Jesus the Good Shepherd

Sermon Easter 4

Jesus the Good Shepherd

Sunday, April 29. 2012

Every child has cried out in fear of darkness and night, of monsters under the bed, of danger hidden in the shadows. For the child, comfort begins when a door opens into the darkened room and the familiar figure of Mother or Father enters in. It’s not what a parent says or does but simply that he or she is there. This is what comforts the child and calms the troubled heart. It’s not in the unrealistic promise that fears will never return. There will be monsters under the bed and nightmares and fears hiding in the shadows tomorrow night as well. It’s enough that Dad or Mom is there, for in his or her presence, there is comfort. There is hope. There is peace.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for

Thou Art with Me . . . When Things Go Bump in the Night.

I.

Just like the child who cries out in the night, every adult has borne the weight of his or her fears in loneliness until someone comes to help. Whether it’s being a solitary figure in a hospital room or waiting by a phone that doesn’t ring or for a doorbell that doesn’t sound, all ages find themselves alone with their fears at some point or another. It’s the terrible captivity that begs for help and aches with the anxiety that no one will come. The evils of the real world are even darker than the childish fears of the night. The enemies are not made up, but genuine. And the comfort is the same—the comfort of presence. Family and friends come to sit on the hospital bed and hold our hands in our afflictions. Love wears the face of neighbors and fellow church members with casserole in hand and a smile on the lips. Again, it’s not some naive idea that there’s nothing to fear or that all our troubles are over that gives us comfort. It’s the presence of those whom we love who sit with us, wait with us, bear with us, and share with us. In these do we find our peace. We are not alone.

For Israel walking in the wilderness of the unknown, the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day were the sacraments of God’s presence. To a people who had left behind the familiar misery of slavery to meet the unknown of freedom and the land of promise, their comfort along the way took the form of manna and quail from the God who went with them and did not simply know them or direct their journey from afar. For Israel, the only comfort they knew was the promise of God’s presence to lead them when they knew not the way, to guide them through the uncertainties and threats that were around them, and to defend them as much from their fears as from their enemies.

You and I are no different. We are all pilgrims and strangers in the place that should feel like home. Sin has turned the darkness into threat and filled us with fear. There is no greater enemy than death and no greater fear than to surrender our lives before we’ve reached our dreams or accomplished our goals or realized our hopes. Yet if anything about this life is certain, it is that death is near. Its presence shadows us all our lives and connects us to Eden by marking us for a future certain to be filled with pain and sorrow and disappointment.

I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. (v 4)

So we flee for comfort into a passion for the moment, a foolish, fleeting passion that tries to compress a lot of living into a few short days. In the end, that kind of life turns out to be a competition that feeds our loneliness. It turns those around us into our competitors, as if we must steal from them in order to get what we want and obtain contentment and peace. A husband or wife is a means for me to be happy so such a short life won’t seem empty. Somebody else on the side is a source of excitement so what little time I have won’t be a bore. Kids are a feather in my cap so I’ll have something to show for my little time here. A career better provide lots of toys, ’cause when I die that’s what determines who wins. And it better allow me lots of time off, ’cause I don’t have lots of time to play with those toys. Or else it better consume all my time so I won’t have any time think about how soon this is all gonna be over.

We have become the scattered sheep who go our own way in pursuit of an elusive dream, not realizing how lost and vulnerable we are until life comes crashing down on us.

II.

It’s into this valley of the shadow of death that Jesus has come. He is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. He knows his own better than they know themselves. He grants them his Spirit so that they may hear the sound of his voice, know the comfort of his call, the safety of his presence, the grace that supplies all their need, the food that satisfies their hunger, and the water that cleanses and gives them drink. He comes as the one and only who can restore the souls of the lost and clothe their dirt and scars with the righteousness of his name and his obedience.

