St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church—WELS

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Easter 2 Series C April 15 + 18, 2004 Revelation 1:4-18

John To the seven churches in the province of Asia; Grace and peace to you from him who is and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen. Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.

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

Another Easter has come and gone! If you listened carefully—a grocery store chain said over and over again in their radio commercials, “Easter is all about tradition!” Then they would advertise their very low prices on leg of lamb and mint jelly—sugar cured ham—spiral cut around the ham bone—soft fancy dinner rolls—lamb shaped sheet cakes covered with sweet soft cocoanut. Gone are the commercials—the bunches of bunnies singing about chocolate eggs with crème centers. An evening radio show that has all kinds of practical self-improvement advice said again and again, “Don’t forget the real meaning of Easter!” On the Fox News morning show—they talked about Easter. One of the news anchors says—he noticed again this year—there were lots of people at his Church—the two times a year people! He said—you know—the people who only come at Christmas and Easter. He said—you know what I think? He said—I think there were more people in church this year than ever. And you know—that’s good! He said—I wonder if it’s in part due to the movie—the Passion of the Christ? Maybe? Maybe it’s because people are dying in Iraq—some 50 in just the past few days. I saw just a little news Easter morning. They said in memoriam—they silently showed the names of 50 soldiers and marines who died last week—their name and their rank—their age—18, 19, 20, 21 years old—where they were from—where they would be buried! If someone we loves comes home in a casket—draped with an American flag—carried by soldiers in dress uniforms—you know what Easter is really all about. You know—when you stand next to a coffin—that Easter is not about Peeps—marshmallow chicks—neon yellow and pink. Easter is about a Savior—crucified and risen—the marks of the nails still in his hands. The forever engraving of his unconditional forgiving love! Easter is about a grave that did not hold Jesus—and a grave that will not hold us either. Today we continue to thank and praise our risen Savior.

Rejoice in Easter Grace and Peace!

1. Jesus is the firstborn from the dead

2. Soon everyone will see him

Part of being Lutheran is being aware of the Church Year. We are almost to the end of the Festival half of the Church Year. Today is the second of 7 Sundays of Easter. Then comes Ascension on a Thursday—then Trinity Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. Then we count 25 Sundays after Pentecost. Then Thanksgiving—and November 28^th--the 1^st Sunday in Advent—when we do it all over again! Today—Easter 2 through Easter 7—we will—with Jesus’ permission have readings from The Revelation to Saint John. One of the most practical things we have in our Church library. One of the most practical things you would buy at Abiding Word Book Store—on Main Street—across from the Watertown Library. One of the most practical things you could order from our Northwestern Publishing House is copies of The People’s Bible Bible commentaries! There is a paperback book that explains book for book and verse by verse—what does God’s Word say? The volume about The Revelation to Saint John was written by Pastor Wayne Mueller. Revelation is like a kaleidoscope. It shows you the same basic powerful law and gospel truths—again and again—each time from a little bit different angle—a little bit different perspective. The Revelation to Saint John was written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit breathed into John the very words he was to write—to seven churches—seven congregations. John wrote to God’s people in Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Smyrna, Ephesus, Philadelphia and Laodicea. These congregations are in Asia Minor—today the nation of Turkey—just north of Iraq. Revelation paints powerful graphic pictures—much like the pictures in Ezekiel and Daniel and Zechariah. The fact is—the more you read your Bible. The more you read and study and search the Scriptures—the more each part of Scripture sheds light on all the other parts of Scripture. Sometimes you hear people say they don’t want to read Revelation—because it’s just too complicated and too confusing and too scary! The truth is—some parts of Revelation are not easily understood. But much of Revelation is exceedingly simple and exceedingly clear. For God’s people it isn’t scary and frightening—it is of great comfort and encouragement!

God’s Word says, John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia; grace and peace to you from him who is and who was, and who is to come… Grace and peace to you are church words you hear all the time. They talk about forgiveness—God’s mercy on me for Jesus’ sake! Do you know where Rwanda is? It’s a country in south central Africa—by the Congo—by Uganda and Kenya and Tanzania. There are two tribes in Rwanda—the Hutus and the Tutsis! They had a horrible civil war not too long ago—classic genocide—a literal effort to wipe out a whole race of people. To kill every last one—so that they would cease to exist on the face of the planet. More than 200,000 people were murdered. That’s about 10 people for every man woman and child in Watertown. Some were murdered with machetes. Others more slowly—infected with HIV they are slowly dying from AIDS! There is amnesty in Rwanda if you simply go to the village where you committed such atrocities and confess. Go to the survivors and victims of your crimes and tell them—I am sorry! Can it be that easy? Jesus gives us grace, peace and forgiveness. Jesus died for mass murderers in Africa—and smug self-righteous people here. Jesus died for all!

