For the third Sunday of Easter the three readings are Acts 9:1-22: Revelation 5:1-14 and John 21:1-19. The verse selected to preach on is John 21:7b, “Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea.”

This event takes place after the resurrection of our Lord when Peter had seen Jesus in the upper room on that Easter eve. This event takes place later. What is interesting is to compare what Peter did here after the multitude of fish was caught and what he did during the first miracle of the multitude of fish caught. That is found in the 5th chapter of Luke, verses 1 to 9 with special reference to verse 8. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’”

Do you see the difference in the response Peter makes prior to the resurrection and after? It is a Law and Gospel distinction. When Peter first sees a miracle of fish being caught, he is a lot like Isaiah in the sixth chapter in which he moans that “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.” When you live under the Law there is a fear of coming face to face with God. Likewise, Peter’s second response after the resurrection is much like Isaiah’s after the angel touches his lips with a burning coal from the altar. When God asks who will go for Him, Isaiah responds, “Send me, send me.”

Under the Law fallen human beings recognize their unworthiness to come before God. But when an angel touches lips or the Lord says on the night of the resurrection, “Peace be to you,” there is a recognition through faith that even sinners are now able to approach God. This difference in Peter can be very helpful to members of the congregation who still feel that their sins are so great that they cannot approach the throne of God, even in prayer. It is a wonderful opportunity for the pastor to comfort and console through the proper distinctions between Law and Gospel.

For the 2nd Sunday of Easter the three assigned Series C readings are Acts 5:12-32; Revelation 1:4-18 and John 20:19-31. Chosen to preach about is John 20:28, “And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God.’”

Tell me the first thing that comes into your mind when I name these apostles: Judas (the betrayer); Peter (the denier) and Thomas (the doubter). Isn’t it interesting that most people think of something negative of these apostles, particularly if you begin with Judas. Today the text focuses on Thomas and because of his refusal to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead when told by the others, has come to be known as “Doubting Thomas.” Of course this is the same Thomas who is quoted in John 11:16 in regard to going to Lazarus who had died in hostile territory, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

Thomas is also the one whose question, “Lord we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?” led to Jesus’ well-known answer, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” So, one question, one affirmation of faith and one statement of doubt. Is there another to break the tie? And we find that statement also as part of our passage when Thomas sees the Christ and exclaims, “My Lord and my God!”

While there are those who interpret this scene as Thomas finally being convinced when he has the evidence of being able to touch Jesus, it is of some note that no mention is made that Thomas does any touching like he said he would need to do before he believed. For you see, faith does not come by evidence that persuades us of the truth of Christian claims; faith comes about when we are face to face with the Word of God. While we today will not see the Word of God in the Person of the risen Christ standing before us, we see with eyes of faith through the Word of God as found in holy Scripture.

Sadly, even some Christians today continue to long for some kind of sign from God to help us make decisions or know what to do. Yet, there is no sign except that of Jonah in the belly of the fish for three days. So also, our God-given faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead provides all the evidence we need for the truthfulness of not only the words of Jesus but those of the prophets and apostles also. Through blind faith (which means no evidence necessary) we can be assured that our salvation is sure and certain for His promises in the waters of baptism bring eternal life and salvation to even the worst of sinners like you and like me.
In fact, such a Word makes simple water into a washing of regeneration and simple bread and wine into a feeding of the true body and blood of Jesus, the Christ.

For the Series C readings of Easter, there are the following readings: Isaiah 65:17-24; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 and Luke 24:1-12. The text for the Easter sermon is 1 Corinthians 15:2, “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.”

After more than 38 years in the ministry, it is difficult to come up with a new twist to the Easter festival of Christ’s resurrection. Upon reflection, however, is not every Sunday an Easter celebration as it is impossible to exhaust from a human point of view the application of the Easter event in our lives? During Law and Gospel radio broadcasts Monday through Friday at www.lawgospel.com and click RADIO, I often encourage the laity to bring a blank piece of paper to church and then during the sermon write down anything that they had never heard before. For the sermon task is not simply a reminder of catechetical instruction but an attempt to dig deeper into the insights of the text so that true comfort from the Gospel becomes a brilliant light in our world of darkness.

I would venture to say that most laity would not know how to interpret and apply Paul’s words that by man came death but by another Man came the resurrection of the dead. They might venture to say that the verse refers to the physical death we will endure because of our sin but we need not fear because Jesus will raise our bodies from the ground to be fashioned like unto His glorious body.

