“Lifting up his hands, he blessed them” (Luke 24:50,51)

Luke 24:44-53

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 28, 2017

The Ascension is sometimes called the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The eternal Son of God left heaven to be born the Child in Bethlehem. He grew in stature before God and people. He takes the Scripture in his hands and says that he is the promised Messiah chosen to bring the good news. He baptizes to bring forgiveness. He lifts his arms in thanksgiving and feeds the 5,000. He heals the sick by his touch. He takes up his cross. He spreads his arms and hands in death. But just before he gives up his spirit, he forgives them for they did not know what they were doing and he promises the other on the cross that he will be with Jesus in paradise that very day. Early that third day—in the darkness just before dawn—Jesus lifts up his hands in triumph over our sin. Death has been swallowed up in victory! He appears to his disciples. Some doubt. Jesus appears before them and says “Peace!” and shows them his nail-scarred hands and side. He tells Thomas to put his fingers and hands on his eternal wounds and says, “Blessed are those who believe yet have not seen or touched.”

His hands reached out to people with the same struggles as you and me. He tried to wrap his arms around every sinner and draw them to himself. Those hands have been lifted up so many times. And each time he does so, Jesus invites into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with him. He has a glorious, resurrected body. And one of the peculiar things about him is that the marks in his hands and side will never go away. They will forever remind us of the price Jesus paid for our sin and to purchase a place for us in heaven. It is a memorial—a reminder of the scars, wounds, suffering, and death of our Savior. Just as we as a nation remember the price many paid so that we can enjoy our freedoms. Jesus gave himself on earth to bring us forgiveness and eternal life. And now he gives himself in heaven to bring us that same forgiveness and eternal life. That’s why he lifts up his hands toward them.

He is saying with one gesture a summary of all he brings—peace, forgiveness, blessing, and eternal life. It is a universal sign of love. The source of this love is the Person and work of Jesus. He is Prophet whose message of hope and life goes out of his mouth with outstretched arms. He is like the prophet Moses, who lifts up his voice and hands and God parts the Red Sea and delivers them out of slavery into freedom. He is Priest whose hands bless, adopt, and bring forgiveness. He is like the priest Aaron who was told to lift up his hands and to anoint them with God’s presence and say those familiar words: “The Lord bless you and keep you, make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” So the Priest Aaron put the Lord’s Name on his people. And so we are Christian’s by the hands of Christ. He is King whose reach is as far as the east is from the west. His Kingdom extends from heaven to earth. And now he has ascended to the strong hand of the Father. His hands of blessing are still extended out to you and me. He is present in our community and fellowship. His voice speaks through his Word. He gives his Body and Blood to strengthen and preserve our faith and lives in him. And he sends us out by his Spirit to tell the nations the good news.

“Not Orphaned” John 14:15-21

John 14:15-21

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 21, 2017

Jesus prepares his disciples for life after his death and resurrection. This is life in Christ after his resurrection. This is life in Christ that flows from the strength of his resurrection. It is a profound life in Christ. He gives many assurances of his continued grace and presence. He includes the Father, himself, and the Spirit. He wants us to know just how secure our life is in him. He tells us what he will do. But he also tells us what he will not do. “I will not leave you orphaned.” He will not abandon us. He will not leave us as motherless and fatherless children.

The great standard for justice in the Old Testament is not to oppress the widow and fatherless but to care for them. He calls on God’s people to feed, clothe, and nurture orphans. I was surprised to learn who the widows and fatherless are in the Bible. They are the most vulnerable in society—mostly, they are single moms and their children. And they are alone and uncared for for the same reasons today. One or both of the parents may not be ready the responsibility of raising a child. A parent may not be capable of being the nurturer and provider. It could be due to illness, death, incarceration, addiction, neglect, or apathy. For whatever reason, the parent does not show up for the child.

You may have heard that Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois have to close nine of their social service organizations. One of them is Lutherbrook. These are children who are in the foster care system. Most of them have been in a dozen or more different foster homes. Members of our congregation and I have been partners in this ministry for years. And now, because the State of Illinois is not fulfilling its pledge to fund Lutherbrook, they believe their only option is to close. These kids are the fatherless and orphans. One of the heartbreaking things I hear from the kids is their prayer requests when I do chapel and ask how I can pray for them: “That God would help me find a family.” “That my mom would stop drinking or doing drugs so I can go home.” “That my dad would get out of prison soon.” These parents love their kids but in many cases are struggling to be the parents they want to be. Lutherbrook is planning to close. But, thankfully, Lutheran Child and Family Services still plans to help the kids. They will not leave them as orphans. We as the people of God have this same call to care and nurture the young and vulnerable. When we receive a small child in Jesus’ name, we receive Jesus himself, he says. And the truth is—on some level—we all live with fear and anxiety of abandonment. At our core we are wounded children looking for a place to belong. Sin, death, and our spiritual enemies threaten to cut us off from our families. The African American song from slavery resonates with all humanity: “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child.” Jesus says, “I will not leave you orphaned.”

