St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Easter 2 April 15, 2007

John 20:26f

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

Johnny Hart died last Saturday. Johnny Hart—who drew the cartoon “BC” died the day before Easter. When Johnny was little he said—his parents only went to church on Christmas and Easter. That’s better than never—but it isn’t very often. It’s two times out of 52? Johnny went to Sunday School. He was fascinated by Bible stories—Adam and Eve—David and Goliath—3 men in the fiery furnace—Daniel in the Lion’s Den—Jesus feeding 5,000 people with a little boy’s lunch of 5 barley loaves and 2 small fishes—water to wine and walking on the water—Good Friday and Easter! Something wondrous happened—when Johnny started to read a Bible—actually read the Scriptures—actually learn the wonderful works of God. It changed everything! Before that—people at church scared Johnny! He thought they could see into his heart. And he was afraid they would see all his sins and mistakes. That they would think what a horrible hypocrite he must be—to do all those sins. When he read his Bible he came to understand that the only one who can see into your heart is Jesus. And Jesus doesn’t look there to find fault. Jesus looks in your heart to see the faith that he has put there. Jesus looks into your heart to see the love and forgiveness that he put there. Johnny Hart had a gift—the gift of being able to draw. He could draw with a pen and ink. And he could color his drawings with watercolor paint! Every year at Easter Johnny Hart would draw a comic strip with the powerful message of Jesus’ triumph over death and the grave. It was many years ago—now—that the Easter comic strip was simply a picture of little BC—this little cave man—chiseling on to a slate of stone—“What is Easter all about? Finding eggs for kids to rout? Pink chapeaus on pink madams—that’s pink dresses in pink ladies—cakes and cookies shaped like lambs? That’s not what it’s all about. Who was buried then got out—leaving no one any doubt? He is risen, hear them shout! That’s what this day’s all about!” Who would expect to find the Easter Gospel in the Sunday comics? Not many! Not many! But there it is! I was pretty little when I heard a sermon on the radio that said. There are many things God seems to tolerate. Being ignored is not one of them! This second Sunday of Easter—we cannot ignore the risen Christ either! Today God’s Word comforts us:

Jesus Drives Out Doubt!

1. The devil tempts us to doubt

2. But Jesus is gentle to reassure us!

That very first Easter morning—Mary Magdalene was at the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” That’s all it took! Mary knew this was her Teacher—her Redeemer—her Lord and Savior! Mary told the disciples but they didn’t believe her. That first Easter night—Jesus appeared to the disciples—and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. …Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” 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 it.” Prove it—Thomas said. Prove to me that Jesus is alive again. When I can put my fingers where the nails were—my hand by the spear wound—then I will believe he is risen—but not before! The sad fact is—you cannot overestimate how stubborn unbelief can be. Just a few chapters before our text God’s Word says, “Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, because as Isaiah says elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” John 12:37-40 How tragic is that? Jesus never ever forced anyone to believe in him. Those who prefer to remain in their sins and in their cold hard hearted stubborn rebellious unbelief can. But the horrible forever consequences will be terrible beyond words! We need to pray for our relatives—our friends and neighbors who are living their lives apart from Jesus. We need to pray earnestly and faithfully for them. And we need to tell them about Jesus’ unconditional forgiving love whenever Jesus gives us that opportunity! Pray that the Holy Spirit will work a powerful change in their hearts and in their lives!

