Sermon in Minneapolis 03.04.2016

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We will begin our service this morning with opening prayer and thanksgiving.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this moment when again we can gather around your holy and unperishing word. We thank you for your many blessings, but above all the greatest of blessings is this, that by faith, through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ, we can be one of your own, a child of God in your kingdom, owning the gift of righteousness prepared by your Son.

So we ask for your presence through your Spirit this morning, that you would comfort us and console us and uplift us on this narrow way of life and refresh us with your gospel message and feed us with that bit of life which has come down from heaven. So we ask for service blessings in the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Today is the first Sunday after Easter. And the theme for today is witnesses of the resurrection or the resurrected one. Today's gospel text is from the gospel according to St. John chapter 20 verses 19 through 31. And so we'll quieten our hearts and minds to hear these words as follows in Jesus' name. Let's get started.

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for the fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side, then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.

Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you. As my Father hath sent me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them. And whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained.

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. And the other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand, I will not believe.

And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas was with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in their midst and said, Peace be unto you.

Then said he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing.

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

And Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name. Amen.

The scriptures relate unto us of two different high priests, and how they reacted, and how they behaved and functioned. There was one high priest whose name was Gamliel. And remember, there was a person by the name of Saul, Saul of Tarsus, who was able to be educated at the feet of this high priest, Gamliel.

And later in his life, Saul of Tarsus was in a hurry to go see this high priest, Gamliel. It wasn't for this reason that Saul's sins were weighing upon his conscience. Saul was a very pious man. In fact, later on, he himself states that, I was born of the tribe of Benjamin. I was circumcised on the eighth day. And I was a true Pharisee of any Pharisees. And he said that I was blameless in the law.

So Saul's sins were not pressing upon him when he approached this high priest whose name was Gamliel. So Saul himself didn't toy with sin, and neither did he allow others to toy with it. But Saul wanted a house cleaning. And he approached this high priest for this reason, that he would receive a letter of authority.

And the letter of authority was for this reason, that he would be able to capture anyone who professed to be a Christian, or a Christian of God, or a follower of Christ. These people were captured. They were imprisoned. And then later, with the intent of putting them to death.

Saul was welcomed into the home of the high priest, Gamliel. And Gamliel gave this letter of authority to do what Saul wished to do. So this was the first high priest that the Bible mentions, Gamliel.

Recently we have commemorated the events of Good Friday and Easter. And these are the events surrounding another high priest. And last Sunday was Easter, the day of resurrection.

And this event and this occasion is and was so important that the Apostle Paul had to write, or did write to the Corinthians, that if this event of resurrection hadn't occurred, there would be no hope of salvation for anyone. All of the former saints would have believed and died in vain. And also we today would still be in our sins. And we would have no hope of heaven if this resurrection hadn't occurred.

So resurrection is so important. It is the cornerstone, we could say, of our salvation.

Remember Easter Sunday morning, the two Marys were coming to pay homage, wanting to anoint the body of Jesus. And they were wondering in their minds, how would we have access to the body of Jesus, for that heavy stone weighing perhaps over 2,000 pounds had sealed the opening into the cave, which was the tomb for Jesus.

It was sealed shut with this heavy stone. But when they arrived, they noticed that the tomb was open. The stone had been removed. And when they peered into the opening of the cave, they saw that the cave was empty. And they were surprised. There was no body any longer in that cave.

The only thing that was in the cave any longer were the linens, the white linens in which the body of Jesus was wrapped. Typically at that time, in those days, in that culture, they would mummify the body before burying it and wrap it from head to foot with a cloth and wrap it from head to foot with a white linen.

So the linens were still as if untouched in the place where the body of Jesus had been laid. On Good Friday, the body was no longer there. The linens remained as a sign that it had been there.

An angel appeared and spoke to the two Marys and said that the one you are looking for is no longer here. He has risen. Go and tell this message to the disciples.

So the Marys went and told this message to the disciples. And Peter and John came running up to the temple, running as fast as they could to the tomb site. And they also went into the tomb and noticed that it was empty. Jesus had risen from the cave or from the grave.

And there were two messages that actually went forth from this open cave. One was a message of unbelief. The soldiers were fearing for their lives because apparently they must have dozed off momentarily when the stone had been moved. And when they realized it, the body was gone.