The sticking point is what Paul–and therefore what the Holy Spirit–means by “death.” It is not what we often think of that the physical body dies because of disease, old age, an accident and so forth. No, this death took place immediately when Eve and Adam sinned. In fact, their death took place while they were still alive. For the death spoken of here is the separation between man and God. Recall how the two fallen creatures attempted to hide where God was!

The Bible often speaks of the walking dead; namely, those unbelievers who appeaer to be alive but who from God’s point of view are dead in tresspasses and sin. The Easter event celebrates the victory of the Good Friday crucfixion which did not take away sins in the sense that Christians no longer sin. Instead, what was taken away was the punishment each of us deserve before a just God. Praise the Lord that the true God is instead merciful and gracious, not holding us accountable for our sins and providing us with heaven as our home even though we confess we do not deserve it.

This new eternal life begins for the believer not after Judgment Day but at the point of our converstion through the waters of baptism as an infant or through hearing the pure and profitable Word of God reaching our ears. Easter is not just a foretaste of the heaven we will enter after Judgment Day; it is the entrance into the heaven on earth referred to by God as the one and holy Christian Church made up of believers from around the world as part of the body of Christ. Easter, more than any other festival worship service, brings home to us that He died so that we will never really die and He lives so that we will live also. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

For Palm Sunday in Series C readings there is a Procession passage of John 12:12-19, an Old Testament lesson of Deuteronomy 32:36-39; an Epistle of Philippians 2:5-11 and two Gospel readings; the first of Luke 23:1-56 and the second of John 12:20-43. The passage from Luke would be most appropriate if one were to follow the other thematic name for this Sunday which is “Sunday of the Passion.” The text chosen for the sermon is John 12:37, “But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him.”

This verse could be used as one of the foundational passages for Reformation Christianity. For it clearly reveals that for the unbeliever, no sign, no miracle, no evidence can move him an inch closer to faith in Jesus Christ. It is clear that miracles were not for unbelievers as they were for believers who were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. As Jesus responded to the disciples sent by John to ask whether He was the Messiah: “The blind see, the deaf hear, the mute speak, the lame run….” But for the unbeliever, even the raising of Lazarus from the dead was considered to be a trick of the devil.

From an L&G point of view, it is the theologian of self-glory who interprets God’s attitude toward him by his experience–by the world around him. Things going well? God loves me. Things not going so good? I must have messed up somewhere, quoting a couple of friends from Job as well as the attitude on the part of the Pharisees who jumped to the conclusion that the blind, deaf, mute and lame were just getting what they deserved.

It is a hard saying in this scientific age to hold to but in reality there is no evidence for the object of our Christian faith. For that object is not the historical events recorded by God’s Word but the gracious promises of forgiveness and salvation connected to the passion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ! It is so sad to hear many evangelicals provide a testimony that focuses on what is happening in their lives rather than a Biblical testimony of, “Here is what Jesus did for you!”

The disciples would soon learn after the hallelujahs of Palm Sunday that the cries of “Crucify Him” would be met with no resistance at all from the Father, the Holy Spirit and the Son Himself. Willingly he experienced that which cannot be possibly be considered as proper evidence of God saving us by an accursed, humiliating death on the cross. But the eyes of faith–which is all the evidence necessary for the believer (Hebrews 11)–makes note that the crucifixion took away the curse of the Law hanging over the world and as He promised, three days later is the resurrection.

Pastors best prepare their people for holy week, the holy Supper, holy Good Friday and the holy resurrection by moving from the sandy foundation of so-called evidence to the rock solid foundation of the Word of God alone. That is what is truly meant by “sola Scriptura” (Scripture alone). Anything more is an attempt to reason the unreasonable and to make common sense out of the nonsense from a human point of view of what God indeed did for you.

There are three readings assigned for the fifth Sunday in Lent: Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:4b-14 and Luke 20:9-20. The text chosen for the sermon is Philippians 3:9, “…and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness whch is from God by faith.”

It is not often that a Bible verse is as clear in its summary of radical Christianity as is Philippians 3:9. In stark contrast to the world’s religion which come from the imagination of humans, the only religion of truth, Christianity, which comes from the revelation of God, decimates common sense theology. For in all religions of the world it is clear that what you say, think and do make a huge difference in whether or not you will be saved and remain saved. But not in Christianity. For saying, thinking and doing the right way is all a part of the righteousness from the law. The law here is simply a synonym for God’s will. His will is that the path of salvation to heaven is through perfect thoughts, words and deeds.

