|
At Gethsemane, we get a goodly amount of mail. At times, I’ll open the mailbox and it will be chocked full of letters. If I’m honest, I feel excited. Maybe I’ll get something cool.
So, I read the envelopes: Precious Lambs’ Director. Precious Lambs’ Director. Bill. Financial Secretary. Gethsemane Admin. Gethsemane Admin. Bill. Treasurer. Letter to Julianna. Letter to Julianna. Bill. Letter to…Me! Oh! How thoughtful. Let me look inside: “Dear Pastor, I didn’t have Julianna’s address. Could you get this to her.” Maybe you feel the same way. If the letter is for someone else, it isn’t that exciting to you. Our next sermon series is called Dear Church. It’s a study of the first chapters of Revelation. These first chapters contain a collection of seven letters written to seven first-century churches. Yet none of these letters are addressed to “Gethsemane Church in Raleigh.” None of them have the address of delivery listed as 1100 Newton Road. None of them have your specific name on it. So, you might wonder: “How valuable is studying a bunch of ancient letters that aren’t written to me?’ Today our goal is to identify the author, identify the recipients and discover the value these letters have for us. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Writer Our lesson starts in Revelation 1:1-2. It says: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servant what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw. (Revelation 1:1-2) A couple of notes: The word Revelation is the Greek Word apocalypsis. It’s where we get the word Apocalypse. It means the “unveiling of something that previously was hidden.” In this case, what is being unfolded is the future of the Christian church. The writer is a guy named John. This is John the Apostle. The apostles were a special group of twelve men that Jesus had specially called to follow him for three years of ministry and continue his ministry after he left. During the time he was with Jesus, John learned deep theological truths and witnessed other worldly miracles. In fact, John was one of a group of three Apostles that were witness to a few special events: John saw Jesus’ face transformed into a brilliant sun like light. John saw Jesus touch a dead girl’s hand and bring her back to life. John saw Jesus in deep anguish as he prayed deep within a garden the night before he died. In addition, John saw Jesus die. And John was an eyewitness to Jesus’ resurrection. As a result, John wanted to share his experience. He wrote a book in the Bible called John. In that book, he wrote about all that Jesus said and did while on earth. Later, John wrote a letter to believers everywhere called 1st John. It encouraged believers in their Savior Jesus. Finally, John writes two more letters called: 2nd and 3rd John that deal with supporting the truth of God’s Word. That’s four books of the Bible that John had already authored. Revelation is his 5th book. This letter has value, because it comes from a guy whose life was intimately connected with our Savior. Look what else John says about himself: I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. (1:9) Notice that John calls himself brother. Even though he has led an impressive life, John does not refer to himself as “The apostle” or “the guy who knows a lot more than you.” Nope. John calls himself a brother. A brother in sin. A brother in salvation. A brother in faith. A brother in the church. And… A brother in suffering. Like you, John knew suffering. He knew the physical pain of life on this earth. He knew the emotional pain of being ridiculed for his faith. He knew the spiritual pain of fighting sin, of fighting guilt, of fighting loneliness. Matter of fact, John wrote this letter while he was on the island of Patmos. He had been exiled there because of his faith. He was alone. He probably felt lonely. He was familiar with suffering. This letter has value, because it comes from a guy who understood the struggles of believers. II. The Voice behind the Writer Yet… John wasn’t a millennial. He’s never been to the Triangle. He didn’t own an iPhone. He wasn’t familiar with how to run Windows 10. He didn’t know any of the characters from Stranger Things. John didn’t know what it was like for 21st century believers in Raleigh NC. His letter might be valuable for a history class, But not nowadays… Look at what John writes next: On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit. The Lord’s Day would have been Sunday. The fact that John was in the Spirit seems to indicate that he was in some form of worship. Maybe singing songs to God’s praise. Or on his knees in prayer. Or preaching himself a sermon and writing down his own sermon responses. When suddenly… In the middle of worship all by himself. On the island all by himself. In prayer all by himself. John heard someone else: I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on the scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches.” (v.10) Do you get it? John’s letter; isn’t his own. He wrote it down. But it came from someone else. It’s kind of like Siri. If you’re driving down the road and you don’t want to text and drive (because you shouldn’t text and drive), you can tell Siri: “Siri. Text Julianna: Hi Love, I’ll be home at seven.” Siri will write it down. Siri will send the message. Siri will let Julianna know: “Hi Bub, I’ll be home at eleven.” Jokes aside. When you send a message through Siri, Siri writes it down, but it’s really your message. It’s the same thing here. John wrote it down, but the letter come from this voice. So, who is the one behind John’s letter? The text is full of clues: (1) Trumpetlike Vocal Chords It says the voice was like a trumpet. (v.11) On the one hand, it could be a reference to the decibel level. A trumpet is loud and boisterous, so this simile may be a reference to the voice being loud and boisterous. (There’s a reason the trumpet plays the daily wakeup call in the military) Or perhaps has a brass instrument like quality to it. It literally sounds like a trumpet with a nasal, air filled quality to its melodies. Either way, trumpetlike vocal cords are other worldly. Because most people can’t speak louder than a trumpet. And most people can’t speak in a voice that perfectly mimics a trumpet. (Go ahead and try – I’ll wait.) (2) Surrounded by High Priest Gear When John heard the voice, he turned around to see where it was coming from. He wrote, “When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. (v.13) All that language is very Old Testament. Old Testament worship involved these very ornate golden lampstands that held the burning candles during worship. Old Testament worship was led by a high priest who wore a long white robe reaching down to cover his sandals. Old Testament worship robes were decorated by a golden sash across the chest. John, who was familiar with Old Testament worship, would have understood that this was a high priest. The only thing he wouldn’t have understood was… Where did the high priest come from? And how did he set up the lampstands without making a sound? And can you get the golden sash on sale down at Target? (3) Human-Ish Look at John’s description of the high priest. He describes him as, “like a son of man.” (v.13) A son of man is a human. Just like a son of a cow is a calf. And the son of a cat is a kitty. But John is careful in his words. He doesn’t say, “a son of man,” but, “like a son of man.” As in similar, but not quite. As in like, but also unlike. As in human, but more… (4) Otherworldly Facial Features Verse 14 describes why John didn’t consider him your average human. He writes, “The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.” White hair isn’t unheard of. It’s common. Yet the emphasis on it being “white like snow”; gives the impression this is an otherworldly type of white. And check out the eyes! Yes, there are now contacts that exist that you can put into your eyeballs to change the color of your iris. If you have blue eyes and want brown, there’s contact lenses for that. If you have brown eyes and want blue, there’s contact lenses for that. If you have regular colored eyes and want yours to look like fire, there’s contact lenses for that. But… Those colors contact lenses weren’t invented until 2010. And contact lenses in general didn’t exist until 1887. So… That’s fire in his eyes. Otherworldly. And that’s not it for the otherworldly facial features: In verse 17 it says, “Coming out of his mouth was a sharp double-edged sword.” And in verse 18 it says, “His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” Otherworldly. (5) Otherworldly Footwear Look at verse 15: His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace. Bronze is a precious metal. It’s used in making beautiful plates, decorations, and lampstands. But… How many of you today are wearing bronze shoes? How many of you own bronze shoes? How many of you have ever seen bronze shoes? But then, notice that the bronze was glowing! Did you know that bronze begins to glow & melt at about 1562 degrees Fahrenheit? This is other worldly. (6) Trumpetlike Riverlike Vocal Chords I love this note. Because earlier John said that the voice was like a trumpet. And then at the end of verse 15 he says, “his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.” What’s the deal? Can John not tell the difference between the sound of trumpet and the sound of a river? Nope. John’s just in such shock at the other worldly voice of this being that he is struggling for metaphors. The voice is that amazing. That otherworldly. (7) Star Grasping Verse 16 records, “In his right hand he held seven stars.” There is no distinction here. It doesn’t say, “In his right hand were seven things like stars.” Nope. It doesn’t say, “Seven lights like stars.” It doesn’t even say, “Seven shapes like stars.” Just stars. Legitimate, gas burning entities. Three white dwarves. Four red giants. Or maybe… Four red dwarves And three blue giants. Regardless, the fact that this being has legitimate stars in his hands… Otherworldly. (8) The First & the Last Because the voice speaks again and said this: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.” (v.17) Think about that. The voice says He is the First. As in before all the sun. As in before the moon. As in before the earth. As in before Adam. As in before Eve. As in before everything. God. And the voice says He is the Last. As in after the sun. As in after the moon. As in after the earth. As in after all Adams. And after all Eve. As in after everything. Also, God. But… More specifically. (9) Formerly Dead The voice continues, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” (v.18) How many people do you know who are dead? Lots. How many people do you know who are dead, but then came back to life? Did you know the Bible records at least 9? The widow of Zarephath’s son…dead; brought back to life. The Shunnamite woman’s son…dead; brought back to life. A random Israelite body…dead; brought back to life. The young daughter of Jairus…dead; brought back to life. The young man at Nain…dead; brought back to life. Jesus’ friend Lazarus…dead; brought back to life. Tabitha, the faithful church widow…dead; brought back to life. Eutychus, the sleepy church goer…dead; brought back to life. But did you know… All those people died again. There’s only one. Only one who died. came back to life. And stayed alive. Jesus Christ. TRUTH: This letter is from JESUS. Your Savior. The one who lived for you. The one who died for you. The one who rose for you. The one who lives for you. The one who protects you. The one who rules all things for you. The one who will take care of you. The one who will bring you home to heaven. The one who will grant you eternal life. This is a letter from Jesus Christ himself! III. The Recipients But there’s more. Look at the people to whom Jesus wrote this letter: Jesus said, “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” And to be fair John mentions the seven churches that will receive the letter earlier. The churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. (v.11) But… Numbers are important in Revelation. A few numbers come up frequently. 3 is the number of God. It represents the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 4 is the number of humanity. It’s close to God, but not quite. It represents the four corners of the earth that humans live upon. 7 is the sum of the two. It represents God in communion with humanity. It represents where God graciously connects with the souls he loves. It represents the place where God brings sinful lost humans into his family. We’re talking about the Church. Here’s the truth: This is a letter written to YOU. Dear believer. Dear brother. Dear sister. These letters are important. Because they are written to YOU. And they have been preserved for YOU. And they are being proclaimed to YOU. And these words are from Jesus for YOU. IV. What Now? Pay Attention There is no letter you have ever received more important. No letter you’ve ever received with more value. No letter you have ever received that comes from a higher place than these letters from Jesus himself. Pay attention. Take notes. Read ahead. Make sure you’re here. If you can’t be, listen online. Don’t miss the very important words of Jesus himself. He loves you. He cares for you. He has a message for you, dear church. Amen.
0 Comments
 Last week we started our summer sermon series called ACTS: The Early Church Initiative by reviewing the first fourteen chapters of the book of Acts. In it, we learned that a priority for the Early Church was to place the GOSPEL above all else…because in the Gospel, Jesus placed YOU above all else.
