April 12, 2015 Text: Acts 4:32-35

Dear Friends in Christ,

People get nicknames for a variety of reasons. Some come by a physical trait like freckles or Red for hair color. Some get it for what they do like Mr. Clutch or Chief. Others get it as a shorter version of their name, Max for Maxwell or Beth for Elizabeth. The nicknames I have had revolve around my last name, Sweet Lou and Wick. What nickname do you have that maybe I don’t know about? I’d love to hear it after church.
Biblical people had nicknames. Peter was the Rock. James and John were Sons of Thunder. And we all know the nickname of the man in our Gospel – Doubting Thomas.
In our text today we come across another nickname. It is actually found in verse 36 but it relates to what is found in our reading. It is Joseph, called Barnabas. His nickname? “Son of encouragement.” He built people up. He gave of himself to others. He supported those who were alone. What a nickname. That is a nickname we could all have. We all can be encouragers.
The name Barnabas is a resurrection nickname. He becomes the encourager because of the power of Jesus’ resurrection. He encourages people because Jesus’ resurrection has brought grace to his life. But Jesus’ resurrection is not just a name changer; it’s also a life changer.
“A RESURRECTION NICKNAME”
When Jesus rose from the dead, people’s lives were changed. Peter the Rock had denied Jesus three times during his trial. No rock-solid confession that night. He is disgraced by denial. But later, Jesus alive, body glorified, meets Peter on a beach and restores him. Remember Jesus asking three times if Peter loved him? This post-resurrection meeting changed Peter. He rises to become a great apostle in the early Church. Same for Thomas. He doesn’t believe until he sees. Once that happens, everything is changed, he believes. He, too, becomes a great apostle in the Early Church. He, too, is changed by the resurrection.
We don’t know if Barnabas ever personally saw Jesus risen from the dead. But it doesn’t matter. The message of Jesus’ resurrection the apostles proclaimed was powerful and life changing too. It changed Barnabas. Jesus, the risen Lord, came to him in that message and he became Barnabas, the encourager.
The same is true for us. The message of Jesus’ resurrection changes us. Are you struggling with a sin? Jesus is risen from the dead. Your life is changed because as you repent that sin is forgiven.
Are you doubting God’s love? Jesus is risen from the dead. Doubt becomes faith strong once again, because His death was because He loves you, and the resurrection proves that was His plan.
Are you too easily angered? Jesus is risen from the dead. Relax and be calm in his peace, because He lives to take care of whatever upsets you.
Are you afraid of getting sick, losing your job, losing someone you love? Jesus is risen from the dead. He is with you always, no matter what.
Are you a complainer and jealous of what others have? Jesus is risen from the dead. Contentment comes from the Lord, who lives to grant you rich supply.
Are you trying not to think of your own death? Jesus is risen from the dead. You, too, will rise, as will everyone who confesses him as did Peter, as did Thomas.
Are you crabby and negative? Jesus is risen from the dead. He can change you to be a Barnabas.
Yes, you can become a Barnabas. Look at what he did. He had some land, some property. He sold it and gave it to the apostles so it could be distributed as people had need.
You can guess the result: the people in need were encouraged. Someone cared for them. Who else was encouraged? Those in the church who watched Barnabas do this. They saw that what they had wasn’t their own either but was the Lord’s gift to them. They gave too. Barnabas, the encourager, changed by the resurrected Jesus, helped make that happen. Do you see what the resurrection looks like? It’s the grace and power of Jesus working in people’s lives.
Here we are. We’ve heard the powerful message of God’s grace. Jesus is risen from the dead. He is at work in our lives. He is changing us. We can each be a modern-day Barnabas.
What does that look like? You have encouraged me with personal notes or e-mails. I save these and read them over in my struggling times. I know my presence or a prayer in the emergency room or hospital room or nursing home or your home has encouraged you after surgery. But in those instances, many times, you and how you are handling things have encouraged me. You know the presence of the Lord in your life and that makes all the difference. The resurrection of Jesus makes all of this possible. We encourage one another.
Through the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives we encourage each other with words that build up and by the generosity that we show. But let us remember one more nickname today – for Jesus. Jesus is given many names: Savior, Good Shepherd, Redeemer, Lord, Prince of Peace. But today we’ve heard another name for Jesus: Life Changer. Jesus’ resurrection gives grace and power to change lives into those who encourage others with words and generosity.
Jesus is risen from the dead. Jesus is the Life Changer.
Amen.

