Talking About the Passion: Sermons from Holy Cross Lutheran Church

Ultimately, whenever the Bible speaks of warfare, victory, and triumph, it does so NOT to perpetuate our sinful human propensity toward violence,  nor to encourage us to crush our enemies.

But to remind us of God’s limitless power at work in Jesus Christ. 

Contrary to popular opinion, Revelation’s apocalyptic vision is not focused on the Lord venting his wrath and punishing wickedness.

Revelation’s apocalyptic vision is focused on God’s work to remove every obstacle that stands in the way of his goal to gather all creation around the throne of the lamb, to worship and adore Jesus, and to bask in the joy and goodness that radiates from him.  

Revelation is not meant to frighten or baffle us. Rather, it summons us to WORSHIP the Almighty God, who draws near to us in Jesus.

Our gospel lesson for this Easter Sunday ends on a note of uncertainty. The apostles have laughed off the good news of the women.  And Peter has walked away with what we can only imagine is a quizzical expression on his face,  uncertain about what to do with the possibility that Jesus might, in fact, be risen. I want to argue that the suspense of the resurrection belongs, ultimately, NOT within the story itself. But within the lives of those who HEAR this story.
 What will we do with the news

of Jesus’ resurrection today? 

How is that Paul is able to not just survive, but rejoice, in such dismal circumstances? How can we do the same?

Jesus calls us to be disciples, to love one another and to be holy. But that life all flows out of LOVE-- Christ's love for us and our love for him. How do we cultivate such love?

God calls Jonah, and he calls you and he calls ME…to learn HUMILITY. Not so that we  lie about or ignore the sins of others, but that we see ourselves as standing in need of God’s infinite mercy, just as they are in need of it, too.

Forgiveness is a new reality into which we are invited by Christ. And as long as we stand outside that reality, we are unable to share that reality with others, much less to enjoy it for ourselves. 

Like the Old Testament prophet, Nathan, Christians are called to be living contradictions to the destructive ways of the world, to graciously call one another back to the waiting arms of the Lord.

We Christians usually talk about repentance as an act of rejection: A turning AWAY from something, a rejection of an act or a disposition that’s malignant or destructive. 

While this surely captures an important dimension of repentance, at its heart, repentance means to turn TOWARDS something good that God feely offers us.