Today we are picking up where we left off last year. Which was action packed. Last year we heard about: Fire appearing on the disciples’ heads. A paralytic healed. A Jesus-hater blinded. Demons defeated. A sorcerer converted. Thousands baptized into Jesus’ name. And as exciting as those things were, today we’re going to dive into something just as exciting. Something just as thrilling. Today we are going to hear about a marvelous, amazing, incredible, action packed…Meeting. As we go through the events leading up to the first Church Council meeting, pay attention – you’ll see theme of Gospel above all else – running throughout the discussions. Our goal is to learn from that. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Problem The account is from Acts 15 which begins right at the end of Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary journey. A journey that was successful. They had brought the message of the Gospel to people living in different countries who had never heard of Jesus. And when they returned to their home congregation in Antioch Syria – the congregation that sponsored the mission trip – they shared their success! About Cyprus where the Gospel overpowered the lies of a Satanist. About Pisidian Antioch where they preached on the streets in front of thousands of people. About being chased out of the city, mistaken for God, and narrowly avoiding attempted murder. And about how through it all the Gospel was preached, and hundreds of souls came to faith in the saving message of Jesus. And the congregation was thrilled. High-fives. “Amens.” As the night was winding down, Paul noticed a sign that had been affixed to the congregation’s 1st century version of a bulletin board: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” (15:1) Seriously? He went and got Barnabas. Can you believe what they’re teaching? This is the church that had convinced me it was by God’s grace apart from any Jewish custom that we’re saved. A church sponsored OUR mission trip in which we were told to teach - people were saved by God’s grace apart from anything else. A mission trip on which we taught that people were saved by Jesus apart from anything, anything, anything else. Over the next couple days, there were heated discussions: Paul and Barnabas said the Gospel was all about Grace. The opposing leaders argued that it was about God’s grace…and following Old Testament Jewish Law. A good portion of the people sat back and nodded in agreement with whomever made the last point. Finally, they decided to send this question to the leadership of the Christian movement. “Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.” (v.3) Because the Apostles were the original twelve, they were the men who had followed Jesus. Who had been taught by Jesus. Who had been EYEWITNESESS of the Risen Lord Jesus. Who had been commission by Jesus to preach the Gospel. On whom the Holy Spirit had come in a hurricane like sounded, landed on their heads in tongues of fire and taught them languages they never learned. If anyone knew what the Gospel was really about -- it was them. II. The Very First Council Meeting So, the group set off from Syria and headed south to Jerusalem. As they went, they stopped at other churches where Paul and Barnabas told of the incredible works of God. About the Gospel overpowering the lies of a Satanist. About preaching in the streets in front of thousands of people. About being chased out of the city, mistaken for God, and narrowly avoiding attempted murder. And about how through it all, the Gospel was preached, and hundreds of souls came to faith in the saving message of Jesus. And how all the churches were thrilled! They were excited. High-fives. “Amens.” They were excited with how the saving message of Jesus had made its way even to non-Jewish people. And the excitement continued in Jerusalem. The Apostles welcomed them. They hugged them. They sat down and listened to Paul and Barnabas talk all about their journeys. They smiled. They got teary-eyed. They were ready to sing “Praise God from whom All Blessings Flow” when… Some…stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” (v.5) Because in the Old Testament, God required obedience! Don’t believe me? Read Leviticus. Read Numbers. They had to be circumcised. They had to cover their heads. They had to wear prayer shawls. And that’s our tradition. A tradition added to by great men. A tradition passed down by great men. Traditions not to eat pork. Traditions not to eat shellfish. Traditions not to join in fellowship with anyone who doesn’t follow these traditions. And now… We’re supposed to drop them? Centuries of Traditions, gone? For the sake of some “Dirty Gentiles?” I don’t think so. At this Peter stood up. Peter, the leader of the Apostles…. Peter who had preached a phenomenal sermon on Pentecost: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the Gospel…”(v.7) Do you remember that? I was up on the roof doing some meditation when I went into a trance. In that trance, God gave me a vision of a sheet filled with all kinds of animals. Animals that we TRADITIONALLY don’t eat. Food like pork chops, bacon, and oysters on the half shell. And I said to God, “Surely not, Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” And God said, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” (vs. 14-15) And then God repeated this sequence two more times. And right at the end of it, when I was wondering what it all meant, three men sent by Cornelius, a Roman, stopped at the gate of my house. The Holy Spirit said to me, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” (vs. 19-20) I went down to answer. The men were sent here by his master, Cornelius, who had a vision from God – about me being in that house. Wouldn’t I come to tell about Jesus? And…I did. Because that’s was the point of the vision. God’s message wasn’t just for Jews anymore. It was a message of Grace for Gentiles… But you don’t’ have to take my word for it! Because when I was there and when I preached the message of the Gospel. The people believed…Something that only happens by the Holy Spirit. And they began speaking in tongues – a miracle that happens only by the Holy Spirit. A miracle as proof that this was real faith given by the Holy Spirit. Guess what!?! That happened in a home that didn’t have any Jewish traditions. They weren’t circumcised. They weren’t wearing prayers shawls. “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.” (v.8-9) “Now then, why do you try to test God?” (vs. 10) Because you might think that you’re testing the Gentiles. You might think that you’re testing their faith to see if it’s real and if they’re willing to become followers of Jesus. But…really… You’re testing God. You’re telling him: “Hey God, I know you said that it’s by grace through faith in Jesus that we’re saved, but…I’m gonna preach the opposite. I want to test how long it takes for you to strike me down with a lightning bolt for teaching the opposite of you.” Because…think about it! You’re putting yokes on the necks of these Gentiles. A yoke just like you put on your donkey. Something that makes general movement in life much more difficult. You’re putting yokes on their necks by demanding that they keep all these Old Testament Traditions… When you couldn’t even keep them yourself. Avram, look at that prayer shawl. That’s not regulation length. And Jeremiah, I saw you last Sabbath. That walk was lots longer than the allotted 3000 steps according to our tradition. And Ezekiel…I’ve got a guy over there who told me that he saw you eating a BLT last week. And don’t even get me started on the lies, the greed, the lust, the moral failures of each and everyone of you. Brothers, for centuries, we were under the yoke of a law that we could not keep. The message of Jesus freed us from that yoke. Why put that yoke on someone else? Why not lift that yoke? We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are. (v.7) And then. Silence. Silence…and tension. Until eventually, Paul and Barnabas took the opportunity to tell all about what happened on their missionary journey. About the Gospel overpowering the lies of a Satanist. About preaching in the streets in front of thousands of people. About being chased out of the city, mistaken for God, and narrowly avoiding attempted murder. And about how through it all, the Gospel was preached, and hundreds of souls came to faith in the saving message of Jesus. And… When they were done… James stood up. James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem. James, a Jew through and through. He said: Brothers… We’ve heard from Peter. We’ve heard from Paul. We’ve heard from Barnabas. But perhaps we need to hear from one more witness. A witness that’s Jewish. A witness that’s traditional. A witness that cannot tell a lie. The Old Testament Jewish Scriptures: Amos 9:11-12 says: “After this I will…rebuild David’s fallen tent. …17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name.” (Acts 15:16-17) Therefore. Grace is grace. We can’t force them to be Jewish and we don’t need to. And we don’t need to keep these traditions because Jesus fulfilled them all with His perfect life, death and resurrection. God doesn’t require sacrifices anymore! It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. (Acts 15:19) Brothers and sisters, This is the truth. Grace is grace. It’s a truth that was discussed in Jerusalem. By the Apostles of Jesus himself. They voted. They came to a conclusion. It hasn’t been overruled. It hasn’t been overturned. Grace is grace. It isn’t worked for. It isn’t earned. It isn’t given in response to following Old Testament customs. It isn’t given in response to following human customs. It’s all about Jesus. He lived perfectly when you couldn’t. He died innocently in your place. He rose triumphantly for the forgiveness of your sins. Forgiveness is yours. By God’s grace. III. WHAT NOW? Therefore, we follow the advice of James, the leader in Jerusalem. Don’t make Grace difficult. 1) For Yourself How good are you at puzzles? I can usually handle them if they are 20 pieces or less. I’m really good if they have an outline for each shape. I’m especially good at the puzzles for 4 years old and younger. But I have a friend who is so good at puzzles, do you know what he does? He flips the puzzles upside down. He does them cardboard side facing up. Why? He wants to make it more difficult… Sometimes I think we do the same thing with grace. We add in the qualification of “perfection.” We need to be the perfect mom. We need to be a stellar dad. We need to be the best teacher, an incredible provider and the best keeper of Christian customs ever. We tell ourselves that in order to receive grace we need to follow God’s Laws perfectly. And then… just to be sure… …we add in some of our own human customs and laws just to make it really difficult. Stop. Grace is grace. And because of God’s grace in Jesus, you are forgiven. Jesus said this, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30) He said that because by grace salvation is yours. By grace, you don’t have to earn God’s love. By grace, you already have it. 2) For Others I was at pastor’s conference this past week. And I was talking to a pastor who was telling me about something that happened to him recently. He had a gentleman join his worship service whom he had been trying to get to come for a long time. A friend who wasn’t a part of a church. Who didn’t actively worship and hadn’t known much about Jesus. As he finally attended worship, the man was moved by the Gospel. He was emotional as he listened. He even shouted: “Amen,” at the end of the sermon. Afterwards, the pastor was excited, and he went to talk to a member of his to share his excitement. And he said, “Wasn’t it awesome having him join us?” And the person he told this to simply rolled their eyes and said, “You better talk to him and tell him that we don’t shout AMEN around here. Especially if he plans on coming back.” Friends, don’t make grace difficult for others. Don’t add to God’s grace. Don’t require human things. Let grace be grace. Grace for you. Grace for the people you talk to. As unyoked children of God, be in the business of unyoking those with heavy burdens to bear. Because…the Gospel teaches that God placed YOU above all else. And we, as an extension of the early church, need to place the Gospel above all else. Amen.  Looking for a job can be difficult.
