May 26, 2024

 Sermon for 05.19.24 

 Jesus’ Star Witness

  By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI

John 15:26-27 26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I  will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth,  who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also are going to testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.” John 16: 4-11b 4 But I have told  you these things so that when their time comes, you  may remember that I told them to you. I did not tell  you these things from the beginning, because I was  with you. 5 “But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Yet  because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your  heart. 7 Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I  go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But  if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world  about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment: 9 about sin, because  they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to  the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 about judgment, because the  ruler of this world has been condemned. 

Whether we like it or not, we are hearing a lot, maybe too much, about  testimony these days. The Donald Trump trial is fodder for the newscasts  as they talk about the courtroom testimony of Stormy Daniels, or Michael  Cohen. Analysts dissect what was said. And defense lawyers claim the  testimony wasn’t the truth. 

Testify–that’s legal language, courtroom language. And testifying in a  courtroom is about speaking and confessing what is true. That’s what’s  supposed to happen in a court of law. 

So when Jesus was about to leave his disciples through his death and  ascension, he told them he would send one who would testify to them,  and through them to the world. He would testify the truth about Jesus.  The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ Star Witness.  

That is the Holy Spirit’s job, if you will, to shine the light on Jesus, to  glorify Christ. Sometimes we might wonder why the Bible doesn’t say too  much about the Holy Spirit, certainly not nearly as much as we read  about Jesus. But actually that is just fine with the Holy Spirit. He wants  Jesus to get that kind of attention. The Holy Spirit wants people to look  upon Jesus and be saved.

Think of it this way: Your car is out somewhere in a big parking lot. But  it is night, it is dark, and you do not know where to your car is. So the  security guard comes alongside you, with a flashlight, and leads you to  your car, shining the light on it, not on himself. So you see the car, but  you do not notice the person holding the flashlight, even though you  couldn’t have found the car without the person holding the flashlight. 

That is how the Holy Spirit works. We do not notice him much, but all  the while he is pointing the flashlight at Jesus, so we can see our Savior  clearly and find him, so to speak. As we say in the Catechism: “I believe  

that I cannot by my own reason strength believe in Jesus Christ, my  Lord, or come to him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel.” The Holy Spirit will guide us into all the truth about our Savior.  

We live in a world today where nobody seems to be sure that there is  such a thing as truth. Truth, we are told, is whatever happens to be true  for you. But that is all so subjective and shaky and uncertain. Yet there is  such a thing as absolute truth. Truth is what God says in his Word. That is what we can be sure of.  

So if you want to know how things really stand between God and man; if  you want to know what is right and wrong in this world from God’s  perspective, which is the only one that counts; if you want to know the  things that are to come, where this world is headed–then the one place to  find that out is in God’s Word. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, will guide you  into that truth. He will open the Scriptures for you. As you grow in the  grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, as you continue to come to  church and Bible class and grow in your understanding of God’s Word, it  will be the Holy Spirit, the Counsellor, who will be guiding you into all  the truth. 

It was that way for the disciples. And so it is and will be for us also. The  Holy Spirit is with us. The Holy Spirit will go with us, throughout our  lives, to keep us in the Christian faith, to guard and guide us, to sanctify  us and help us grow as Christians. The same Holy Spirit, whom Christ  poured out on the church on the Day of Pentecost, was given to each one  of us on the day of our baptism. That was our own personal Pentecost. The Holy Spirit will go with you, as your Helper, the rest of the way on  your Christian journey.  

And so He will enable us to be witnesses as well. Not just repeating  hearsay but repeating the truth. He will give us the words of truth to  speak. It is not about us and our abilities. The Spirit does not do his work  because we speak, but through our speaking. The Spirit, working  through the truth of the Word, never fails to accomplish God’s will! 

 Maybe you are thinking, “If God empowered me with tornado sounds, a  flame on my head, and the ability to speak fluent foreign languages,  people would probably let me tell them about Jesus too, but I have got  nothing like that.” No! You have everything! Those signs did nothing but  signal the arrival of the powerful, transformational Holy Spirit who did  all the converting, empowering, and emboldening. God fills you with the  exact same Spirit, to equip and empower us for our purpose—to  faithfully, and fearlessly proclaim the resurrected Christ to the  unbelieving world. We simply “proclaim the wonders of God” and the  Spirit does the rest! It is about the Spirit testifying to the truth through  us. 

But why us? Why did not God use angels instead? I mean, they were  pretty top notch at Christmas and Easter! Why would God choose fearful,  stumbling messengers who so often quit, grow apathetic, or lose courage?  Why sinful messengers like us and the Apostles to share Jesus with the  unbelieving world? 

