Open this Sermon in a “New Window”

2nd Sunday in Easter

March 30, 2008

Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sioux Falls, SD

Rev. Norman F. Seeger

 

Acts 2:14,22-32

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd…

22 “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.  23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.  24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.  25 David said about him:

         ”‘I saw the Lord always before me.  Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.  28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

29 “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.  30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.  31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.  32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.

 

Acts 2:14,22-32                                                                                      

“WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!”

  1. Life Replaces Death
  2. Apostles Witness Christ

 

Dear disciples of our crucified but risen Lord Jesus Christ,

‘What a difference a day makes!’  I cannot remember his name, but this sequence of events is etched in my memory.  When I first met this man from a neighboring congregation, I was sharing God’s promises of forgiveness & was reminding this patient about a home in heaven Jesus promised to prepare for us.  Walking out of his hospital room, I basically thought he might be in heaven in a couple hours – I thought he might die before having heart surgery scheduled the next day.  One week later – after receiving five bypasses – he walks out of the hospital healthier than he had been in years.  ‘What a difference a day makes!’ we may marvel as we recall other operations where God miraculously replaces sickness with health.

Maybe it is not an operation but a new relationship that seems to change an individual’s outlook on life.  The day a remarkable lady walks into my life, the wedding day we both say, “I do,” may be a point in time where people see some selfish soul start to turn into a wife-serving, family-oriented father.  The day a friend introduces me to Jesus – the day a co-worker talks to me about a God so gracious he will forgive my sins instead of punish me forever in hell – might be our personal D-Day, the day our life’s tide turns; the day people refer to as we exclaim, ‘What a difference a day makes!’

‘What a difference a day makes!’ can also be uttered, of course, about life-changing events where our future seems to start spiraling downward – 9/11, for example -- hurricane Katrina – a fire or tornado destroying our home – an auto accident paralyzing my body or ending a friend’s life.  When we hear Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost, however, preaching about Jesus’ death & resurrection, life is definitely looking up.  Life replaces death is Peter’s primary point as he replays Easter Sunday following Good Friday.  ‘What a difference a day makes!’ – ‘What a difference Easter Sunday makes!’ we also exclaim as we see life replacing death -- we see prophecy fulfilled -- we see forgiveness replacing fear in a life where we with the apostles will now witness Christ.

“Men of Israel,” Peter begins, subtly reminding his listeners they are the people to whom God promised & through whom God produced a Savior Peter spotlights as he preaches Jesus:  “Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders & signs which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.”  Jesus’ human nature is well known – he grew up in Nazareth, the son of Mary & (people wrongly thought) the son of Joseph.  Jesus’ miracles, however, undeniably declare him to be more than a mere man.  People know he has to be the Creator when Jesus turns water into wine & feeds a crowd of four or five thousand with a few fish & a couple loaves of bread.  People know he has to be the Separator of right from wrong when Jesus not only announces forgiveness for a paralytic’s sins but also proves his power to forgive by making this crippled individual stand up & walk.  People know he has to be the Author of life & Destroyer of death when Jesus brings the dead daughter of Jairus or dead young man about to be buried in Nain back to life.  Jesus’ miracles serve as indisputable signs:  Jesus is God, as well as man.

People listening to Peter in Pentecost’s pews would be very familiar with Jesus’ ministry.  Jesus’ miraculously loving works -- healing every disease & sickness for every individual asking his assistance – were broadcast as quickly as possible.  Jesus’ amazingly authoritative words revealing God his Father’s kingdom were publicized as well.  Love him or hate him, people everywhere in Israel had been talking about Jesus.  Peter simply repeats Jesus’ pedigree.  This crowd could not deny he was God as well as man, but “you put him to death by nailing him to the cross.”

Piercing people’s souls, Peter hits them over the head with the hammer of the law as he reviews & specifically applies Good Friday’s events:  “You put Jesus -- proven by his miracles & signs to be God the Son -- you put Jesus to death.”  Extenuating circumstances – “this man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose & foreknowledge” – cannot eliminate any individual’s guilt.  Romans soldiers sharing responsibility for Jesus’ crucifixion cannot erase any percentage of any individual Israelite’s guilt – “with the help of wicked men, you put Jesus to death by nailing him to the cross.”

Death is undeniable for anyone remembering Good Friday.  Our personal responsibility for Jesus’ death is also inescapable as I see my sins, realize “the wages of sin is death”[ROM 6] & recognize the fact “God made Jesus, who had not sin, to be sin for us.”[2 COR 5]  Condemning the “Men of Israel” standing in front of his Pentecost pulpit, Peter condemns each & every one of us sinners:  “You put Jesus to death…nailing him to the cross.”