Searching for jobs online. Filing out applications. Phoning, emailing, texting to check on those applications. And the interview! You rent a suit coat. You part your hair ever so particularly. You practice saying: “I’m not in it for the money, but because of the sheer joy I get from filling out spreadsheets and alphabetically filing documentation.” Yet… As challenging as finding a job can be… It gets exponentially more difficult if you have something on your record. Jail time. Charges. A terrible credit report. A job history with a few firings. Even an incriminating Facebook photo or post that you forgot to delete. Past mistakes can make it difficult to find work in the now… But what about God’s kingdom? What if you have mistakes in your past? Surely – if humans wouldn’t hire you – God, who is perfect, wouldn’t want you to work in his kingdom either…right? Today’s EYEWITNESS account is about a guy named Peter, who had made some rather big blunders while working in God’s kingdom. We want to learn (1) what his failures were (2) how they affected his role in God’s kingdom and (3) what that means for our roles in kingdom work. Before we begin, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Peter’s Story We are continuing where we left off last week. If you remember, Jesus had appeared to his disciples on the Sea of Galilee. When he appeared, he told them to toss their nets into the lake and – immediately – the net is full of fish. Amazing – because Jesus was 100 yards away on shore and the disciples had been out all night without catching anything. But that wasn’t it – as the disciples row the boat to shore, Jesus already has fish sandwiches cooking over the fire for them to eat. It’d be similar to someone gifting you a $100 Starbucks gift card and then, when they invite you to Starbucks – they pay for the coffee for you. Jesus did the same. He provided abundantly. He provides abundantly. And I’ll bet the disciples were loving this interaction. Because Jesus was back! He conquered death! He was alive! He was just as powerful as ever! And he was with them. This was great news --- for most of them. While Peter was happy to see Jesus alive, it also reminded him of the last conversation that they shared. It had been back before Jesus died. Back before Jesus was arrested. They had been sitting down for a meal and Jesus had said, “I tell you the truth. You will all fall away on account on me.” (Matthew 26:31) And Peter heard it. And believed most of it. “Even if all fall away on account of you, Jesus, I never will.” (Matthew 26:33) I mean…I’m Peter! Jesus gave me that name. It means “Rock.” I am Peter and…I will not fall! And Jesus… Turned to Peter. Looked him straight in the eye. And said this: “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me – three times.” (v.34) Peter would never forget those exact words. Before that night was over a group of soldiers had come to arrest Jesus. Swords, clubs, and spears – Peter was frightened like the rest of the disciples and ran away. Then, sure, he regained his senses and made it into the courtyard where they were holding the illegal late-night trial of Jesus. Only to deny knowing him. Not once. Not twice. But three times. And then? The rooster crowed. The one Jesus had predicted would crow - it crowed! Peter hated roosters now. Because now they were a reminder of how he had sinned. A reminder of how he had failed… A reminder of how he had fallen… A reminder of his guilt. Guilt is always tricky. It can easily burden a soul. But Peter’s guilt was especially difficult for a trifecta of reasons that are especially hard to get over. For a few reasons: Repeated Guilt. He didn’t deny Jesus one time. He didn’t deny Jesus two times. He denied him three times in one evening. (Although during that third time it says that he called down curses upon himself, so even thought it was one “time period” perhaps it was a bunch of times within that time period). Repeated guilt is hard. We were given a good deal on a Prius a while back. Great car. Great gas mileage. Fun to drive. But it’s extremely low to the ground. The bumper is about 2 inches from the street. So, when you come down our driveway which is on a decent incline…if you don’t turn the wheels at a specific angle to the right and back out at that exact angle – the front bumper scrapes. Do you know how many times I’ve gotten that wrong? (I’m especially guilty of it every morning when I haven’t had my coffee yet) I keep messing up and I keep feeling guilty about it. In fact, the front bumper is cracked in all kinds of places. And it now serves as a 21st century, sheen black version of a rooster. Every time I look at it, I’m reminded of my failures! Repeated guilt is hard. Repeatedly drinking too much. Repeatedly losing your temper. Repeatedly looking at porn. Repeatedly lying to your spouse. Repeatedly being jerk at work. Repeatedly being a bully to your family. Repeated guilt is hard because there’s no excuse. The devil comes along and says, You know better! But you did it anyway. This is unforgivable. Leader Guilt. Because Peter was a leader. He was a disciple; more than that – an apostle. There were only twelve of those hand selected and chosen by Jesus. And of those twelve disciples – Peter was definitely a leader among them: He had the privilege of walking on water. He saw Jesus heal a dead girl when many of them didn’t. He was chosen along with only two others to see Jesus go up on a mountain and reveal his heavenly brilliance. Peter was a leader. And then he fell. And when leaders fall… They quickly become leaders in holding onto guilt. Maybe you know. Whether you’re a leader in your family. Or a leader here at church. Or a leader among your friends. Or a teacher of kids. Or even…you’re the only one at work who is Christian – making you a spiritual leader by default – and then you sin…? How’s that feel? The devil comes along and whispers: “You’re a leader…and you did that?” “That’s pathetic.” “I’m not sure you’re a leader anymore…” “…I’m not even sure you’re a part of his kingdom.” Public Guilt. Because by the time Peter gets to the third denial, there’s a crowd of people gathered around him: A crowd of people watch him as he shakes his head vigorously. A crowd of people listening as cusses out Jesus. A crowd of people taking mental note of his sin. I wonder how many of those people Peter saw again. I wonder how that went? Public guilt is hard. There’s this thing I receive every Monday called a Call Report. “Call” is a reference to the special “calling” that a ministry worker has to their particularly congregation. The “call report” details any changes in those ministry positions. It’ll say: “Pastor So-and-So retired.” “Pastor what’s-his-face is switching congregations.” And even “Pastor who’s-his-name has decided to remain at his current congregation.” But every once in a while, it says this: “Pastor removed for cause.” To me, it’s a terrifying expression. It means “removed for doing some gross outward sin.” It’s a phrase that no pastor ever wants said about them. It’s terrifying among our pastor circles, because it is a phrase that screams: “Failure.” Moral failure. Teaching failure. Pastor failure. Failure …failure. And everyone now knows you as… Not as a brother. Not as a pastor. Not even as your first name… But as “Pastor, Removed for Cause.” But as a non-pastor you can feel the same thing. You might have a sin that your family knows about. That your coworkers know about. That your friends saw you do. And now every moment you spend around them is spent like Peter: Did they see me sin? Do they know about my guilt? Do they think of me as SINNER? Like you’ve got a big old black marker on your forehead everywhere you go that says: “INSERT SIN HERE.” Public sin is hard. Any one of these three types of guilt are challenging on their own! If you’re dealing with any of these, they can overload you. Burden you. Suffocate you. Peter had to deal with all three all at once. That’s an extreme amount of guilt. And it needs an extreme amount of restoration. II. Peter’s Restoration Peter finished up his breakfast. Another meal done. Another visitation from Jesus without having to talk about the sinful things that I did. If I just keep a low profile, stay quiet, and avoid eye contact, I should be able to avoid him altogether. Peter turned around to find Jesus standing right in front of him. Face to face. Eye to eye. Heart to heart. “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” At this point, the conversation seemed a bit too familiar. Three times? Really? It reminded him of those three times that he denied Jesus. Peter said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. (Jn. 21:15-17) That’s it. He doesn’t ream Peter out. He doesn’t kick Peter out. He doesn’t even respond to Peter’s claims of loving him with: “Umm…No, you didn’t. Remember?” Nope. Jesus doesn’t bring guilt. He brings restoration. TRUTH: Restoration to God’s kingdom comes out of Jesus' work. It didn’t come out of Peter earning it. Peter hadn’t done anything to make up for what he did. But Jesus did do something. Jesus did everything. He lived perfectly when Peter could not. He died innocently in his place. He rose triumphantly for the forgiveness of Peter’s sin. The same is true with you. If you’ve sinned against God. If you have repeated guilt. If you have public guilt. If you have leader guilt. Jesus doesn’t make you do something to make up for it. Jesus did everything for you. He lived perfectly when you could not. He died innocently in your place. He rose triumphantly for the forgiveness of your sin. Remember earlier – when we talked about having a criminal record and how hard it is to find work with that record. One thing that you can do is you can get your record exponged. It takes a lot of money. A lot of time with lawyers. ' A lot of paperwork and a lot of pleading with a judge... But it is sometimes possible to get it expunged, erased and cleared. Understand this – Jesus has expunged your record. He did all the work. He paid for it completely. Your guilt is expunged, erased, cleared. In short – listen to Jesus’ message to you right now: You are restored to my kingdom. You are guilt free. You are forgiven…and…You have work to do. TRUTH: Restoration to God’s kingdom means Restoration to Kingdom Work. That’s a bit unexpected. Because the devil would love to have you think: “OK, fine. You are a part of his kingdom, but…Stay in the back. Go into the corner. Hide. Because you are not worthy of being on the front lines.” But that’s not what Jesus says. In Peter’s restoration, He goes straight to telling him to work for his kingdom. He gives him a job. He restores him not only to his kingdom, but to work in his kingdom. And God has done the same for you. He restored you to his kingdom. He has restored you to kingdom work. III. Kingdom Work And what does that kingdom work look like? You get an idea in Jesus’ instruction to Peter. Feed His Sheep. Jesus says that is what true love for him is: Feed my lambs. (v.15) Take care of my sheep. (v.16) Feed my Sheep. (v.17) Does he own a farm I’ve never heard of? Did he develop some petting zoo? Does Jesus have a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow? Nope. When Jesus talks about his lambs and his sheep, he’s talking about his people. When Jesus talks about feeding those lambs and sheep, he’s talking about sharing the message of reconciliation with others. You know the same message that gives you hope and comfort… Give it to others! TRUTH: Love for Jesus means sharing his message. Telling your neighbor about Jesus. Spreading the Gospel to your coworkers. Sharing forgiveness with a church friend. Teaching the little children about their Savior. Inviting the community of North Raleigh to hear of God’s love. He’s talking about our very mission: To plant the Message of Jesus in the heart of north Raleigh. When you are sharing the message of forgiveness, you are caring for sheep. You’re leading someone to streams of living water. You’re giving them some of God’s forgiveness. You’re feeding them a steady diet of “Jesus died for you. Believe in him. You are forgiven.” Here’s the challenge. The devil will love to convince that we aren’t worthy of sharing the message. He’ll say that you aren’t qualified for that kind of work. He’ll say that you are a failure. He’ll say that you should leave that to others who aren’t as much of a failure. But here’s the thing about feeding sheep. It doesn’t matter if the farmer puts the food in the bucket. It doesn’t matter if the farm hand puts the food into the bucket. It doesn’t matter some disenfranchised, former farm hand puts the food into the bucket. The sheep eat the food. The food nourishes the sheep. The sheep get the health benefits of the food -- no matter the moral background of the one who put the food into the buckets. It’s the same with kingdom work. The power is in the Word. And those who are a part of kingdom are qualified to work with it. And you…are an important part of his kingdom work. Feed his lambs. Take care of his sheep. Feed them with the Gospel of Jesus. Amen.  Wouldn’t it be nice to view things through the eyes of a child?
