The Fifth Sunday of Easter 1. To the Gentiles 2. God Has Granted Repentance 3. That Leads to Life
Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Alleluia! Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. Today the risen Lord Jesus gives us great and wonderful gift, where He has written in today’s First Reading, “To the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” Dear Christian friends, Actually, our risen Lord has given us more than one gift in His Words, “To the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” We can break this sentence from God into three parts, and each part of itself is a good and gracious gift from on high. Probably there are even more than three gifts from God contained in these Words, if only we had eyes to see them, but these three will be sufficient for today. “To the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” 1. God’s first gift to you is the first phrase, “to the Gentiles.” These Words emphasize the all-encompassing, universal love that God the Father has toward all people on account of His risen Son Jesus. The Words, “to the Gentiles,” are a gracious gift from God to you and to me because we are not of the bloodline of Abraham. The Words, “to the Gentiles,” emphasize that God indeed shows no favoritism or partiality (Galatians 2:6), but that He is “the God of the Gentiles also” (Romans 3:29). The Words, “to the Gentiles,” prove true the ancient prophecies that were written concerning you, Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, [O Lord] For You judge the peoples with equity And guide the nations upon the earth… Let all the ends of the earth fear Him! (Psalm 67:4,7) And again, All the nations You have made shall come And worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name, For You do great and wondrous things; You alone are God (Psalm 86:9-10) You might call this first gift the gift of your past, that is, the gift your Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for you once and for all by His death on the cross. Thus it is written, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). 2. But Christ Jesus has done more than die. Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Alleluia! In the power of His resurrection, our victorious Lord Jesus continues to give good gifts to men. As you heard in today’s First Reading, “To the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” Here is the second gift God has for you here in these Words: “God has granted repentance.” With these Words, God is telling you about the here-and-now, everyday power that the risen Christ exerts upon your life for you. The Words, “God has granted repentance,” indicate that no once comes to Jesus and His eternal life unless “the Father… draws him” (John 6:44). The Words, “God has granted repentance,” indicate that, were it not for the on-going miracle and power of the Word, we would each be “without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). But Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Alleluia! By the power of His Son’s resurrection, “God has granted repentance.” You might call this second gift the gift of your present, that is, the gift that God keeps on giving to you on a daily basis. After all, what is repentance? Repentance has two parts: first, that you would admit your sin; and second, that you would believe the Word and promise of your risen Christ, that all your sins are now forgiven in His crucified blood. • Ask yourself this, “Are you a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness?” If you can answer “yes” to this question, your answer comes only because God has begun a good work in you, awakening you to your sin and death and need for Jesus. Stated another way, if you can say, “Yes, I am a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness,” then this second gift from God that I have told you about is already at work within you: “God has granted repentance.” • But repentance includes more than simple recognition of your sin. After you ask yourself whether you are a sinner, ask yourself a second question. Ask, “Do you believe that God has, on account of His Son Jesus, forgiven you all your sins and pardoned your offenses?” Again, answer yes! Faith is the second part of repentance. Faith is a gift that only God can give (Romans 10:17). Your faith and trust in Jesus is again evidence of this second gift, that “God has granted repentance.” This is the gift that God sustains within you on a daily basis, that God sustains within you both a recognition of your need and a trust in the one who fulfills your need, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Praise be to God! Without this daily gift—without the ongoing work of God granting us repentance—we would be lost forever. 3. Praise be to God that Christ is risen! (He is risen, indeed!) Alleluia. Because Christ is risen, we are NOT lost forever. Because Christ is risen, God the Father has a third—as great and as precious as the other two—contained in these Words, “To the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” God’s third in these Words is this, “repentance… leads to life.” Stated another way, God’s miraculous and ongoing gift of repentance in your life delivers you from death. This is why Jesus so confidently declared in last week’s Gospel, from John chapter 10, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand (John 10:27-28). That is why Jesus also says in today’s Gospel, in Words that create comfort and joy, “I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). God’s promise of resurrection and assurance of eternal life certainly give great comforts for the here and now, but perhaps you might also think of this third gift as the gift of your future. “Repentance… leads to life”—that is to say, God has given a gift in these Words that will last you for all eternity. And this gift is not yours alone or mine alone. For what has God said in today’s First Reading? “To the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” These are all-encompassing Words! Stated another way, these are Words that you can speak to your friends and neighbors, co-workers and closest family members. When you speak these Words to other people in your life, these Words will do the same good work in them that has already done in you. When you tell others, “To the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life,” you are delivering the very life-giving Words of God into their ears. “To the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life,” This is really just another way of saying, Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Alleluia! _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
