Saint Athanasius Lutheran Church

I wonder how Joseph felt. Yes, you heard me right -- Joseph, not Matthias. We often focus on Matthias, 'cause he won. He's the one who replaced Judas. But I wonder how Joseph, called Barsabbas, also called Justus, felt. You know, the loser. Was he sad? Or was he relieved? Was he happy for Matthias, or jealous? Was he really hoping to be chosen -- and get his own verse in the hymn By All Your Saints in Warfare that we're going to sing again today for Matthias -- or was he waiting for the result with much fear and trembling?

Jesus calls His disciples friends. Marvel at that, please. The government does not call you friend. You are a taxpayer, citizen, subject, voter, but not friend. You may be friends with your boss, but at work, he is the boss and you are the employee. Pontius Pilate, you may remember, wanted to be in the exclusive "friend of Caesar" club, but that was not easy, or cheap. And some of you may remember when Bill Clinton was in the White House, there was a group of people called FOBs -- for "friends of Bill." Friends today aren't what they used to be. In this world there are the haves and the have nots. Those above and those below. And Jesus has turned all that completely upside-down!

The Ethiopian man was lost. He didn't know how to read the map. He didn't know how to get home. He wasn't dumb. He was anything but. So being an educated man, an official of some calibre, why not read this scroll on the journey home? And so it was that Isaiah confused him. And then he heard a voice... someone to lead him home. Philip began with what Isaiah said here, but said so much more. And like Peter and the other Apostles, Philip must have also told this man than in baptism, by water and the Word, a person receives this new life and new home. That day was Easter Day for this Ethiopian man. That was the day he was raised from being dead in sin to a new life in Christ.

Often times, when Jesus taught and preached, the people did not understand Him. Sometimes it was because He often spoke in parables, but even when He didn't, what He said was so different than their teachers and what they were saying that the people didn't understand. Not at first. And what Jesus said today is one of those times. Now, that may surprise you to hear me say that. You want to hear about the Good Shepherd. You want, you need, that comfort and assurance. But in first century Israel, a shepherd who died for his sheep was not a good shepherd, but a stupid one! Sheep were a commodity. A valuable one, perhaps. But still, a commodity.

Here I stand. Those words were not first uttered 500 years ago today, but they were most famously uttered 500 years ago today. This year, we remember another 500th anniversary, and that is, the Diet of Worms. Now while that's one of the best known things Luther ever said, he probably wasn't the first to say it, and he certainly wasn't the first to do it. That honor I would give to the Apostles. Now if you're like me, you admire Luther and Peter and John and all the rest of the Apostles and all the early Christian martyrs for doing that -- for standing firm in the face of danger and death and saying here I stand! But the reason they could is the same reason we can: because Christ is risen!

The reading from Acts today was remarkable. All who believed were of one heart and soul. They had everything in common. There was not a needy person among them. They sold and gave away what they had. I think we see glimpses of this in the church today. There is a certain unity we have here. All of you are very generous people. But still... there's something different, isn't there? About that early Christian church... For in all three of the readings we heard today, there are two truths that hold them all together; two truths that were life-changing for them then, and for us today: Jesus' resurrection from the dead, and the forgiveness of sins.

I have to tell you that I plan on doing a lot of swallowing later today! Swallowing a lot of Easter goodies, swallowing the Easter feast my wife is making, and swallowing some good wine. A day of great joy and feasting after the fasting of Lent. But as great as our joy, and as much as we might swallow today, our feasting is nothing compared to our Lord's. For on this day, Isaiah says, he swallowed up death forever. God had promised it. Isaiah prophesied it. Now Jesus had done it. So when you're feasting today, swallowing down lots of good and rich food, remembering who feasted first on this day, and what He feasted on! For Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Tonight we are the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Tonight we are the eleven gathered together on Easter evening. We are not sad and frightened, not confused and uncertain, as they were. For we know what is coming tomorrow. We anticipate it already tonight. But Jesus is doing for us, tonight, what He did for them, then -- we are learning of Him from the Scriptures. That is, the Old Testament. So let us hear their story. Let us hear our story. Let us hear Jesus' story.

I think Jesus smiled on the cross. Not the whole time, of course. There was much pain and agony. Agony of body with the nails. Agony of soul, being forsaken by His Father and being forsaken and mocked by His people. You heard the reproaches tonight. No smiling there. Bot other times, I think He did. I think He did when the thief on the cross next to Him asked for Jesus to remember him in His kingdon. And then, I think, there was another time. When it was dark and still and everyone there was just waiting for death, and Jesus said, It is finished.

For some Christians, tonight is really no big deal. It is simply the night of our Lord's final meal, His Last Supper, with His disciples. For Rome, tonight is a big deal for them partly because it is the institution of the priesthood -- Jesus ordering, or ordaining, His disciples-soon-to-be-apostles to continue offering the sacrifice of the mass. But for us, it is neither of those things. Tonight is the night of for you. Jesus' Body given for you to eat. Jesus' Blood given for you to drink. Your Passover Lamb, but even more. That though you die, yet you will live.