So they went and told the high priest that the body was stolen. And that is the message that was then circulated and is still being circulated today as a message of unbelief.

In many forms and fashions, you can read and do a research and study of the many theories that the body of Jesus was stolen, or the disciples went to the wrong grave, he was not even put into that grave, or those that claim that they saw Jesus were hallucinating, and so on and so forth.

That is many different versions of the stolen body theory that exists today as a message of unbelief.

After Jesus rose from the grave and was here on this earth for the next 40 days, the Bible says Jesus appeared only to his own. No unbeliever was able to witness and see Jesus any longer after that.

After that moment he was laid into the grave on Good Friday, and Jesus appeared multiple times. As Paul writes to the Corinthians that he appeared.

If we could quickly even read some of those examples. He was first seen by Cephas or Peter. Peter and John came that first morning. And then he was seen by all of the 12. And this is part of the story that is our Gospel text for this morning. And we will look at that in a little more detail shortly.

And then he was seen by 500 at one time. Who knows exactly what event this was when Jesus was seen by 500 at one time. And there is some speculation that perhaps that was after 40 days when Jesus was on the top of Mount of Olives and said his farewell sermon and then ascended in a cloud into the glory of heaven.

And then Jesus appeared unto Paul, Saul, as if out of due time. Or in the Finnish Bible it says in the process of being born or half born.

So what exactly does this mean? And believing brothers have explained it in this way that when Paul was on the way to Damascus, as we mentioned already, being authorized by the other high priest Gamliel to go and capture the believers, he was then struck blind and he fell to the ground.

And he heard a voice. And the voice said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

And Saul says, Who are you? He didn't even know the voice, didn't recognize the voice.

And so this is when the resurrected Lord was able to speak to him on the way to Damascus.

Saul did not receive the grace of repentance at this moment, as many in the world tried to say occurred. But it wasn't until Saul was led by the hand into the city of Damascus and after three days was approached by a believer, Ananias, who laid his hands on Saul and Saul received the grace of repentance.

So these are some of the many instances and occasions where Jesus appeared onto his own.

And now our text says that the disciples are in the city of Damascus and they are the people who are in the city of Damascus were behind locked doors for the fear of the Jews.

They had witnessed there in the garden of Gethsemane when Judas Iscariot led that band of soldiers and they came to arrest Jesus.

The Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled when it said that when the shepherd is smitten and the Holy Spirit was in Damascus and the city of repentance and the state, or in other words, when the hands of the soldiers were laid upon Jesus, then the sheep will scatter.

At that moment when Jesus was arrested, all of the eleven remaining disciples did not help or defend Jesus. Jesus was led away as a captive.

And now the disciples witnessed and saw what happened to Jesus during the next few hours, the remainder of Maundy Thursday, Holy Thursday, and then Good Friday.

And when they saw Jesus being crucified and die on the cross and be laid into the bosom of the earth, they were now afraid that what was done to Jesus would most likely also be done to them.

And so they hid in this room. They locked the doors. They shuttered the windows.

And suddenly, Jesus appeared in their midst. The door wasn't unlocked and open. The windows weren't unshuttered and open. Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst.

And now I'm sure they were afraid when Jesus appeared that he would harshly rebuke them, that couldn't you have even helped me and defended me? And they were afraid that he would even save me there in the Garden of Gethsemane when the soldiers came and took me captive.

So they were afraid that Jesus would now appear with a whip in his hand.

But what was the appearance of Jesus like? Jesus, with a warm gaze, I'm sure with a smile on his face, spoke words of comfort, and exhortation, and encouragement.

He as if said that I was in a battle. I was in a fierce battle. I was seriously wounded. And I actually was killed. But now I have come from that battle. And I have come as a victor. The enemy has been defeated. The enemy has been defeated.

The gift of the Lord, the gift of salvation, and the work of salvation has been complete. And I bring you greetings of love and comfort.

Jesus blew upon them and he said, Peace be unto you. Be of good cheer. The gift of salvation is complete.

And so, Thomas, one of the twelve, was not there the first time. And when Thomas heard what had occurred there behind those locked doors, he was in disbelief. We call him Doubting Thomas.

And Thomas said, If I don't see him with my own eyes, and if I can't touch him with my own hands, I will not be able to heal my own people. He said, I will not believe in you. I will not believe in you.

But at that time, it was impossible. It couldn't have happened. I don't believe it.

A few days later, the disciples were again apparently in the same room. The doors were locked and the windows were shuttered. And suddenly, Jesus appeared.

The first time when he appeared, the disciples were thinking that, is this a ghost? Is this a spirit? Spirit, this cannot be the real Jesus in his body.

Jesus said, give me some food to eat. He said, a spirit and a ghost does not eat. I am the real Jesus. I am your Lord and Savior. But I am now in a new body, a different body, a glorified body. I am in the body of resurrection.

And so the second time when they were gathered, Jesus appeared likewise. And we can say he appeared just for the sake of Thomas, the doubting one.

When Jesus appeared that second time, then he wanted to speak words of comfort precisely to Thomas. And he said, Thomas, come closer. Come and take your fingers and put them into the holes that the nails made in my hands. Put your fingers into the holes of the nails made in my feet. And take your hand and you can thrust it into the hole that the spear made in my side. And don't be doubting, but believe.

Then Thomas cried out and he said this testimony, My Lord and my God.

Jesus then comforted Thomas and said that, Thomas, now that you have seen me, you believed. Your doubts have vanished.

Have we ever doubted? How about you? John the Baptist. Did he ever doubt? The Bible said of John the Baptist that of children born of a woman, he is the greatest that was ever born. He was the forerunner to Christ, the one to prepare the way for the Lord.

And yet, when John the Baptist was put into prison, he began to doubt. And he sent his disciples to ask of Jesus a question, that, are you the one to come? Or are you the promised Messiah? Are you really the promised Messiah? Or are we yet to wait for one to come?

Imagine. John the Baptist was in such great doubts. He was in such great doubt.

Have we ever doubted? Luther says in this way that if we could say that we have never doubted, then maybe we could doubt that are we truly believing? Believers, all believers have doubts. I'm sure we have all experienced this many times.

But I'm sure we have all experienced this many times.

So then, Jesus, the high priest, this is the true high priest. This is the high priest of all high priests.

During the Old Testament time, there was always one high priest at a time. When one became old and feeble and passed on, then a new one was selected.

So, as the years passed by, there was always one high priest and then another high priest and yet another high priest as the years went on.

But this is the one high priest that never has to be changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

But then, this high priest now gives us the same high priest. He gives a letter of authority. And this is the most lofty office in authority. And this is the office to forgive sins.

And as it's often been said that forgiveness of sins is the foundation and the compass and the constitution of the kingdom of God. The constitution and the foundation of the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of forgiveness of sins.

In the Augsburg Confession, one of the main books of the Lutheran Church, written at the time of Luther, it says when speaking about the topic of repentance that after baptism, if one makes repentance, it says it in this way that we must forgive.

And in the Finnish language it says we cannot deny forgiveness. It's a Duomala, right? So one article in the Sionilajatusletti says, and it cannot be delayed.

So this is the crux and the cornerstone of the kingdom of God.

Jesus, we remember, was approached by Peter with this question that if a brother comes seven times in a day, should I forgive him that many times? Jesus said, not seven times, but seventy times seven.

And then when the same topic is mentioned in the Gospel of St. Luke in chapter 17, Jesus says it in this way, whenever a brother or a sister comes and says, I repent, or I'm asking for forgiveness, we forgive.

And Jesus says in this way, in this parable of the merciless servant, that if we do not forgive a brother their trespasses, neither will the Heavenly Father forgive us our trespasses.

This is the office and this is the letter of authority that Christ is now giving onto his own.

So why is this matter of forgiveness so important? Well, we remember back in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Garden of Eden, in paradise, when Adam and Eve fell into sin and humankind lost their original righteousness.

And we get it illustrated in such a way that it was as if a curtain, a wall, a wall came down from heaven. And all roads to heaven were basically shut.

There was no passage at that moment to heaven. It was impossible for a person to drill through that wall or curtain. A person wasn't able to skirt around it on either side, either climb over it or try to dig a hole under it.

Heaven, at that moment, was shut. And God looked down from heaven and he saw that there is no one who is good. No, not one. All have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one who even seeks after God.

But then, God prepared a way. And he prepared one way. And this way is the way of the forgiveness of sins. It is the way of the righteousness by faith.

And this is the means, the method, the way, which God prepared for us. Because we, as humans, as the prophet Isaiah writes, that we are so completely corrupt, from the head, crown of our head, to the heel of our foot, there is not to be found one square inch or centimeter of our body which is healthy, or meaning that we could, by some means or method, show that Father in heaven, I have some goodness to offer you on the basis of my salvation.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It is completely, entirely dependent upon the merits and the works of Jesus Christ, God's only Son. He is our perfection. He is our redemption. He is our sanctification. He is our righteousness.

And so, we as human beings, we need a mediator. And Paul writes to Timothy that there is one mediator between God and man, and that mediator is Christ Jesus, God's only Son.

So on Easter, I mean, on Holy Thursday evening, when Jesus was instituting the Lord's Holy Supper, he took the bread, and it was like a piece of hardtack, and we all know what hardtack is. It's very hard and brittle, and it won't bend.

If you try to bend it, it will actually snap and break. And so Jesus actually illustrated this, and he took that piece of bread, hardtack, and he broke it before the disciples, and they could hear it when they went snap, crackle, and pop.

And Jesus says that, I am the bread of life. I am the bread of life that has come down from heaven. And as you can see me, with my hands, taking this bread and breaking it, so is going to happen to me, the true living bread that has come down from heaven.

Sinful hands, the hands of the soldiers, will come and take a hold of me. And literally the bread of life will be pierced and nailed and broken when it is crucified on the middle cross of Golgotha.

So this is what Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, did on our behalf in order to prepare that gift of salvation and to open that one pathway, road that goes to the glory of heaven.

So when Jesus was there behind the locked doors, he then took a deep breath, and as one would expect, the preacher brother, as I was listening to him explain the sermon, he took a deep breath and he blew into the microphone.

And the people were startled and they jumped when he blew with a strong breath. And he says, this is what Jesus literally did. He blew a strong, hard breath upon his disciples.

Literally illustrating that it is an oral proclamation. And he gave them this authority. Peace be unto you, as my Father has sent me, even so do I send you.

And when he said this, he breathed upon them and he said unto them, receive the Holy Ghost. Receive the Holy Ghost.

So this is an office of the Spirit.

There are many in this world, and especially in this country, there are many in the whole country as well, those who formerly walked with us and maybe used the same phraseology, speak and use the same words, believe your sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

Even though a person would speak those exact same words, if they are spoken not through the power of the Holy Spirit, it is only an office of the Word and it has no effect.

One old preacher brother related, and I've told this story many times, and the daughter of this preacher brother is here listening this morning.

He came from Northern Finland to study theology, and came from Polari, and came to Helsinki to study theology, and had an awakened conscience.

And he knew by reading the Bible that the Bible speaks about the true peace of heaven and peace of conscience. But he had no peace of conscience. His conscience was seared with a hot iron, and he was seeking for that peace.

And he went to one minister after another, and they gave this advice and that advice, and he was seeking for that peace. And he gave this advice and that advice, and still he found no peace.

He eventually went to one preacher who was formerly one of us, but had gone into a heresy. He used these words, you can believe your sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

He received no peace of conscience. He said, it still seemed and felt like the fire of hell was licking his heart and conscience.

He said it wasn't until he was able to approach those who were in God's kingdom, and they were able to speak to him, and through them, the high priest of all high priests, the Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus Christ, through their proclamation, through their words spoken through the power of the Holy Spirit, were said to him, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven unto you.

Immediately, peace was on his heart. It closed the doors to hell, and it opened the doors to heaven. God answered, with that proclamation, that simple proclamation of the believers, with peace from heaven in his restless heart.

So, God has given unto us this sermon of reconciliation. And, as Paul writes to the Corinthians in this way, that God was in Christ and has reconciled the world with himself.

And, thus, you also, I give you, I entrust you to be my ambassadors to preach this word of reconciliation, or this word of atonement, or this word of forgiveness of sins.

This power and authority has been entrusted and given unto all of us in God's kingdom, from oldest to youngest.

Luther, as we know, has many sermons on this text that we have before us today. It must be 150 pages. And it takes a long time to weigh through all of what he's written.

