1 Peter 3:18 (13-22)
"Christ Completely Reconnected Us to God"
Sunday, April 27, 2008; 6th Sunday of Easter
[Acts 17:16-31; John 14:15-21]
In the name of the Triune God-Father, X Son, and Holy Spirit. [Amen.]
(1 Peter 3:18 ESV) "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous
for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in
the flesh but made alive in the spirit . ."
Introduction: Dear Fellow Redeemed and Reconciled Heirs of Christ's
Resurrection Reality.
Many, maybe most, of you have heard the story about the piece of string
that one day went into a local tavern, climbed up on a barstool, and asked
for a beer (apparently it was a German Lutheran piece of string). The
bartender looked closely at that piece of string and upon realizing what it
was told it that he did not serve beer to pieces of string. So, the piece
of string left.
Outside that piece of string pondered its thirsty dilemma and came up
with a solution. It broke itself into two pieces, tied itself back
together, and unraveled its loose ends. It then went back into the tavern,
climbed back up on a barstool, and once again called for a beer.
The bartender studiously looked at it and, thinking that it was at
least somewhat familiar, asked, "Are you that piece of string that I refused
to serve a beer to earlier?" The piece of string that had broken itself
into two pieces, tied itself back together, and unraveled its loose ends
answered, "I'm afraid not!"
That feeble attempt at humor with an old joke helps to illustrate today's
Easter text. That's right, we're still in the Easter season through next
Sunday, which will be the 7th and final Sunday of it. Before we arrive at
this Easter season's completion we will celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord
that occurred 40 days after He arose from the dead with a special divine
service this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. which we encourage you to attend.
But back to our illustration. That piece of string broke itself apart
and reconnected itself together to try to get what it wanted. In a somewhat
similar fashion we sinful human beings separated ourselves from the very God
who created us in an effort to get what WE wanted. The major difference is
that we cannot reconnect ourselves to God. The Easter event emphasizes the
wonderful grace-message that .
Transition: Christ Completely Reconnected Us to God so Let's Always Be
Prepared to Confess Christ the Lord as Holy and Let's Live Out Our Baptism
Holiness.
I. Let's Always Be Prepared to Confess Christ the Lord as Holy. [13-17:
"Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even
if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no
fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as
holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a
reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile
your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to
suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil."]
Many years ago in my childhood I participated in the Boy Scouts of America
program. Although I have forgotten much of what I learned, I still remember
the motto, "Be Prepared!", that is, "Always Be Ready!" Being prepared or
ready is the message about our spirituality and related events that Old
Testament prophets, Jesus Christ Himself, the apostle Peter, and others
proclaimed.
For instance, through Jeremiah God told Israel's heathen
neighbors to
(Jer 46:14b ESV) "Stand ready and be prepared, for the sword shall
devour around you."
John the baptizing Christian told his audience,
(Matt 3:3c ESV) "Prepare [make ready] the way of the Lord; make his
paths straight."
Jesus underlined that declaration when He issued this wake-up
reminder,
(Matt 24:44 & Luke 7:27 ESV) "Therefore you also must be ready
[prepared], for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
The apostle Peter exhorted his readers then and now in today's
Epistle Reading to
(1 Peter 3:15 ESV) ". always be prepared [ready] to make a defense to
anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you . ."
However, he also bluntly warned us that .
A. Suffering for Christ Is a Very Real Possibility. None of us
enjoys suffering whether it be physical hurt or pain; emotional anxiety or
stress; spiritual doubts or uncertainty; or relational crisis or disruption.
Suffering is simply neither fun nor desirable. Quite frankly, even Christ
did not enjoy the suffering that accompanied His holy life and crucifixion
death for our forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.
The apostle Peter tells us, however, that
(1 Peter 3:14 ESV) ". even if you should suffer for
righteousness' sake, you will be blessed."
Say what!? You correctly heard it. Suffering for
righteousness' sake (that is, for Christ, who is our righteousness) results
in blessing . good things . Godly gifts. In fact, Christ Himself even
taught that
(Matt 5:6 & 10 ESV) "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
In his second letter to the Corinthians St. Paul gave the
following beautiful Gospel assurance,
(2 Cor 5:21 ESV) "For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be
sin who knew no sin, so that in him [Jesus] we might become the
righteousness of God."
As he also recounted his own struggles, St. Paul admitted
that
(Phil 3:8-9 ESV) "For his sake I have suffered the loss of all
things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be
found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,
but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God
that depends on faith . ."
So, realizing that suffering for Christ is not only a real
possibility but even a likely reality, let's be ready to .
B. Always Confess Christ with Gentleness and Respect. In our
Synodical Catechism's section of the Apostles' Creed's Third Article, the
following question and answers reveal a very important lesson.
(LUTHER'S SMALL CATECHISM WITH EXPLANATION, © 1991 CPH, pages
158f.) "179. What do the Scriptures teach about our life in the church?
They teach that A. we should seek always to be and remain members of the
invisible church, Christ's body, by sincere faith in Christ, our Savior;
B. . be faithful to that visible church, or denomination, which professes
and teaches all of the Bible's doctrine purely and administers the
sacraments according to Christ's institution; C. . avoid false teachers,
false churches, and all organizations that promote a religion that is
contrary to God's Word [such as the Masonic Lodge and the many animal
lodges]; [and] D. . maintain and extend God's church by telling others about
Jesus Christ, by personal service, and by prayer and financial support."
