Jesus lives! What are you afraid of?

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Easter Sunday

1 Corinthians 5:6-8  +  Mark 16:1-8

We spent the Lenten season and Holy Week following Christ, the Lamb of God, through the words of Holy Scripture. We watched Him suffer. We watched Him die. We watched His burial in the tomb. Today we get to witness the empty tomb and His victory over death.

Hear the familiar story again and rejoice! The dedicated, faithful women who had devoted their lives to serving Jesus and providing for His earthly needs were still devoted to serving Him in His death. They weren’t satisfied with the burial He was given on Good Friday evening. It was rushed. The sun was setting. They had to finish quickly so that they could rest on the Sabbath—which was, as it turned out, the last and greatest Sabbath there ever was, because it was day the Son of God fulfilled the symbolism of that day of rest by resting in the tomb after dying for our sins. But as soon as the sun’s rays peeked above the horizon on Sunday morning, the women took the spices and oils they had bought and headed straight to the tomb, without even stopping to think how they would be able to move that heavy stone out of the way.

But before they arrived, there was an earthquake. The Lord had already risen and entered into His glory, no longer subject to the laws of nature, no longer kept in by large stones or kept out by locked doors. But an angel rolled the stone away from the entrance to the tomb, not to let the Lord out, but to let the world in, so that all could see the jarring truth: the tomb was empty. Jesus had risen from the dead.

By the time the women got there, the stone was already rolled away. An angel was sitting there on top of the stone he had just rolled away, and another angel was sitting in the tomb where Jesus’ body had been. We’re told that they were afraid when they saw the angel. And even after he told them not to be afraid, even after he told them the good news of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead, it says that they were still afraid as they hurried away from the tomb to inform the disciples.

We can certainly understand their fear, there in the moment. But you and I have had time to let the truth of it settle in: Jesus really died on the cross and then really rose from the dead, just as He said He would. And His resurrection was permanent; His body has been changed so that He can never die again. He lives, and He reigns mightily on His throne. So what are you afraid of?

Are you afraid of sin and guilt? You should be, if you refuse to repent of your sins, if you’re determined to cling to them, to live in them, to let them keep separating you from God. But if Jesus lives, and you want to be free of the guilt of sin, then don’t be afraid. As the Scripture says, Christ died for sins, the Just for the unjust, to bring you to God. Christ was delivered up to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification.

Are you afraid of death? You should be, if you are not united to Christ by Baptism and faith. But if Jesus lives, and you are united to Him, then don’t be afraid. As the Scripture says, We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. I am the resurrection and the life, Jesus said. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.

Are you afraid of being condemned to hell? You should be, if you’re not a member of the holy Christian Church. But if Jesus lives and you are a member of His body, the Church, then don’t be afraid. As the Scripture says, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body…He loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

Are you afraid of the devil? You should be if you don’t have the constant protection of the living Christ. The devil is real and prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. But if Jesus lives, then don’t be afraid. By His resurrection He proved Himself to be the Stronger Man who took away the devil’s power to accuse or to harm those who take refuge in the wounds of Christ Jesus.

What else are you afraid of? The insane and frightening direction in which the world is headed? Persecution for speaking and living according to the truth of Christ? Financial collapse? Poverty? Scarcity? Sickness? Disaster? You should be afraid of all those things, if Jesus were still dead. But He isn’t. As the Scripture says, the Father raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus lives. You know it’s true. Now keep that knowledge with you whenever fears and doubts begin to trouble you. Keep that knowledge with you when the darkness of the world begins to overwhelm you. Keep that knowledge with you when temptation comes knocking at your door. The resurrection of Christ isn’t a thing we remember on a single day of the year. It’s a truth to remember every day, to celebrate every day, to take comfort in every day. Jesus lives! Believe it! And let that truth drive out all the fear from your heart. Amen.