To be as excited about feeding the goldfish as they are? To be as thrilled about touching grass as they are? To be as exhilarated by one frosted cupcake as they are? Today we are looking at another eyewitness account of the resurrected Lord Jesus. In this account, the people who get to see Jesus are filled with wonder. Our goal is to (1) determine why they are filled with wonder (2) how they express that wonder (3) consider what that means for expressing our own wonder at Jesus. Before we begin, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Waiting for God Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. (Jn. 21:1) A brief timeline of events --- This occurs afterwards. After the encounter with Thomas which is already a week after Easter. Beyond that we don’t know for sure, but it might have taken some time, because the disciples meetup in Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is important to note is located about 100 some miles north of Jerusalem, the last spot that the disciples saw Jesus. That means the disciples had taken a couple of days journey to get back to Galilee. That’s important, because it isn’t as if Jesus keeps appearing in the same city, in the same house, in the same room. If that were the case, it’d be really easy to say: “There was something wrong with the room. Maybe there was some kind of mirror trick that was occurring. In the end, Jesus didn’t rise.” The fact that this next account takes place up by the Sea of Galilee which is 100 miles away from the last appearances of Jesus lends credibility to the resurrection. And the reason the disciples went up to the Sea of Galilee? Most likely they are responding to a command from Jesus that he had given them before his death and resurrection occurred. Look at Matthew 26:32. In it, Jesus said, “After I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Since Jesus said he would die…and he did. And he said he would rise…and he did. He probably is going to go up to Galilee, because he said it… So the disciples head on up to Galilee and they wait. They wait. They wait. And they wait. They are waiting for God to show up. Literally. And Peter…well…he isn’t great at just sitting around and waiting. (Maybe you can relate.) He isn’t good at just sitting around and twiddling his thumbs. He has to do something. So…he does. “I’m going out to fish,” Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” (Jn. 20:3) Sometimes God says the same to us. Sometimes God calls us to wait… God told the ancient Israelites to wait for a Savior. Jesus told his disciples to wait for his resurrection. And now he told them to wait in Galilee for him to show up. And that’s okay, right? Because I know that ya’ll are really, really good at waiting. I know that you don’t have any problem… When I-440 gets backed up. When your phone says there’s a 20 minute delay on the drive home from work. When someone is entering on the “On Ramp” and they do that thing where they drive all the way up to where the lane ends, just so that you have to wait longer. Humans are real good at waiting, right? One of the things that Julianna and I have always been looking forward to is becoming parents. Personally, I think it would be a blast. I look forward to teaching my kids how to tie a shoe. I look forward to reading them my favorite stories. I look forward to training them how to ride a bike. I look forward to opening the first bag of Doritos with them! I look forward to telling them about the Savior, about God’s love, about all that Jesus has done. And…honestly…it has been our prayer and hope for almost 8 years. So far… God has said. “Wait.” Honestly, that’s hard. In a society where we hardly have to wait for anything. Waiting for God to show up is hard. Whether it’s waiting for God to show up and cure a sickness… Or to show up and help with finances. Or to show up and reconcile your relationship. Waiting for God is hard. But I think if you learn anything from Peter here as he is waiting – it’s this. While you’re waiting for God, you do what you can. What he could do was fish. In fact, it was his career before the three years of following Jesus. So…rather than sit around and do nothing – he did what he could. He got out the boat. He packed up the nets. He cast off from shore. He went about earning some kind of living. He did what he could. And if you’re waiting for God to show up and do something amazing, don’t do nothing. Do what you can. Go see a doctor. Save up your money. Reach out to those you’ve wronged. Do something. Trust God but do something while you’re waiting for God to show up and do something amazing! II. Jesus Shows Up Which is exactly what happens next. Because the disciples are out on that lake all night. They are on the lake all night and they catch nothing. (v.3) And you can imagine that Peter didn’t take that lightly. He and James and John were all fishermen of Galilee. So, they probably said things like: “We need to try over behind that reedy section. The fish always bite there.” “Oh, that didn’t work, because I forgot that when the wind is blowing to the northeast at 12 mph, the fish move over by that log over there.” “Sure. There weren’t any fish by the log, but I imagine that’s because you sneezed, Thomas. You gotta be quieter.” As they are thinking about packing it up and getting back to shore, they are greeted by the voice of a gentleman about 100 yards off. He calls out: “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” (v.5) And the disciples respond with a simple: “No.” (v.5b) But the stranger from shore responds: “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some fish.” (v.6) They throw their nets on the right side of the boat…and…When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. (v.6) Which… I don’t know if you know this or not, but…this had already happened to Peter, James and John. In Luke 5, way back when Jesus first met them…He stood on shore, told them where to cast their nets, and they caught so many fish they fell at Jesus’ feet and proclaimed Jesus as the Lord. Maybe John remembers. Because immediately he responds: “It is the Lord!” (v.7) TRUTH: Jesus lives It’s a bit different than the first truth from the last four weeks, but not really. Again – Jesus appears and does something miraculous by knowing exactly where a bunch of fish are, collecting them all to the side of the disciples’ boat, and telling them when and where to drop net while he’s 100 yards away on the shore. This is Jesus. Jesus is alive. Jesus is alive and still has all of his miraculous, incredible power. So…if you’re waiting for God. And you’re thinking…when is he gonna show up. And you’re thinking…maybe he’s not because he’s not real. You’re wrong. Because…again…Jesus lives. And all of his resurrected power still lives with him. And maybe add this to your notes: He lives…even during the everyday times. Because what’s unique in this appearance is that it doesn’t occur as a group of people are going to the tomb to mourn Jesus. It doesn’t happen as two people are walking to Emmaus and discussing Jesus. It doesn’t occur while an entire room of disciples is trying to wrap their minds around the implications of Jesus’ empty tomb. It’s while they’re fishing! Here’s the truth: God shows up. He is alive. He is with you…even during the everyday stuff. Even when you are trying to get your kids ready for gymnastics and they’re being kinda whiny and hard to work with…Jesus lives. Even when you are at work bogged down by paperwork after email after Excel spreadsheet…Jesus lives. Even when you are in the hospital for another routine checkup…Jesus lives. Jesus is alive…even during the everyday stuff. That’s great news. And it warrants a reaction. III. Responding to Jesus! As soon as Simon Peter heard John say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. (v.7) Did you hear that? Impetuous. Unhinged. Fully clothed. Even – putting more clothes on – before he jumps int the water. You might call that silly. God calls it “worship.” TRUTH: True worship flows from beholding the Risen Savior. Granted. That might not be what you think of when you think of worship. In fact, for some of you – especially if you’re not a worship goer – you might think of worship as something you were “forced” to do back when you were little. Something that mom made you do. Something that your dad insisted you do. Something that your parents would do as they dragged you kicking and screaming to worship only so that you sat there with your arms folded “worshiping.” Newsflash – If your heart isn’t into worship, it isn’t worship. Look at John 4:23. Jesus says, True worshipers worship in spirit and truth. That means true worship starts in your spirit. True worship starts in your heart. And it flows. Like a natural spring of water. It bubbles. It flows. It erupts. Sometimes just like Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park. True worship flows, naturally, freely, out of love for Jesus. Now if you grew up as a Lutheran, you might hear the word “worship” and think of standing up and sitting down, singing beautifully worded hymns, and with four-part harmony coming from the back pews. If you grew up from a different background, you might hear “worship” and think of candles, sprinkling oils, and chanting in Latin. If you grew up from a still different background, you might hear “worship” and think of the music – guitars, piano and some drums. Guess what… If it’s a heart focused on Jesus. It’s worship. Even if it’s a different type of worship. Take a look at the different types of worship in this section! John sees Jesus and says, “It is the Lord!” Peter sees Jesus and jumps in the water. The other disciples see Jesus and happily steward all the gifts he just gave them and row back to shore. All worship. It’s important to remember that. Because…if I start to believe that all people NEED to worship in one particular way…Do you know what that does? If I turn to my friend and I say, “Listen, dude…If you aren’t on your knees when you’re worshipping God, then that’s not worship.” Then, do you know what happens? That guy will probably get onto his knees… But it’s no longer flowing forth out of love for Jesus. But out of being shackled to the mode of worship that you told him was necessary. Almost like he’s now worshiping the worship. Don’t shackle your friends. Worship your Savior. In a variety of beautiful ways. And there are a lot. You might stand. You might sit. You might speak. You might shout. You might play the organ. You might play the guitar. You might play the drums. You might speak English. You might speak Spanish. You might speak Mandarin Chinese. You might even do what some of the little children do and speak some form of “Baby!” If it is a heart of praise proclaiming Jesus – it’s worship. One more thing: Worship can be divided into two categories. What we’ve talked about so far is WORTHSHIP. That’s what John did. John saw Jesus and proclaimed His Worth: It is the Lord! Lord is a name that means “Master.” It means “leader.” It means “ruler.” For the disciples, it means, “There’s the risen Jesus, king of heaven and earth who rules over death itself and now lives as our resurrected Savior.” True worship expresses itself in WORTHSHIP. That’s what we do every Sunday. We worship God by expressing His WORTH in our songs, hymns, prayers, Bible readings. But that’s not the only way we worship Because look at what Peter does. He jumps into the water. And the other disciples start rowing that boat load of fish. That’s worship, too. But instead of proclaiming worth, they go to work. True Worship expresses itself in WORK-ship. Romans 12: 1 says this, “In view of God’s mercy, offer yourselves as living sacrifices. This is your spiritual act of worship.” Because worship is not just a thing that you do by singing praises to God in one worship service on one day each week. Worship is something you for the glory of God all week. When you invite someone to worship for the glory of God. When you give a gift to his ministry for the glory of God. When you teach little children for the glory of God. When you share a passage on social media for the glory of God When you cook your family dinner for the glory of God. When you do your family’s laundry for the glory of God. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. CONCLUSION: Because when God arrives, man does he do glorious things. Look the last part of the account: When they landed, the disciples saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it and some bread. (v.9) Jesus had just given them 153 fish. But that’s not all. He gives them a net that doesn’t break. But that’s not all. He gives them a balanced breakfast! That’s what happens when God arrives, God provides abundantly. Think about it -- When Jesus arrived, after millennia of waiting for the Savior, He didn’t just provide forgiveness for one of your sins. Not for two. Not for 17. But for all of your sins. Friends, when God arrives, He provides abundantly. That’s a reason a to wait. It’s a reason to worship. Amen.  We’re continuing our sermon series about EYEWITNESS Easter accounts where we read reports from people who saw Jesus come back to life with their own eyes.