“But God raised him from the dead.”  Moving us from Good Friday to Easter Sunday – rightly moving from law to gospel -- Peter suddenly preaches life in place of death.  ‘What a difference a day makes!’  Good Friday, “you put Jesus to death.”  Easter Sunday, “God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the ‘birth pains’ of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Jesus.”  God’s plan – God’s set purpose for putting Jesus to death, which happened just the way he knew it would, the way God promised it would -- was to punish every sin by punishing our innocent Savior as our Substitute.  Once sin’s penalty is paid – when Jesus declares on his cross, “It is finished” – sin’s power disappears.  Guilt is gone.  Death & the devil loses any ability to stop Jesus from stepping out of his tomb alive Easter Sunday, as he repeatedly promised he would rise “the third day.”

Death is replaced by life.  Sin’s wages of death give way to God’s gift of life in our Lord Jesus Christ.  In place of fear we have forgiveness, faith -- we have the complete confidence of eternal life in Christ psalmist David expressed as he sang:  “I saw the Lord always before me.  Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  My heart is glad & my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your holy one see decay.”  Prophecy looking into the future becomes a fact from the past as God’s promise of forgiveness, faith & eternal life in Christ is fulfilled when Jesus rises from death to life the third day.  Admired ancestor David’s “lively hope,” you see, rested upon a promised Savior producing life after death.  When he died a thousand years earlier, David was buried -- Peter could point people to David’s tomb -- but David was not “abandoned to the grave.”  If Peter opened David’s tomb, his decayed bones would be dust today.  But David rejoiced to know Jesus “the Holy One” who would “not see decay” during his three days in the grave – Jesus the promised Savior would not only rise from death to life Easter Sunday, but will also raise David from his grave the last day to “fill David with joy as he lives in the presence of the Lord.”

‘What a difference a day makes!’  Life in heaven replaces death on earth!  ‘What a difference Jesus’ resurrection makes for Jesus’ followers!’ Peter would promise as he calls people to repent while proclaiming God’s plan to produce forgiveness for our every sin through Jesus’ death & resurrection as our Savior.  What David looked forward to as a prophet, Peter & the people could see as an accomplished fact from the past as they recall the recent “resurrection of Jesus the Christ.”

“Jesus, the promised descendant of David, was not abandoned to the grave nor did his body see decay.  God has raised this Jesus to life,” Peter emphasizes again.  God raised Jesus from his grave to assure us he accepted his Son’s sacrifice for all our sins.  God raised Jesus from death to life the third day to guarantee us we are declared “forgiven” – we have been declared “righteous” in God’s sight – because Jesus “the Holy One” lived, died & rose as our Savior Easter Sunday.  Calling upon people to repent of their sins, Peter promises each & every one of us God will forgive us sorrowing souls because the crucified but risen Jesus Christ turns death into life.  Replacing fear with forgiveness, Jesus will not abandon us to our graves but will raise us whose sins put him to death just the way Jesus will raise a repenting, rejoicing; a forgiven murderer David.

‘What a difference a day makes!’ we would note as Peter reports, “we are all witnesses of the fact…the fact God raised Jesus to life the third day.”  What is so amazing about this?  Doesn’t everyone talk about miraculous cures or life-changing individuals entering our lives?  What seems so natural, I pray, will commonly occur.  I pray we will witness Jesus Christ.  I pray we will tell people how Jesus’ life, death & resurrection prepares a place for us & for them to joyfully live with the Lord in heaven rather than hopelessly suffering for our sins separated from God forever in hell.

Peter, you might remember, was afraid to admit he had any connection to Jesus Christ when he was questioned by servants & soldiers in that courtyard where Jesus was on trial after being arrested in Gethsemane.  Peter & the other apostles, you may recall, fearfully locked themselves in a room Easter Sunday evening, even after they are told about but have not yet seen Jesus raised from his grave.  Now, after a risen Jesus personally appears to assure them there is forgiveness for their sins & for our sins, Peter & the other apostles fearlessly & fervently witness Jesus Christ.  ‘What a difference a day makes!’

‘What a difference an Easter Sunday makes!’  God’s gift of life replaces our sin’s wages of death.  Celebrating Jesus’ resurrection every day, I pray we faithful, forgiven souls will clearly confess Christ.  I pray we faithful, forgiven followers of Jesus will joyfully witness our Savior in a world which desperately needs to see our sin & to especially see our Savior, Jesus!

Amen.