 

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Celebrate the day of your victory

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
Reading #1: Genesis 1:1-2:3
Reading #2: Genesis 7-9
Reading #3: Exodus 14:10 – 15:1
Reading #4: Isaiah 54:5-14
Reading #5: Isaiah 55:1-11
Reading #6: Ezek. 36:16-28
Reading #7: Daniel 3:1-30
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Sermon for the Vigil of Easter

Yesterday, Good Friday, was the day on which we commemorated our Lord’s victory over the sin the held us captive and over the devil who thought we were his for eternity. On this Easter Sunday Eve, it’s His victory over death that we celebrate. But more than that, it’s our victory, the Church’s victory, that we celebrate this evening. Because, in His Mercy, God has brought us to Holy Baptism, where He took us and united us to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. The day of your Baptism was the day of your victory over sin, death, and the devil.

Oh, not your final victory. Not yet. The Church on earth is still “Militant.” We’re still fighting, still vulnerable, still able to be led into temptation and away from the faith into which we were baptized. And so we watch and pray. We keep vigil, as we are doing tonight. We stay vigilant, as our Lord told us to do. We trust in His power and protection, and we use the Means of Grace that He has appointed to keep us in the faith until the final victory, when we are taken out of this life, one way or another, to be with the risen Lord forever, to live under Him in His heavenly kingdom, even as we now live under Him in His kingdom on earth.

And that itself is a monumental victory. We were trapped in the devil’s kingdom. But our Father in heaven has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. We have that redemption in Christ, through Baptism, through faith, through the blood of Christ, shed on the cross. And now Christ lives to preserve us in the faith and to rule over all things so that we reach our final victory.

Until then, watch and pray. Keep vigil. And seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. A blessed Easter to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ! Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Holy Saturday, April 8th

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Mark 15:42-47

42 Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. 45 So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.

Even after death Jesus fulfills this Old Testament prophecy:

And they made His grave with the wicked—

But with the rich at His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

(Isaiah 53:9 NKJV)

Normally, Jesus’ body would have been thrown into a mass grave with the two robbers. God, however, took care of His Son’s body through Joseph of Arimathea. Having finished all of the redemptive work to acquire man’s salvation, Jesus’ body is wrapped in fine linen and laid in an unused tomb.

Even as Jesus’ body most thoroughly observes a resting on the Sabbath, thus fulfilling the 3rd Commandment of God, He brought it to rest there for you! Not only did a transition take place from the Old Testament Temple to Jesus body as the temple that would be destroyed and He would raise it up again in three days. But He has now transitioned the Sabbath rest to be located within Himself now as well.

What a blessed freedom Christ’s fully atoning merits have ushered in for His believers. As all of God’s Commandments  bring conviction and point out how man’s sinful flesh will never fulfill them. So the relief of them being fully observed comes through Christ Jesus! Do you desire to not have any other gods? Then get in Christ Jesus! Do you desire to not misuse the name of the Lord your God? Then get in Christ Jesus! So it goes with keeping the Sabbath. Get in Him! Jesus is the Mercy Seat to which sinners flee in faith for refuge.

Let us pray:  O God, creator of heaven and earth, grant that as the crucified body of Your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this Holy Sabbath, so we may await with Him the coming of the third day, and rise with Him to newness of life, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen

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A sad day for some

Posted on April 7, 2023 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Good Friday

As I said in Bible class on Sunday, Good Friday is not a sad or somber day. The first Good Friday was, of course. When any innocent person is openly hated, or treated unjustly, or abused, or tortured, or mocked, or killed, that’s a sad thing. When that person is an especially kind and decent person, it’s even sadder. When that person is the very Lord of life, the God of creation, who specifically came into human flesh to save fallen humanity—the word “sad” doesn’t come close to describing it.