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Peace—peace of mind and peace of conscience—is ours—because Jesus washed away all our sins. It was sad to hear about a lady—who didn’t have some paper work done. She was afraid—if she simply said—I am very sorry—but I don’t have this paper work done—that she would lose her job. So she thought—she could cover up her failure—cover up her mistake—by setting a small fire! That was a terrible mistake. Her small fire soon was completely out of control. Six people were injured—6 people were hurt. The fire was so terrible—3 fire fighters were hurt—3 trained expert fire fighters were physically harmed by this fire. And worst of all—3 people died! Three people lost their lives—because of this fire which was allegedly intentionally set! How sad is that? It is tempting—to try and cover up mistakes. It is tempting—to cover up—to lie and to deceive—to say my dog ate my home work! To blame some one or some thing. To say the ever popular “mistakes were made”—let’s look ahead—let’s look to the future—move on—and not look back. Let’s live in the present and the future—not the past! The fact is—we have peace with God—because all our sins are forgiven. We need to confess our sins—admit them to ourselves and to our heavenly Father. Then know that Jesus paid for all our sins—when he died and rose again to save us! We have peace—paid for with Jesus’ blood!

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Blessed—happy are we who have not seen the risen Lord Jesus—and yet still believe in him. Jesus lives! That changes everything! I was on my way to church the other day. When I got by the corner of 3^rd Street and Western Avenue—there was a bunch of traffic—at the 4 way stop. People in both lanes—some going straight—some turning. Sometimes it’s a little confusing—people getting to the intersection just moments apart—some people in no particular hurry—some people already late—frustrated and in a hurry! The car ahead of me was ready to go—certain it was their turn—when a car went across in front of them. So the person who felt wronged laid on their horn—loud and sharp and long. And you can imagine what the other person did—all the way through the intersection! And I thought to myself—what’s wrong with this picture? The fact is—I’m sure—it happens all the time! It happens all the time! And that’s wrong! My turn! My turn! Hey—buddy—I was here first! You can’t say that—right after you hear Jesus say—“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!” Not after you hear Stephen—being put to death by people chunking bowling ball size stones at him—“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!” When people push ahead of you—cut you off—and take your turn—what do you do? If we lash out—in bitter angry frustration—then how are we different from unbelievers! We need to be different. We need to be salt and light in this sin spoiled—sin darkened world. We need to show this world that we are Jesus’ students, followers and imitators—by how we love one another. We need to live such lives of love that when enemies of the Gospel try to make us look bad—they will be ashamed of themselves!

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus took all our sins away—no matter how bad we have been—no matter what we have done. I heard the other day—about 5 criminals who are now living under a bridge. These criminals did things so unspeakable—that nobody wants them to be their neighbor. Nobody thinks they are safe—if they live anywhere near them. So these criminals live under a noisy bridge. They have beds made of cardboard—raised off the ground—so the rats don’t get them. And these men are so despised—people say—they deserve the rats and worse! Who could love people like that? Who could forgive people like that? Only Jesus could. And only Jesus did! Jesus died for the sins of criminals. And Jesus died for sinners like me and like you. Jesus died to wash away all our sins and mistakes. Jesus died and rose again—so that we might spend eternity in heaven.

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” We have not seen the risen Redeemer—and yet by the grace of God—through the means of grace—the Gospel in Word and sacrament—we have believed! I heard the other day about a man named Timothy. They called him Grizzly Man—because he had such a deep and abiding love for Grizzly bears. Apparently Timothy spent 13 summers living in the Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska—living by Grizzly bears. Timothy risked his life again and again—trying to get closer and closer to the bears—trying to win their acceptance—to win their love. In the end—the bears literally took him apart. Timothy’s love for the bears cost him his life! At first—you might be tempted to say—how foolish is that? Until you stop and think—it’s pretty much what Jesus did. Jesus didn’t just visit us for a bunch of summers. Jesus actually became one of us—for a lifetime! Jesus did that because he loves us so much. And it cost Jesus his life—at our hands. We were responsible. We were to blame. It’s my fault and your fault that Jesus died. We crucified him just as surely as if we knelt on his arms and sat on his legs—and hammered nails into his hands and feet. We are to blame—as surely as if we had stood at the foot of his cross and mocked him—as much as we have mocked and ridiculed people we know. We are to blame. Jesus died for us. And Jesus rose again—to forgive us. Because Jesus died and rose again—we have the sure and certain promise of eternal life. If Thomas were here today he would say—why would you ever doubt that? Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz