Easter
1 John 1:1–2:2
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life- 2the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us- 3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
ESV 1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
"I won't believe He has risen from the dead unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands and place my hand into his side."
Jesus responded, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and put your hand into my side. Believe!"
Then, Thomas fell to his knees in worship: "My Lord and my God."
Thomas saw, he heard and he touched Jesus; the risen Jesus standing there in his risen body; the very same body that had been crucified on the cross, with all its scars and nail holes still present. The resurrected Jesus stood there with the disciples in the flesh. And where Jesus is, everything is OK. Even in the middle of a storm all is well: Jesus calms the storm. Even in the middle of hunger and famine all is well; Jesus provides food. Even in the midst of sickness and disease all is well; Jesus heals. Even under the control of demons, alcohol, and drugs all is well; Jesus frees from addictions and demons. Even in the face of death all is well; Jesus is the resurrection and the life. The presence of Jesus makes all the difference. For where Jesus is, no matter how bad the situation, how painful the suffering, how hopeless everything seems, there is hope, there is salvation, there is life.
The presence of God; dwelling with his people, is indeed the central focus of the people of God. For in the presence of God, there is heaven. The presence of God is the theme of the entire Bible. From the sin of Adam to Mount Sinai where God revealed himself to his people, to the Tabernacle where God traveled with his people through the wilderness, to Jerusalem where God lived with his people in the Temple, to the manger where God became a man; to the cross where God died for us; to Zion where we dwell with God forever in the Eternal City, the presence of God is life, salvation, and glory. God's presence is the center of life. It is life itself! As Paul exclaims: "For to me to live is Christ."
There in the upper room behind closed doors, Thomas and the disciples heard, saw and touched him. John later writes in our Epistle reading: "Concerning the Word of Life, that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands—that life was made manifest; and we have seen it and we proclaim to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us." That was the resurrected Jesus. That was God with them in bodily form. That was Emmanuel: God with us.
Is God present with us today? Jesus promised his disciples to be with them always until the end of the world. So let's talk about that presence for a moment. There are two questions we must answer: One, what does it mean to us that God is present? And two, how and where is God present with us?
First, what does it mean that God is present? We Lutherans like to talk about the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament. What we mean by that is that Jesus Christ is really here. We eat his real body and drink his real blood. It is not just some figure of speech, a metaphor, or symbol. It is the very body that was broken for us on the cross; the very blood he poured out for our forgiveness.
It is a gracious presence; which means he is present in grace, forgiveness and love. We are not talking here about the fact the God is everywhere; omnipresent. As creator and sustainer of the universe he is indeed in all places, holding the universe together, ruling over all creation. That is a presence of power, of sovereignty, where he rules by law and in his consuming holiness.
But what we are talking about is God's "gracious presence;" meaning his presence in grace and mercy. This gracious presence is where the Holy Spirit delivers to us the things Jesus earned for us on the cross. In God's gracious presence he pours out his forgiveness on us. He creates faith in us. He gives us a new birth, and new life, eternal life. He sanctifies and makes us holy, renewed in love for one another. In this gracious presence, God gives us himself, his entire being, just as Jesus sacrificed himself for us on the cross, so God pours his entire self into us.
This is a specific presence of grace. It is not everywhere. It is not with all people. It is not found in nature, in the cosmos, in the creation. It is in the specific locations at the specific times which God himself determines and through specific means which He has chosen. It is found only in his word and Sacraments. It is found only through faith.
Our sermon text today talks about this presence. When he is present, in fellowship with us, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So first and foremost, fellowship with God, being in God's presence, gives us forgiveness of our sins. We don't deserve it, we don't earn it, we don't do anything to get it, he gives it to us as a gift because Jesus paid the price we all deserve. Jesus suffered the punishment of death and hell as our substitute. His presence in grace bestows that forgiveness on us and where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life everlasting. If the wages of sin is death, and sin is washed away, then death is done away with. The very fact that Jesus rose from the dead declares that sin has been paid for and done away with.
