Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Easter 2 - Quasimodogeniti - 4-19-09

The Church Season of Easter,
Easter 2 - Quasimodogeniti
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (April 19, 2009)

“The Resurrection of the Dead”

Readings:
Psalm 33
Ezekiel 37:1-14
1 John 5:4-10
John 20:19-31

Sermon Form: Deductive

+INI+

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Ezekiel 37:1-14
“1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. 11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’ ”

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

And what do we know of this book from the prophet Ezekiel? Well if we know anything it is probably closely connected to the idea of the “Valley of dry bones” and a African-American spiritual song called, “Dry Bones” or more simply “Dem Bones.” But beyond that, we don’t much, just one of those stories from the Old Testament that piques our minds and tickles our ears, into saying, “yeah I think remember that one.” Our world strives to convince us that there is no need to dig in any further to understand the words of those long dead prophet’s. This world would have us think it’s from the Old Testament, just a bunch stories, tales, and adventures made up like the characters in some fictional novel.

But this is no novel, no short-story, but the God breathed Word of the Lord who set the prophet Ezekiel, “in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.”(v. 1) This was no collection of laboratory skeletons but a “sea of scattered, disarticulated bones.,” meaning endless piles of human bones which had no shin bones connected to thigh bones, just bones. But these bones were different, for God breathed His Word over them and they were returned to life, truly this was...

The Resurrection of the Dead

God asked Ezekiel if all those bones could live, and Ezekiel responded, “Lord, YHWH, you know.”(v. 3) And God did know, for He would command Ezekiel to “breath and blow into these slain that they may come back to life,”(v.9) and that is exactly what happened. Not a story and not fiction, God caused Ezekiel to see it and Ezekiel believed what he saw.

In the same way, on the sixth day the Lord God created the man Adam, He “formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”(Gen 2:7) The dust of the ground received the breath of God and from this force majeure, this act of God, Adam became a living human being, from dry dust to a quickened living man. Unbelievable?

Elijah took the lifeless body of a young boy and soon after the boy’ life returned to him. (1 Kings 17:22) Elisha too came to the aid of another young man who was found lifeless, yet he too healed the boy, and he came back to life.

Yet the scene that Ezekiel was viewing was different than that of Elijah and Elisha, these disconnected bones were not still warm, there was no flesh, no skin, just scattered bleached and very dry bones. Yet upon breathing upon these bones, they came to life, they connected together, first tendons, then flesh, then skin, then there was a vast army. And God said, “prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.”(v. 12-13)

An amazing story, pretty good review of the Old Testament scripture, but you may well ask, “What has all this to do with me?” Last week and today you proclaimed, “Christ is risen!” It means that you believe that Christ was resurrected from the dead. Yet you did not see it like Ezekiel, like Elijah, or Elisha. You did not see Lazarus fall asleep and die, nor did you see Christ heal him and watch as Lazarus stepped forth from his tomb. But you do believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only son, “Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day He rose again from the dead.” You didn’t see any of those things but you confessed together that you believe all that, even though there is absolutely no other record of a man coming back to life after three days. You believe in the resurrection of the dead.

Yet even as we confess these words of our creed each week, our weak and sinful hearts think that visions, like Ezekiels, make for a cute story, a cute song, but deep in our minds we wonder if it ever happened. Did Elijah and Elisha really bring people back from the dead? Did Jonah rest in the belly of a great fish for three days? Did God create the world in six, twenty four hour days? Did Moses cross the Red Sea on dry land? Did Noah really build an ark? But we say, oh of course yes, I believe in Christ, but what about........The questions never seem to end. But the answer to all of these is yes, they all happened just as it was written. Not by the hand of man, or to be understood by human logic, rather it is all accomplished by the right hand of God, Jesus Christ.

Our disbelief leads us to our lifelong sinful vocation of straining the gnats of human logic, while at the same time swallowing whole camels. We attempt to drag the scriptures through a strainer of sinful worldly logic. We doubt Old Testament miracle accounts, yet we confess that Christ came back to life after being in His three day grave, something unheard of in the past and in the present. How is it possible that we can we believe in the resurrection and yet still question the rest of scripture? We look to Cable T.V. shows to explain how the things of God may have happened by human intervention. And if it can’t be explained then we will just believe the parts which we understand. Or more likely we choose which pieces and parts we will believe. And so in our doubt, we stand squarely with the apostle St. Thomas and proclaim with him, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”(Jn 20:25)

Repent. For Christ did appear to Thomas and then Thomas believed. God did speak to Moses, Noah, Elijah, and Elisha, to Jonah, to all the prophets, to Ezekiel and He still speaks to His people even today. Early on Easter morning, the women went to Christ’s tomb and Christ was not there. Jesus Christ is raised from the dead. There is nothing dead in the tomb, in fact all the dying people were, and still are, outside the tomb. For all humans “have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,”(Rom. 3:23) and all humans will die.

Yet there is hope, for just as God said to Ezekiel, he says to you, “O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them.”(Ez 37:12) Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, you too will be resurrected along with the vast army of all Christians who have died in the faith. To Ezekiel God said, “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land.”(Ez 37:14) And that is all achieved and made sure not by human logic, but by the totally illogical act of Christ who died on the cross, for you. And the Holy Spirit works faith in you, for your faith was given to you in your Baptism, and you hear that Spirit as the Word of God is proclaimed. And your Spirit is renewed, strengthened, and refreshed each time you receive the Holy Sacrament of our Lord Jesus Christ as you eat and drink His true body and blood.