In life and in death, we are not alone. Threatened by evil and surrounded by our enemies, we are not alone. He is with us. It cost him nothing less than his own holy life surrendered on the cross into the death that should have been ours, in order that we might be found and restored. He rose that the secret of this victory might no more be hidden but revealed to us and to the world. You are not alone. He is with us.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. (v 4)

This is not some abstract imagery of poet or philosopher, but the hope of children who still cry out in darkness looking for comfort and peace. This is no promise of the huckster who says if you get it right and get right with God, you’ll have all you want and even more of health and wealth and happiness and pleasure. This is no shallow Gospel that speaks hope without the stark reality of the cross or peace as the world might give a pat on the back: “It’ll be okay.” This is honest and real life, honest and real fears, honest and real troubles—all met by the honest and real Savior who willingly gave up heaven for the reality of this mortal life and all its wounds and hurts. This is the honest and real Savior who judged us worthy of his life offered into our death on the cross and declared us righteous and holy in the ultimate act of grace and mercy. This is the honest and real Savior who whispers to us in the midst of all our fears, worries, threats, anxieties, and wants, “I am with you.”

For you are with me. (v 4)

And so we come . . . to sit at the Table he has appointed, while our enemies stare with surprise into the God who has become the Shepherd of his people and their food. And so we come . . . to have our soiled and wounded heads anointed with the oil of healing and gladness by the Good Shepherd who calls each one of us by name. And so we come . . . to see our cup of blessing overflow with a generous grace that is embarrassing in its lavishness and richness.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, for God is with us. Our sin could not turn him away, and our death could not contain him, just as his death could not contain him. And we shall dwell in his house here for as long as time is given and forever in the place where time is counted no more.

III.

The great temptation is to separate Jesus from his gifts or grace, to separate Jesus from the means of his presence (the Word and Sacraments), or to separate Jesus from the good news of the Gospel. What calms our fears and plants hope in our hearts is not the promise that troubles will fade away, enemies will disappear, or life will be good, long, happy, and filled with pleasure. What calms our fears and plants hope in our hearts is that the Good Shepherd is here and among us—within the troubles of our lives, in the presence of our enemies, amid the disappointments, burdens, wounds, and problems of this mortal life. He is here, and where he is are all the gifts and graces to cleanse us from our sin, to sustain us for the journey of this mortal life, to carry us through all the uncertainties to come, to keep us in his protective care, and to open to us the gate and door of life everlasting. It is not that Jesus is here with goodies—more toys for us to play with—in his hands, but that Jesus is here. Period. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep and takes it up again, that he might give it to us.

To the child who cries out in the night, nothing is more welcome than the comforting presence of Mom or Dad who comes to him. It is not what they bring but that they are there. In the same way, it is not what God gives to us that is our comfort and our joy, but his very self. The Good Shepherd has made himself everything for you—green pasture, restful waters, food, dwelling place, righteousness, goodness, and peace. He gathers us lambs in his arms and carries us in his bosom. He leads us, young and old, where hunger, thirst, death, and fear are no more (Is 40:11). He is what the table he prepares offers; it is in the presence of our enemies, but it’s also his presence. It is his presence that is our gift and our joy, to calm our troubled hearts and to teach us to rejoice. It is the rest of his very presence with us now in Word and Sacrament that gives rest to our fears, to our weary hearts, and to our harried lives. His rod and staff are the Means of Grace that bestow on us the presence that gives welcome pause to us in all our needs and provides us more than enough to sustain us in the journey of these days and lead us to our eternal home.

 

The Good Shepherd stands among us today. “I am here,” he says. He is with us not as the current feeling of the heart or the fleeting thought of the mind or the passing goodwill of the moment, but in the Means of Grace, concrete and real—our Baptisms, set in stone on a date and moment in history, his Table that is here, undeniably, visibly, to be tasted, today. “Do not fear,” he says. He is here with all his grace, power, and mercy to forgive our every sin and overcome even death and the grave. “I know your name,” he says. He knows us not as one knows a fact, but as here on earth a father and mother know and love their child and all his or her needs. “Trust me,” he says.

He will not abandon us. He will not depart from us. He has invested too much in us to turn away from us now. And this is all we need to know for now and all we need to supply all our wants for this day and for eternity.

The Lord is my shepherd (v 1). Amen.

Witnesses to the Resurrection

Sermon Easter 2

Witnesses to the Resurrection

John 19: 20-31

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  It is by hearing the Apostle’s witness in the Gospels through the power of the Holy Spirit that you can make this confession.  It is through this hearing of the Apostles’ witness that you, over 2000 years removed from this event, can have confidence that Jesus of Nazareth will raise you from the dead on the last day. 