That impossible-to-obey Law stands in stark contrast to the Gospel which reveals that the righteousness which is absolutely necessary for salvation comes from God and God alone. It was the rediscovery by the Reformation that through faith and faith alone, God now declares you to be righteous in His sight. There is hardly an adequate analogy in the world with which to compare such a miraculous decision on God’s part.

Now Paul clarifies that while God considers him righteous and therefore sinless, in his own body he has not yet attained perfection (verse 12) but he presses on. How can we understand this seeming contradiction that in his own eyes, Paul is not perfect but in God’s eyes, he is regarded as perfect and sinless. To begin with, theology is the art of making distinctions and one is called for in answer to our apparent dilemma.

An analogy of some distinction is ready to help clarify the conundrum. Can one not say that an adopted child is fully adopted while not yet attaining full maturity in the family? Of course. In a similar way, what saves you is not your attaining perfect righteousness. What says you, from God’s point of view, is your receiving the perfect righteousness of the obedience of Jesus while on earth. It comes in the form of the robe of righteousness and covers all of your inability to attain your own righteousness.

Now the impossible part of the Christian faith which the world cannot fathom is that such a righteousness comes to us through the grace gifted process of believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That Gospel is not simply the true historical facts of the Scripture but the sure promises God makes you on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Promises such as your sins are forgiven; you are wearing the robe of righteousness; God will never leave you nor forsake you; No temptation shall overcome you…and on and on and on.

In Christ–which means through faith in His gracious promises–God has declared that we are already perfect in His sight and therefore there is no need to hand God our “good” works to appease or placate His anger. Such appeasement took place at the cross of Jesus! Thus, we rejoice with all the saints both here on earth and those who have gone before us at having been gifted as a member of the family of God by grace through faith on account of Jesus Christ.

For Series C, fourth Sunday in Lent, the three readings are Isaiah 12:1-6; 2 Corinthians 5:16-22 and Luke 15:1-3; 11-32. The text chosen for Sunday’s sermon is Luke 15:18, “”I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.’”

First of all, this parable is misnamed as the “Prodigal Son” because it makes the younger son the key element rather than the father who represents Jesus Himself. We prefer the name “The Compassionate Father” just as the other two parables in the chapter can be titled as “The Rejoicing Shepherd” and “The Caring Woman.” For recent remarks on the third parable of the chapter go to www.lawgospel.com under RADIO and click on Monday, March 8, 2010 for an hour analysis. Also, under PRODUCTS/RESOURCES under CDs there is a series of 16 hours called “Renaming the Parables” which includes all three parables from Luke 15.

Since the key feature of any sermon is to use both Law and Gospel, this parable provides numerous opportunities. For this sermon we will concentrate on the decision of the younger son to return to his father. It is amazing how many refer to this as an act of repentance. There are two problems with such a conclusion. The first is that would be inconsistent not only with the Christian faith but with the other two parables in the chapter. The Christian faith does not regard repentance as a decision we make. As the first parable reveals, repentance is God’s action in finding us, carrying us on His shoulders and taking us back home.

This is even clearer by using the following three questions. They are: “What did the sheep do to get found?” What did the coin do to get found?” And, “What did the younger son do to be found by the Father?” The sheep did nothing; the coin did nothing but the younger son made the right decision??? This goes against the Christian faith that salvation, which includes proper repentance, is not an act of our will but as a gracious act on the part of God alone without our cooperation or contribution.

Finally, the original Greek speaks about him coming to himself. What does that mean? While the KJV, NKJ and ESV translate this as “he came to himself” the New American Standard has “But when he came to his senses” and the Douay-Rheims translates this as “And returning to himself.” Coming to one’s senses or returning to think about oneself is not a positive sign when we realize the spiritual state of this son who told his father to drop dead. But could this be a sincere change in his spiritual life? We think not in light of what he actually says. First, he compares himself with “hired servants” not with regular servants or slaves. He imagines that he should be getting at least what they get even after all his rebellion against his father. Furthermore, he attempts a weapon of persuasion in imagining that his father will hire him for one of the best paying jobs on the estate! This is not true repentance; it is an attempt to manipulate his father.