We heard from a group of three women at the tomb. We heard from Mary Magdalene a bit later. We heard from 2 disciples on a road trip to Emmaus. We heard from about 20 disciples in a locked room. In total on Easter Sunday, there’s around 25 eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. In 4 different locations. At 4 different times. That’s a lot of proof. And yet…maybe you’re not convinced… Have you ever played the game of OLD MAID before? What happens is you are dealt a hand of cards. Once it’s your turn you draw cards from any other player on the table. The goal is to get pairs until you run out of cards in your hand. And you never, ever want to get the Old Maid. Which I’m not sure why anyone doesn’t want the Old Maid. Generally speaking – I’d love an Old Maid. It’d be great to have someone help around the house…but I digress. What happened when I was growing up is my dad used to take his hand. He’d spread it out in a fan. He’d take one card and put it up…enticing-like. And he’d say, “You should take this one. Trust me. It’ll be good.” And I’d believe him. And… OLD MAID. Eventually. I didn’t take that card. I was burned too many times. I was skeptical. Maybe you’ve gotten the Old Maid too many times. Maybe you’ve been burned too often. Maybe you’ve believed too many sinful people who have let you down too many times. Maybe you’re skeptical about Jesus. Today we’ll look an eyewitness account from a guy that was filled with skepticism. Our goal is to listen to how Jesus transforms his skepticism to faith – and see how we might transform ours into faith. Before we begin, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Eyewitness Account Thomas’ eyewitness account comes from John 20. It starts in verses 24 with a caveat, “Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.“ It doesn’t say what Thomas was doing when Jesus appeared to all of the other disciples. Picture what you’d like. Maybe he was out for a walk. Maybe he was visiting a relative. I like to think he was out getting coffee. Probably a Venti black coffee. Real stiff. Real dark. And as he was sipping the coffee – because the coffee is taking his mind off the terrible events that have happened recently - he sighs. This is really awful. We spent years following that guy. And…he dies. He’s no Messiah. And we’ve got no hope. As Thomas gets close to the door of the house, he takes a deep breath. They are my friends. I should try and cheer them up. Get them ready to move on. But from within the house – Thomas doesn’t hear sadness. He doesn’t hear crying. But laughter. And…joy. Thomas has to really knock on the door to get them to hear him over their talking. Finally, the door bursts open: Alive! Thomas! He’s alive. We saw him. We saw him. We saw him. Jesus…here… resurrected. Thomas – we touched him. We put our fingers in his hands. We put our hands into his side. He’s real. It’s real. Jesus’ resurrection is real! And this goes on for a while. Excitement. Happiness. Joy. Thomas’ friends trying to share their exuberance with their friend. Until…. Quiet! Enough. Ya’ll are crazy. I don’t know happened. If you had too much to drink or you’re hallucinating. But.. I do know what didn’t happen. Jesus didn’t visit you. He isn’t alive. He’s still…dead. When will you guys get it through your thick skulls! But one of them approaches: But…Thomas. We aren’t crazy. We aren’t drunk. Look around. There’s like 20 of us in the room. 20 of your closest, most sincere, loving friends in this room. All of whom are telling you the truth – Jesus is alive! We saw it with our eyes. We touched him with our hands. We’re telling you with our words. Doesn’t that count for something? To which: But he said to them, “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.” (v.26) Well… One week later. Same room. Same time of day. Same disciples. Only this time… Thomas is with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” (v.26) Then, Jesus made a bee-line for Thomas. Hey friend. “Do you see me?” I’m right here. Put your finger here. That’s where the nails were. Put your hand into my side. Isn’t that what you wanted? While you’re at it. Close your eyes and listen…Can you hear my lungs breathing? Put your ear against my chest. That’s my heart. Thomas. If you won’t listen to your friends. Listen to me: Stop doubting and believe. (v.27) To which Thomas. Doubting, skeptical Thomas. Can only say: “My Lord and my God!” (v.28) In other words: I believe. II. Resurrection Truth There it is. Thomas’ eyewitness account. An account that has made Thomas forever known as Doubting Thomas. Which – not super flattering. I think, anxious Thomas, kinda-believing Thomas. or even average, everyday common Thomas would have been preferable. But Doubting Thomas it is…and that’s important. Because his skepticism leads us to three incredible resurrection truths: (1) Jesus Rose from the Dead Fourth time it’s been key truth #1. It’ll keep coming. But for real this time – because if last week’s account of 20 some odd people seeing, feeling, touching the risen Jesus … if that wasn’t enough. Then, Thomas’ account is for you. If you don’t believe this happened, Thomas’ words are for you. He says, “I get it. I was skeptical too. Some guy dying and rising for the forgiveness of sins? It sounds crazy. It doesn’t happen. But it did. I saw him with my own eyes. I touched him with my own hands. I did a thorough investigation – And it led me to this truth: Jesus is alive!” And here’s the really cool part. If Jesus is really alive. Then so is his forgiveness. Even for the doubter. Because…notice what Jesus does when he enters the room. The first thing he says is: “Peace to you.” That “you” is plural. It is all encompassing. It includes Thomas. Jesus didn’t say, “Peace be to most of you…but not you Thomas. You can sit over there and be anxious for a bit.” Nope. Jesus brought real forgiveness. Even to the doubter. Because maybe you’ve been doubting God. Maybe you doubt this resurrection. Maybe you’ve been doubting this Jesus thing. Maybe you’ve never believed before. Maybe you doubt God is with you, that God cares for you, that God loves you. Repent. And listen to Jesus’ voice: “Peace be to you.” (2) Faith is a Gift Thomas had said, “Unless I see Jesus with my own eyes and touch him with my own hands, I will not believe.” Which… Stop and listen to what just happened. Sinful, imperfect Thomas just gave Holy, Righteous God…an ultimatum. Good idea? Bad idea. God doesn’t owe Thomas anything. He’s God! And yet – God gives Thomas exactly what he asks for. He GIFTS Thomas exactly what he asked for. He gives him the opportunity to be an eyewitness. He gives Thomas faith. And in fact, go a bit farther: Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (vs. 29) People who haven’t seen Jesus. Who is Jesus talking about? You see Jesus? Dear believer, he’s talking about you. But don’t get a big head. Listen again to Jesus’ words: “Blessed.” Blessed means given a gift. And if you believe in Jesus… If you believe that some dude died 2000 years ago, came back to life, and in him you are forgiven of all your sins? That…is a gift. A miraculous gift. Don’t forget that. I was talking with a woman the other day who was pretty excited to tell me that she got saved. I said, “Oh. That sounds nice. What do you mean?” And she said, “Well…I was already living a pretty perfect life. So, I though I might as well do it and decide to bring Jesus into my life. And Pastor, you should have seen it. I really did it.” Did you catch that? I did it. I did it. I did it. I thought she said that she “got saved.” But what she meant was, “I saved myself.” Here’s the thing: Faith isn’t something you do. Faith isn’t something that you make happen. Faith isn’t something that you get down on the ground, clench really hard and will into happening. Faith is a gift of God. If the devil has made you think that it’s something you do – be careful. It’s a line of thinking that leads to two scenarios: (1) Pharisaical. AKA – Trust that I’m really awesome at believing. (2) Despair. Because I’ll never be able to bring myself to believe this. In both of those instances, faith isn’t in Jesus. Faith is in oneself. And that’s NOT saving faith. Friends, faith is a gift. Take a moment. Give thanks to God for your Savior Jesus, yes. But also gives thanks to God for your gift of faith. (3) The Gift of Faith Comes through the Gospel Because maybe you’re thinking – “God! I want this gift of faith. How are you going to send it?” Fed Ex? Amazon Prime? UPS? Maybe you can send me it via USPS? But look at what John writes right after this eyewitness account. He says this: Jesus did many other miracles in the presence of his disciples – some that we didn’t even get to hear about – but these words are written – why? – that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (v.30-31) Get it? Faith is a gift that comes through God’s Word. Faith is a gift that comes through the words about Jesus. Faith is a gift that comes from hearing about your Savior. Scripture says this, “Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the Word of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:8,9) That’s it! There’s not any fireworks. There isn’t any magic incantations. There isn’t any incredible 60 day fast that you need to do in order to cleanse your body and pray yourself into the kingdom of faith. You simply need to hear the Gospel. Because the Gospel brings the gift of faith. How does it do that? Because it’s not just some person’s words. It’s the Word of God Himself. The all-powerful, all loving, doing everything it can to reveal to you Jesus’ saving work to get you to heaven: God’s Word. That leads me to two very simple WHAT NOWs: (1) Immerse Yourself in God’s Word Because if you have doubts, if you are unsure, if you are a skeptic… The cure is not an ultimatum to God. The cure is God’s Word. His gentle, powerful, faith creating Word. I love you. I died for you. I rose for you. Believe. If you want a stronger faith – study God’s Word. In church. In a group. With others. On your own. In your family. If you think your faith will grow without God’s Word – that’s like thinking your home garden will grow without any water. It won’t happen. Some of ya’ll need to hear God’s Word on this. Immerse yourself in the only thing that gifts faith in order to grow your faith: God’s Word. (2) Share God’s Word Because you probably know someone who is a skeptic. You probably know someone who is unsure. You probably know someone who is doubting. You might even think – I don’t know what needs to be done. You know the solution. It’s God’s Word. Bring them God’s Word. Tell them about Jesus. Tell them about the Savior. Because it is through that message of God’s Word and only through that message of God’s Word that God gifts faith. Why it’s so important to share it with others. Go and tell! Amen.  We are in the middle of our Eyewitness sermon series and so far, we have heard Eyewitness reports from Mary Magdalene and from the Emmaus Disciples (Named? Cleopas and the other guy). In addition, we heard there’s a group of at least three other women (Mary the mother of James, Joanna and others—Lk. 24:10) who saw Jesus alive as well. That means by evening on Easter Sunday there are 5 people who have witnessed Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
The unlikely story is building credibility. DNA testing was introduced into our court system in the early 90s. Did you know that hundreds of people who were previously convicted by eyewitness reports have been found not-guilty thanks to the DNA Testing? In 70% of those cases, the reason for conviction was the eyewitness testimony of one or two people. John Wixted, a psychologist for the University of California, San Diego – wanted to see how useful eyewitness testimony was. He conducted an experiment with police that focused on 348 robberies in 2013 that involved an eyewitness and a single suspect. He showed the eyewitness a group of 5 photos in which one was the convicted robber. The eyewitnesses got the correct suspect 1/3 of the time. Not great. But…in addition to quizzing eyewitnesses on the correct suspect, he also asked them about their certainty – whether they were unsure, certain, or very certain. Of the people who were very certain? They correctly identified the suspect 75% of the time. And when there was even one other supporting eyewitness, the rate of correct identification shot up to 90%. By evening on the very first Easter, Jesus was identified as risen by at least 5 eyewitnesses. Not one. Not two. Five. And their confidence? It was through the roof! They didn’t see Jesus running away or from a distance, but up close and personal. But…they aren’t even the beginning of the eyewitness accounts. Today we’ll look an eyewitness account that probably quadruples the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. The goal? Gain your confidence that Jesus is alive. Before we begin, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Eyewitness Account The eyewitness account is recorded in both the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Luke. We’re going be in both, starting with John. It says, “On the evening of that first day of the week...the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders…” (Jn. 20:19) The section starts by describing a group of disciples together. The Gospel of Luke helps us better define who the group was gathered together. A few notes: It doesn’t involve Judas – he betrayed Judas and took his life because of the guilt. It doesn’t involve Thomas – take note – we’ll talk more about that next week. It does involve the Emmaus disciples – Cleopas and what’s-his-name show up to tell them all about their eyewitness experience. It involves the women – Mary Magdalene, other Mary and Joanna, the other woman – who had seen Jesus rise from the dead. And…maybe even a few others. In short, the group is somewhere around 15-20 people. That’s important. And the doors were locked. It’s almost a horror film like setting. The disciples have the doors locked, latched, barred, with a couple pieces of furniture stacked against the door – all because they are afraid of the Jewish leaders. Why? The Jewish leaders just killed Jesus. They crucified him. They acted like a mob, wrongfully arrested him, falsely accused him, illegally convicted him, and forced Pilate’s hand to have him crucified. What if the leaders did the same to them? What if they had 12 more crosses just waiting to be filled with 12 more disciples? What if any encounter with a Jewish leader would end the same way that Jesus’ encounter did…death? And so, they hid. And…all day long people had been entering the room with really weird accounts. “We went to the grave and we thought he’d be dead, but the stone was moved!” “An angel. A brilliantly bright angel. He saw us and spoke to us and said Jesus was alive.” “It’s true. We listened to Mary. We ran to look. There wasn’t a body in the tomb.” “I came back later and saw Jesus himself! I know it…because I heard his voice. A voice that healed me from demons.” “We walked on the road with him. We talked with him. Would we have come all the way back here from Emmaus – a 7-mile sprint? – if we hadn’t really seen something?” And to be fair – the reports brought excitement. They brought mystery. They brought questions. But mostly…they brought fear. Lots and lots of fear. Because this fear of the Jews – had obviously caused their friends – delusions…. …their mind was playing tricks on them! …a slow descent into madness. How long until it hit them? In the midst of the fear, confusion and hushed conversations… Another guest appeared into the room. Everyone was so distracted that they did not hear him enter. Granted --- he didn’t knock. He just appeared. While they were…talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (Luke 24:36-37) And the disciples…have anything but peace! It’s the ghost! He’s seeking vengeance. He’s back to haunt us. Jesus lifted up his hands. The disciples braced themselves for the inevitable plasma-ball to come out and consume them. But… Instead… Jesus said this, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” (v.38) One by one…the disciples looked at each other. “Touch him? Touch the ghost?” “You do it.” “No, you do it.” “I’m not touching the ghost!” Finally, Peter pushes his brother Andrew forward. Andrew gulps. He lifts up his hand. He places it on Jesus’ hand…and… “Whoa…Guys. It’s real.” The other disciples quickly come over. They feel the bumps on his skin. They feel the hairs on his arms. They touched the holes near his hands. He has flesh and bone – just like any other living human has. Jesus asks, “Do you have anything here to eat?” (v.42) One of them hands over the fish sandwich. They pass it to Jesus. It’ll probably fall to the floor – he’s a spirit. Nope. Jesus ate it in their presence. (v.43) It went into his mouth. Chewed by his teeth. Tasted by his tongue. Into his throat Into his belly. Digestion happened. Just like it does with any living human being. Then, Jesus gave them something else. He said to them, “This is what I said would happen. Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Old Testament.” (v.44) I had to die. And I had to rise. Just as it was written: “God, you will not abandon my soul to the grave, nor let your Holy One see decay.” (Psalm 16:10) “After he has suffered, the Messiah will see the light of life…” (Isaiah 53:11) “Just as Jonah was three days and night in the belly of a fish, so the Son of man will be three days and three nights in the belly of the earth.” (Mt. 12:40) Friends I am alive. Jesus’ words echoed… Seemingly…joyful. And the disciples came to a realization. This wasn’t a hallucination. This wasn’t a vision. This wasn’t even a ghost. Nope. This was something much worse. This was real. Jesus rose. And it couldn’t be more terrifying! Why terrifying? Because the last time most of them saw Jesus? It was in a garden, late at night, running away as he got arrested. They had abandoned him. They had denied him. They had watched…without doing anything…as he died a slow, painful death on the cross. They sinned against him… Greatly. Now he was back. Proof that He was who He said He was. Proof that He was God Almighty who controlled hurricanes, volcanoes and flash floods. Proof that He was real --- and He was back – and He was back for one reason only: Vengeance. One by one by the disciples looked towards the grounds. They winced. They knew they were sinners and they were awaiting their sin-hating God to utterly destroy them. But… He didn’t. Instead he repeated: “Peace be with you.” I am God. I am alive. I have the power of life and death. But I am not angry. (Isaiah 27:4) I am not here to get you. I am not here for revenge. I am here because we won. Because your sins are forgiven. Because we are at peace. II. Resurrection Truth There it is. The biggest, most populated eyewitness account that we’ve encountered to date. It’s filled with reasons for confidence. It’s filled with truth. What is that truth? Three things: (1) Jesus Rose from the Dead Yep. Third time that it’s come up as a truth to learn from the eyewitness account. Think about it. Jesus goes out of his way to prove that His physical, tangible body is in working order again. His digestive system works. His joints work. His skin works. He even invites the disciples – all 20-some of them – to do a full, thorough investigation. Don’t you think they did everything possible to determine if it really was real or not? Some tapped him. Someone pinched him. I gotta imagine someone might have even tried to pluck his arm hair out. And Jesus allows it! Because it’s real. And, it’s not just any old tangible working body, but his own working body. He’s had the nail marks in his hands to prove it. He’s had holes in his feet to prove it. He had a big, old slit in his side to prove it. If this was all one big ruse, then Jesus would have had to convince someone, “Hey, do you mind posing as me after I die on the cross? Really? Cool. Now…I know it sounds crazy, but would you be willing to shove nails into your hands, a stake through your feet and a spear into your side? We’re gonna need those wounds to heal up in order to convince people that it’s really me.” It didn’t happen. What did happen? Jesus really, absolutely, complete rose from the dead. And that’s important. Because that means… (2) We Have Peace It’s a phrase that Jesus repeats a few times. “Peace be with you.” “Peace be with you.” Because as hard as it might be to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, it might be harder to believe that we have peace with God. Because we have guilt. We have sinned. We have shame. Truth is – you might be believing that God is so angry with you. Because of past sins. Because of BIG past sins. Because of repeated sins. Because of unbelief. Because of not following Jesus. Because you haven’t been whom God called you to be! And so…you don’t believe. And the biggest reason you don’t believe in the resurrection is not be a lack of evidence. But your biggest reason for not believing in the resurrection is the ramifications. I am a sinner and lo, God hates me! But…if Jesus rose. Then, sin has been defeated. And…if Jesus rose, Your sin has been paid for. And…if your sin has been paid for. Completely. 100% perfectly. Then, God’s wrath has subsided. And if God’s wrath has subsided. Then, you have no reason to be afraid. Hear Jesus’ words to you: “Peace be with you.” Understand. It isn’t because your sin isn’t a big deal – it’s a huge deal. It isn’t because God doesn’t hate sin and evil – He absolutely does. It isn’t because you’ve done enough to make up for it – you can’t, and you won’t. It’s because of Jesus. Unbelievable as it is – it’s true. About as unbelievable as a resurrection – also true. The visible nature of the resurrection provides tangible proof of the invisible truth of reconciliation with God. (Romans 4:25) The resurrection is the visible proof of the invisible truth: You have peace with God. Which leads to our final truth: (3) You have been Sent To end his encounter with the disciples, Jesus says, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Do you get it? God sent Jesus to bring us back to peace with Him. And He sent risen Jesus to His disciples to confirm that peace with Him. And He is sending us to share that peace with others. He is sending YOU to share that peace with others. Because there are people out there who are far apart from God. Who are entangled in sin. Who are covered in guilt. Who are like those disciples huddled in that room afraid to face the world because they have no peace. You give them that peace. You tell them about Jesus. And there aren’t any qualifications! He doesn’t say, “If you have Seminary Certification then you have been sent.” Nope. Qualifications for sharing Jesus include: (1) Believing in Jesus. (2) Hearing his call to “Go” and “Be sent.” Which you just heard… SO…this means you! If you’ve known about Jesus since you were a child? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you’ve known about Jesus since this last Easter. Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you are a 40 plus year member of this church? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you aren’t even a member yet? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you are going home to a retirement community? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you are going home to hang out in your playroom? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you have a master’s degree? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you have a bachelor’s degree? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you have a high school degree? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you don’t have any degree? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you live near people who look and act like you? Sent. Go tell about Jesus. If you live near people who don’t look and don’t act like you? Sent. Go tell about Jesus. If you are a Republican? Sent. Go tell about Jesus. If you are a Democrat? Sent. Go tell about Jesus. If you are a political agnostic? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you live in Raleigh? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you live in Durham? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you live in Wake Forest? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. IF you live in Chapel Hill? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you live in Cary, Zebulon, Fuquay Varina, Rolesville, Louisburg…or any other villle or burg that I’m forgetting to mention here: Sent. Go, tell about Jesus. If you are a someone or an anyone who knows about Jesus… (And friends – Jesus is talking to you) You have been sent. Go and tell about Jesus. And the Holy Spirit will be with you. Amen.  Last week we started our Eyewitness sermon series. Our goal is to look at Eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. Last week we heard the eyewitness account of Mary Magdalene. She reported that she saw an empty tomb, two angels, and Jesus Christ himself.