Why us? Because we are living the message we proclaim! Because we have felt the sting as the Spirit crushes us with our failures to keep God’s  law. Because we have felt the utter joy of the gospel as the Spirit reminds  us that our salvation and forgiveness are certain through faith in Jesus.  Because we have lived a life of hatred and blind ignorance towards God,  only to have the Spirit shatter our stony, unbelieving hearts and giving us  spiritual sight through hearts of faith that fully grasp God’s perfect love  for the world in Christ. Because only people who know the pain of  starvation can fully appreciate being fed, and the joy of pointing others to  the one who can fill them. 

And the Holy Spirit will convict the world about sin, as Jesus said,  “because they do not believe in me.” The Catechism teaches us to look to  the 10 Commandments as the mirror which shows us our sins. (Romans  3:20) Why didn’t he say “because they do not obey the 10  Commandments”? Two reasons. Is the difference between Christians and  everyone else that Christians obey the Law and everyone else does not?  No. The difference is not obedience vs disobedience; it is faith vs.  unbelief. The second reason is that humans are very skilled at distorting  God’s Law. But the Holy Spirit shows us Jesus so that we see the truth  about sin. God is so serious about sin that he crucified his own Son to pay  for it. The truth about sin is that a person either believes Jesus paid for it  on the cross or he/she will spend eternity in hell paying for it. 

The Holy Spirit will convict the world about righteousness. Whenever the  world tries to minimize the severity of sin it simultaneously replaces  God’s standard for righteousness with its own standard. The Holy Spirit defends the truth that we are to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is  perfect (Matthew 5:48) and the result: that no one will be declared  righteous in God’s sight by observing the law. (Romans 3:20) 

And so He will convict the world…about judgment, because the ruler of  this world has been judged. Jesus called Satan the prince of this world  (John 12:31) meaning that most of this world’s institutions, ideals and  

philosophies are under his influence. He rebelled against God and he  leads the world to do the same. He tempts us to live according to our  wants, feelings, and desires – instead of according to God’s holy will. And  he defends it by lying that there is no judgment by God. But the Holy  Spirit testifies that this is a damnable lie – and the evidence is that Satan  has already been judged. He has lost the war. His eternal fate in hell is  sealed. What God vowed to Satan in the Garden of Eden: he will crush  your head and you will strike his heel (Genesis 3:15) was accomplished by  Christ on the cross. So that we can sing with Luther: this world’s prince  may still, scowl fierce as he will, he can harm us none. He’s judged; the  deed is done! One little word can fell him. (CW 863:3)  

Satan has been defeated and damned to hell for all eternity and all who  believe his lies will suffer the same fate. That’s a terrifying thought. But  you don’t have to be afraid because Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to  guard and keep you from Satan’s lies with the Gospel truth that because  Jesus was condemned in your place there is now no condemnation for  those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) That is the truth about  judgment. 

Pentecost is the promise that today someone is standing with you  whispering in your ear, knocking at the door of your heart, and taking  you by the hand. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are drawn closer to  Jesus. When the Church in conflict He shows us the truth of the word. When suffering takes our words away, the Spirit continues to speak for us  (Romans 8:26). He gives us the very words to testify about him. When  we feel lost in the world, the Spirit lives in our hearts reminding us that  we are the children of God (Galatians 4:6). The Spirit speaks to us  through the Scriptures, brings life through the water and the Word, and  gathers us together around the table of Jesus where we remember Him  and receive Him in His body and blood. 

Thank God for the Holy Spirit and his work of testifying to the saving  truth of Christ. Amen.


April 14, 2024

The Resurrection Means God’s Light is Our Delight 

 By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI

1 John 1:5–2:2 –This is the message we heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him but still walk in darkness, we are lying and do not put the truth into practice. 7 But if we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus  Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we  deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is  faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all  unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him out to be  a liar, and his Word is not in us…. My children, I write these things to you  so that you will not sin. If anyone does sin, we have an Advocate before  the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice  for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the entire world. 

This past Monday, parts of the United States were able to witness an  awe-inspiring sight – the total eclipse of the sun. Isn’t it amazing that the  universe is laid out so perfectly that we can calculate the exact time down  to the place, day, and minute that such phenomena occur? That could not happen if the universe was just a random accident. It is another proof of  the divine majesty of the Creator. By the way, the next full solar eclipse  will come right over mid-Michigan … in the year 2205. I’m keeping my  eclipse glasses. How about you? 

