Jesus name, we give thanks. AMEN.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. AMEN.             

                       

Luke 13:31 - 35 -- Jesus Reveals His Qualities

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

       Even though this morning’s gospel text isn’t one of the most familiar ones, it gives us a chance to remember some of Jesus’ qualities. He worked in the middle of society. He met a variety of people. Some were friends, others enemies. People in high places new who he was, especially Herod, the ruler of Galilee, where Jesus was travelling. Herod wanted to kill Jesus – or so the rumor went. Jesus didn’t cower in fear of Herod’s power, nor did he pack his bags and flee. He said – and in public, where many would hear him and repeat what he said – that the ruler was a fox. Now, the Greeks thought of foxes as cunning and crafty, while the Hebrews considered them animals of destruction. Whichever understanding Jesus had in mind, he knew that Herod was up to no good. Jesus wasn’t afraid to challenge him by speaking God’s opinions of his ways.

Jesus was strong and brave, then. He knew the world and had to be on his guard but he didn’t compromise with evil to save himself. He stood up to his enemies on the side of what is good and true. He was the Son of God and God himself so he had the authority to make judgments. He wanted the people and Herod himself to know that he was out of line, so Jesus spoke forthrightly in hopes that his words would get back to the ruler, who might take the chance to repent and turn to God and be saved. Jesus wants everyone to have an opportunity for salvation.

       Jesus was sturdy and courageous, then, and passes his strength on to us. We don’t act or speak when we don’t have authority, but neither are we doormats. We often speak out against injustice and wrongdoing. A top media executive once called a meeting of his senior staff when it happened to be Ash Wednesday. He noticed that some of his people had ashes on their foreheads. He called them Jesus freaks and said they ought to be working for another network. The story got out and Christian leaders were quick to protest. Jesus doesn’t call us, you see, to suffer in silence. He was brave and so are we.

       The text reminds us of other outstanding qualities of our Lord. He was on the side of life rather than destruction. He cast out demons, healed the sick, relieved burdens, and solved problems. He showed his power in acts of compassion. Since he could heal ailments of body and soul, we can rely on his promises that he will bestow greater gifts such as the forgiveness of sins, the friendship of God, and the hope of everlasting life. We trust him when he says he calls us into an eternal kingdom and promises to keep us there. Rejection of Christ and unrepented hardness of heart have serious consequences, from which Jesus wants to spare all people, so he lovingly draws us to him.

       He is persistent, in other words. He promised to keep on with his mission in spite of opposition.  We Christians get our stick-to-it-iveness, to use a word my mother taught me, from him. One foot after the other. Don’t give up. Look ahead to the satisfactions that will come when we reach a goal that’s hard to get to and takes a lot of time. Caring for others, success at work, resisting the assaults of the world and the devil, and sticking with Jesus – all take persistence, and the Lord shows us how it’s done. What’s more, he revives us if our persistence falters. Few things are more disheartening than looking back and realizing that we gave up on something we didn’t have to. We can’t persist in doing good on our own. The strengthens us and builds up our determination.

       Love is another quality we see in Jesus, which this morning’s gospel shows us in a vivid way. Jesus compared himself with a hen who gathers her chicks around her to protect them. The Heavenly Father called him to nurture the people of Jerusalem and Israel in particular so that they would be a blessing to the whole world. His love didn’t falter even though many of the people he was sent to rejected him. He reaches out today to gather people together so that we receive the protection of his love and inspiration for service. Our natural inclination is to go our own way and to claim that God’s love for us is a crutch that grown-ups don’t need. The devil tempts us to trust human strength, and many do, starting with Adam and Eve and going up to the news of the day, but Jesus keeps on loving and never shuts the door on anyone who looks for him. He gives wisdom to folks who listen to him. He trains us to accept what’s best for us, and that’s the love of God, which moves us to love him and our neighbors in return.

       God loves the whole world and all people, while Jesus had a special concern for Jerusalem, as we said, the holy city, the center of religious life for the people of Israel. But some of the people there and many of the leaders turned their backs on him. Jesus warned them – not in anger or vengefulness, but from sadness and compassion for their plight. He didn’t lash out or sink into despair. His love for them was steady and persistent. He willingly gave up his life to win the possibility of salvation for the people who turned away from him.

       St. Peter’s people stand up for the love of God where we live. The presence of sin and the devil and the weakness of human flesh don’t frighten us into silence of inactivity. We pray for our neighbors. We speak about the Lord. We correct. We forgive, as God corrects and pardons us. We may know people who are struggling in today’s economy or someone who is discouraged and looking for something solid to trust or we may have a friend who’s led astray by false teaching. We point folks in difficult circumstances to the faith and hope our Savior offers. We’re concerned about the welfare of others, committed to the world around us, and not on the world’s terms but Christ’s. He advised the people of Jerusalem that they should accept God’s Word while they had the chance. A time was coming – he meant the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army almost four decades in the future – when their lives would be much more difficult. It behooved them to cling to God while he was in their midst.

       Another of Jesus’ qualities – and we remember that he is God and man in one Person – is his attitude to the end of earthly life. He spoke about his coming death, not with bitterness, but as if he were reporting a fact. Although it is a great evil, death for Jesus and for us means deliverance from the troubles of earth to a better life face-to-face with God. St. Paul wrote: “I tell you a mystery...we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed. This perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.” The day of fulfillment has yet to come. We perceive its glories by faith, but we are blessed now because Jesus has defeated the devil’s power to fill us with fears about death. We lead balanced, joyful, fruitful lives now because the Lord has promised us a glorious future. “O, death, where is your sting?” Paul wrote. “O, grave, where is your victory?” We live in the hope of unimaginable blessedness to come.

       But to return to our text. Some questions can’t be answered. We can’t explain why some folks reject Christ and his promises. We do know, however, that some people accept him. The Spirit moves lots of folks to receive the Lord in their hearts, and even in Jesus’ time, some welcomed him and stuck with him and learned from his teachings about the world. There were those who appreciated his persistence, were grateful for his healing, and rejoiced in his love, and who joyfully took new life from his conquest of death. Jesus spoke to people like that at the end of this morning’s gospel. He would soon make his departure from the world. When they saw him next, they would exclaim, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

As a man, Jesus loved his people and his nation despite their faults. As God, he cared about them so much that he died to save them – and not just one nation and one people. He died so that the whole world might come to life in him. He calls us to stick with him and promises that the Holy Spirit will keep giving us the grace to persevere in faith so that when he returns we will say with the faithful people of ancient Israel and all believers everywhere, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” We give thanks in the name of our Savior. AMEN.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keeps your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. AMEN.