Sermon Index
April 3, 2016 Easter 2C
1. Intro Joy, comfort, confession (pride)
How do we react when we meet the resurrected Lord? Perhaps it is the same as the Disciples. There is joy, comfort, and confession.
2. Joy.
On the evening of the day when Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples felt afraid, they were sad and confused. Their friend had died and so they felt sad and lonely. They did not understand what had happened, they misunderstood what had happened. They wondered if Jesus had really risen or not? They did not yet fully grasp what it meant for salvation and eternal life.
They locked the doors because they feared the Jews might come and arrest them and crucify them, too.
When a friend of ours dies, we too feel sad, our lives are changed. We can understand the sadness of the Disciples. We Christians now have only the hope of the resurrection, but the Disciples saw the resurrected Jesus with their own eyes!
When Jesus appeared, the Disciples were happy for Jesus and happy for themselves, too. When we meet the Resurrected Lord in faith, we are the same. We are happy for Jesus, but we feel joy in our lives, too. Our lives change. There is hope that gives joy.
3. Comfort.
Should the Disciples have feared the Jews? Should we fear that someone will persecute us for being a follower of Jesus? Sometimes, perhaps. But there is something greater to fear. We should fear hell, we should fear death, we should fear God. We should fear God because he is the Judge.
But on the evening of the Resurrection, Jesus gave something that took away that fear and gave them supreme relief and comfort and peace. He gave them forgiveness.
Jesus gave the disciples the work of giving this forgievenss-peace to people. The Holy Spirit works in the church today to give this peace. It is given in the words of Absolution. It is given in the Holy Communion. It is why we love the words of the Benediction which give peace in our hearts and minds.
Non-Christians do not understand this. They are satisfied or comforted temporarily with a hug, a bank account, nice weather, or a cold beer. And so Jesus sent the Disciples and us to proclaim the Gospel of eternal joy and comfort.
4. Confession.
The confession of Thomas is our confession, “My Lord and my God.” We have not seen Jesus but Jesus tells us that we have been blessed in a special way. It is special because faith is the work of the Holy Spirit. That is better, it is more blessed than seeing with our eyes. It is more sure. That is because our faith is not based on our experience or feelings! Our feelings change, but the Word of God never does. The work of God the Holy Spirit is a sure thing!
My original outline for today’s sermon was “Joy, Comfort, and Pride.” But “pride” can be a sin if we are not careful. And yet, we feel blessed, we feel special, and this is part of our confession. It gives us courage to live our confession, to live as a Christian full of Easter-Resurrection joy and comfort.
And so we proudly confess our faith along with Thomas. “My Lord and my God.”
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church