Sermon: September 13, 2009 Luke 24: 36-53
We gather here today to worship the living God. We come with humble hearts to God’s Holy Word, seeking understanding, seeking guidance, seeking a word of comfort in our lives. For the last six weeks, we considered what disconnects us from our God. Now, consider what connects us.
These are the closing verses to the Gospel of Luke. Jesus appears bodily to his disciples, proving he is not a ghost by letting them touch his physical body, by eating some broiled fish. He was there for a reason, the final pep talk. For three years, the disciples were in the school of Jesus, living with him, watching him, listening to him, healing and preaching on his behalf, preparing for this day. On this day he gives them the gift that will carry them on in their ministry.
“Everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures . . .”
The whole bible was laid out for them, the bible they had, what we call the Old Testament. They’d lived it with Jesus, but now there was something special, something new, the application of God’s Spirit so that it all came together for them. All of it came together in the person and the ministry of Jesus, reflected in Holy Scripture, and they got it.
The purpose of this knowledge was to drive the disciples, the followers, to become apostles, servants. Their charge was to proclaim that the Messiah suffered, died, and rose on the third day, that event fulfilling the promise that they proclaim the repentance and forgiveness of sins, in Jesus name. This proclamation was to go to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. They would carry out that proclamation with the gift that the Father promised for them, the gift they were to wait in Jerusalem for. That gift, we find out in the book of Acts, is the Holy Spirit.
So brothers and sisters, here we are. We’re back in the big room again, back at the normal time again. We’ve launched our Sunday School program, teaching our young ones about our faith. We will break bread after worship with our Presbyterian Women as they begin a new year of programming, mission, and support of the Gospel message. It is a new year, new possibilities lie before us. Are we ready for the challenge?
From our passage in Luke today, we have a message to carry forward our call to evangelize the world.
Repent, seek forgiveness from sins in the name of Jesus Christ. As Amos put it last week, turn away from the evil in life and embrace what is good. The divine power we can promise in that message comes from Jesus, from the Messiah. Proclaim that he suffered and died and was raised again from the dead. John the Baptist preached the first part of this message, Repent! But now the power of Jesus is infused into the message. He was the Messiah, he died for our sins, he was raised to new life to give us new life. The message of repentance is bound to the divine gift.
What does repent mean? It means to give it up. Whatever sin exists in your life you are called on to give it up. You drink? A glass of wine is relaxing. You drink too much? Repent, give it up. Paul says a little wine is good for the stomach. Proverbs says, “Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.” God give us wisdom to see where we are relative to those texts. You think ill of somebody? Somebody who really annoys you? Repent! The command of Jesus is to love our neighbor. The examples are endless.
What we then practice is what we can preach. What is the destructive behavior you see in the life of someone you are about? I am not talking about bashing them over the head like some doomsday prophet, proclaiming “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand?” But how about just being there? Not abandoning them? Being a friend in thick and thin.
The power of repentance is in its divine support. The death and resurrection of Jesus are intimately connected to the call to repentance. How do we know that repentance is for real? Because we have the guarantee of God’s power behind it, the power over life and death itself. Where do we learn about this message? From Holy Scripture. Jesus gave them the message to speak, after opening their minds to understand that this message is across the Old Testament. What he opened for them has been recorded, at least in part, for us in the New Testament.
Let’s come back to it. Who in your life could use a word of hope? Who has a life of sin that needs to be turned around? Who do you know that could use a little piece of what you have in Jesus Christ? Who needs a Lord and Savior because, when they tried to run their own lives, they messed it up completely?
I am assuming of course that we all have seized upon that gift of Jesus for ourselves, that we repent of our own sins, that we have given ourselves to Jesus as Lord and Savior, recognizing that he died and rose for us. We have promises of faith in Christ laid down in Scripture. Have you accepted them? If somebody here hasn’t, well, you have come to the right place. I would be glad to speak to you and pray with you after our service this morning.
Why is this so all fired important? Why am I pounding on the repentance message today? Because we are here to worship the living God. And to worship God requires that we have repented of our sins. Why am I pounding on the repentance message today? Because it is a new program year. Because big and powerful things are going to happen this year.
Next Sunday evening, the Portuguese fellowship we have planned for begins worshipping here in the evenings. In two weeks, we are playing host to the members of the Muslim Center of Middlesex County, Muslims who have trusted us enough to come and share worship with us. Pray hearts may be opened. We are going to drag out that musty, scary word ‘evangelism’. We are going to be the people that Jesus wants us to be and the church Christ leads us to be. Let all God’s people say together: Amen. Let us pray.