People travelled from all over the United States and the world to see the awe-inspiring sight of moving from daylight into darkness. The birds  stop singing. The temperature drops. And there is an eeriness that falls  upon the land. Then as the moon keeps moving, light begins to shine  again and warmth, and life begins to stir from its unnatural sleep. 

Most of these folks, however, miss the real darkness and the real light  they should be paying attention to.  

How can some not see the darkness in this world? The violence?  Shootings in our schools, threats of terror, bombings, wars? Do we not  see the collapse of the family and the embrace of an “anything goes”  sexuality? Do not we witness a world where neighbor has turned on neighbor for even the most foolish of reasons, including that they belong  to the “wrong” political party. Many of you know of someone who  wrestles with a personal darkness. Drugs, porn, alcohol, depression?  There is darkness out there! But before we get too caught up in the  darkness out there in the world, let us remember the darkness that is in  here, in us. 

That darkness is our own sin, our own failure to live up to God’s  standard. This is not just an occasional eclipse of God’s will. It is  continual darkness trying to obscure the light of God’s will. At times we  may even embrace it. We embrace the idea of getting even with someone  who has wronged us. We willingly gossip and spread the rumors we have heard. We let our eyes feast on the images that lead us into sexual sins of  thought and deed. We turn our backs on God’s expressed will so that we  can do what we want.  

It is death that shows us that there is darkness within us. Death is proof  that we are not perfect, that salvation is not something we can obtain on  our own. That darkness points us to a need for light.  

The resurrection of Jesus proves that Jesus is the light we need. God’s  light is our delight. 

This light John writes about is not simply some warm, fuzzy feeling. It is the light of God’s glory – glory that shows itself in diverse ways at various  times. In the Old Testament, God would reveal his glory in flames and  smoke. In the New Testament God’s glory is seen in Jesus. Today we see  that glory in His word and sacraments.  

God is light. I think John chose the word light because it carries a  positive connotation. Light helps you avoid danger. When you walk in  darkness, you may stumble over an obstacle, or fall off a cliff or down the  stairs, or worse. Darkness is full of threat and fear. But light changes all  that. It exposes dangers and frees you from fear. It is full of hope and  promise.  

This is the gift that God gave to each of us. He looked at us and saw how  broken and how lost we were in the darkness of sin. He saw how sin  eclipsed the relationship He wanted to have with us. He saw the shadow  of death that hung over us all…and he loved us. He loved you. He came  into our world with a bright beaming light and placed it in a manger.  That light, Jesus, then lived among us, he was what you and I could not  be, he was perfect, he never sinned. He did what you and I could never  do, he offered his life as a sacrifice for all sin, everyone’s. He did this to  save you and me from darkness, from death, and from hell. This is the  light we needed. This is the Savior we still need. He shines upon us lighting the way, being our guide in the darkness leading us home to be  with him always, forever, in heaven. 

But not everyone wants God’s light to illumine their sin. Satan works  hard to get people to sluff off sin as a joke, narrowminded, outdated  thinking or the way the church controls simple minded people. Scripture  says they hide their sins in darkness because it would shame them if they  did them in the light. 

But John writes in our text: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive  ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  

For most of us saying we have no sin is not our problem. God’s light has  revealed our sin, and we admit it. Yet our problem may be that we tend to  generalize our sinfulness. “I’m a sinner, forgive me.” But do we honestly  look at our specific thoughts, our specific actions, and specific words and  compare them to God’s law? We admit we are generalized sinners. But  our sin tries to eclipse that we are also specific sinners.  

But does not John also write here, “My little children, I am writing these  things to you so that you may not sin.” We know not only that we have  sinned, but will still sin today, tomorrow and for however long our Lord  allows us to live in this broken world. The mark of the saint is not  sinlessness but sin-consciousness! In this life we never get beyond the  awareness of remaining sin. Therefore one of the great signs of maturity  in Christ is a deep and abiding awareness of one’s brokenness in sin. 

Yet no one who remains united in fellowship with Him—deliberately,  knowingly, and habitually practices sin. A believer will struggle with sin  and sometimes give in, but giving in to sin is no longer the norm. As we  grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord we are growing in holy  living. The light returns daily in our lives through repentance. As the  Spirit leads us, we will walk increasingly in the light of God’s word.  

Only through that awareness can we find the cure, the light that shines  into our hearts. Not only to show our sin, but to lighten us with God’s  grace, mercy, and peace. God’s light is also His love. A love that  transcends our understanding. A love that knows no limits or conditions.  The love of God shines the light of his forgiveness into our hearts.  

