Sermons 2024

Video

Easter Sunrise Service

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!

And this morning, as the sun rises upon us, we are joining with the saints, here and around the world, as well as the saints who lived and died here before us. We are reminded of all the great acts of old that the Lord did for the salvation of His people and the glory of His name. For we gather around the same Word proclaimed and the same Sacraments administered, which bring to us the same full and free salvation found in this same crucified and risen Lord Jesus. It all began with one of the apostles bringing to them the good news of Christ’s resurrection.

Consider the hymn that we sang earlier, “Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain” (LW 141). Here is an example of the deep Christian faith that has been present here and has been nourished here through that preached Word. That hymn was not written by a European Christian, but rather by John of Damascus, a Syrian Christian from the Eastern Church who lived in the early eighth century. That same hymn is a part of our repertoire of hymnody because of its catholic content and authorship. “For today among his own Christ appeared, bestowing His deep peace, which evermore Passes human knowing. Neither could the gates of death Nor the tomb’s dark portal Nor the watchers nor the seal Hold him as a mortal” (LW 141:4).

We are bound up in a catholic faith that is bigger than just us as American Christians. Here, in this one, holy, catholic, and apostolic faith, the East meets the West, and the walls of culture dissipate through the historic liturgy and hymnody. This salvation, which we celebrate this morning, encompasses not only us, but also the entire world. It not only has relevance and application to this generation, but it also has been relevant and applied to all generations before we were ever conceived.

We heard in the Old Testament Reading about the people of Israel being delivered from Pharaoh’s army through water. This event was recounted as part of the salvific event of the Old Testament. Consider John of Damascus’s view of this event when he writes, “Come, you faithful, raise the strain Of triumphant gladness! God has brought his Israel Into joy from sadness, Loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke Jacob’s sons and daughters, Led them with unmoistened foot Through the Red Sea waters. This the spring of souls today: Christ has burst his prison And from three days’ sleep in death As a sun has risen; All the winter of our sins, Long and dark, is flying From his light, to whom is giv’n Laud and praise undying” (LW 141:1–2).Walking across the sea bed on dry ground! Seeing our Lord burst forth from the tomb, conquering death by dying! Who could have ever imagined that the Lord would act in such an awesome and gracious way.

And yet we allow ourselves to be convinced of the deadly, mistaken notion that we understand and believe more fully now, in our highly enlightened era, than did those who came before us. We are but a mere blip on the line of time. The audacity of our arrogance to convince ourselves of our own important contribution to the relevance and application of the Christian faith is sinful. It smacks of idolatry.

Who are we to think that we are more enlightened than those before us? Our triune God has thoroughly revealed himself and his salvation of our souls in the Old Testament redemption story of the Passover. He now brings that Passover event to its ultimate completion in his sacrifice and in his gift as our Paschal Lamb for us to eat. In his resurrection does Christ, the slaughtered Paschal Lamb, guarantee our victorious passage through the Red Sea of death to life eternal.

Dear, sweet Mary had physically seen Jesus on a day-to-day basis. She had witnessed his many miracles of healing, feeding, and raising the dead. Yet even in her more enlightened status as one very close to our Lord, her sinful human nature blinded her from seeing her Lord. It was only when her gracious Shepherd called her by name that she recognized him in his glorified body. It was the voice of her Lord that called her forth from the tomb of despair and doubt.

Remember this hymn you learned as a child? “I am Jesus’ little lamb, Ever glad at heart I am; For my Shepherd gently guides me, Knows my need and well provides me, Loves me ev’ry day the same, Even calls me by my name” (LW 517:1, emphasis added). Mary was made alive again when the Great Shepherd of the sheep called her by name. You have been made alive again this morning, for your resurrected Lord has called you forth from the deadly and mistaken notion of your enlightenment to the life-giving and certain proclamation of your adoption by grace.

Having been called forth by name, we gather as one body and partake of the paschal feast of victory in the Holy Supper. Just as the many individual kernels of wheat lost all of their pride in themselves when they were crushed into one flour to make the one loaf, so are we in this one bread. And just as the many grapes lost all of their self-importance when they were crushed into one vat of juice being fermented into the one wine, so are we in this one cup.

“Here the true Paschal Lamb we see, Whom God so freely gave us; He died on the accursed tree—So strong his love—to save us. See, his blood now marks our door; Faith points to it; death passes o’er, And Satan cannot harm us. Alleluia! Then let us feast this Easter Day On Christ, the bread of heaven; The Word of grace has purged away The old and evil leaven. Christ alone our souls will feed; He is our meat and drink indeed; Faith lives upon no other! Alleluia!” (LW 123:3, 5).

We have seen how small and insignificant we are without Him, who is our strength and our shield. We know that we only can wait upon Him who controls all things and brings all things to pass, according to his good and gracious will. We are not our own. We are but the Lord’s servants. And we are faithfully fed and nourished by the pierced hand of Him on whom we feed. And we are faithfully led and guided by the voice of Him who has called us by name. Thanks be to God!

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!