Easter 2, Series A Rev. Darrell Debowey Immanuel Lutheran Church, Springfield, IL April 27, 2014 Acts 5:29-42: 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. 33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God! So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Transformed THE TEXT: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior. The text for today s message is the reading from Acts, chapter 5 but the message draws from all the readings. INTRODUCTION The apostle Paul writes in Romans chapter 12 (vv 1-2): I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the Page 1
renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Today s readings, this Second Sunday of Easter, are all about transformation no longer being conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewal of your mind. This transformation is possible because Jesus has risen from the dead. THE RESURRECTION IS ALL ABOUT TRANFORMATION I The examples of transformation in our readings. When Jesus rose from the dead, everything changed. His followers changed, people changed, the world changed. We see evidence of this transformation in today s readings from Holy Scripture. In the reading from the Acts, we see transformation evident in the disciples as they go from man-fearers before the resurrection to God-fearers after the resurrection. Before the resurrection, Peter denied Jesus three times. And then the disciples hid for fear of the Jews. They were afraid that what happened to Jesus might happen to them. But after the resurrection, when they are told by the Sanhedrin to stop teaching in the name of Jesus, Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. This is the same group of Jews that filled them with fear before the resurrection, but after the resurrection they boldly confess Christ and Him crucified. And there s more evidence of their transformation the disciples rejoice that they were Page 2
worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name of Jesus. And they keep on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ in the Temple and from house to house. In the Gospel reading, Thomas is transformed by the resurrection. He goes from unbelieving and unyielding skeptic before the living Christ is revealed to him I will never believe to confessing and worshiping believer after he sees the living Christ My Lord and my God. The resurrection transformed unbelievers into believers because it validated everything Christ said and did and it proved that He is who He said He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who has come into the world to suffer and die for sin. When He appeared to His fear-filled disciples on the evening of His resurrection, Jesus gave them His peace He forgave them of their sins and He gave them the Holy Spirit Jesus ordained them for the purpose of proclaiming the Gospel of forgiveness. II The examples of transformation in you, God s people. The Epistle reading is all about the transformation that the Lord has worked in you: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Like the disciples, you have been transformed born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through baptism and the forgiveness of sins, you have been transformed from sinner to saint not some super duper do gooder, but one who is made holy by the forgiveness of sins and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Page 3
And like the disciples, you have been transformed by the living Christ from fear of man which is expressed in disobedience to God to fear of God which is expressed in love and obedience to God. So often that s why we disobey God we re afraid of the earthly consequences the criticism of our neighbors the ridicule of colleagues if we follow Jesus a little too closely. That s why, though we are saints we are still sinners who daily need the grace and forgiveness, the help and encouragement of Jesus which He so richly gives in His Word and Sacrament. Encouragement like this from our Epistle reading: In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. III Living Holy Lives as Transformed people. In our catechetical review, there is another transformation that is evident. You ve been transformed from slaves of satan and sin to children of God. If the resurrection of Christ hadn t occurred, you d still be in your trespasses and sins, you d still be slaves of satan like the rest of the world. But you have been transformed. God is your Father, whom you can approach just as easily as your father on earth even more so since your heavenly Father s love is perfect you never have to worry about God being in a bad mood or too busy to listen to you. As God s children, you ve been transformed from man-fearers to God-fearers. You now honor God s name by living Holy lives according to His Word. Yet, in this world of sin, this is an enormous challenge, so we pray with Luther: Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven! Which leads us to this question: How do you live holy lives according to His Word? By obeying God, not men. Just because we are blessed to know God s will, and just because we are blessed to know Page 4
and understand the consequences of sin, doesn t mean we re perfect or holier than others. The world says, Who are you to judge? Though we ve been transformed in our thinking and living by the Gospel of the Resurrection, Christians are and remain sinners, but that doesn t mean we don t know the will of God and the consequence of sin. Certainly, our sinful choices undermine the Word of God and or testimony of Christ, but the world still needs to know that transgressing God s Laws is never a neutral there are always consequences. We love our neighbors and honor God s name by speaking God s Word of truth. Embracing marriage diversity may be culturally popular, but the impact of human beings, families, and God s institution of marriage will be disastrous. Our government calls abortion a good thing, yet 55 million people have been killed by abortion in this country alone and men and women suffer tremendous guilt after abortions. We speak God s truth and love for this reason: because we love people. Because God has transformed us, we can t remain silent in the face of injustice and sin. We must speak because the love of God compels us for the love of humanity, we must obey God rather than men. If the disciples remained afraid of men, there would be no Church today you wouldn t know or believe in Jesus. Yet, the disciples were sinners, weren t they? That didn t stop them from calling on sinners to repent. John the Baptist was a sinner, but that didn t stop him from speaking God s Word regarding Herod s adulterous lifestyle. The apostle Paul was a sinner, but that didn t stop him from condemning sin and warning his fellow Christians about their sinful choices. When you speak from the Word of God, it isn t you who speaks it is God who speaks through you it isn t you who judge the sinner it isn t God. And it isn t you who saves the sinner it s God. That s why a pastor can bang his thumb on Tuesday and take God s name in vain, and then Page 5
tell you it s a sin on Sunday. It s not because he s a hypocrite we re all hypocrites, saying one thing and doing another it s because he s a normal, sinning Christian. But when he speaks the Word of God, he speaks with God s authority. But human hearts can t be transformed with the Law. It only condemns. The Word that we all need to speak is the Gospel. And the world, the devil and our sinful natures even more vigorously resist the Gospel, for the Gospel has the power to save. It was the Good News of the resurrection that transformed the disciples. It was Jesus absolution behind those locked doors that transformed the disciples. It was Jesus entrusting these men with laying the foundation of the Church that transformed them it was the Gospel that changed them. CONCLUSION In his book, Grace Upon Grace, Rev. Dr. John Kleinig talks about the cosmic struggle that we are now involved in as God s transformed people. As God s transformed people, we are called to stand with God in His battle against the spiritual forces of darkness. Dr. Kleinig writes (see pages 256 and 260). This is where obedience to God matters this is where theology is truly practiced. Here in the Divine Service, faith is learned but where God has put you in the world, there faith is practiced. There you teach and influence others there you honor the name of God in your vocations as fathers, mothers, grandparents, sons and daughters, students, teachers, employers, employees, friends, and voters. There, you put your transformed lives as Children of God into practice. There in your vocation, you demonstrate your faith in Christ and your obedience to God s will there s where you show what you truly believe. There is where you confess Christ before men. You obey God and not men because of the transforming power of the resurrection. As Page 6
God s children, your Honor God s name by obeying Him and you obey God and not men because, for the sake of Jesus Christ, you love both God and men. In Jesus name, Amen. Alleluia! Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Page 7