Second Sunday of Easter

SERMON - Jesus Lives! So What?

INI

Text: 1 Peter 1:22-25

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

In Christ Jesus, our risen and living Savior and Lord, dear fellow redeemed:

Perhaps you saw the “For Better or For Worse” comic strip in last Sunday’s Free-Press, or perhaps you did not. I have posted it on the bulletin board in the narthex. It presents a family in attendance at an Easter Sunday worship service. On the way out of church, the little boy asks his mother, “Is church open every Sunday, Mom?” Her response, provided with a smile, is, “Yes, Michael.” The little boy then goes on to ask right as they pass the pastor, “Then how come we only come twice a year?” Ouch!

The resurrection story of Easter, which is the heart of the gospel message, is so very important! The apostle Paul states emphatically: “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty!” (1 Cor. 15:14) The gospel message rises or falls with the truth of Jesus’ physical resurrection. In view of Jesus’ resurrection, Paul asserts: “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54), which leads him to this expression of praise: “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (15:57)

JESUS LIVES! That message is so exciting and so important. Why is it, therefore, that so many people—even those who claim the name of Christ—respond to that wonderful message of life and victory with a “so what” type attitude? Why is it that so many people seem content to be Christmas and Easter Christians? Could it be that the wonderful Easter gospel message simply does not make an impression upon our minds and hearts? Are we like the well-trodden path in Jesus’ parable of “The Sower and the Seed”? We hear the gospel, but Satan snatches it away before it even begins to take root. Or, perhaps, we are like the ground filled with weeds, and all of the cares and concerns of this world—credit card bills, squabbles within the family, our hectic pace of life…simply choke the joy of the gospel right out of our lives. My dear friends, JESUS LIVES! Do you in response say, “SO WHAT?” If you do…if you find no lasting joy, no increased strength, no growing confidence in the Easter gospel message, let me remind you of three things: first of all, that gospel message gives us spiritual rebirth! Secondly, that gospel message enables us to love one another fervently with a pure heart! Thirdly, that gospel message, unlike everything else in this life, endures forever!

I.

Yes, that gospel message, that Jesus lives, gives us spiritual rebirth! Peter reminds us in our text that we have “been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God!” The Holy Spirit uses the means of grace to bring saving faith into our hearts and lives. He uses the gospel word—“faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). He also uses baptism—“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

It was my privilege this past Easter Sunday afternoon to perform a private baptism for one of our youngest members—Eden Ruby Isaksson. The baptismal service reminds us of the spiritual reality that is true for each of us by nature. We were all born in sin and by nature were enemies of God—doomed to everlasting judgment in hell. Those truths are not something we would normally realize, although it does not take long to see the evidence of original sin in a child’s life. Little Eden looked anything but sinful in her attractive white baptismal dress. Yet the Scriptures assure us that she and we were “sinful from the time (our) mother(s) conceived us” (Psalm 51:5). Yet, through baptism, which the Scriptures describe as a “washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5), little Eden was given faith and brought into the kingdom of God, even as were we!

My dear friends, the fact that God has responded to our rebellion not with fearsome judgment, but rather with His merciful kindness in Christ Jesus, enables us all to receive spiritual rebirth—to become children of our heavenly Father and heirs of life everlasting. His law condemns our sinful hearts, striking terror of His coming judgment, but His gospel message of love and forgiveness assures us that He has rescued us from damnation through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. It is when the Holy Spirit leads us to turn from our sins and to place our confidence in Jesus that we are reborn. Without such a rebirth, we would be lost forever—irrespective of our outward conduct. The Stoics of ancient Greece who were noted for their discipline, the Pharisees of New Testament times with their rigorous fulfillment of 613 commandments, the Christian ascetic of the Middle Ages who beat himself senseless out of a false devotion to God—all strove for outward righteousness, assuming they could merit God’s favor and win eternal salvation. All such efforts, however, fail to impress a God who demands absolute holiness, and whose demands for righteousness can only be fulfilled by the righteousness He provides to those who believe in Jesus.

JESUS LIVES, my dear friends! He lives and His gospel message gives us spiritual rebirth! Then and only then can we walk with confidence in this life as we look ahead to the life to come. Do not take a “so what” attitude—a “two-time a year is good enough” attitude, for such an attitude reveals a complete lack of understanding of the importance of the gospel!