But one little excerpt I remember is when this message of atonement is preached by a believer through the power of the Holy Ghost, even though it's said with a soft whisper or a weak voice, it has so much power for that person who hears it and believes it.

It closes the doors to hell and it opens the doors to heaven.

But then it's amazing. It happens first that this proclamation is preached here on earth, and then it's answered in heaven.

But the prophet Hosea says that heaven will hear the earth.

So first on earth, and then it is then affirmed there in heaven.

It's kind of interesting.

I read an old letter written by Yohanirathama, who was a co-worker for Lysidius who lived in Lapland. And he wrote many letters.

And one of the letters he wrote was written to the believers here in this country. And he's talking about the office of the keys.

And he says there are many pastors in this world who have keys. But the only keys that they have if they are not in faith are just the keys to the door of the church, the physical keys to the physical church.

And with those keys, no sins will be forgiven.

But every one of us, every individual, every child of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, through the gift of faith, we have these keys, the keys of release.

And we can say, son and daughter, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven.

And we can say, son and daughter, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven. Your sins are forgiven.

And so, we today have these same services, similar services as they did 2,000 years ago.

Just like those who were assembled in our text, as it says, behind locked doors. And Christ appeared unto them.

We can't physically see our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, but he is here in our midst. He is present through his Spirit.

And through his Holy Spirit, he is wishing to outstretch his hands that had been pierced with the nails and show the feet that were pierced with nails and show the wound that is in his side.

And in that Gospel message, he wishes to outstretch those pierced hands to lift us, to carry us, to take us into his bosom and to carry us and to carry us, bring us footstep by footstep, moment by moment, day by day, toward our destination, the glory in heaven.

I happened to read from an old Christian publication of an event that took place in copper country. There on the hills of Hancock.

If you still drive the hills of Hancock, you can still see the mining shaft that is no longer in use, but reminds us of that type of work and occupation which was really bustling about a hundred years ago.

And one day after the work shift, there were two believing men getting undressed from their work clothes and getting dressed into other clothes to then go home.

And they were dressed in black and white. And an individual approached them and said that, can he have his sins forgiven?

And for some reason, they kind of were a little bit hesitant and even begrudgingly forgave this man his sins.

And then the men went on to say that, that this man, they knew this man. And this man had a bosom sin and it was drinking.

And it seemed like again and again and again he kept on falling into this same bosom sin.

And after that event, the two brothers then said to themselves that should we even forgive him any longer? That it seems like there's no help for him. He just falls again and again.

So they decided that that was the last time. There's no more to be offered.

But that night, one of the two brothers had a dream. And we don't put a whole too much emphasis in dreams, but actually he saw that individual who had just asked for forgiveness that day.

And he was in ragged clothes and he was standing behind his house which was a ramshackle and the shutters were broken and the door was half off its hinges and needed a paint job and the siding was falling off and it looked like it was in terrible shape.

But then there was a stream and then on the other side of the stream was a beautiful, nice, well-kept, brand new shiny house in tip-top shape.

And that brother said in the dream that I'm going to dip myself in this stream and then there is my new home on the other side.

So the next day, the brother who saw this dream, he said to the second individual, he said, I saw, I had this dream last night and that was, and that was of that person who asked us for forgiveness and he has many times before.

And I think that was an exhortation for us that we must and we will forgive this man his sins.

And lo and behold, after the work shift, that individual came and said, I have again fallen. Can I have my sins forgiven?

And of course they willingly blessed him with the forgiveness of sins.

The man went on his merry way. The next day, they didn't see him as they did day after day.

They heard that he had fallen ill that night and he was taken away from this life very soon after.

God took him. God took him before he fell again.

So he was able to, of the grace of God, die as a believer and be dipped in that stream of grace and now go to that everlasting mansion there in the glory of heaven.

This testimony that sins were forgiven and there was peace with God in heaven.

So brothers and sisters, today is the message of witnesses of the resurrected one.

That resurrected one, our Lord and Savior, is here today wishing to say, just as you are, just as you find yourself, be of good cheer.

There at your own address, I wish to approach you. Extend my pierced hands and say, believe just as you are, just as you find yourself. Do not doubt, but believe.

The power of the gospel will lift, it will carry, and it will bring us one day to our eternal home in heaven.

Can I also believe? My sins forgiven. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.