But still people today doubt this world changing message. The culture does its best to refute the evidence, deny it even to mock it.  The words of Christ as recorded by the Apostles are on trial and God’s Word has its defense ready.

The skeptics cast doubt that the Apostles writings are authentic.  One way this is done by pointing out that we do not have the original writings and that in the process of copying the scriptures the church made mistakes or intentionally made edits and added words that were not in the original.  The problem with this claim is that there is consistency with in the existing ancient copies of scripture. We have over 5000.

The idea that it is in impossible to maintain the integrity by copying the scriptures over period of time was shattered by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Until the scrolls were discovered the oldest complete copy of the Old Testament scriptures in existence was the Codex Leningradensis.  This codex or book is dated around 1000 AD.  With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls we have scriptures that date back before the birth of Christ. What scholars have found is that there is very little difference between what is written in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Codex, a copy made 1000 years later.  

Another objection presumed by the skeptics is that the Apostles or later church officials added things too what Jesus originally said or claimed.  if the church were editing to add we would have earlier versions of the Gospels that would be smaller or their content would be very different from the earlier copies. Although there are parts of Mark and John that some have said are later editions those editions are clearly indicated and they do not if they were removed present a change in Christian doctrine.  Some have suggested that Mark is the copy of the Gospel that the other synoptic Gospels simply because it is smaller and contains fewer words. Matthew and Luke are based upon even though the church maintains and scholarly evidence suggests that Matthew is the first Gospel written.

The other thing these skeptics point out is the number of variants in the text. This they say proves that the scriptures are fallible but in actuality the variants mainly consist of spelling errors, or the words may be in a different order. The thing is with Greek grammar the word order in a sentence can vary without changing the meaning of the sentence. 

If this is not enough the critics will say Jesus never wrote a word. How do we know Jesus meant to say what the Apostles later had written? The fact remains that there is a strong oral tradition in the culture of the time. Because of the expense and the effort required to make papyrus scrolls, everyone possessing a set of scrolls was not as practical as sharing the stories orally.  As long as the eye witnesses were alive and stories could be corroborated then there was no point to it.  As the eye witnesses started to go to sleep in the Lord the church found it necessary to record these eyewitness accounts.  Very rarely would it be acceptable for the on one trial to answer or witness for himself. To establish what another said or did it requires another. In fact the old Hebrew legal maxim  is that it requires 2 to 5 witnesses to establish a fact.

So why bring this up?  You have probably heard it said, “You can’t argue someone into believing the Gospel.” This is true only the Holy Spirit can create trust in what is being heard. But we also hear from the scriptures faith does come by hearing.  Hearing what? The eye witness testimony and teachings of the Apostles. The Evangelist and Apostle John writes in our gospel text this morning, “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

John here gives us the purpose of his writing His eyewitness testimony of Jesus, “that you may believe in him and have life in his name.”  The point is, is that the content of our faith is based in a historical reality. John says this again in his first epistle to the churches where he writes, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— “

I can’t help to think that John was referring back to the experience he recorded in the Gospel, Jesus post resurrection appearance to the disciples and then to Thomas. John was there and so were others. He saw Jesus. Heard Jesus speak and touched Him.  He saw him eat. Jesus was not some spirit in the appearance of a man. No He is a man, a man who suffered and died and then raised Himself from the dead. This is true. it is historical. There were over 500 witnesses in addition to the disciples of the resurrection.

Our faith is not based on fantasies or myths it is not based one man’s testimony of his own experiences. This is the the trouble with Mohammed the founder of Islam or Joseph Smith the founder of The church of Latter Day Saints or Mormans. 

They cannot be proved or disproved. They are the sole witnesses to the revelations they claimed to receive from God.   One could say, what about the revelations that the Old Testament prophets received or from John himself as he writes of his visions in his Apocalypse what we know as the Book of Revelation? The legitimacy of these texts is based on whether there prophecies come true. The texts are also compared with the teachings found in other scriptural texts to see if they are consistent and do not contradict. 

