The Sermon for LWML Sunday
Romans 10:11–17; Luke 24:44–53
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Hoopeston, IL
October 6, 2013; Rev. James T. Batchelor
+ + +
This sermon is loosely based on the sermon provided for this Sunday by the LWML.
+ + +
In today’s Gospel, we heard Jesus speak to His Apostles and say, “You are my witnesses.” They are the witnesses who saw John baptize Jesus in the Jordan. They saw Jesus feed the 5,000. They heard Jesus teach. They saw Jesus heal. They even saw Jesus raise the dead. Although they fled in terror, they lived through the three days of Jesus suffering, dying, and rising. They knew from personal experience that Jesus was truly dead. Then they saw the risen Lord with their own eyes. They even saw the risen Lord ascend until a cloud took Him from their sight. These Apostles were witnesses to the work that Jesus did to save us from sin, death, and the power of the devil. They literally heard what He taught and saw what He did. They touched Him and He touched them.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus the faithful witness spoke to His disciples so that they could understand the Holy Scriptures He fulfilled. He told them why He came into the world, namely to suffer, die and rise from the dead to save us from sin, death and the devil. He promised to send the Holy Spirit so that they could bear witness of the things they had seen and heard. He instructed them to proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins in His name.
The Apostles that Jesus spoke to in today’s Gospel were faithful in their witness to the saving work of Jesus Christ. They not only proclaimed that witness with their mouths, but they also recorded that witness in written form … the written form that we still have today in our Bibles. As the Apostle John wrote in the beginning of his first epistle:[1 John 1:1–4] That 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.
Most of the Apostles bore witness to the truth of their teachings by dying for the words that they proclaimed. They witnessed to the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ with words from their mouths and blood from their veins. As they proclaimed repentance and the forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ, they also trained pastors. After the Apostles died, these pastors continued the work of the church to proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ. Faithful pastors continue to confess the witness of these Apostles as they proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins to their congregations in the name of Christ.
Christ Jesus our Lord continues to speak to us today. He continues to speak through the written witness of the Apostles, and He continues to speak through faithful pastors as they preach from the faithful witness of the Apostles. As the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write: [Romans 10:14–15] How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
As servants of Christ, faithful pastors must follow His instructions to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ. In order to preach repentance, the pastor must preach the law that terrifies. They must proclaim the holy life that God expects of His people. The law terrifies us as it reveals our sin and the punishment we deserve because of that sin. In the law we see our blatant and rebellious disregard for Christ’s life and teaching and our ego-driven rejection of His promises. It shows how deaf we are to Christ’s compassionate voice of forgiveness, life and salvation. It shows that even our best works are filthy sins compared to the righteous standard of God’s perfection.
Thankfully, though, our Lord also instructs pastors to proclaim the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins releases us from the vale of sin and death. It brings the peace of God that passes all understanding to us. The Good News is that Christ came into the world as the great witness to the Father’s abounding love for us. In that love, He came to suffer and die for our sin and rise again in order to free us from the bondage of sin and death. As repentance and forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in His Name, the promised Holy Spirit continues to call, gather, enlighten and sanctify people in the one true faith. He makes them part of the body of Christ that we may live with Him forever.
The good news that Jesus Christ has freed us from our slavery to sin is too good to keep to ourselves. As the Holy Spirit works faith in us, He also gives us a desire to confess our faith in the promises that we read in the good witness provided for us in the pages of Holy Scripture.
In today’s Gospel we heard Jesus speak to His apostles and say, “You are my witnesses.” The question is, “Can we also be witnesses for Jesus.” In the narrowest sense of the word “witness,” we cannot be witnesses to the saving work of Jesus Christ. We were born too late and in the wrong place. The Apostles lived in first century Israel. They physically heard what Jesus said. They physically saw what Jesus did. They touched the nail prints and put their hands in the wound of the spear. They are witnesses in the strictest sense of the term. We cannot be witnesses like that. We were not there.
Never the less, we can witness in the broader sense of the term because we have the witness of those Apostles and we can confess the truth contained in their words. The only way we can witness is to point to the eyewitness accounts contained within the pages of the Bible. We can use the words of the eyewitnesses to confess what we believe and why we believe it. In fact, the very words of the theme for today, “You are my witnesses …” come from the eyewitness accounts recorded in the Bible.
This morning, we are considering the variety of ways that our Lord Jesus Christ speaks to and works through the women of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. This group of women confessesthe truth of the eyewitness accounts contained in Holy Scripture and they support many other people who make this good confession as well. With their mites, they support the mission of those who confess the eyewitness accounts of the Apostles throughout the world. Through these confessions, the words of Jesus to His Apostles remain true:You are my witnesses.
In our witness, we confess the things that the Apostles saw, heard, and felt. We confess to the truth of God’s word that tells us that Jesus leads His disciples out of slavery into freedom as He leads His people out of death into life. We confess the truth that Jesus did His saving work as He died on the cross for our sin and rose from the dead so that we may live forever with Him. This is the salvation we confess to the world and to each other. This is the salvation revealed and delivered by the eyewitness account of the Bible.
Christ continues to lead His Church. He does this when He brings us tothe waters of Holy Baptism where we die to our sin and rise to newness of life. Buried with Him in our baptism, weare united with Him in His resurrection. As He gathers His people at His altar Christ gives us His body and blood to eat and to drink. Along with the forgiveness of sins, He also gives us the opportunity to [1 Corinthians 11:26]proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. As we live out the life of the church, we continue to fulfill the words Jesus spoke to His Apostles: You are my witnesses.
The Word of the eyewitnesses is fairly simple. When we confess our faith to others, we can say something like this: When I think about my life, I remember all the times I have failed. There are so many times that I should have done something and I didn’t do it. There have also been many times that I did something that I should not have done. The Bibles says those failures are sin. If God were absolutely fair, He would have to punish me for my sin, but He doesn’t. Instead, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus into this world to rescue me from my many sins. In a way that I can’t possibly understand, Jesus released me from the guilt of all my sins. In His great love, He took my sin and guilt into Himself and gave His perfection to me. He suffered and died in my place and now, even though I still sin every day, God declares me perfect for Jesus’ sake. Jesus Christ Himself has promised that I shall live forever with Him and I can trust that promise because Jesus rose from the dead. That is what the eyewitness testimony of the Bible says. That is what we confess when we are God’s witnesses.
The Word of God is food for the soul. When we are God’s witnesses we are just beggars telling other beggars where we found bread. We are sinners telling other sinners where there is forgiveness. We confess the Word of God and that Word points to Jesus who takes away all our sins. When we confess the Words of the eyewitnesses, we continue to fulfill the word Jesus spoke to His Apostles: You are my witnesses. Amen
Last printed 10/3/2013 10:09:00 AMPage 1 of 3
C:\Users\J T Batchelor\Documents\Church Services\2013 Services\2013-07 Common\20131006 Pentecost 19 LWML (Proper 22 C)\20131006 Manuscript, LWML Sunday.doc