Grace and peace to you from him who is and who was, and who is to come… Peace—shalom—in Hebrew—eirana—in Greek. Peace is a gift from God—for Jesus’ sake, too! There is very little peace in our world today. I was in line at a grocery store the other day. The customer ahead of me was buying just a few items—among them some pieces of fresh chicken. The checkout lady said—“You know what really grosses me out? When you try and eat a piece of chicken—and you get this little chunk of chicken fat in your mouth! I really hate that!” Well—this customer ahead of me was really offended! How dare you criticize my choice for a dinner entrée? With a fierce anger—that customer found the head checkout lady—and filed a formal complaint! A formal complaint over chicken fat! No offense to poor chickens—with dimpled skin that sometimes slides when you try to roll it in a whole bunch of secret herbs and spices. But think about it! We live in a world where there is horrible terrorism—suicide bombers who blow up innocent women and children. We live in a world of drug abuse—where ecstasy is a pill that can cost you your life—where drug profits help pay for the bombs terrorists use. We live in a world where children are neglected—abused in unspeakable ways. Where marriages are falling apart faster than new ones are being put together. Where there is heartache and heart break in the smallest hearts! There are so many lies and so much deception you don’t know if you can believe anyone any more! There is greed and selfishness and self-indulgence that is doing harm to immortal souls—and people are taking action against hurtful remarks about chicken fat? The real problem is sin—rebellious evil hurtful hearts! I heard that there are scientists—doing research with worms—everyday—washed out of the ground onto your driveway to be eaten by robins—worms. They have figured out a way—through gene splicing and genetic engineering—to make worms live twice as long as a usual wormy life. The hope is—to apply some of this earthworm technology—to make people live twice as long! What would you do if you could live to be 200 years old? They asked a couple people. One guy said—I could go to twice as many parties—eating lots—drinking lots! Another person said—I would get a really good education. Nobody said—just think about the time I would have—to grow in faith and share my faith. Nobody volunteered—I could study the Scriptures—and grow increasingly more faithful serving my Savior through my marriage, my family, my congregation, my work, my country. Nobody knows how many days Jesus has given any one of us. That means we need to live our lives with a passion and a focus that must not waste time. It means priorities and passion to live for our Easter Savior and Lord!

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Jesus freed us from our sins by his blood! Jesus shed his blood and died—sacrificed his life to save us! Did you hear about the little girl by Australia? She swimming when she was attacked by a ten-foot crocodile! Surely she would perish! Who could possibly save her—before that crocodile pulled her under the water to drown her? Well, Jesus could save her. Jesus had prearranged an experienced crocodile hunter should be right there—very close to where this little girl attacked. Without a moment’s hesitation or fear—the crocodile hunter jumped on the back of that crocodile—scratched that crocodile eyes—and in a moment—that crocodile let go of that little girl. Her rescuer scooped her up in her arms—and lifted her into his boat. She was safe! Again—a man risked his life for a little girl he didn’t even know. Jesus sacrificed his life to buy back wretched sinners that Jesus knew through and through. In spite of everything Jesus knows about us—he loved us still. Jesus gave up his life for people conceived enemies of God—and born to rebel against him. Jesus died to wash away our guilt—so that by adoption we are children of God!

Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! They say there are about 6 billion people alive in the world at this very moment. Jesus could tell you exactly how many people there are—alive in this world. Some of them you can see. Some of the people alive right now—as small as a grain of sand inside their mother’s tummy. Chances are—their mommy doesn’t know that they are there yet! But Jesus knows! When Jesus comes back on Judgment Day everyone will see him. That includes the people who actually physically pierced him—nailed him to the cross with hammers and spikes! How scary is that? When Jesus comes back on Judgment Day those who are unbelievers will say to the mountains fall on us. And to the hills cover us! They will cry out. They will wish to be buried alive—rather than face Jesus on Judgment Day. But there will be no escape! There was an article in the Journal Sentinel on Sunday—saying maybe our Heavenly Father should appear on a Late Night Talk Show. Then lots of people would see him. Maybe our Heavenly Father could explain about all the horrible things he seems to allow in this world. Maybe our Heavenly Father could explain about all the murderous things people have done all in the name of religion—down through the ages—the Spanish Inquisition and such. Maybe our Heavenly Father could explain about all the people of different religions that yell “God is great!”—before exploding themselves and everyone around them! How sinfully smug and arrogant and simply sinful—to treat Almighty God with such disrespect! The day is coming—perhaps very soon—when people will stand accountable to God. And how very sad that will be. Those who remain in their sins and stubborn unbelief will be thrown into a very real hell where there will be weeping and gnashing—grinding of teeth forever! It is only by the grace—the goodness of God that we have Easter grace, joy and peace. It is only because God is good—that we know Jesus has washed away all our sins. Because Jesus lives we too will live with him forever in heaven. So shall it be! Amen!

To God alone all glory!