But for whom was it really sad? Some of the women in Jerusalem were sad for Jesus. They wept over Him and mourned for Him as He made His way to the Place of a Skull. But Jesus corrected them, didn’t He? Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For, indeed, the days are coming in which they will say: ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts which never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains: ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills: ‘Cover us!’ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry? In spite of all He had suffered and was still about to suffer, things would turn around for Jesus in just a couple of days. Yes, even by the end of that Good Friday, although His body was lifeless and lying in a tomb, Jesus’ soul was at peace in Paradise. So if you’re going to be sad, if you’re going to weep for anyone on Good Friday, don’t weep for Jesus. Weep for the world. If the wood was green at the time of Christ, it has certainly dried out by now. If men received the ministry of the sinless Son of God and hated Him for it, how will they react now to the far weaker members of His Church? If men were able to sell their lies and deception while the Truth Himself was in the world, what limits will there be to the lies they can sell now?

Yes, weep for the world. Weep over the lies that have passed off for truth. Weep over the wickedness and depravity and violence of men, which will only get worse, just as it did leading up to the Great Flood and the destruction of nearly all life on earth. Weep for yourself, if you refuse the path of escape and salvation that God has been offering for so long, because judgment is coming. And if God allowed judgment to be brought down so severely on His beloved, perfect, innocent Son, what will it be like for sinful men who have rebelled against God and earned His wrath and displeasure?

So what is path of escaping God’s righteous judgment against sinners? I’ll tell you what it isn’t. It isn’t the path of denying your own sinfulness. It isn’t the path of self-righteousness or self-improvement. It isn’t the path of making up for your own sins or finding redemption in your own deeds. The path of escape from the judgment and condemnation that is coming on the world, because of the sins of everyone in the world, is faith in Jesus Christ. His agony, anguish, suffering, and death on Good Friday is the thing that makes up for the sins of mankind. His blood, shed for you, is what satisfies God’s just requirement that the sinner must suffer and die.

On Good Friday, the sinless One died for the sinner. As St. Paul wrote, God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that, in Him, we might become the righteousness of God. The same Jesus who became sin for us and suffered for us and died for us now is risen from the dead and calls out in Gospel, “Repent! Come to Me for forgiveness and rest! I offer it freely! I gave My life so that you might have it!”

And that is why Good Friday isn’t a sad day for those who hear God’s gracious invitation. Because you know that Jesus chose the suffering and death, on purpose, so that you could have rest and forgiveness and a place in His kingdom. You know that, by believing in Him who was crucified, you are safe from God’s wrath, you are a beloved child of God, and you are even safe from the wickedness and depravity of men, because, if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? So celebrate this day, because it’s the day of our Lord’s victory over the sin that held us captive and over the devil who thought we were his for eternity. Celebrate this day, because it’s the day our Lord went into battle for us, and won. Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Good Friday, April 7th 

Posted on April 7, 2023 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Luke 23:43-49

43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.

47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”

48 And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. 49 But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

There are four interpretations that have been applied to the tearing of the curtain: (1) It’s a foreshadowing of the judgement that will befall Jerusalem in AD 70… (2) It’s the opening of salvation to all through fully atoning merits of God’s Son… (3) It’s the ending of the ceremonial and ritual laws of the old covenant… and (4) It’s marks the replacement of the Old Testament Temple with the temple of the body of Christ Jesus. Now those all can certainly be offered as an explanation (for they hold to the analogy of faith). But since God so ordained not to reveal the exact meaning, we must not say that any of them are certain.

As you have read earlier this week of how Jesus has fulfilled a very many Old Testament prophecies throughout His crucifixion. Not surprisingly, that continues in the events of this text. Most specifically would be Jesus’ final words from His cross.

In You, O Lord, I put my trust; Let me never be

ashamed; Deliver me in Your righteousness… Pull me

out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For

You are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my    spirit;

You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.

(Psalm 31:1,4-5 NKJV)

Psalm 31 is a psalm of trust. Such a cry reveals how, even in His death, Jesus was in control. Reemphasizing how His life was not taken from Him, but rather, He was trusting His Father’s will and gave up His life. And He did it for you! It’s really no wonder why it shouldn’t be called anything other than Good Friday.

Let us pray:  Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men to suffer death upon the cross; though the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reins with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen

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