May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your
sight, O Lord, our Risen Rock and our Redeemer. AMEN.
Christ
is arisen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
This
morning we come to celebrate the mountaintop experience for Christians
everywhere. Jesus Christ is alive. Jesus Christ Who was crucified on Good
Friday, laid in the tomb, left for dead by His disciples and followers, has
risen from the dead!! Jesus Christ has
burst the three day prison! Jesus Christ
overcame sin, death and the devil and offers us eternal life with Him in His
Kingdom!
This
is the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that Jesus Christ offers us the
forgiveness of sins, life and salvation!
We cannot merit it, but God out of His great love for us proclaims this
for you and for me. This is in essence
the Office of the Keys. If you were to
read the insert for this morning, Martin Luther states plainly that this is the
“authority
which Christ has given to His church”.
Further “when the called ministers of Christ [meaning the pastor and by my
office] deal with us by His [God’s] divine command, [to bind or loose sins,
forgive or absolve sins]…this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as
if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.”
What
we need to hear and take away from our mountaintop experience this Easter morning
is that Jesus Christ came and lived among His disciples. Was baptized in the river Jordan, healed, fed
and ministered to countless men, women and children. Instituted the Lord’s Supper, suffered at the
hands of His captors, was nailed to a cross on Golgotha, laid in a tomb and
left for dead. Then on the Third Day He
rose from the dead. With Jesus Christ
rising, He conquered death and offers You and me eternal life.
But,
there is something we have that God needs.
And that is why I need your help this morning. I would like for all of you to take out the
keys you have in your pockets. Whether
it is keys to the car, truck or SUV you drove here this morning, keys to the
house you share with your family, or keys to the locks that protect all of your
worldly possessions. Please hold them
and be ready to do something.
You
see this morning our emphasis is upon the Office of the Keys given to the
Church, to either bind or loose the sins of individuals. This responsibility is given to the church. But it is more intimate than that. I would like for you to shake the keys for
just a moment. [SHAKE]. The keys you
hold in your hands are a perfect metaphor of the key you hold not to the stuff
you have accumulated or inherited or been given. The keys you have in your hands represent the
key to your heart.
Today
on Easter Sunday, we have the greatest opportunity to clearly and expressly
give the keys to our collective hearts to Jesus Christ. When we hear the Gospel message today we have
the opportunity to give to Jesus Christ the Key that opens our hearts and
everything we have and give it to Jesus Christ in true worship, discipleship
and devotion. For Jesus Christ offers us
this morning the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven with our believing in the
Resurrection from the Dead of Jesus Christ.
It is by our sharing the Key to our heart with Jesus Christ when we
offer ourselves to Him that we have the greatest opportunity to receive not
only grace upon grace, but the Greatest Gift ever Given to all of Mankind. And that gift is the forgiveness of sins and eternal
life.
When
the tomb was found to be empty early that Sunday morning, it was shown that
nothing could bind Jesus Christ. And
with the keys to our hearts, when we offer them to Jesus Christ we afford
ourselves the greatest opportunity to receive this gift of forgiveness that is directly
offered to us from Jesus Christ for all of mankind including each and every one
of us.
Tragically
we personally know individuals who may never have heard the Gospel, or ever
experienced this the mountaintop experience, because they are dealing with
tragedy. One such person I know of was
Trevor, right before coming to hear and celebrate on Easter Sunday, he received
a phone call from his best friends parents.
You see, Trevor’s best friend, Jack, whom he had grown up with from
having the same baby sitter, the same little league coach, the same swim coach,
the same teachers all through elementary school committed suicide Saturday, the
night before Easter. Trevor had talked
with Jack Saturday afternoon and everything seemed fine, he was relaxed and
just wanted to have some fun, they had played X-Box and rode around the
neighborhood. But this morning, his best
friend was gone.
Jack
with his taking his life was caught in the darkness of Holy Saturday, not being
able to see the light of Easter morning.
Never being able to hear what Jesus Christ accomplished for all of
mankind. Jack had never been asked, nor
given the opportunity to give the ‘key’ to his heart to Jesus Christ. There were many times Trevor and Jack would
have a sleep over, but never did Trevor ask Jack, nor his family to come to
church to hear the Gospel and what Jesus Christ accomplished on Easter and what
He offers to us today.
To
this day, Trevor wears a brand, purposefully burned into the skin of his arm
with Jack’s initials as a clear and concrete reminder of the missed opportunity
of spreading the Gospel. But today, and
every day for us, when we hold the keys to our house, car, truck and our very
possessions, may we be reminded this is the symbolic key that we can offer to
Jesus Christ to set us free. For with
the key to our heart, Jesus Christ Who purposefully wears the scars of the
holes from the nails in His hands and feet, and the puncture of the spear to
His side and the prick of the thorns from the Crown of thorns on His brow, can
open our hearts and offer us the Greatest Gift of life and salvation for all of
mankind. Especially including all of us
saints willing to offer Jesus Christ the key to our heart by which He willingly
offers us eternal life for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this
Easter morning. AMEN.
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