Sermon Text for May 1, 2022 - "Opened By the Risen Jesus: Opened Eyes"

 

“Opened by the Risen Jesus: Opened Eyes”

May 1, 2022

 

            Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

            If you think about it, we spend a lot of time looking at things. Probably more so than ever, we spend much of the day looking at screens, be they phones, devices, televisions, or other ones. We see a lot of things, and we absorb a lot of information as a result, but is it really helpful for us? What are we really focusing on with everything we’re looking at? Though we celebrated Easter Sunday just a couple of weeks ago, we are still in the Easter season. We are still remembering how, after Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples both to give them comfort and reassurance that He was actually alive, and to tell them what their new purpose was now that He was alive. Their new purpose, as we hear in today’s Gospel reading, was to go and tell people about Him. Today, as we begin a new month, we will also be beginning a new sermon series about how, in order for His disciples to carry out this new purpose, which is also the same purpose we also have, Jesus opens us up, to open us both to the greater purpose we have for life, as well as to open us up to be able to hear, see, and understand those to whom we tell about Him.

            Now earlier this week, someone made the suggestion that I also preach a series talking about the different parts of our worship service, and how they actually have their roots in the Bible. The reason we recite or sing certain things as part of our worship service is because they actually either come directly from the Bible, or summarize what the Bible teaches us. So, I’m actually going to be combining and connecting these two series together, and talking about both how Jesus opens us up, as well as how we express our praise and worship of Him each week in our worship service. Today is actually a perfect opportunity to begin doing that as well, because, as it happens, in our Second Reading from Revelation, we hear about what John sees in a vision: he sees a great multitude of angels surrounding the throne where Jesus is seated, reigning supreme. And as they fly around the throne, they praise Jesus by singing these words:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”. Then, not just the angels, but every creature, in both heaven and on earth, sings joyfully, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and power, forever and ever!”. These are the same words we sang just a moment ago, as part of our Hymn of Praise, “This is the Feast.” So we are actually singing the song the same song the angels and all creatures are singing right at this very moment: believe it or not, every animal we see even praises Jesus in their own way. We, along with the angels and all creatures, thank Jesus for who He is, that He is almighty, all-powerful, and supreme; and to remember what He did – that He was slain for us, to defeat the power of sin over us, and then to rise again to conquer death for us. It is also a reminder to us of what our whole life ought to be – one, just like the angels, of praising Jesus for what He did for us, and what He does for us. But it is something which we know about because of what someone saw – in this case, John, seeing it in a vision.

What John was seeing was also something that was meant to be something comforting and encouraging for his time, as it is to be for us today. The believers of John’s time were doubtless afraid because of being persecuted by the Roman Empire, and it was hard for them to see the bigger picture, and see that Jesus was still alive, and was going to bring them victory. John’s vision was both of Jesus reigning supreme on His throne, as well as being worshipped and praised. And really, especially today, that is what we also need: we need more of that kind of vision. Like John, and like the people to whom he originally wrote, we need to be able to see the bigger picture. We see a lot of disaster, with little hope. For example, we were told not long ago that we were out of the pandemic, but then were told that we were actually still in the pandemic. We hear reports and see images of the destruction and slaughter continue to take place in Ukraine, with seemingly no hope of an end to the war. We see prices going up at the grocery store and the gas pump. We hear and see conflicts in our society, in neighborhoods, and in families. Like the followers of Jesus to whom John was writing, it’s easy for us to focus only on what is happening right now, and think that we’re doomed: that whatever disaster we’re going through right now is going to be what our fate is, and nothing good is going to happen. We can’t let any of the things we are afraid of keep us from taking our eyes off of Jesus on His throne. Whenever we honor and praise Jesus, especially when it is difficult for us to do so, we are able to see the bigger picture; everything else loses its power and importance. Jesus, and Jesus alone, deserves our honor and praise. So whenever we are tempted to give into fear, we can honestly ask: why am I even honoring something that’s obviously hurting me, when there is someone I can be honoring instead – someone who wants to help, heal, and comfort me? We can pray, and ask Jesus, to help us, even when everything else overwhelms us, to see Him, and see Him where He actually is: victorious and almighty over all in heaven, but at the same time, here with us. He is not just far away on His throne, but He is here with each one of us, to help us with His almighty power. He, and He alone, is the solution to all the world’s problems, and our problems. In fact, whenever we are tempted to let fear take our eyes off of Jesus, we can say, along with all creatures who praise Jesus in Revelation 5:13: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!”. In fact, I encourage every one of you to look up Revelation 5:13 and write it down – or even put it on your phone. Keep it with you, and whenever you are facing a crisis, or feeling helpless in any way, read it to yourself, as a reminder of who the real power in this world is – your real power is Jesus Himself.

            Jesus also reminded His disciples of this in today’s Gospel reading. In the story, the disciples are going back to what they are familiar with: being fishermen. Now that Jesus is risen from the dead, they figure everything is already done. Jesus came what He said He would do, and so life can go back to normal, and they can take their eyes off of Jesus. Maybe even there is some doubt involved, because now that Jesus is risen they’re not sure what their purpose is any more. But then Jesus appears to them again, and shows them that He has something better for them now. He actually does this by doing the same thing He did when He called them in the first place: He made them catch so much fish that they couldn’t even haul it all in. He allowed them to catch enough fish for their families to be able to be supported while they now devoted themselves full time to going and telling people about Jesus. It was His way of reminding them that they now had to leave their old life behind, and come follow Him again. Nothing can ever be the same now that Jesus is risen. Nothing can also be the same for us. We may want to go back to how things used to be, and we may think things were better before certain things happened. We want to go back to what is familiar, what we’re comfortable with. But Jesus has something better for us. Because, as we talked about just a few moments ago, He reigns supreme, He is leading us into something even better. What that is still remains to be seen – but we can always trust that wherever Jesus leads us is where is best for us to go. We simply are to keep focused on Jesus, and honor Him as our true power.

We also see this with Paul, in today’s First Reading: how he too was taken from what was familiar for him, in this case, being zealous for his religion, and put in a different direction. The problem with Paul was that he was blind – he was blinded by what he thought was the truth, and what he thought he had to do to live out that truth. He thought that his purpose was to be angry at Christians, hate them, and persecute them. But then, Jesus had to remove his blindness by making him physically blind. Blinded in this case by appearing to him in a great light, and showing him that He, Jesus, was actually alive. But instead of trying to fight against Paul to destroy him, Jesus instead had compassion on him, and called him to follow him. Jesus was also able to use the talents Paul already had, especially his intellect and learning, and use them to accomplish His good purposes. Paul realized all this once his blindness had been healed, and that now life was never going to be the same for him either. He now realized that his purpose was to proclaim Jesus as the one true power, and that everyone was to honor Him alone.  

            So the question for today is, what is your focus on? Whatever you are honoring is what you are focusing on. Are you honoring fear, anger, or doubt, and what kind of power are you giving them? Remember who your real power is – Jesus, who reigns supreme. Ask Jesus to open your eyes today, to help you focus only on Him. Also, ask Jesus to take your focus off of anything which is keeping you from seeing and concentrating on Him. Trust that where He leads you when you keep your eyes on Him is where He wants you to go. When you do so, you are also able to accomplish your true purpose: following Jesus, and telling people about Him, just like Paul and the disciples. So keep your eyes focused on Jesus – and remember to praise and honor Him every day.

            Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.