But today is a second part of the series. That implies – there’s more than one eyewitness account. That’s important… I remember growing up my family was visiting my grandmother in Omaha, NE. On the way, we stopped for lunch at a McDonald's. Now – this was during one of those Monopoly promotions – where you collect peel-able Monopoly pieces from fry containers and soda cups. Once we ordered our food, mom let us peel off the game pieces to see if we could collect a FREE fry or two-for-one ice cream cone. But…we found something better. “Park Place.” If you know your Monopoly, then you know that Park Place is the last set on the board. In McDonald’s Monopoly, if you collect the Park Place piece and the Boardwalk piece, you win $1,000,0000. And I told my mom, “We won! We won a million dollars. Because…I am sure that I have Boardwalk back at home.” At first, she didn’t believe her 6-year-old son. But we were on vacation for a whole week. So…I kept repeating the same truth. I insisted to everyone that we were about to be millionaires. I started introducing myself to my relatives as, “Future millionaire-cousin Phil.” I began explaining to my mom that, “I deserved most of the money because I peeled off the game pieces, but don’t worry…she’d get some, since she paid for it and all.” Finally, after a week of vacation, we got in the car. We drove home. And…honestly…mom started to get excited. She dreamt up a golden-plated vacuum cleaner. She dreamed of never cooking again. She closed her eyes and pictured a kid-free trip to sunny Hawaii. So… after the 8-hour drive, we hopped out of the car, I ran up to my room, opened my dresser drawer and found… The entire family followed me … And? Another “Park Place.” No winner. If there is only one witness, it is hard to believe them. If there is only one witness, maybe you shouldn’t believe them. If there is only one witness to Jesus’ resurrection, that witness could be passionate…but confused. That’s why more than one eyewitness is important. Today we’ll look at a second eyewitness account. Before we begin, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Eyewitness Account The eyewitness account comes from Luke 24:13. “Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.” It’s an account from two people. A disciple named Cleopas (Memorize that. It’s a great Bible trivia answer) and the other guy is…completely unknown. In fact, they are so non-famous that they are better known as the “Emmaus disciples.” Why? Because they were on their way to Emmaus. Think about that: They are better known by the small town they were travelling to than their actual names. That’d be like waving to someone that you meet in the hallway today and saying, “Hi guy going to the bathroom. Hope your day is good.” The account takes place a bit later in the day on the first Easter. A brief timeline – Jesus rises from the dead. The women appear at the tomb. Mary Magdalene runs away in distress to the disciples. The other women enter the tomb and see angels. The two disciples run back to the tomb to see it’s empty. Concurrently, the other women are on their way back to tell about the angels when they see Jesus. (So, there’s another eyewitness account) Then, Mary reaches the tomb and see Jesus as well. I’m thinking that places the time of day here as early afternoon. Because as they are walking to the town of Emmaus – they are discussing the eyewitness account of Mary, the women and the disciples. And to be fair – they’ve got some time to discuss. Emmaus is about 7 miles away from Jerusalem. This is long before cars. It’s long before bikes. It’s long before those little ‘uber’ scooter things that are popular downtown. They have to walk. At a decent pace, the trip takes about 3 hours. But as they get started. As they get to walking. As they get to talking. Look who joins them: Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. (v.15-16) Look at that end part. They were “kept” from recognizing him. It’s a bit different from Mary Magdalene who misses Jesus because she’s clouded by grief and tears. The implication is that God did some kind of cloaking miracle to keep Jesus’ identity a secret. Remember that. We’ll come back to it. “Random stranger” Jesus asks them: “Friends, what are you discussing together as you go along?” Cleopas replies, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” It’s the Greek equivalent of: “Have you been living under a rock?” Or “Has your Twitter account stopped working?” To which Jesus’ simply replies: “What things?” “About Jesus of Nazareth.” (v19) Now before we get into it, understand what just happened. Jesus just asked these two guys to tell him what they’ve been talking about. They just happen to be talking about Jesus. So… They are about to tell Jesus all about Jesus. That’d be like Einstein asking you to explain the theory of relativity. Or Gordon Ramsey asking you how to make the perfect risotto. Intimidating much? Let’s see how they do: He was a prophet. That’s not wrong. A prophet is someone who speaks God’s Word. Jesus spoke God’s Word. Usually Old Testament prophets spoke God’s Word about the future. Jesus also spoke God’s Word about the future. He told the blind man, “You will see.” He told the deaf person, “You will hear.” He told the lame person, “You will walk.” He told his disciples, “We’ll go to Jerusalem and I’ll be arrested, convicted and crucified.” Jesus was a prophet. He was powerful. True. He told storms to stop and they did. He told waves to be calm and they were. He told 5 loaves of bread to multiply into enough bread to feed 5,000 people and they did. He told demons to abandon their human hosts – and they did. He told the dead to rise and they did. Jesus was powerful. He suffered. He was handed over to the chief priests. Truth. He was sentenced to death. Truth. They crucified him. Truth. The disciples are on a roll – bring it home for us! “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” (v.31) Did you hear that? Had hoped. As in, “no longer hoping.” As in, “Our hope was wrong.” As in, “Jesus is not the redeemer.” “And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women shocked us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” Really… it’s foolish. Hopeful foolishness, but foolishness all the same. Foolish that the women think he’s alive. Foolish that others are starting to believe them. Foolish that anyone we ever thought Jesus was the Redeemer. They turned to Jesus. “What do you think?” And Jesus responds: “How foolish…” “How foolish…You are… “And how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (v.26-27) Like the Scripture where God tells the devil that one day the Redeemer will crush his head. Which is exactly what Jesus did on the cross. Like that Scripture that says the Messiah would come from Abraham’s genealogical line. Then Isaac’s. Then Jacob’s and Judah’s and many more. Jesus was a part of that family line. Like the Scripture that a virgin would give birth. That the Redeemer would be born in Bethlehem. That a star would appear to mark his birth The virgin did; Jesus was; and a star appeared. Like the Scripture that the Redeemer would make the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk. Jesus made the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk. Like the Scripture that the Redeemer would be betrayed. Would be arrested. Would be convicted. Would be killed on a cross. Jesus was betrayed. Arrested. Convicted. And killed on a cross. Like the Scripture that said, “After he has suffered, he will see the light of life…” (Isaiah 53:11) Jesus suffered. And… As the witnesses had already told these men… He saw the light of life. At the end of about a 3-hour journey, the trio make it to Emmaus. They get to the path leading off the main road and into their house. The journey is over, but the disciples don’t want to stop listening to Jesus. “Stay with us. It is evening. The day is almost over.” (Lk. 24:30) So, Jesus did. He entered the house. They sat him at a table. They got some bread out of the cupboard. They sat down to eat. Since he knew so much about Scripture, the Emmaus disciples thought it good to let him lead the prayer. So… He took the bread. Gave thanks. Broke it. And gave it to them. And suddenly --- “Wait.” “That sounded familiar.” “He took bread, broke it and said prayers just like… JESUS! II. Resurrection Truth This is the eyewitness account of the Emmaus disciples. When you combine that with Mary’s eyewitness and the eyewitness of the other women… We’re led to some important resurrection truths: (1) Jesus Rose from the Dead If you are wondering, YES…that is the exact same first truth as we learned last time. But it bears repeating with the second set of eyewitnesses. Think about it. Mary and these disciples aren’t talking about the same time. It isn’t as if they are both talking about something where they both identify a person incorrectly and they egg each other on to belief in the process. They both have eyewitness sightings in different places at different times. It’s like in your neighborhood. If one of your neighbors said, “I saw a deer in our backyard.” You might not believe them. Maybe they thought it was a deer, but the way that the light was on the shadows – maybe it was just a really, really, big squirrel. But if another neighbor tells you that they saw a deer drinking out of their pool on Thursday… And a third neighbor tells you that they saw a deer in their backyard on Friday… And a fourth neighbor says that they high fived a deer on a John Deere sometime on Saturday… There’s a deer in your neighborhood. Jesus wasn’t just seen by Mary in the garden. And the other women on the road from the garden. But also, these two disciples on the road to Emmaus. 5 witnesses. 3 different sightings. And by the way --- these guys are relatively obscure! This is Cleopas’ only appearance. And the other guy doesn’t even have a name. If the Resurrection was something that was made up, I imagine that humans would think: “Let’s have Jesus appear to some really important people. I’m sure that others will believe it then. People like Peter and James and John. Maybe Pontius Pilate. Or…even Caiaphas. That’d make for a good story.” Nope. Among the first people to see Jesus. Cleopas – a relative unknown. And unknown guy – an absolute unknown. That means this story is real. It means this resurrection is real. It means your salvation is real. Even if you feel like a Cleopas. Even if you feel like an unknown. Even if you feel like you aren’t that important in the grand scheme of things at all. What does it tell you about the importance of your everyday average person that one of Jesus’ first appearances is to these two relative nobodies? It tells you that they weren’t nobodies. It tells you that they were very important to Jesus. And it tells you that you aren’t a nobody. It tells you that you are very important to Jesus. He lived for YOU. He died for YOU. He rose for YOU. (2) Scripture is Really, Really, Really Important Because one of the most interesting things of this story – I said we’d come back to it – is at the beginning of the account. The disciples were “kept from recognizing him.” (v.16) Now…if I was Jesus, I think my first instinct for removing doubts and revealing to these disciples that I was really alive would be…to reveal myself to them and show that I was really alive! But he doesn’t do that. Instead, he takes them to Scripture. He takes them through Scripture. He immerses them in Scripture until their hearts are burning. And then…only after they already believe because of the Scriptures – then Jesus reveals himself. Why is that important? Because you and I can’t see Jesus. You and I can’t touch Jesus. You and I cannot be eyewitnesses of this truth. But visual proof was not Jesus’ first solution to a doubting faith. Scripture was. Scripture that we have today. Scripture that we read today. Scripture that you can read any time you are doubting. Friends, if you have doubts about this message. If you have doubts about your Savior. If you are struggling with guilt and sin and shame that leads to doubting the whole Easter story… Don’t try to will yourself to faith. Don’t try to pray yourself to faith. Don’t try to scream at yourself to faith. Read Scripture. Study Scripture. Immerse yourself in Scripture. Not only does God create faith through Scripture… He strengthens it. He sustains it. He causes it to burn within you. Which leads to our final point: (3) Go and Tell (and go to great lengths to do so!) After Jesus visually reveals himself to the disciples, he disappears. But his effect doesn’t. “Weren’t our hearts burning within us as he talked on the road?” (v.32) Didn’t our faith burn with confidence? Didn’t our passion burn for Jesus? And they got up. And hearts still burning… And decided they’d like their lungs to burn. Get this! They take off on a 7-mile run back to Jerusalem! They turn around and go back on a 7-mile sprint in order to share the message that they previously thought was foolishness! The message that...Jesus was alive. That they had seen him. That Jesus was the Redeemer. Friends, go to similar lengths to share Jesus. Granted. I’m guessing you won’t have to go on a 7-mile sprint. Maybe you just have to go down the block. Maybe you just have to go onto your phone. Maybe you just have to walk down the hall. If you know others who don’t have the reality of the resurrection, share with them the reality of the resurrection. Tell them about the eyewitnesses. Tell them about Mary. Tell them about Cleopas. Tell them about…what’s-his-face. Tell them about the Scriptures. Tell them about the prophecies. Tell them about how Jesus fulfills every one of them. Tell them the message that Jesus is alive. That Jesus rose form the dead. That Jesus is the Redeemer. Don’t be surprised if your heart doesn’t burn a little while you do so… Last week was awesome. We celebrated Easter. I think I emailed that there were over 300 people in our North Raleigh community gathered together to hear the message of the Resurrected Lord. And that’s awesome. But…sometimes when I get down – it’s not like I can see people’s hearts. It’s not like I can see how many people believed. It’s not like we can visually see that the message had an effect. But sometimes… Someone came up to me this week to talk. Someone with whom – I don’t have much of a relationship with – I barely know them. They wanted to share some struggles that they had been having. Some deep sadness. Some terrible events. That were leading to depression – sadness – and the thought that “I am worthless.” But… They had come for Easter. They had heard the sermon. They thought God was talking to them. And… They believed it. Now…I don’t always get to see it. It’s not about me anyways. It’s about Jesus. It’s about Jesus. It’s about Jesus. But…man…what a privilege! Their heart was burning. My heart was burning. Our hearts were on fire for the message of the Risen Lord. It’s my prayer that your heart is burning too! And if so, won’t you share the message of Jesus with others? Won’t you go Plant that message in the Heart of North Raleigh? Amen.  We recently got a cat.