Even one death is too many. You've heard that phrase. It sounds very pious. It's a good sound bite in our sound bite world. Truth is, though, not all deaths are equal. Some get more press than others. So the truth is: we're confused, aren't we? About death. Is it good or bad? Because for Him, for Jesus, for God, it really is true: even one death is too many. No one was meant to die. No one. But we thought -- and sinfully often still think -- we can do life better than God. Yeah, really! But all we did in the end, was death. But this one death is exactly what was needed. For the death He dies was yours.

Last year, my daughter's car got hit -- and part of the back bumper got popped out. We pounded it back in, but it's popping out again. Sometimes we try to do that with sin -- fix it ourselves. But if the damage is severe, no way. You're going to have to get it fixed. Someone will have to pay. So God did. That's the final wonderful facet of forgiveness we'll consider tonight. He came. To fix us. And to pay for it Himself. With His life.

Jesus and His disciples are on the road going up to Jerusalem. Mark tells us that as they were going up, they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. But why the disciples were amazed, and why those who followed were afraid, Mark doesn't tell us. But perhaps it is for the same reason. They are amazed that He is, and afraid that He is. And after three days He will rise. But what does that mean? So it may seem like an odd time for James and John to approach Jesus with their request. They want to be close to Him in His glory. He doesn't rebuke them for their request -- it's just that they don't understand what they are asking for.

Our sins are cleansed; we are washed clean by the blood of Jesus. And yet still our sins nag at us, gnaw away at us. Wouldn't it be good if in addition to these facets, our sins would go someplace far, far away from us? Well that's the idea with the scapegoat we heard about tonight. It is, of course, a picture of Jesus. As all the sacrifices of the Old Testament were. So after His death and burial and His rest in the tomb on the Sabbath, Jesus descends into hell in victory, and then rises from the dead... and your sins are gone!

If you didn't realize it on your own, I'm sure you've all heard by now that this week marked the one year anniversary of the declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. And so lots of reflection has begun, and I'm sure will continue. But that's not really what I want you to think about today. Instead, I want you to look at yourself. How did YOU do? Perhaps when your history is written, there will be some of both. Things that were good, and things that could have been better. But it's good to look back at this past year and reflect. Luther once wrote that all the trials and struggles we go through in this life is to prepare us for the biggest trial any of us will ever face -- when we face death.

It's good to know where things are. So it is with your sin. You may not have ever thought about it like that before, but the beautiful facet of forgiveness we'll consider tonight is that our sins are fixed. And when they are fixed, when they are in one certain place that we know, we're okay. Paul introduced another way of how we may look at our sins -- as a debt. But with Paul's picture, God has taken all that and fixed it again. Not stuffing the record of our sins back into us, in to the trash bins of our souls, but nailing them to the cross.

If Jesus were here today, what would He do? How would He cleanse His Temple? First, we need to realize something about Temples in the Scriptures. And that is: there are three Temples, or three kinds of Temples, in Scripture. The first is the building itself. The second Temple -- or kind of Temple -- spoken in Scripture: Jesus Himself. The third Temple -- or kind of Temple -- spoken of in Scripture: you. For it is not the first kind of Temple, that needs cleansing today. And it is not the second kind of Temple, Jesus' flesh and blood, that needs cleansing today. But that third kind of Temple... you and me... yeah, we need cleansing, don't we? And this, too, Jesus does.

As we hold the church's jewel of forgiveness up this week to consider its beauty, the facet of forgiveness that strikes our eyes and ears tonight is covered. Which, maybe, sounds odd. For if your sins are cleansed, if they are washed away, why do they also need to be covered? Well, because while God really and truly has washed away your sin, the fact is that it is not quite so in our hearts and minds. God doesn't see the sin, but we still do. We believe the forgiveness, but we know what we've done.

Some words you do not soon forget. The first time your future spouse says I love you. Or when they spoke their wedding vow to you. The first word your child utters. A cutting remark that really hurt. A word of encouragement when you needed it most. Abram received such a word from God, that he would have a son. So today we heard God repeat His promise to Abram; He had not forgotten. We heard another such word today, a word not soon forgotten, spoken to Peter. When Jesus said to him, Get behind me, Satan! But as with Peter, there are other words for us, too. That God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ dies for us.

This Lenten season, we're holding forgiveness up to the light and seeing its many colors; it's beauty. It's good to do so. Forgiveness is mentioned so often in the church, that perhaps we forget its beauty, how astonishing it is, and that it really is the most precious jewel the church has. Tonight, the facet of forgiveness we will consider is perhaps the most natural image, and certainly one of the most well-known: that of cleansing, or washing. And so you know, there's a right way to clean something, and a wrong way. So it is with sin.