"Such Faith"

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1Pet. 1:3-5)

You have been born again to a living hope. Why? Because Jesus is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. Death no longer has dominion over Him, and being in Him, it no longer has dominion over you. You live in hope of an imperishable inheritance which is now already yours, and is waiting to be revealed in the last time. And while you wait, you are being guarded through faith, by the power of God. But how do you obtain such faith as guards your soul and body unto life everlasting?

“That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith; where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ's sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ's sake.” (AC V.1-2)

So we confess regarding the Office of the Holy Ministry. The Lord of the Church gives to His Church the Office of the Ministry, into which He calls and ordains pastors to serve as under-shepherds of the flock of Christ. Our Lord Christ grants His authority to the men whom He has called through the Church to guard and keep His people in the one true faith unto life everlasting. He has called His pastors to be the overseers of your souls, the guardians of your salvation, that no one may snatch you out of His hand for want of or by perversion of His Holy Gospel.

Our Lord appears to the disciples in today's Gospel lesson. It is the evening of the same day when Mary Magdalene, Peter and John, and the others saw Jesus and/or the angels in the Garden. They had seen, they had touched, they had talked with Him. And yet they were still sore afraid. They were so afraid that they locked themselves away in a secret room.

Why were they locked away? It says “for fear of the Jews”, but it could just as easily have been fear of Jesus Himself. Remember that these were the same men who boasted of their fidelity while everything was hunky-dorey, and then ran away into the night like rats while their Lord was being arrested. They were afraid of Jesus, because they knew they were cowards. They could not wait with Him one little hour. They could not stay up, pray, watch, and wrestle as the hour of the Lord's Passion drew near.

With this burden on their conscience, no wonder the disciples were afraid. They even had good reason to fear the resurrection of our Lord. For the resurrection of our Lord means that He really is God. He really does have power over life and death. He really is the judge of sin and righteousness, of heaven and earth, of the living and the dead. And the poor, cowardly disciples had forsaken their Lord and God and had even gone so far as to deny Him before men. When such a Lord as this comes to see you and you have such a stain on your conscience, you might well lock the door and hide, too.

But the Lord appears to the in the midst of the locked room. This in itself is a significant point. For this shows that the Lord Christ is no longer confined by His State of Humiliation. He is fully disposed to use His divine attributes and to display the power of God. He appears to them in the middle of a locked room to show them that He has power even over time and space. It is of no consequence to God to be in the body in the locked room, and yet at the same time filling all of creation with His presence.

Then Jesus speaks. “He said to them, 'Peace be with you.'” This, too, is important. Our Lord speaks peace to His people. The saying, usually attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times; use words if necessary” is nothing but a fanatical, heretical opinion. The fact that St. Francis never said anything of the sort notwithstanding, the idea that you could possibly proclaim the Gospel without words is hogwash. The Gospel is not something you live, some habit you cultivate, some sort of mask or costume you might inhabit and show off through your daily life. The Gospel is words. The total subject and content of the Gospel is the Word of God Incarnate. God creates, sustains, redeems, and sanctifies life by His Word.

Being a good person is not the Gospel. There are boatloads of heathens in this world who are very nice people. By most accounts, Mormons are lovely people to have as neighbors. They keep well-maintained homes and yards, they raise well-mannered children, and they live outwardly moral and upright lives. But that does not mean they are going to heaven. Believing in a false god is not negated by the outward righteousness of your life.

Jesus speaks peace to the disciples. And they are set at peace. The Lord speaks peace to His people. This peace is not just a wish. When Jesus says, “Peace be with you,” His peace is actually, truly upon them. It is the same as when Moses put the Name of the Lord upon the people with the blessing: “... The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.”

This is the same peace the ministers of God put upon you when the Holy Supper is held before you: “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” That is, Here is the peace of the Lord. This peace will be with you always, so long as and as often as you eat this Bread and drink this Cup, proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes.

The peace of God flows from Him freely for the sake of Christ. It even flows to those who have doubted. It flowed freely to Thomas when our Lord appeared to him. Even after Thomas had doubted the reports of the Lord's appearance to the others.

Be thankful for the doubts of Thomas. Be thankful that Thomas had the courage to express his reservations, to name his doubts. For the only thing more dangerous than open doubt is hidden disbelief. Thomas knows he has doubts. He is forthright about them. He will not be silenced simply by the word of the other disciples, but he must see and handle the Lord's flesh to believe the resurrection.

To name your doubts takes courage. It takes willingness to admit that you do not know, that you are not sure, that you need help. It takes honesty and integrity, with yourself and with those around you, and especially before God. But it is crucial to deal with doubt head-on. For doubt is incompatible with the Gospel. Judas Iscariot doubted the Gospel, that the forgiveness of Christ was for him, and he perished in his sin.

The next step is to confess your sins. Confess your doubts and reservations, along with the rest of your sins. Confess that you are not righteous and upright, that you have not loved your neighbors as yourself. Confess that your prayers and worship have faltered, and that you have acted and spoken and thought as though God did not matter, and as though you mattered most. Confess, and then receive the blessed Holy Absolution. Receive the peace of the Lord which He speaks to you through the mouth of His servant, just as surely as He Himself spoke to Thomas.

And the Word of the Lord is true and certain, as certain as the wounds in the hands, feet, and side of Christ. The body of our Lord is not transfigured into something different in His resurrection. He still bears the marks of the nails and spear. He still shows the evidence of His suffering and death for the sins of the world. He still bears the stripes of the chastisement that brought us peace. But now these are marks of glory, trophies of His victory.

But how are these marks of glory, these trophies of victory of any use to you? “That we may obtain such faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted.” That is, our Lord Christ has given to His Church pastors who will proclaim the saving Word of His death and resurrection to the ends of the earth, and who will baptize, teach, absolve, and feed the people of God with His blessed Gifts according to the command and promise of our Lord. These men, weak, feeble, and sinful though they may be, are the agents of God who bring the fruits of Christ's sacrifice to you. It is through their ministrations that the Body of Christ is for you!

God has sent His men into the world in this and every place to wash you inside and out with water and the Word, to drown your old sinful nature and raise you to new life in Christ. He has sent His men to proclaim the Word of the Lord faithfully, clearly, and winsomely, that the Law may pierce and kill and the Gospel may bind up and heal. He has sent His men to hear the confessions of the sins of His people, that “If [they] forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if [they] withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” He has sent His men to feed His people with the Body and Blood of our Lord Christ for the forgiveness of sins, that you may be assured that the forgiveness is for you, and that you may be strengthened for the journey of this life. He has sent His men to shepherd you from the watery grave to the earthen bed-chamber, that you may lie down in peace and sleep, and arise in joy to meet your Lord.

You may not have seen the Lord in the body. You may not have the opportunity to fling your hand into His riven side or poke your finger through His nail-holes. But you have seen the Lord. You have heard His voice. You have seen Him high and lifted up, not upon a cross, but sacrificed and poured out for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. You have touched and seen and smelled and tasted and heard Him right here, in this place, offering you the fruits of His redemption for you, for all who would believe.

You hear the voice of the Lord whenever you hear the minister of the Lord say to you, “I forgive you all your sins.” You hear the voice of the Lord whenever you hear, “The Lord bless you and keep you … and give you peace.” “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” For what more is there for you say than “Amen!”?

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!