April 26, 2020                                                                                 Text:  Luke 24:13-35

Dear Friends in Christ,

            This next week is an exciting time for 4^th year seminary students.  They receive their first calls into the ministry.  Unfortunately, it will not be done in person.  I was in their shoes 29 years ago.  Where am I going?  What church is getting this goofy Pastor who looks fifteen years old?  It not only affected me, but Toni as well.  We were engaged to be married.  She sat with my parents and most everyone in the chapel had their Rand McNally Atlas with them.  Wahoo, Nebraska?   Deer Lodge, Montana?  I stood up, crossed the altar area and heard this that will probably never leave my brain – Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Littlefield, Texas.  I finally knew where Toni and I would be starting our life together.

            The two first-century disciples in our text knew they were going to Emmaus.  They knew the way.  Problem was, they didn’t know God’s way.  That was a problem, just as it often is for us.  So this morning, let’s . . .

“LET GOD SHOW US HIS WAY”

            These Emmaus disciples are found despondent and going the wrong way.  Easter was happening in Jerusalem, but they were leaving the city in a sad state.  They had just seen the death of Jesus but they didn’t know where to go, what to think, what to do.  They knew how to physically get to Emmaus, but in a sense, they had lost their way.

            So Jesus joins them, but recognizing Him escapes them.  It’s not an eye problem they suffer from.  Jesus has miraculously kept them from knowing him.  Their problem:  they didn’t understand God’s purpose.  They did not know which way God was going.  They didn’t trust that God’s way was working.  The events of the crucifixion gave them a feeling of defeat.

            Don’t we also miss where the Lord is taking us?  We tend to focus on the negatives of life.  99 people may tell us what a great job we did, but we let the one critical comment linger in our head.  Why do we do that?  Sinful people –even our family – surround us and we love to point out their faults.  Why do we do that?  I sense we are all at a tipping point because we can’t plan for the future.  Do I get the haircut appointment?  Will I get into my dentist by the end of the year?  Worship, O I miss my church family!  It’s tough.  We all hurt.

            Why do we do that?  We are sinful.  We forget God’s purpose for us – God’s way.  God values you, let go of your insecurity.  We focus so much on this world but this is not our home.  We forget that the gates of hell cannot overcome the Church of Jesus Christ.  When we focus so much on the negatives and that our plans are not working out the way they should, we may start to think God is going the wrong way.  Has our Savior lost His way?  Hey, you are going the wrong direction!  Except, He isn’t.

            God has always been going the right way – His way.  What is God’s way?  He explained the Old Testament Scriptures to these men.  The Lord always uses His written Word to show us His way.  Jesus showed that the whole Bible points to His death and resurrection.  His suffering and death were God’s way of salvation for us.  This was no defeat, this is glory.  This was God’s way of cleansing us of our sin.  He forgives our negativity and our lack of trust and heading off in the wrong direction.  God has cleared the way for our eternal salvation.

            God is guiding our way.  Let Him show you the way.  Yes, we have ups and downs.  The downs are never God losing His way, but rather God’s strengthening of us.  All the negatives are just sidetracks we see – or think we see – on the road to heaven.  You and I have stories of positive happenings this last month, look around because they are there.  More people are checking in on church services online.  Families have had more together time.  Less people have gotten sick than originally projected.  Traffic is lighter.  Toilet paper can be found!

            God will show the way for our future.  Christ got the disciples turned around to go God’s way.  They recognized him because He opened their eyes.  “Sure enough, it’s just as he said.  God has been in control.”  They run the seven miles back to Jerusalem to tell the others that Jesus has risen.  “We just talked with Him.  Wow, what a day we have had!”

            God also controls our way and our future.  Jesus is alive we tell others.  Scripture has been fulfilled we tell others.  All who believe in Him have eternal life we tell others.  Let’s use that 7-mile analogy.  Imagine the difference we can make in the lives of those within a 7-mile radius of our church.  God shows us the way and then leads us to share His way.