And when we do sin, through faith in him, Jesus is our Advocate, who  does speak in our defense. He does not claim that we are innocent of the  charges against us. Rather He declares that He has appeased the eternal  wrath of God by becoming the sinner for us and being punished with our  deserved punishment. He paid our debt. 

Think of sin as snow that falls in April. In a day or two the powerful sun  melts it, and it disappears! The powerful Word of God assures us that  Jesus paid for our sins in full. In Christ’s forgiveness, God no longer sees  our sin. The Son has taken them away. As Christians, God sees us as  saints through Christ’s perfect life no matter what we do! What great  news this is for us! 

So, we daily fight against our sins in Christ’s strength! How do we get  that strength? John wrote, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we  have fellowship with one another…” (v.7) John pictures Christians  gathering together around the Light of God’s Word. If a group of people  are camping on a cold April day and someone lights a large campfire, it  does not take long for everyone to gather to it to get warm. We gather together here around the light of Jesus to warm ourselves and each other  in His love.  

Miraculously, the light of Christ is enlarging God’s kingdom. We see it in  baptism. It happens as you listen to God’s Word and take it to heart. We  reflect his light as we patiently wait for the Lord’s deliverance in dark and  trying times. Sometimes sin will try to eclipse the light of God. But it will  not happen. God’s light keeps shining and breaks through the darkness  with the aura of his grace and mercy.  

As extraordinary as an eclipse is, it is simply the natural world behaving  in the way the one and only God who created it set it up to behave. But I  think anything that can give us a little jaw-dropping awe and wonder to  stop us in our tracks — to quiet the din and buzz of everyday busyness — can be a terrific opportunity to reflect on God’s grandeur. 

God’s light is our delight. The grandeur of God’s light causes us to quiet  the din and buzz of everyday busyness and so we say with the psalmist: 

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Set this glory of yours above the heavens. (v.1) 

Amen


April 7, 2024

Proofs to Confirm our Faith

 By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI

John 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together behind locked doors because of their fear of the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.” 22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whenever you forgive  people’s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not  forgiven.” 24 But Thomas, one of the Twelve, the one called the Twin, was not  with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have  seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands,  and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will  never believe.” 26After eight days, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas  was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among  them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger  here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not  continue to doubt, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my  God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed.  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Jesus, in the  presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written in  this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,  the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 

There are times that we need a boost of confidence and a lone voice rings  out to give you that boost. Perhaps it is when we are standing at the free  throw line in basketball and your team needs only one point to win the  game. And you hear the coach shout from the sideline, “You can do it!”  Or when you are facing the congregation on your confirmation to give  witness to your faith and you think you are going to fail. But then the  pastor says “you got this!” Or maybe when you have heard that a dear  friend was seriously ill and you give them a call just to hear their voice to  regain your confidence that they will be alright.  

On this Second Sunday of Easter, the Risen Lord Jesus comes to you and  to me to confirm our faith. That’s confirmation we all need. For you four  young adults about to be confirmed, you have been listening to Jesus’  voice these past years in Sunday School and confirmation instruction.  Jesus was speaking to you through the voice of your teachers and through my voice. He was confirming that your faith isn’t a matter of  opinion but God’s revelation. He was confirming that what you are  confessing this morning isn’t a matter of your choice, but God’s will.  

This is what we read in this morning’s Gospel. After Mary and the other  women told Jesus’ disciples they had seen the Lord, the disciples did not  really believe. By Sunday evening the disciples are behind locked doors huddled in fear. This is the Church at its absolute worst. Hunkered down,  huddled together, letting fear rather than faith control their every thought and action. 

Then suddenly, Jesus comes and stands among them. It’s Jesus who  speaks the first word. And just as was the case at the sound of God’s voice  in creation, the sound of Jesus’ voice creates something wonderful and  new: “Peace be with you,” he says (v 19). 

This is not a wish or a hope. It is his gift to them. This was the whole  point of what Jesus had just been through. Jesus’ death on the cross was  to reestablish the peace between God and man that had been shattered when we first sinned. Sin will always stand as separation, conflict, between two parties. In sin, we live for ourselves, not for the other. In sin,  we cannot be in harmony, gladly yielding for the sake of others. In sin, we  could never be with God, because his holiness cannot be in relationship  with unholiness. But by taking our sin to the cross, Christ removed the  separation and reconciled us to God, bringing us back into peace with  him. 