The Koran and the Book of Morman do contradict the other revelations found in the scriptures and so we Christians deem them to be false teachings.  The other aspect since there is a single witness to the events recorded they cannot be proved or disproved.  We cannot prove or disprove that both men were visited by Angels, that Mohammed ascended into the heavens, that God the Father and God the Son appeared to Joseph Smith in a woods.  If it is true, “Where is Joseph Smith’s golden tablets with reformed Egyptian written on it?  Can the Mormons present to us some other examples in the history of the world where there is reformed Egyptian? If they had the evidence why would their church not produce it for the public to see, to scrutinize. The issue is that in both cases and in the case of the wild claims of other man made religions they cannot be proved or disproved.

However this is not the case with the claims of the resurrection. We have not just Jesus claims about his own experience but in his divine wisdom he appears before his disciples over the next forty days where numerous witnesses see him, hear him, touch him.  He is no longer where they laid him. He is not in the tomb.  If the skeptics and opponents to the church can produce a body, then it’s all over, the church falls and all Christians have nothing to base their faith upon. The Christian religion would then be simply a set of teachings to live by perhaps helpful for civilized living but no different than in other religion of man. Plus we would still be lost in our sins and headed to eternal damnation after we die.

But this is not the case. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! And because he lives you who are baptized and believe we receive the promise of his righteousness before God. And so death has no claim on you. You too will be raised from the death to eternal life.  This is what made the Apostles glad, the peace that comes from Jesus forgiveness.

It was the preaching of the resurrection, the eye witness testimony that motivated the early church to sell their goods and place them in a common treasury as we have from reading in Acts. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold  and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.  

Note the apostles did not preach a stewardship sermon. They did not preach a sermon on tithing. They preached the resurrection. They preached the forgiveness of sins. The power of the Holy Spirit through this eye witness testimony caused such great joy in the people’s hearts that they responded with generosity.

We of all people have a religion a faith grounded in truth, in history. The gospels are written and established as eye witness accounts in the Gospels we have the first three Matthew, Luke and Mark. These are the synoptic Gospels they are like three witnesses recounting virtually the same events.  John was written later and provides additional commentary and eye witness testimony for further explanation and clarification of the church. These witnesses are written to go before a court so one can defend the faith. That is what apologetics is, a defense of the faith. It may not cause someone to trust in Jesus but it does rationally defend the faith against irrational assertions. And it shows that we Christians do not have to put our brains on the shelf to substitute emotion and feelings for knowledge. We do not need to be ashamed of the Gospel for it is rooted in historical and the statements are made by a man the Son of God who rose from the dead who defeated death. That seems to me to be someone worth listening too.

If he rose from the dead as he said he would do then what he says about our forgiveness in Him our righteousness before the Father because of him. His keeping of the law for us is also trustworthy and true.

If someone doubts then let him put the scriptures up to the same scrutiny as a judge would in a trial. Compare the witness testimonies. Then have them use the same scrutiny on the other texts that claim divine revelation. It is no contest. There is nothing else like it and there should not be for it is God’s inspired Word.

And it is the same Word that bids you come to Christ’s altar and receive from this resurrected Christ His very body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins.      Amen  

Christianity in Crisis?

(This week's edition of Newsweek has columnist Andrew Sullivan urging readers to "Forget the Church: Follow Jesus."  Here are excerpts from a series of e-mails between Pastor Springer and a parishioner outlining why this just doesn't quite work.)

Hi ________,

Just read the article.  I agree I would not start with Jefferson [as being the authority on Christian doctrine] although that is probably where many of Sullivan’s cynical subscribers start.  Jefferson was a higher critic of the scripture and this is precisely the example of what Seminexwas all about. It is interesting that this author says he believes in the Resurrection and the Incarnation but on the other hands promotes the idea of not confessing these doctrines. A bit irrational. But there are many Roman Catholic theologians that embrace Higher Criticism and what your left with is moralism absent the vicarious atonement.

He does have a valid critique of Protestantism which I would label American Evangelicalism or Calvinism.  Both Calvinism and Roman Catholicism confuse the kingdoms of the left and of the right and therefore church and state. So they both have this weakness of wanting to take over the world and create a utopia. Sorry, no utopia, until Christ returns!  

Notice how the forgiveness of sins and the vicarious atonement for sins was entirely absent from his proposed reform of Christianity. I guess that got tossed out on the dung heap. Instead, according to Sullivan, Christianity is about doing what Christ and St. Francis of Assi, did. Sell all your goods and live an ascetic celibate lifestyle.  Oops already married? Have kids? Employed for financial gain in the world? Too bad you don’t qualify for being a Christian. Ridiculous! 

Jesus as example for us to follow does not save us or make us righteous before God although it can make us righteous before our fellow man.  What is the point of Jesus death and resurrection if it does not forgive sins?

I am not against a Christian discipline, to me Sullivan makes an appealing statement. “Or you can simply observe what those around him testified to: something special, unique, mysterious, holy. To reduce one’s life to essentials, to ask merely for daily bread, forgiveness of others, and denial of self is, in many ways, a form of madness. It is also a form of liberation. It lets go of complexity and focuses on simplicity. Francis did not found an order designed to think or control. He insisted on the simplicity of manual labor, prayer, and the sacraments. That was enough for him.”  

Not a bad description of Christian discipline, however without understanding the difference between law and gospel these disciplines gain you nothing and lead one much faster down the path of perdition as you become more confident in your works being the cause of your righteousness before God (coram Deo). Sullivan is promoting becoming a do it yourself Pharisee.

Christian discipline can be observed even if you are not a monk or nun. It is not complex  it as simple as using the Treasury of Daily Prayer and attending Divine Services.  It can be done in the vocations God has given us to serve our neighbor, as children, parents, workers etc…. But the Roman Catholics seem to have no concept of the doctrine of vocation. As we Lutheran’s understand it, the secular life is the sacred life we have received lived out for the benefit of our neighbor or righteousness before man (coram hominibus). Even the government has a place in its use of the sword to suppress evil.  

Once again I think his critiques of American Evangelicalism is valid but he does not bring a Christian solution. The world would be much better place if we were all truly Lutheran in confession. I am not saying it would not be without problems because we still behave badly. And when we behave badly it maligns the Gospel. I am afraid Christians behaving poorly has maligned the Gospel for this Roman Catholic. 

Pastor


_______________

(In response to a question about the meaning of Thesis 4 of the Heidelberg Disputation of 1518: "Although the works of God are always unattractive and appear evil they are nevertheless really eternal merits.")

A great example is today.  “Good” Friday.   The suffering and crucifixion of the Son of God. Certainly that would qualify as an example of Thesis 4. But I would even think the sacraments; baptism and the eating and drinking of Christ’s body and blood,  manna, and confessing sins.  How about God’s requirement that the Pastor be a man? You as a Christian have grown accustomed to these things as being good. These things require the denial of self to be received and appreciated.

But how does the unbeliever see them?  As stupid, bigoted, ugly and evil.  Yet they serve to bring us into eternal life. Nothing else has such a promise attached to it. Even baptized Christians have fallen away from receiving these things. So they must not be all that desirable to the flesh. Some still come to church and receive these things and come away saying they got nothing out of the service. They complain, “How can a church grow that uses the liturgy and administers the sacraments according to Christ’s institution? No, we need all sorts of programs, big screens, entertaining worship, lay participation,  and large crowds to grow the church or they may complain in a more liberal setting why spend all this money on the church what about the poor  or we need social activism?”  Are you sort of getting the picture? The focus changes from what Christ is doing to what we need to be doing or we wish to dictate the terms on how we are being served.

But the deeper problem is that we tend toward a theology of glory rather than being theologians of the cross. The theology of glory says that you have something good in you, some god in you that does good. And that means you have something you can offer and should offer the father god.  Being a theologian of the cross means that when you see the cross you know that it was your sins that put the Son of God there. You have nothing to bring. You are beggar holding an empty sack crying out, “Lord have mercy!” And God answers that prayer and fills your sack, which is your faith, with mercy and forgiveness.  As the cross put Jesus to death it puts, the self, the ego to death in us so that He may create something new! So do you know what we need to do? Die with Jesus!

Theologians of glory also believe we have a free will but being a theologian of the cross means believing that our will is captive, held in bondage,  to either the Adversary or Christ. Glory theologians are active while cross theologians are passive in their relationship to the Father. Christians rely entirely on Christ for their righteousness before God.  

I do have another book you can read by Gerhard O.  Forde “On being a theologian of the cross”, Reflections on Luther’s Heidelberg  Disputation, 1518. Eerdmans Publishing 1997  ISBN 0-8028-4345-x

Pastor