Sermons

At Easter, Jesus Christ, who had died, appeared in person to Cephas, to the twelve disciples, and then to more than five hundred brothers. This was not a forced claim; he made them see it with their own eyes. Unlike the leaders of other religions, he left an empty tomb, and it is presented as evidence that he truly rose again.

Those who believe in this resurrection live on in soul even though the body dies, and the power of death and sin can no longer hold them. People worry and grow anxious every day because they try to keep control of their own lives in their own hands, and that is exactly how Satan shakes faith.

In combat, it was the pilot holding the control stick who kept things steady. In the same way, peace comes when people entrust control of their lives to God, not when they hold on to it. Paul could always rejoice, even when he was beaten and his body was broken, because he had entrusted his life to God and had seen heaven. Those in the church, too, must lay their worries and anxieties down at the foot of the cross, do their best in the place given to them, and prepare to meet Christ.

The sermon calls to mind the bread and the cup that Jesus shared with his disciples on the night he was arrested. As he broke the bread, he showed beforehand the body that would be torn, and as he took the cup, the blood that would be shed; and he declared that this cup was the new covenant.

The Jews believed they were saved by the blood of the Passover lamb, but Jesus told them to remember that salvation had been accomplished through his own sacrifice. The Lord’s Supper is where his death, his resurrection and his return are recalled together, and the sermon teaches that, depending on the heart with which one comes to the table, it may become grace or it may become sin.

Those who take Communion must look back on their unbelief, on the contempt they have shown their brothers and sisters, and on the wrong of having lived the life of faith for their own sake. When they partake with thanksgiving, sharing in his sufferings in heart, they come to enjoy peace and rest in the Lord.

On the night he shared his last meal with his disciples, Jesus broke the bread and said, “This is my body, which is for you,” and, taking up the cup, declared, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” He was telling them in advance of the very body that would soon be broken and the blood that would soon be shed.

The Jews had long believed that the blood of a lamb washed away sin, yet that blood could not make anyone clean. But he who is God shed his own blood, and so established once for all an everlasting covenant. Communion, then, is not a matter of bread becoming his body; it is a time to remember and commemorate his death, his resurrection and his return.

Christians who come to the Lord’s Table must first repent of the wickedness in their hearts and of their lack of gratitude. To take part with a heart that is not whole is, on the contrary, to sin against the body and blood of the Lord. But when they come before him in their standing as children of God, Communion becomes an occasion not of fear but of joy made twice as great.

Paul confesses that he dies daily. Fearing that the faithful might stumble at the sight of his weakness, he risked his life to guard the truth.

He lived this way because he believed in the resurrection. Once it truly sinks in that Jesus Christ died for him, a person can give up family, wealth and reputation without a second thought. So it was with Elisha. He did not begin with a full measure of faith; his faith grew as he stayed at his master’s side like a shadow, humbly obeying.

God does not require his people to have wisdom, wealth and reputation. He asks only that they show themselves trustworthy through a good heart, gratitude, obedience and a character that does not change. No one gets it right from the start. The spirit in which a person answers when called is the way to becoming one of God’s people whom he can trust.