(No Video Available)

April 26, 2015 Text: John 10:11-17

Dear Friends in Christ,

In his book, The Story File, Steve May writes, “Students in a psychology class at San Diego State were asked to name their most valuable asset. Two wrote down intelligence, and both misspelled it.” And then he tells of this incident: “The manager of a novelty shop located in a tourist area attracts customers from all over the world. One day, a man came in and started browsing. He spotted a ventriloquist’s dummy and asked, ‘Do you have one that speaks Spanish?’
And then he makes this priceless observation: “Ignorance has something to be said for it. It contributes to about nine-tenths of the world’s conversational output.”
What does all of this have to do with the sermon? Very little, other than reminding us of the human condition and our need for help. This morning . . .
“THE WOLF, THE SHEEP, AND THE GOOD SHEPHERD”
So we start with the wolf. Jesus says, “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd…sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.” (v. 12)
The alpha wolf is the devil, the father of lies. But the alpha wolf has other wolves. Jesus warns, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matt. 7:15) And Paul warns the leaders of the church at Ephesus, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” (Acts 20:29-30)
There is the alpha wolf the lesser wolves and then another group that Jesus identifies in the text, “He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” (v. 13)
Lutheran commentator, Gary P. Baumler writes: “The hired hand is like those church leaders who think more of their own well-being than of serving God’s flock. They are not true shepherds. They do not feel any personal responsibility for the sheep. They do the job to make a living. When wolves, come, they show their real colors. They abandon the flock and let the wolves ravage and scatter it.”
I would suggest that many “hired hands” simply do whatever they have to in order to avoid conflict, to avoid taking a stand for God’s Word, to keep themselves in a worldly comfort zone. See the hired hands, the wolves and the leader of the pack himself, the devil – they’re everywhere seeking the destruction of God’s people.
And that brings us to…the sheep. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (v. 11) And then He notes, “…I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” The “other’ sheep is a reference to the Gentiles. Us. And it all fits with Christ’s revelation of, “For God so loved the world…” The world: Jew and Gentile.
And the sheep have two qualities about them. They know the voice of the Good Shepherd. Jesus says, “and they will listen to my voice.” (v. 16) The sheep hear the Word. They know the Word. They learn the Word. And they cling to the Word unto death!
The other quality? The gentle nature of the sheep that makes them vulnerable to all sorts of attacks. We are no more of this world than the Shepherd. Do we understand that? We may have this world and do of this world, but it is all very momentary and not the goals of our lives – having and doing. Jesus said about you and me and our brothers and sisters everywhere, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of this world, just as I am not of this world.” (Jn. 17:14) It’s always the same old inner confrontation, isn’t it? What, of this world, is really that important?
Sheep. That’s us. The people Christ sought and loves and claims as His own. And that brings us to . . . the Good Shepherd.
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep…For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.” (v. 14, 15, 17)
The part we know and love the most is: I lay down my life for the sheep. It takes us to Calvary – to the payment for every sin – to the fact that God, for the sake of Jesus, sees us as His holy, righteous, forgiven people.
Then this: I lay down my life that I may take it up again. That brings us to His resurrection. We love this because it reminds us of Jesus’ promise to everyone who believes in Him: “Because I live, you also will live.” (Jn. 14:19)
But we don’t want to exclude this: I know my own and my own know me. His “own” are those He has purchased with His blood. Those who are righteous – not by virtue of there own goodness, but because we are reckoned righteous through faith in Christ. Paul calls it “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” (Rom. 3:22)
The Good Shepherd is always there. Watching, protecting, and giving life. As we deal with the wolves of this space and time give a listen to something I’ve quoted before. It bears repeating. It’s 250 A.D. and Cyprian a noted Christian writer and Bishop of Carthage wrote this to his friend Donatus.
“This is a cheerful world as I see it from my garden, under the shadow of my vines. But if I could ascend some high mountain and look very far, what would I see? Bandits on the highways, pirates on the seas, armies fighting, cities burning, in the amphitheaters people murdered to please applauding crowds, selfishness and cruelty, misery and despair under all roofs. It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found joy that is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians – and I am one of them.”
You and I are too. Thanks be to the Good Shepherd!
Amen…