            God’s way is to redeem all people by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  God’s way is to have you and me spread that news.  Because of our Lord we know where we are going, even while we are still on the way.

                                                                                    Amen.     

April 19, 2020                                                                                   Text:  John 20:19-31

Dear Friends in Christ,

            “Google, why did we get snow in the middle of April?”  “Hey, Siri, how far should I social distance?”  “Alexa, please make a tee time for May 1^st, because I’m playing golf!”  The human voice has new power.  We talk to a machine . . . well, I don’t . . . but some of you do and it talks back.  This is straight out of “Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century” except it’s the 20^th century and here in our lives today.

            God created the voice to have power.  Do you remember the movie “March of the Penguins” narrated by Morgan Freeman from a few years back?  There was a scene with thousands of penguins, but the couples knew each other by their voices.  Amazing I remember thinking. 

            Easter is, among other things, about . . .

“THE POWER OF THE VOICE”

            We see the church at its worst this morning.  The disciples are all hunkered down in their fear.  Instead of letting their faith control their thoughts and actions, they are scared little rabbits hiding from the big, bad wolf.

            In steps the voice of the Lord.  “Peace be with you.”  Before these men can apologize for their behavior these last few days Jesus speaks to them.  He gives them the gift of His peace and joy.

            Now they are starting to understand all those things he had told them.  Jesus has taken away the separation between them and God.  They have been reconciled.  The same scene is repeated a week later when Thomas joins them.  The disciples tell him what had happened but he wouldn’t believe their story.  He had to see.

            Do you notice one thing that stands out?  They are still behind locked doors.  Trust can be a difficult thing, can’t it?  Jesus had told them He would be sending them out and that the Holy Spirit was upon them, but still they had their creeping doubts.  Didn’t it occur to one of them to unlock the door?  Jesus is here.  The Savior in our midst.  Sins forgiven.  A promise of forgiveness given to us.

            Where are we today?  Figuratively, many are behind locked doors or closed doors or at the very least quarantined doors.  Our fear is not the unbelievers or the authorities.  Our fear is the same as the disciples – trust.  The unknown can do this to even those with the greatest faith.  It happened to eleven men who spent day and night with their Savior.  They saw the miracles, heard the sermons, attended His Bible classes and yet they hole up in their homes as people with no hope.

            What about you?  Where is your level of trust this morning?  If you put it all on the earthly authorities you are going to be in sad shape.  Are you ready to unlock the door, come out and live?  Then through the Holy Spirit put your trust in the Lord.  He stands in your homes this day and in this church and says, “Peace be with you…Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 

            “Peace, your sin is forgiven.”  Jesus then adds, “Do not fear the world.  I have overcome the world.  Peace be with you.”  His Word, in the Savior’s voice, comes to us today with the same power as it came to those first disciples and to Thomas in those days after Easter.  “These are written so 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. 31)

            Jesus spoke His peace to you in your baptism.  He speaks His peace to you at the Lord’s Table.  His word of peace gets you out of bed and from behind your couch and wherever else you have been hiding these last few weeks.  Sure, it would be nice to be Rip Van Winkle and take a month-long siesta and then be able to go wherever you want.  It doesn’t quite work that way.  That is why we need the Lord’s peace.  It is trust in Him that gets us back in the game.

            The Lord tells each of us, “get off the bench, I’m sending you in.”  We don’t go with bat and glove.  We go with the Holy Spirit.  We go with the keys of the kingdom.  We are sent to the world to be His voice of peace.  I pray you have been able to be that to your friends and neighbors.  They’ve been watching how you have handled yourself during this blip in our comfortable lives.  Have you lived the peace of the Lord?  Have you allowed His voice to be the voice above every other voice?  Are you living the hope of better days?

            Come on out, the Risen Lord is before you.  Modern voices are nice but nothing compared to the eternal voice that tells you and I to leave behind our fear, our sin, our sickness, and even death itself as we hear His Word one more time:  “Peace be with you.”

                                    Amen.