Jesus is the fulfillment of the proverb, “There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother” (Prov 18:24b). And another proverb, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in” (Prov 27:10). God calls us to love one another—to be community together. We are the body of Christ. We are God’s family. Just moments from now, we will pledge to assist parents to support and pray for Harrison’s new life in Christ. In Baptism, God adopts us as his children and together we are members of the family of faith.  Jesus’ words here are so profound and comforting. He gives us a peek into the mystery of the Holy Trinity—the Father who sends his Son and the Holy Spirit. He calls the Spirit the Advocate who is with us forever. Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him. Jesus is in us. And we are in him. All this to say, he is with us. We are not alone. We are accepted. We are forgiven. We are adopted. We are family. We have a reliable, heavenly Parent flowing from the mystery of our Triune God. He will not leave us as orphans.

Fast bound in Satan’s chains I lay;  
Death brooded darkly o’er me.
Sin was my torment night and day;  
In sin my mother bore me.
But daily deeper still I fell;  
My life became a living hell,
So firmly sin possessed me.

To me He said: “Stay close to me,  
I am your rock and castle.
Your ransom I Myself will be;  
For you I strive and wrestle.
For I am yours, and you are Mine,  
And where I am you may remain.
The foe shall not divide us.         
            (“Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice” LSB 556 vv. 2 & 7)

“The People of God” 1 Peter 2:2-10

1 Peter 2:2-10

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 14, 2017

“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Peter describes God as Architect, Christ as Cornerstone, and Holy Spirit as Builder. The Architect has a perfect plan and design. Christ is the only solid foundation—his death and resurrection the Stone that puts it all together. And we are being built into a spiritual house by the Word and Spirit. Peter is mixing metaphors: a building campaign, light and darkness, and milk! Peter assumes we have had a taste of God’s goodness. “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” But let that taste be so tantalizing, he says, that you hunger for more—like a newborn infant. Our hunger should create a longing for growth together.

Have you ever seen—or more accurately—heard a newborn long for milk? They do not patiently put their request for milk in a suggestion box. They do not just ask for milk, they demand. It must happen now! They have a strong sense of urgency! And so we should yearn for the rich, satisfying, and nutritious Word of God. It reminds me of the foreigners who ask, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Or the hymn line, “Foul I to the fountain fly, Wash me Savior, or I die.” “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul yearns for you, O Lord.” “We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.” So we long for the milk of the Word.

If Peter can mix metaphors, I’d like to as well. Milk is food and drink. It not only has all the nutrients we need but also keeps a child hydrated. It is the fuel needed to build Christ’s Church. Our hunger and thirst for Scripture unites us in purpose and strength. It is the mortar that binds us together as living stones. And sometimes we occasionally need some tuck-pointing. And so the Word and Spirit can get in there between the stone work and strengthen our bonds and integrity.

When Peter talks about stumbling, he is also quoting Jesus—Christ is the Cornerstone. We can either build wisely and securely on him or we stub our toes and trip over him. The foundation stone is the Person, life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And Peter warns us not to get tripped up over him. That is, to fail to understand who he is—eternal God and fully human. Our minds cannot fully grasp the truth of this—and it can trip us up. This Cornerstone taught us the fullness of what it means to love God with our whole being and to love one another as he loved us. He came to give his life on the Cross and rise again for our forgiveness and purchase a place for us in heaven. To trust Jesus is to build on Christ our Cornerstone. And we do so by faith. This is the One who says, “Believe in God—trust in God; believe—trust in God and me.” He is building his holy house in heaven and on earth. Peter wants to draw us into this vision of what God is doing. He wants to win us to become participants and benefactors. And so he not only wants to elevate our understanding of God’s Word and the Word made flesh—Jesus—he wants to elevate our understanding of ourselves.

And so he says, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” God chooses us—he calls us—he draws us to himself as helpless newborns and are immediately given the milk of his Word. We are adopted into God’s royal family. We enjoy the priesthood of all believers. We have been set apart for a purpose. We are the people of God. We have been called out of darkness into his light. Through Word and deed, we get to proclaim the might acts of God. And what God has done for us, he wants to do through us. We crave and nourish one another on the milk of God’s Word. We build upon the Cornerstone, Jesus Christ. And we reach out to the world.

