Pastor’s Notes for 3rd Sunday of Easter, B Date: 4/19/15Theme: Jesus Appears to the DisciplesBible Ref’s: Acts 3:[6-11] 12-19; Psalm 4; 1John 3:1-7 [or 2Cor. 5:16-21]; and Luke 24:36b-48.

Prayer of the DayHoly and righteous God, you are the author of life, and you adopt us to be your children. Fill us with your words of life, that we may live as witnesses to the resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Brief Sermon Outline: “New Life Opened”Focus Stmnt: God’s in-the-flesh solidarity with the stuff of the earth means being opened to new life.

1. This past Wednesday, I took the Confirmands on a little hike around the church. It was a beautiful day, and I wanted to point out to them instances of change—in the temperature, the leafing out of the trees, some trees that were no longer there, an old pulpit in the shed. Change happens all around us. The lesson that night, though, the Big Question was “Can people really change?” Of course we all know that Jesus is the safe answer, but this a.m., I wanted to flesh that out a bit.

2. There are many examples in the scriptures of dramatic changes and conversions. The time when the Pharisee Saul became the apostle Paul because Jesus encountered him on the road to Damascus—that’s what the Confirmation lesson highlighted. Direct encounters with Jesus occasioned much jumping and leaping and praising God as he went about the villages and farms healing the sick, casting out demons, breaking bread w/ prostitutes and tax collectors. To most everyone’s thinking (especially after his resurrection) no one and no thing seemed safely beyond Christ’s redeeming, all things were becoming new. Perfect love was casting out fear right and left—death itself could not suppress the hope and the joy that was in them.

3. All this, of course, had been anticipated at Jesus’ birth when the angel said “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God…you will conceive in your womb & bear a son...” (Luke 1:30-31) And to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people...and suddenly…a multitude of the heavenly host [jumped up], praising God & saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” (Luke 2:10,13-14) The Advent of Emmanuel, God w/ us in the flesh, was cause for rejoicing.

4. Now after death rolled back and Jesus was raised, the transformation of the disciples from a frac-tured, fearful band of deserters to a courageous, broad-minded group of apostles was extraordi-nary, but it wasn’t instantaneous—it happened in stages over time. Jesus caught their attention by his call & public ministry; they witnessed his death on the cross, but at a distance—from that place of powerlessness, separation & fear. Then they saw how death rolled back and Jesus was raised.

5. Yet, in response to sins forgiven and salvation secured, they shrank back into the shadows for fear of the Jews. Huddled in a dark, locked room, they sang like Finns or Norwegians in rapturous abandon: <i.e., in very subdued tones> “Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.” But there had to be more to Jesus’ story than that! Surely Jesus didn’t suffer, die and rise simply for us to run and hide and sing old hymns.

6. Something clued these witnesses in to a reality bigger than personal salvation, something that bolstered their confidence and strengthened their resolve to proclaim the gospel of God’s love in J.C. to the whole creation. Well, as Paul Harvey used to say, “And now…the rest of the story.”

7. The great organizing & harmonizing principle of the universe, the Logos of God, “became flesh,” as the gospel of John puts it, “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory…full of grace & truth” (1:14)—that is, full of God’s undying/unfailing love viz. the gospel truth.

8. What accounted for such a dramatic change in the disciples’ lives, what proved to be a turning point in world history, was that God engaged the world in a new way, incarnationally, when Mary was visited by the H.S. & Jesus was born: an earthling in every sense of the word but also divine.

9. The solidarity of God w/ the stuff of the earth, this in-the-flesh presence of God’s love in J.C., was decisive not only for taking away the sins of the world (redeeming everything from stardust to water that he had become), but it opened up all of creation to God’s sacramental intentions—all things were being opened to serve as means of God’s grace, exciting new life.

10. When Jesus urged the disciples “touch me and see,” when he showed them his hands and his feet and ate fish in their presence, it was to assure the joyful yet still bewildered disciples that his embodied presence with them was more durable, more reliable than death itself. When Jesus promised never to leave them nor forsake them (Heb. 13:5), he really, really meant it!

11. Just so, joined to Christ in the waters of baptism, nourished by his flesh and blood presence in the bread and wine of communion, we are opened and the church is opened to seeing things from a new perspective, from the Author of Life’s perspective: daring to love all people & all creation with-out exception, hearing things w/ a compassionate ear, touching things w/ gentleness/sensitivity…

12. ...having one’s eyes opened to see Christ’s face in a lame beggar on the street or an unborn baby in her mother’s womb or a death row inmate or a transgender teen or a senile man or a left wing liberal or an illegal immigrant or a Muslim classmate or homeless veteran or a reclusive neighbor or abused spouse—you know the faces you’re afraid to look at because, if you look them in the eye, you just might have to change your view, you might have to love them. <go to 2Cor. 5:16-17>

13. After his dramatic encounter with the risen Christ, Paul sought to encourage the Corinthians with these words “From now on… we regard no one from a human point of view…if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”

14. God’s in-the-flesh solidarity w/ the stuff of the earth means being opened to hear the groaning of creation, its cries for justice from the land, sea & air, its longing for peace within ecosystems and communities. But Christ’s solidarity w/ us in all our earthly brokenness also opens us to the joy of sins forgiven & everlasting life, the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen, the freedom of true repentance and the adventure of engaging Christ’s mission in the care and redemption of all that God has made. New life opens with the incarnate presence of J.C.

15. The lame beggar who sat at the temple gate (someone who would’ve been routinely overlooked, dismissed, considered unclean in the ancient world), his life was changed by the Author of Life’s love working sacramentally through Peter and John. The transformation was more than extraordi-nary—he was walking & leaping & praising God, clinging close to the means of grace that healed his broken body, that brought forth new life—totally changing his outlook, his reason for being.

16. May we, too, be so confident to embrace such a change—unafraid to embrace the Author of Life’s presence in our baptism and the communion we share, that with the eyes & ears of our faith opened, and Christ’s love for the world burning in our hearts…Let us dare to take that “closer walk with Thee,” “walking & leaping & praising God” for the new life opened & the love we get to share.

Hymn of the Day: “For the Beauty of the Earth” (LBW #561, to the tune of LBW #327)

Children’s Sermon <After hearing the story in Acts 3 of the lame beggar healed by Peter, we invite the congregation to learn a new song, “Silver and Gold Have I None.” The children, for their part, are given colorful scarves to symbolize the joy of the man as he went “walking & leaping & praising God” for the new life he’d been given “in the name of Jesus” (i.e., by his authority).>

Let us pray: Loving God, we thank you for dying on the cross to forgive our sins, and for rising to walk with us in newness of life. Give us courage to share your love wherever we go in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Word(Acts 3:[6-11] 12-19) [Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and

immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 All the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

11   While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished.] 12 When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

17   “And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

(Psalm 4) To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. 1 Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be

gracious to me, and hear my prayer.2 How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and

seek after lies? Selah3 But know that the LORD has set apart the faithful for himself; the LORD hears when I call to

him.4 When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.6 There are many who say, “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on

us, O LORD!” 7 You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound.8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety. (2Corinthians 5:16-21)From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

(Luke 24:36b-48) Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence.

44   Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Sermon Notes

“Silver and Gold Have I None” from Wee Sing Bible Songs by Pamela Conn Beall and Susan Hagen Nipp. Reprinted by permission of Penguin Random House LLC.

  

"It is not [Jesus’] absence from an empty grave that convinces us, it is his presence in our empty lives.” - Frederick Buechner

Whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked. (1John 2:6)