Ezekiel was shown a great valley of bones by God, and these bones were brought to life by God’s breath. All people, who have ever lived on the outside of Christ’s tomb are a great valley of bones that God will raise again as a vast army. One day He will settle you, His faithful people, in your own land and “you shall dwell forever in the new heavens and the new earth with God.”(Rev. 21-22). And as God said to Ezekiel, “Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.”(v. 14) He has done it for you and for all would believe. In an instant, like a flash of light, you too will be resurrected from the dead, for in Christ, “Dem dry bones” of yours will live forever. Amen.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
AMEN
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Monday, April 6, 2009

Palm Sunday Procession - Palmarum - 4-5-09

Holy Week – Palm Sunday Procession
Palmarum
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (April 5, 2009)
One Year Series

“Palms that Save”

Readings:

Psalm 118:19-29
Zechariah 9:9-12
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 26:1 – 27:66

Sermon Form: Deductive
+INI+

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the book of Leviticus, from the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and from the book of Revelation.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

That was quite a list of scriptures I just read wasn’t it? Well quite frankly, it is quite a long story. And many of us here today I’m sure would know the significance of today’s celebration and where if could be found recorded in the Old Testament. But, today our minds would rather think of the New Testament represented by Christ, coming to God’s Jerusalem. But, quite frankly, both those stories are the same, God in Christ Jesus is not absent in the Old Testament nor does He just show up for the accolades thrown down before Him as He rode into Jerusalem so many years ago. The laying down of Palm’s in fact is more than a story, it is a reflection of all that God has done for us. It reminds us of those who stood in an ancient Jerusalem and what these people did when their promised king was before them. But, most importantly it represents the extent to which God would go to save His people, for these are...

“PALMS THAT SAVE”

I – The Palms of Promise

In the Old Testament it is recorded that the tabernacle, or tent of meeting, was a place where our holy God would meet in Holy Communion with a people cleansed from unholiness and hallowed for the promised reunion with Him. The book of Leviticus records that there were to be also various special days of “meetings” in that tabernacle. And the observance of these recurring weekly and annual days stressed Israel’s need of continuing efforts to maintain its status as a “holy nation.” Most of these festival days could be kept only after Israel had entered the Promised Land and a they had settled and established their way of life.

One of these festival days was the Feast of the Passover or unleavened bread. So, you may ask, what does this have to do with Palm Sunday? Well God said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.” (Levitcus 23:10) This was a celebration recognizing that God did just as He had promised. And the return of the firstfruits of the people also acknowledged that what they gave back was not accepted by merit of their own. They were commemorating their national beginnings, but more than that they were also reflecting their dependence on God who continued preserving their lives. The waving of the sheaves was in response to hearing God’s Word’s and recognizing that He kept His promise to them.

Christ was that promised grain of the harvest for us for, “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”(James 1:18) The Israelites were required to wave their offerings, today we wave our palms. In both cases the waving acknowledges that God’s promise is fulfilled, and it is real. He is before us, He provides for us, our hands would have nothing to wave except for that promise which God kept for us in giving His Son Jesus Christ for our salvation. Those grains and these palms, acknowledge God fulfillment of His promise.

II – The Palms of Praise

The Israelites were also told to celebrate the Feast of the Harvest. God said, “On the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.”(Lev 23:40) This feast was a time to acknowledge that all that they had been given and to praise all the gifts from God. And they praised God by rejoicing with palm fronds before Him.

But they did not live perfect lives of praise, rejoicing, or in a perfect faith. Even after they had seen the great plagues of Egypt, and their escape from Pharaoh, the still turned away from God. They even built a false god while they still could remember the waves crashing in behind them.

We are no different than they. We have seen great miracles in our lives. We have seen and experienced the miracle of baptism and of Gods presence with us. We have heard of infinite mercy in God’s Holy Word. We have waved palms praising Christ the King, yet we have also praised our own gods while miracles abound around us. We praise the gods of money, of things, and even of other peoples things. We have done things we should not, we have left undone things we should have done. We even retract our praise and rebel that God has not given us all that we think He should, or not the way we wanted it, or maybe not quickly enough.

Yet the Messiah still came and the crowds gathered near Jerusalem to heap their praise on Him. In fact, He rode into Jerusalem, “on a colt, the foal of donkey.”(Zech 9:9) just as God had promised through the words of the prophet Zechariah. Though we are not worthy to even lift those palms fronds to praise Him, those palms are still waved at the arrival of the promised one, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The praise with palms does not point to us, rather they point to the promised Lord Jesus Christ.
III – The Palms of Salvation

For our Lord Jesus Christ did arrive according to the promise, with praise, to offer us eternal salvation. And what of those palms that the people waved in praise at His entrance to Jerusalem? In less that a week they would be forgotten. Yet He did not forget, He traveled on. He traveled on in majesty, then He traveled on in betrayal, then He traveled on in scorn, mockery, and deceit. Yet He did not stop, He did not turn, He went to the cross for the forgivenss of our sins. And there on the crosss there would be no palms waving in a chorus of accolades. Rather there was only the palms of Christ which would be pierced for our transgressions. The plams waved by men at the beginning of the week would soon rot and decay. But, the palms of Christ nailed to the cross would never rot and they would never see decay. For those palms could not wave they were nailed to the cross. Yet Christ’s palms pinned down by our sin were in fact palms of salvation. And God in Christ Jesus did not lift His hand to save Himself, rather He left His palm to bleed so that we may be saved. And that salvation which He won is given to you in your baptism. He gives you that salvation in Holy Communion in giving for us His true body and His true blood.

You have been made part of His palms of salvation and so you will one day be seen in, “a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands”(Rev. 7:9)

Rejoice in Christ, you wave palm branches this very day.

Rejoice in Christ you will one day wave palm branches for eternity. Amen.

The peace that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
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