Sinclair Ferguson, a Scottish pastor told a group of pastors about the day when he met Queen Elizabeth. He was pastoring a church in Glasgow. The queen flew in with her two young grandsons, William and Harry. They were 6 and 4 years old. When the queen landed with her two young princes, Pastor Ferguson was at the front of the line to meet them. The cameras and microphones of the press were two far down the line to capture what happened next. Queen Elizabeth turned around, stooped over, put her index finger into the breath ones of her two grandsons and said, “Royal children, royal manners.” She did not say, “Obey me and I will love you.” Nor did she say, “Don’t embarrass me in Scotland.”  She said, “Royal children, Royal manners.” In other words, “You are royalty. Be who were born to be. Live out your calling. Let your behavior be a reflection of who you truly are.”
 “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

“Abundant Life” John 10:1-10; Psalm 23

John 10:1-10
Psalm 23

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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 7, 2017

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, promises us life—abundant life. “I came that [my sheep] may have life, and have it abundantly.” This is, Jesus says, the purpose of his coming from heaven to earth. A few months ago, Kofo Ogunyankin shared with us what he is doing in Nigeria to provide excellent health care to that part of the world. One of the difficulties he encounters is the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel is the idea that if you believe strongly enough—or give enough to the church—that God will reward you with good health and wealth. Sadly, you can turn your television on and see that such an idea is “Made in the USA.” Maybe it’s because one of our founding documents says we have unalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Or maybe it’s because we measure our good national health by whether or not our economy is growing year to year.

But I think we can all agree that when Jesus talks about abundant life, he is not talking about us having more and more stuff. In fact, Jesus says in Luke’s Gospel, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). Drive a few minutes through Chicago and look at the billboards. Listen or watch the commercials on radio and television. We are constantly bombarded with the message to get more stuff, higher quality stuff, and upgrades. The message, if you will believe it, is that purchasing said stuff will make us happier. Life will be more enjoyable. We will be experiencing the abundance of what this life on earth has to offer. The Bible pokes fun at such a worldview multiple times with the phrase, “Let’s eat and drink for tomorrow we die.” It’s easy to point fingers at others. But the truth is that it is even easier to get seduced by consumerism and materialism ourselves.

We can get so absorbed by the things of this world that the people of this world (and our relationships with them) suffer. It may be the next thing we want to buy—a bigger home, a car with less mileage, or a dream vacation. Or maybe it is a promotion or recognition that we crave. Sometimes those things break in and rob us of our joy. Our adversary wants to burglarize the church—to take away healthy and enriching relationships. He will look for any way around the gate into the sheepfold to kill and destroy.

The Good Shepherd Jesus has come so that we will have abundant life. “I came that [my sheep] may have life, and have it abundantly.” And it is in this same passage that Jesus describes what that abundant life is. The abundant life is a safe place. The Good Shepherd is there to protect and preserve life. He came to lay his life down for the sheep. By his death and resurrection he destroyed all that threatens us—evil, sin, and death itself. The abundant life is a personal relationship with God. He knows us by name! I remember how special it was for me to receive my first call to a Lutheran church. The president of our denomination at the time, Gerald Kieschnick, shook my hand in the line and said, “Great meeting you yesterday, Tom. Congratulations.” Jesus knows us by name, the number of hair on our heads, our thoughts and intentions of our hearts. He knows us inside and out. And here is the clincher: he likes you. He likes me. He likes us in abundance—he loves us individually. The abundant life is having someone in your life to trust. And it begins with Jesus as the trustworthy One. He calls us by name and we follow. He leads us by his tender love and care. That is what faith and belief mean—trust. And so we follow. The abundant life leads us to great love in our communities. We abound in our love for one another. As one person says regarding possessions and living: “Love people, use things; because the opposite never works” (The Minimalists). The abundant life is getting more and more acquainted with the Shepherds voice. And this, without a doubt, is discovered through the Word of God—the Bible. But even behind those words on a page is a Person. And that Person is the Living Word, Jesus. So when we are so familiar with his voice, we know a counterfeit immediately. We have the abundant life now in the resurrected Christ. And that life cannot be taken away. The life we have in Jesus extends beyond this world into eternity. It is life in his Kingdom whose reign is heaven and earth. The abundant life leads us to say confidently and joyfully, “The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want.”