II.

Yes, JESUS LIVES—do not take a “so what” attitude towards that message for that gospel message enables us to love one another fervently with a pure heart! Peter writes, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.” Notice Peter’s emphasis upon “the truth” of God—a truth found in the Word of God and proclaimed through His gospel message. That eternal Word of God, through which the Holy Spirit has given us rebirth, is the power He also uses to enable us to obey the truth and to “love one another fervently with a pure heart.”

What is it about the gospel which when heard and believed enables us to love? First of all, the gospel reveals God’s love for us. His love is an unconditional love, which accepts us as we are and changes us into His adopted children and designated heirs. Consequently, the gospel gives us the reassurance that we are precious in God’s eyes and that He will take care of our needs. Therefore, we do not have to be concerned only about ourselves—meeting our needs, making sure that we get our due. No…to be concerned only about ourselves is to live with blinders on our eyes to the grace and goodness of our almighty God! What can we possibly gain for ourselves that God cannot give us by His grace in even greater supply? Absolutely nothing! He has promised and will provide! He cannot lie! Did our precious Savior not say: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (necessary for our earthly lives) shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33)?

Secondly, the gospel revelation of God’s love in our risen Savior fills us with a desire to love others even as we have been loved. God gave His Son—foregoing His own fatherly love—in order to save us. Jesus sacrificed Himself in order to gain for us forgiveness and eternal salvation. Both saw our needs and responded with a love so fervent we cannot but be left in awe. When Jesus, therefore, commands us “to love one another, as I have loved you” (John 13:34), and Peter urges us to “love one another fervently with a pure heart,” we cannot, as objects of God’s love, but desire to fulfill that commandment. Therefore, we will forgive one another, even as we have been forgiven (cf. Ephesians 4:32). We will strive to look out for the interests of others, rather than ourselves, even as Jesus looked out for our interests, rather than His own (cf. Philippians 2:4). When our neighbor is hungry, we will feed him; when he is sick, we will visit him; when he is naked, we will cloth him—for in so doing, we are feeding, visiting, and clothing our dear Savior Himself (cf. Matthew 25:40). Even when we fail to love as we ought, God’s Word—both His law and gospel—help us see our sin, repent of our sin, and come to rejoice in the forgiveness of our sin and to seek with new resolve to love as we indeed should!

Yes, JESUS LIVES! This is not a “so what” message, for this gospel message enables us to love one another with a pure heart!

III.

Finally, that gospel message, unlike everything else in this life, endures forever! Peter reminds us when concluding this text: “‘All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever.’ Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”

I am sure that most of you have experienced things such as the following—the first ding to the finish of a brand new car, a snag in your favorite sweater, a stain on the living room carpet, the need to replace your balding tires, a doctor telling you that for your own good you have to lose weight, the sinking of your manly figure from your chest into your stomach, the “raggedization” of your baby blanket with the wonderful silky edge! All of these are examples that prove the truth of Peter’s proverb. You name it—anything you want in this physical world of ours, and eventually it will begin to fall apart! That is why it is so foolish to focus your faith, your hopes, your dreams, or your confidence upon anyone or anything in this world. What did Jesus ask: “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) Everything in this world will fade, or break, or be lost, or finally be left behind!

The Word of God alone endures forever! By that Word the heavens and the earth were created, and by that Word they are now sustained. By that Word the existence of heaven and earth will cease. By that Word we will all one day stand before Jesus Christ in judgment. Ought we…dare we take a “so what” attitude when it comes to God’s gospel message? Never! Mary, the sister of Martha, had it right when she recognized that “one thing is needed” (Luke 10:42). Our children do not need many of the things which we give them, but they do need the Word of God. Are we providing them with that one essential? We do not need many of things for which we may well find ourselves striving, but we do need the Word of God. Does our life-style indicate that we recognize, believe, and embrace this truth?

My dear friends—JESUS LIVES! May we never treat that gospel message with a disdainful “so what” attitude, but rather embrace it, rejoice in it, and reap the benefits God intends to bestow upon us through it! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting
To God alone be the glory!