April 19, 2015 Text: Luke 24:36-49

Dear Friends in Christ,

Rene Spitz has compiled some amazing evidence pertaining to the absence of touch. In a South American orphanage, Spitz observed and recorded what happened to 97 children who were deprived of emotional and physical contact with others. Because of a lack of funds, there was not enough staff to adequately care for these children, ages three months to three years old. Nurses changed diapers and fed and bathed the children. But there was little time to hold, touch, and talk to them as a parent would. After three months many of them showed signs of abnormality. Besides a loss of appetite and being unable to sleep well, many of the children lay with a vacant expression in their eyes. After five months, serious deterioration set in. They lay whimpering, with troubled and twisted faces. Often, when a doctor or nurse would pick up an infant, it would scream in terror. Twenty-seven, almost one-third, of the children died the first year, but not from lack of food or health care. They died of a lack of touch and emotional nurture. Because of this, seven more died the second year. Only 21 of the 97 survived, most suffering from serious psychological damage.
As hard as that scenario is for us to imagine, what if we had to live without the touch and love of Jesus Christ in our lives? What if we had to live without His presence because He remained in the tomb? Today, He gives us something that we all need . . .
“THE SAVIOR’S TOUCH”
Jesus wanted to make certain that his disciples knew He was alive. “Touch me, and see,” he said. “Have you anything here to eat?” He was alive! The touching news of Jesus’ resurrection changes all of our tomorrows. It changes the way we live and the way we die, the way we worship and the way we work.
The Savior’s touch helps with our doubts and fears. The disciples had doubts and fears, just like many of the disciples in this sanctuary today. Satan must enjoy filling our lives with fear. I recently learned my fear of dogs has a name: synaphobia. What are some other names for fears? Peladophobia is the fear of baldness and bald people. Levophobia, the fear of objects on the left side of the body. Dextrophobia, the fear of objects on the right side of the body. Thalassophobia, fear of being seated. And my favorite, phobophobia, the fear of being afraid.
Oh whatever our fear, we pretend to be bold, but Jesus sees right through us. He knows our doubts and fears. Even after we hear it in church, Bible Class, Sunday School, and devotions, we still don’t fully believe and trust for a variety of reasons. Jesus says, “Touch me and see. I’ll show you. My resurrection, my living body is for real.”
We are touched by God’s Word and empowered by the living Christ. One year in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The ironic thing was this float represented the Standard Oil Company. Imagine its vast oil resources and its truck was out of gas. Often, as Christians we neglect our spiritual maintenance and though we are “clothed with power from on high” we find ourselves out of gas.
This happened to the disciples after Jesus resurrection. After all that had happened they were out of gas. But through the Savior’s touch He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He did it so they could fully understand His death and resurrection, repentance, and forgiveness of sins.
We too find ourselves at times running on empty. Life has a way of doing that. Our prayer is that the Lord would open our minds to understand the Scripture. God calls us to dig into His Word so that it can take root in us. God calls us to repent of our sins and joyfully receive and share His gracious forgiveness.
Jesus touched His disciples’ lives with the gifts of His peace, His presence, His power, and a commissioning to share what they had seen and heard with the world. He touches our lives with those same gifts, and we are changed. He touches us through His Word, Holy Communion, our baptismal gifts, and through the body of believers as we go into the world together.
Today we have been personally touched by the grace and knowledge of our living Savior, Jesus Christ. The reality of Jesus’ resurrection changes lives…forever!
Amen.