It's all about faith in Messiah that Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego declared as we heard in one of the Old Testament Readings at
the Easter Vigil,
(Dan 3:17-18 ESV) ". our God whom we serve is able to deliver
us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand,
O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your
gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
Immanuel gave absolute certainty when He told His
disciples then and us today,
(Matt 10:19-20 ESV) ". do not be anxious how you are to speak
or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that
hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking
through you."
However, St. Paul reminded us in support of the Apostle
Peter's encouragement,
(Col 4:6 ESV) "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned
with salt . ."
Now that's good advice for all relationships including
husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, teachers and
students, pastors and parishioners, . not just evangelism workers. It's
good advice that we strive to do because by His holy life, innocent
suffering, humiliation death, and majestic resurrection .
Transition: Christ Completely Reconnected Us to God so Let's Always Be
Prepared to Confess Christ the Lord as Holy and Let's Live Out Our Baptism
Holiness.
II. Let's Live Out Our Baptism Holiness. [19-22: ". in which he went and
proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey,
when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being
prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely
through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a
removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience,
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at
the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been
subjected to him."] Holy is defined as both being without sin and hating
sin. Obviously, only God and His angelic messengers who did not rebel
against Him are holy by nature. At the same time, He declares us holy.
That's the grand significance of our Baptism.
St. Paul explained it this way,
(Rom 6:4 ESV) "We were buried therefore with him [Jesus] by baptism
into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."
And in another letter he wrote:
(Gal 3:27 ESV) ". as many of you as were baptized into Christ have
put on Christ."
Because of that reality Christ's holiness became our holiness.
What that means is .
A. God Cleansed Our Conscience in Baptism. Sin singes our
consciences. Disobeying God's Law results in guilt and shame. Our
consciences need cleansing. The prophet Ezekiel told the following message
from God to the Israelites about an Old Testament activity that related to
New Testament Baptism,
(Ezek 36:25-26 ESV) "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and
you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I
will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will
put within you."
In addition, the prophet Zechariah relayed the Lord's
message to the Israelites that
(Zech 13:1 ESV) "On that day there shall be a fountain opened
for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them
from sin and uncleanness."
That "fountain" could well have a dual prophetic meaning.
On the one hand, it could refer to our Savior's shed blood that washes away
all our sins. At the same time, it could refer to the Blessed Sacrament of
Holy Baptism, in which the Holy Spirit connected us to Christ's death and
resurrection and by which He applied that cleansing washing to us
personally.
Whatever it is the achievement of it is founded on the
fact that
B. Christ Preceded Us through Hell into Heaven. Did you know that
not all Christians believe that Christ descended into hell? In their denial
of it, they along with many who do believe it ask for Scriptural evidence.
Well, here it is. The apostle Peter in this general letter to the scattered
Christians in the years immediately following Christ's ascension informed
them then and us today that the resurrected Redeemer entered hell itself to
declare His temporal and eternal victory over sin, Satan, and death.
A Christmas hymn that's new to us in the Lutheran Service
Book states it this way,
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 CPH, #360:2)
"Hear! The Conqueror has spoken:
'Now the foe, Sin and woe,
Death and hell are broken!'
God is man, man to deliver,
And the Son Now is one
With our blood forever."
Since Jesus accomplished our holiness for us and the Holy
Spirit gave that accomplishment to us in our Baptism, let's live our daily
lives by modeling it. Let's do so by
1. listening in such a way that we truly hear what God speaks
to us in His Holy Word as well as the church's liturgy that has been passed
down to us over the course of many generations,
2. obeying God's commands as He summarized them in The Ten
Commandments, and
3. speaking words that praise God and benefit one another.
As we do so, let's reflect on the fact that .
Transition: Christ Completely Reconnected Us to God so Let's Always Be
Prepared to Confess Christ the Lord as Holy and Let's Live Out Our Baptism
Holiness.
Conclusion: In his famous sermon at the Areopagus in Athens St. Paul boldly
declared,
(Acts 17:30-31 ESV) "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he
commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on
which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has
appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the
dead."
As we accelerate toward the completion of this annual liturgical
celebration of Easter let's continue to remind each other and never forget
that Christ is risen! [He is risen indeed! Alleluia!] That's the
assurance St. Paul gave to his audience when he called them to repentance
even as Pastor Cole, Pastor Marks, and I continue to do in this local
setting as well. God gives us that assurance when we read and hear His Holy
Word and properly partake of our Lord's Holy Supper. Those blessed means of
grace-God's Word of mercy and grace, Baptism, and Holy Communion-are what
the Holy Spirit used to connect us back to God and maintain that connection
unto eternal life. So, let's be faithful in them.
Jesus Himself instructed His disciples and us about genuine
connectedness,
(John 14:15-17 ESV) "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I
will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you
forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it
neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and
will be in you."
As we approach the end of this Easter season we look forward to
celebrating Pentecost, that event when the Holy Spirit equipped Christ's
disciples to carry on His work in His physical absence. That same Holy
Spirit came into our hearts and lives when we were baptized. He thereby
equipped us to be Immanuel's missionaries who Tell the Good News about Jesus
to our family members, friends, acquaintances, and anyone else whom God
places in our daily paths. Let's do so with both the words that we speak
and the deeds of love that we do when we obey God's commandments. We do so
because Christ Completely Reconnected Us to God so Let's Always Be Prepared
to Confess Christ the Lord as Holy and Let's Live Out Our Baptism Holiness.
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our holy
Savior. Amen.
In the name of the Triune God-Father, X Son, and Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
___________________________________________________________________________
'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise
noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such
gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_
_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as
for quoting or use in a congregational setting
_with_or_without_attribution_.
Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list.
Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster.
Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>
For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach
For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at:
Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