I know. I know…this sounds like a confessional. But, it’s true. After 33 years of claiming that I would never own a cat, I caved, and I did. And it’s been fun. She enjoys keeping us safe from any fuzz balls and dust balls that she sees. She loves to go hunting for leaves. She even enjoys a playful, piercing bite to my front toe. But the other day, my wife told me that she had done something crazy. Julianna texted me that we needed to close the windows so that the cat couldn’t climb the screen. I said, “Yeah. How could she do that?” Julianna said, “I see holes in the screen right now.” I said, “Those are probably from bugs or some severe storm.” She said, “I’m pretty positive it’s from the cat.” I said, “Oh yeah. Prove it. How do you know?” My wife texted me a photo of the cat climbing the screen. Oh. Eyewitnesses are important. They are verbal proclaims of the visual truth. They are the difference between… Fiction and non-fiction. A fairy tale and history. A lie and truth. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be starting our sermon series called EYEWITNESS. It’s all about the eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. I think we need to do this because the resurrection of Jesus is too big a deal to rely on hearsay, to trust maybes and to listen to theories. Our goal today is to look at a real eyewitness accounts… Of real people… Who had real interactions… With the really risen Jesus… As real proof of your real salvation. Before we begin, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Mary’s Background The first eyewitness account that we are going to look at comes from a woman named Mary Magdalene. What interesting about Mary is that she doesn’t play a big part in Jesus’ three years of ministry on earth. In fact, there’s very little that is written about her except for this: Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus had driven out seven demons. (Mark 16:9) It’s not even a full sentence. Just a passing adjective comment. But…one that’s pretty heavy. She had been possessed by 7 demons. Evil spirits. Fallen angels. Powerful. They had taken hold of her mind. Something that Bible theorists will suggest happens from dabbling in the demonic activity (the occult, psychics, blood sacrifices) and excessive drug use. Regardless how it happened to Mary, we know it was terrible. She had no control of her personality. She was a prisoner in her own mind. In a state of deep depression. With a helplessness that doesn’t go away. Except, it did. Mary was possessed. Jesus healed her. I don’t know exactly how, but if it is anything like Jesus’ other miracles, then it was probably as simple as Jesus lifting his hand and saying: “Be healed.” Which…Can you imagine? If you’ve ever had a counselor help you with a breakthrough. Or a pastor help you grasp God’s forgiveness. Or a fatal diagnosis that a doctor diagnosed, prescribed medicine and helped you defeat. You know the kind of deep connection that Mary had with Jesus. That’s why she had become a follower of his: She had been trapped, Jesus freed her. She had been guilty, Jesus brought her forgiveness. She had been depressed, Jesus brought her joy. She had been lonely, Jesus brought her family. She had been hopeless, Jesus made her hopeful. Until… Jesus died. He was violently, publicly, cruelly crucified on a cross. And all of her hope? Went away. All of her joy? Evaporated. All of her sanity… Started to slip away…. She could feel the devil’s grip tightening on her again. II. The Eyewitness Account That’s why she got up so early Sunday morning. You see -- Jesus had been killed Friday evening. They buried him. She would have gone to his grave to mourn, but they have this Sabbath rule where you can’t go to visit the dead on a Saturday. But Saturday was over. Like…just over. So…5am. It was still dark. It’s not like she was sleeping anyways. She threw on her sandals. Fastened on her cloak. And walked off to her friend’s house. KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! “What do you want?” “It’s Sunday. We were going to go to his grave. We were going to go to Jesus’ grave so that we can honor him.” “But Mary. It’s not even light out yet. It’s still night time. It’s…just gonna take me a second while I get ready.” As they walked through the slowly evaporating darkness, it was mostly quiet. Whenever her friends tried to make small talk, Mary quieted them. “We’ve just gotta get to Jesus’ grave.” As they approached the garden, Mary worked into a sprint walk. She began opening up the bottle of perfume she had brought to pour on his grave and anoint his body. “Mary, did you think about how we were going to get into the grave? There is that giant stone that the soldiers put there to make sure that no one could get in. I saw some of those guys. They’re built like models. It took about 5 of them to move it, I don’t see how we…” She stopped talking. Off in the distance was Jesus’ grave. And… The giant stone? It was moved. Immediately, Mary burst into tears: “What did they do? What have they done? They couldn’t just leave him alone. Those jerks! Those losers! How could they do this? How could they leave us like this? Without even a chance…to heal.” She broke down. Her friends tried to console her. But Mary shrugged them off. She turned around and sprinted back towards town. She could barely see where she was going with tears clouding her vision. She made her way to where some of the twelve disciples were staying. She pounded at the door. She screamed at the door. She made a commotion till their let her in: “They took his body. They took his body. They book his body…the tomb is empty!” Two of the disciples rushed out. They sprinted to see what she was saying. And Mary tried to follow, but she grew too tired. Her legs got wobbly. She slammed her back against tree trunk. And fell to the floor. A mess. After sobbing for a good 15 minutes, She stood up. She didn’t have any tears left. She had to get to the bottom of this. She had to get back to the tomb and find some kind of a clue…a witness…a footprint that would lead her to Jesus’ body. She went back to the tomb. Her friends were gone. The disciples were gone. The stone…was still gone. This time…she took a deep breath…and approached the tomb. Inside the tomb, she found some men. Dressed in white. A gleaming, blinding white light. Radiating from their clothes. Radiating from their faces. Both sitting on the bier where Jesus’ body had been. Between them? Grave clothes. Folded ever so nicely, ever so gently, as if they were no longer necessary. “Woman, why are you crying?” they asked. “They have taken my Lord away! And I don’t know where they have put them!” Mary turned around. The men were nice. And it was strange that they were glowing, but…she didn’t have time. She needed to find his body. Outside the tomb, someone else. Hard to tell who – with the tears blurring her vision. It was probably the gardener. “Woman, why are you crying?” This is the one. He must have taken the body. He must have moved it at the requests of the Pharisees! “Tell me sir. Tell me…Please…Where did you take his body? Why did you leave the grave….empty?” “Mary!” The air was still. Mary’s breath paused for a moment. She had heard that voice before. She had heard that voice teach her about God. She had heard that voice proclaim forgiveness. She had heard that voice drive away her own demons! It was Jesus! “Teacher!” She cried as she grabbed a hold of him with a hug. As she hugged, she knew it was real! She felt his shoulders. She held him by the back. She felt the warmth of his breath. Jesus was alive. III. Resurrection Truth This is the eyewitness account of Mary. It is an eyewitness account that is recorded for us in Scripture. The guy who wrote it? John – he was one of the disciples that went running to the tomb after Mary told him it was open! And the book of John? It was written down and passed around at a time when Mary Magdalene would have still been alive. And she didn’t say “Nah, man. That’s wrong. It didn’t happen this way.” Nope. She said, “That’s the truth.” Which means. There are three really important divine truths that we need to take home with us today. (1) Jesus Rose from the Dead Granted. You might be skeptical of that truth. That’s understandable. Because most people when they are dead? They can’t do much. Their bodies just lie there and slowly decompose. And even people who are living – they haven’t figured out a way to bring people that are dead back to life either. But if this is true… When Jesus was dead, he figured out one thing that no one else could ever figure out while they were alive – conquering death itself! If you’re skeptical, Mary’s account is for you. Because think about how long it took her recognize that Jesus was alive. She saw the immovable stoned – moved and her first reaction? “They took his body.” She went into the tomb and saw two angels –glowing with divine splendor. Her reaction? “They took his body!” She went outside the tomb and saw Jesus – but was so overcome with emotion that she says to Jesus, “You must have taken his body!” Thing is. She wasn’t wrong. It isn’t until Jesus… Gently… Calmly… Calls her name… That she realizes the incredible truth right in front of her! Friends, you might be dealing with sadness. You might be dealing with difficulties in your marriage. With abandonment. With challenges at work. With a financial crisis. With a terrifying diagnosis. With guilt, shame, and sin. And sometimes that can all cover our hearts and close our eyes and make us say, “There is no HOPE in this world! This Jesus’ thing can’t be true.” But… When that happens… Hear Jesus’ voice… He’s calling to you. “I am alive.” (2) The Work of Salvation is Finished Check out verse 17: “Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” The reason Jesus came to earth was to win your salvation. He came to suffer death for your sins. He came to earn your way to heaven. He came to pay for eternal life. If he’s heading up to heaven, guess what? That work is done. Granted – that can be hard to believe. It’s like Easter weekend. Maybe you are planning on having relatives to your house. Maybe you wanted to clean for your relatives -- so you make a check list: Sweep the floor, dust the counters, disinfect the countertops, clean the bathrooms, do the laundry, make the beds, clean up the toys, etc. And you go to work. And you come home and…. Your husband says, “Surprise! I did it already. It’s finished. You don’t have to clean anymore!” How do you respond? Probably…by sweeping the floor, dusting the counters, disinfecting the countertops, etc. When Jesus tells you that it is finished. It is finished. Your salvation is won. Your sins are forgiven. Eternal life is yours. Heaven is your home! “It is finished.” You don’t need to try and earn his love. You don’t need to complete your salvation. You don’t need to pay your way into heaven by working hard and becoming perfect. Nope. Jesus did it for you. Believe. And… (3) Go and Tell Because right after Mary realizes that Jesus is standing right in front of her… Having conquered sin and death… Renewing her hope again… She’s overcome with emotion. She holds onto him. She doesn’t want to ever go back to guilt and loneliness and despair. Never again! But Jesus says something interesting: “Do not hold onto me. Instead, go and tell.” (v.17) Why? Because there were others who had lost their hope. There were others who were in despair. There were others who were shacked to guilt. Mary’s eyewitness message – would change that. She would give them hope. She would give them joy. She would give them freedom. Friends, there are still people like that today. There are people who don’t know their Savior. People who don’t know the resurrection story. People who think Easter is all about sugary yellow marshmallow chicks They are overcome with guilt. They are dealing with a lack of joy. They are struggling with despair. Can you do me a favor? Listen to your Savior. Go and tell. Later today at your Easter party, turn to the people who didn’t come to worship to celebrate this message and share the story of Easter. Go and Tell. Later this evening when you are on your phones, take a note or two from this sermon and share on social media. Go and tell. Tomorrow morning as you head to work – gather around the coffee pot, talk with your coworkers about why you liked Easter and how amazing this message of the risen Savior is. Go and tell. And understand this. You won’t be just giving them a story. You won’t be just telling them a fairy tale. You’ll be giving them true hope. Absolute. Real. True. Hope. Amen. |
Archives
October 2022
Pastor Phil Kiecker
and his wife, Julianna love serving the community of North Raleigh.
Categories
All
 |
RSS Feed