Then when does true repentance take place? It does so in the same way that the previous two previous parables illustrate repentance. The sheep does not return to the Shepherd; instead, the Shepherd finds the sheep. And the coin does not make known where it is hidden; the Woman finds the coin. So also, what results in true repentance is not the act of the will on the part of the younger son to return to manipulate his father; rather, it is the Father’s compassionate act of running to his son, falling on his neck and kissing him. Totally unexpected! And this results in the son truly confessing his sin and LEAVING OUT the request to be hired as one of the best paying workers on the farm!

The goal of the sermon is first to interpret properly the text as the people originally heard it spoken by Jesus. But then the text needs to be applied. This is where a pastor who knows his members well will be able to make a proper application. I have used this as a pastor in demonstrating how the members often conclude that because they are coming to church on a Sunday that God will bless them more this week than if they had not attended. Others imagine that because of their sacrificial offerings, God will be more inclined to answer their prayers.

Other sermons may remind members that leaving traditional Christ-focused liturgies and going to ”feelgood” contemporary music combined with “I-I-I-me-me-me words” will not be a way in which God can be manipulated to reach out to the youth or baby boomers. The Law can be used against parents who imagine that being a friend of their children rather than a proper parent will result in obedient and loving children. And the list goes on and on as we attempt to make use of manipulative techniques at home and at work to get our way.

The Gospel message is that we have a God Who makes it unnecesssary to use such techniques to have a right relationship with the holy Trinity. To believe in Jesus Christ means that we no longer need to protect ourselves or reach out to others by such manipulative methods. Instead, the Gospel promises are sufficient to carry us through the day as well as to comfort us in our time of need. In a sense, we are all prodigal sons who are often unaware of the compassionate Father we already have in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, Who died, so that we will never really die spiritually and Who lives so that we will live eternally.

The three readings assigned for the 3rd Sunday in Lent for Series C are Ezekiel 33:7-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 and Luke 13:1-9. Selected to preach on is Ezekiel 33:17, “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair.”

A typical passage from the Bible in which all the signs are reversed. Just as the world regards evil as good (getting God’s attention through our “good” works) and regards good as evil (suffering), so also the world regards the ways of God as unfair. Ezekiel is running up against those who can’t understand a god who would disregard all the “righteous” works of a man who thinks he will be delivered from his transgressions because of his righteousness. They can’t seem to understand that such a self-righteous individual imagines that he can control the God of the universe by his puny works? Thus, God is considered as unfair not to take into account human effort and good deed.

But what really has them at wit’s end is the notion that those who have practiced sin all their life could also look forward to a heavenly home with all of their sins forgiven. It just isn’t fair that such a gift be given to those who do not deserve it. This is not a just God, they say. We agree wholeheartedly. For we dare not desire a just God Who would then give us what we truly deserve; namely, temporal and eternal punishment. Even the best of our efforts involve old Adam sinful motivation out of our self-interest.

One could make a case that Jesus Himself was crucified because He was not just according to Judaism. Not only would He disobey ceremonial laws of the Sabbath but He also befriended the hated tax collectors, prostitutes, Samaritans and other such “sinners.” “Thank God, I’m not like them” is the self-prayer of the self-righteous Pharisee who does not realize how taken up with himself he has become.

The problem, though, is how do we arrive at that righteousness that God considers as adquate for entry into heaven? The answer is we don’t. That is the primary theme of the Christian faith that what man could not do because he is incapable of a sinless good work, God did in the Person and work of Jesus, the Christ! He became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God through Him. He died so that we might live. The paradoxical nature of the cross is mentioned in “Seduction of Extremes” by Peter Kurowski which can be found at www.lawgospel.com under Products/Rsources.

Unlike other man-made religions which are commonsensical in nature, the unique charateristic of Christianity is its paradoxical side. A paradox is a statement that upon first hearing sounds contradictory. However, after more reflection and explanation, it makes sense to the one with eyes of faith. That is why Christians hold to these ridiculous notions: Jesus is both God and man; God is both One and Three; I am at the same time 100% sinner and 100% saint.

The passage from Ezekiel reveals that we can become the voice through which God speaks as we boldly proclaim the Law to assert one’s sinfulfness and then gladly proclaim the Gospel which reveals the merciful and gracious side of God. For unlike justice which gives a person what he deserves; mercy does not give a person what he deserves and grace gives a person what he does not deserve (forgiveness and the robe of righteousness). It may be that our message sounds ridiculous to ears of wax but to eyes of faith, it is believed as the Way, the Truth and the Life.