“Nothing Except Jesus Christ”
February 5, 2023
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
I’ve been starting to notice something with the funerals we’ve had the last few times, particularly with Bob Colucci, Herb Erisman, and yesterday, Martha Erisman. That is that they’re really starting to feel like not so much St. Andrew funerals, or even just Lutheran funerals, but real community gatherings. They’ve been times when a large and diverse group of people from our community have been able to get together both to remember Bob, Herb, Martha, and others we’ve said our earthly farewells to, and also to gather and enjoy each other’s company. They’ve also been occasions to catch up with people, especially family members, we haven’t seen in a while, either because they’ve moved out of state, or just haven’t had a chance to come around for a long time. Either way, it’s been nice that such times have been opportunities for many of us just to gather together.
What it’s also a reminder of is an even deeper truth, of what we all have in common: we believe in Jesus and follow Him. Even though we have specific church families we belong to, we still all belong to one large Church family: the family of Jesus. When we get together for funerals, that’s our main focus, what we remember: that because of Jesus, we are headed for eternal life, and it doesn’t matter which church we belong to, we’re all going to the same place, to live with Jesus. We are also all saved in the same way: by the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are also given the same promise that this is true by the same Baptism, done in water in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We can all learn from and be enriched by each other. And, when we have opportunities to take Communion together, as we do at least every August at the firehouse, we are reminded again of our one faith, in one Jesus, in one Savior, as part of one family, with one purpose. And that purpose is to make sure Jesus stays an important part of our community.
Well, what does that mean? Isn’t Jesus here with us all the time? Isn’t He always a part of where we live? Well, yes, but the problem is, there have been a lot of things that have caused us to forget that. Especially for the past few years, it’s been like we’ve been in a dark room, stumbling around, trying to find our way, looking for some kind of purpose or meaning, or just any kind of direction. Especially as a lot of our purpose changed, as well as how we live, what we’ve taken for granted, and we’ve been trying to keep moving forward in life, even though way too much of life has changed. Fortunately, we’ve had glimmers of light which have shone into the room every so often, as we’ve been reminded that Jesus has still been with us and has been guiding us every step of the way. Yet we’ve still been succumbing to darkness, focusing on uncertainty and frustration. We’ve also been assuming that there’s no solution, that we have to be stuck where we are forever, and we’ve been focusing on everything that could go wrong, instead of being able to hope and dream about everything that could go right. We’ve been blinded by darkness.
But now, it’s time for us to realize what we’ve been living with, and say, “No, I don’t want to be stuck in the darkness any more! That’s not all there is, there’s got to be more!” And yes, there is more. Anything that’s saying we’re stuck in darkness is a lie. And if we’ve been believing that there’s no hope because nothing’s ever going to be the same as it was before, we’ve been living a lie. So it’s time for us to turn the lights back on and see the truth of how things really are. We’ve been blind for far too long: now it’s time for us to see what Jesus wants us to see – Himself. He is still with us, even right here among us right now. He will remind us of that in just a few minutes as we take Communion, where His body and blood is especially really and truly present with us.
And, as Paul reminds us in today’s Second Reading, all we need is just simple reminders that Jesus is here. Which the Holy Spirit gives us every single day – if we recognize them and accept them. Which means we have to be expecting Jesus to do something, even in the midst of the impossible. But that means believing: believing that Jesus is real, He is all-powerful, and He can do anything. Our faith rests not only on Jesus’ words, but even more importantly on His power.
Also in today’s Second Reading, Paul says that His messages weren’t based on wise or persuasive words, but simply talking about Jesus. And I personally believe that’s all preaching really needs to be – constantly and consistently talking about Jesus and letting the power of Jesus come through the words. Believe it or not, I don’t believe sermons have to be commentaries on everything going on in the world. While we certainly need to be aware of things, and celebrate that God is still at work even in the midst of world events, the authority with which we are given to speak is something different. I’m going to be straight up and say that, even though I try to keep informed about a lot of things, there are certain issues I really have no valid authority to speak about, especially from the pulpit. I’m not a trained or qualified medical professional, scientist, mental health counselor, psychologist, sociologist, politician, political scientist, economist, ethicist, lawyer, law enforcement officer, educator, community organizer, cultural commentator, sports commentator, or even academic theologian. We have plenty of people right here in our own church family with those particular kinds of expertise, and I would encourage us to use the rich resources we have with each other right here in our congregation. Because if I were to speak about any particular issue of the day, and even if I came prepared with pages of research, statistics, quotations from experts, even Bible verses, it would ultimately just be my own opinion and not necessarily common wisdom. While, admittedly, such passages as our reading from Isaiah encourage us to set the oppressed free, break every yoke, share food with the hungry, provide the homeless with shelter, clothe the naked, and provide for our relatives, we do so out of response to God’s love for us and His desire to have all people cared for, and not to advance a political or social agenda. It is also a reminder to us, as we talked about last week, that our faith, our Christian faith, is meant to be lived and expressed outside of our worship services and in our everyday lives with others – and that we are commanded to love as we are loved; more about that in a minute. But to try to bring in some sort of political vision would also be trying to lay down laws or commandments which God has neither permitted nor desired, and would be taking the focus off of Jesus and obscuring, or making dark, the true purpose of a sermon – and, ultimately, emptying the sermon of God’s power. But there is something I can say with authority, and which all of us, because we are Christians, can also say with absolute certainty, to each other and to everyone in our community:
Jesus loves you and so do I. And really, that’s all we need to say to anyone. Why can I, or any one of us, say that? Because Jesus has shown me. Yes, I’ve been told it over and over since the day I was born, but it’s especially been over the past few years, as I’ve gone through several different personal struggles. I’ve had my own periods of darkness, stumbling around trying to find my way, but Jesus has come through every time, turned on the light, and has shown me where to go and what to do. Which He’s done for many of us at different times. So, my authority, and our authority, comes not from expert knowledge or opinion, but from experience. Jesus is real for me, and for us, because He has shown Himself to be real. The kind of love He has shown us has been to reach out, rescue us, put us back in the direction we need to go, and keep on walking with us.
That’s the promise God has given us all along, even before Jesus came into the world: in Isaiah 58:9, He says, “Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: ‘Here am I.’” Jesus has promised to be there for us at all times, and we are to be there for others as He is for us. In fact, what Jesus means when He says that He came to complete the law and the prophets is that He fulfills both the commands made by the law and the promises made by the prophets. He obeyed the commandments perfectly, offering Himself as a sacrifice to take our sins away, then rising again, to give us the eternal life we could not achieve on our own, without Him. God had promised to come to save and help His people, and the whole world, through the prophets. And Jesus is also right: the commandments have not been nullified, because, as He Himself says later on, the very essence of the law is love: we love God, and our neighbors as we love ourselves.
So we need to be the light. We need to make things clear and obvious again, and we do so not through what we say, but what we do. Such things as, again Isaiah encourages today, making sure that those who need special help receive it from us, back up with concrete action what we tell people: Jesus loves you and so do I. We are to be love in action, letting others see our good deeds, so they can know who God is, believe in Him, and be changed by Him. We are salt: just as salt makes certain foods tastier and easier to swallow, our actions of love make God’s Word and promises easier to believe and accept. Whenever we do good by showing love, help, and acceptance to someone, we are the demonstration of the Spirit’s power, because actions are a greater persuasion than words. So let’s reclaim our true purpose – following only Jesus, turning on the light, and being the light for everyone!
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
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