The whole scene repeats a week later when Thomas, at last, is with the disciples. He speaks the same word. “Peace be with you.” Rather than  scolding, Jesus encourages Thomas to touch and see the wounds. “Do not  disbelieve, but believe” (v 27). 

Even though two thousand years have passed since that first Easter evening, the church still struggles to get out from behind locked doors and into the world. The fear that kept the first apostles locked up is as  crippling in the twenty-first century as it was in the first century.  

You young adults have lived in relative safety until now. Soon you will  move into high school and college and later the working world. You will  be confronted by those who think Christianity is silly or narrow minded.  You will be encouraged to open your minds to new ways of thinking, new  morality, a new way of living. Some will be subtle, and some will be  forceful, even violent. Fear can make you huddle behind the closed doors  of not speaking up or even giving in.  

For example: A while back there was an article in which a Florida State  University professor claimed that Jesus did not walk on water as the Bible maintains. Rather he speculated that some mysterious  meteorological phenomena caused the Sea of Galilee to freeze over so  Jesus actually walked on ice. Nothing miraculous about that! Would you  have the confidence to stand up to a university professor and tell him  that he’s wrong? Would your children? Your grandchildren? 

Example number two: Have you ever heard of the “Gospel of Judas”?  The “Gospel of Judas” was written long after Judas ended his own life  after his betrayal of Jesus. This document contends that Jesus told Judas  to betray Him as a part of some clandestine scheme to “manipulate” the  Old Testament Messianic prophecies to make it look like He was the  fulfillment of those prophecies. Would you have the confidence to stand  up and say that’s why the book of Judas was discovered in a garbage  dump, because that’s where it belongs? 

The irony of the disciples’ locked doors is that they weren’t really keeping  out the soldiers. The One they were locking out was Jesus. They locked  out the word he had so clearly spoken to them about dying and rising  again. And in locking out that word, they locked out Jesus. When fear  becomes our focus, we fall into the same trap; we lock out the Lord, who  time and again tells his Church, “Do not be afraid!” 

Jesus will have none of it! And so, he comes and stands among them and  among us and speaks words that brings the very thing they say: “Peace be with you.” “Peace, your sin is forgiven!” “Do not fear the world. I have  overcome the world. Peace be with you.” 

That word comes to you and me today, with exactly the same power as it  came to those first disciples on the first Easter and to Thomas a week later. With his resurrection, Jesus barges through our self-made doors  that don’t provide us the peace and security we thought they would.  Jesus gives us what we most desperately need, but have only failed to  find on our own – peace; true, lasting, blood bought peace with God. The  peace of Easter is the peace to know that because Jesus lives, the holy  God is not an angry ogre waiting to squash you into hell forever – because Jesus has paid the debt of your sin. The peace of Easter is to  know that because Jesus lives, you don’t have to be afraid of that day  when it’s you who’s lying in the casket – because Jesus has defeated your  death with his resurrection. The peace of Easter is to know that the  anxiety and the worry and the fear that drain joy from your life, peace  from your heart, and sleep from your eyes – to know that all of those  pressing concerns that seem to smack you in the face as soon as you wake  up aren’t the final word. Instead, with his resurrection, Jesus promises,  Peace be with you! The peace of Easter is to know that Jesus lives, and he  is alive for me. 

This peace is for all of us even if we ran away from Jesus like the  disciples, if we denied him like Peter, if we doubted him like Thomas.  And we all have at times. Perhaps more than we want to admit. Jesus  speaks his reassuring words of peace to even us. 

Jesus spoke his peace to us in the water of our Baptism, where we were  joined to his death and resurrection and we died to sin and rose to new  life. That peace is spoken to us every time we return in repentance to our  Baptism, and he says to you through your pastor, “I forgive you all your  sins.” That peace is spoken to you at his table, where in, with, and under  bread and wine, he comes through space and time to feed you his body  and blood for the forgiveness of your sins and to lift from you your fears.  There his voice speaks peace. “This is for you,” he says, “for the  forgiveness of sin.” 

And we rise from the table at peace, ready to go into the world. “As the  Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (v 21). The Lord cannot be  bound; his word will not be bound; and his followers do not live behind  locked doors. He sends us out into the world, but we do not go empty handed. 

He breathes his Holy Spirit upon his disciples, and to his Church, he hands the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And so we have confidence that  our message isn’t make-believe. It is the very word of God that stands  opposed to the foolishness of this age that pretends to be wisdom. Our  voices, our human voices, become voices of power, not because they are  louder, wiser, or more entertaining than other voices, but because  through our voice, Jesus himself speaks. 

“Peace be with you.” And our confidence soars! Amen