The presence of God gives us new life. Our old life of sin and death have been done away and we are made new. In the presence of God is life and our lives are changed and sanctified. We are given new hearts which begin to love our neighbor and produce the fruits of righteousness. The presence of Jesus gives us freedom from sin and all that oppresses us. It frees us from the devil. Frees us from all the enslaves us. Frees us from addiction. Frees us from death. It sets us free to live for God, to praise and thank God, to glorify his holy name in our lives and by our obedience. It sets us free to live for others, to love others, to tell others the good news about forgiveness and life.
The gracious presence of God is the fountain of life. It is the very source of our lives. When we live in the presence of God we live life truly and fully. Where God is present there is grace, forgiveness and life! Where God is there is heaven! All we find anywhere else is death and decay; rot and sin. Enter a funeral home any day of the week and you will find a corpse and mourners, but enter a Church on Sunday morning and you will find sinners being washed and set free from their sin; made alive forevermore.
So now we come to the other question: How and where does God make himself present to us? The answer is in our first reading today. "The apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." Where is the grace of God found? Where the testimony of the Lord Jesus is. Where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed, there is grace; and not just grace, but "great grace." Likewise, Jesus said that in the Sacrament of the Altar, he gives us "his body" and "his blood." Jesus is bodily present in the sacrament. And in baptism we are joined to Christ in his death and resurrection. So there we have it! God's presence is found in the Word of God; in baptism; and in Communion. Where the Gospel is preached and the Sacraments administered, there is the presence of God. And where God is, there is heaven, there is "great grace": forgiveness of sins, eternal life, renewed hearts and lives, freedom from slavery and the power of sin.
Word and Sacrament: that is the worship service. The Worship service consists of two parts: word and sacrament. The worship service is where God comes to us in his grace and bestows upon us his forgiveness and eternal life. The worship service is the source of our life. It is where true life comes from. It is where our old man of sin is put to death with Jesus on the cross and where a new man within is raised with Jesus in his resurrection. Worship on Sunday morning is not just a custom, a nice thing to do, something to do when we don't have anything else to do. It is the source and fountain of our life. Our entire life flows from worship, not just today, not just this week, but forever and ever.
Too many people, even some of you sitting here this morning listening to this sermon, are not entirely sure you are going to heaven. If we were to go around and ask each of you if you are sure of heaven we would hear answers like, "I try hard, but I don't know if it is enough." "I want to but I can't seem to stop sinning." "I'm not sure if I am doing everything I should to go to heaven." "I'm a pretty good person, but how good is good enough?"
We would also get answers like, "I just don't feel the Spirit." "I don't see Jesus in the faces of the people." "I haven't really experienced God in my life." "I believe in Jesus, but I don't know if I have enough faith." "My faith is so weak."
People today want to "experience" God in their lives and feel God in their hearts. We want some experience of God to be assured we are saved. We long to feel like God loves us and feel that we are going to heaven. We want to do something, to feel something, to experience something to assure us that we are saved.
But God has given us something much better; a much more certain assurance. God says that He is present with us in Word and Sacrament. He says that where his word is proclaimed and the Sacraments are administered, there IS forgiveness of sins, there IS eternal life and renewal. Where Word and Sacrament are, God himself IS bodily present: there is heaven. You try to be good enough to go to heaven—I tell you, Jesus was already been good enough for you. You are not sure if you are doing all that you should to get into heaven—Jesus already did everything necessary. You don't feel the Spirit—the Spirit is present where the Word is preached and the Sacrament administered no matter whether you feel him or not. You haven't experienced God in your life—you eat his body and drink his blood; there is no greater experience of God possible. You don't feel close to God—in baptism you are united to Christ and he comes to dwell in you and you in him. How much closer can you get to God? Even if you don't feel it. It's not a feeling; it's a reality.
All these statements are promises of God in his Word and GOD DOES NOT LIE! Instead of waiting to feel saved, we already know we are saved because the Bible says so. It says that Jesus died for our sins and rose again on the third day and that he will raise us up at the Last Day. That promise is our certain and sure hope and assurance that we are indeed saved; we will indeed go to heaven.
Amen.