Sermons 2024

Video

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
 

My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation today is the First Reading from the book of Acts chapter four verses one through twelve.

Boys and Girls, I pray that you are doing well. Have you ever seen really small animals? In the ocean there are small microscopic vegetable life of the sea who provides food for many of the ocean's smallest creatures. These little vegetable plants drift thousands of miles, wherever the current takes them. They have no power or will of their own to direct their destiny. They are called "plankton," a word that means wandering or drifting. How are we often like Plankton in our lives? How does God stop our drifting? Ponder those questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
Plankton is an accurate term to describe the aimless life of many people of our century, people who have lost a sense of direction, who are powerless to direct their own destiny, and wander through life without a purpose.
These are the people who are subject to the shifting wind of every fad. They struggle to find a purpose in their lives either in some sort of pleasure or in one of the new religious movements or mind control efforts. In our text today, Peter is saying that there is one way of escape; one way of finding meaning and purpose in life; one way to a new kind of life with God and that way is through the name of Jesus.
One of the exciting things about knowing that way through the name is that we can share it with others. Have you ever tried to share the name? Polls have indicated that about half of all Lutherans never do it, 40 percent do it once in a while, and 10 regularly. Yet, look at the power of the name that we share!
 

A. The Name Healed the Lame Man
 

The background of the text is that Peter and John had gone to the temple to pray as was their custom. As recorded in Acts 3, which was the First Reading last Sunday, they were confronted by a cripple at the gate of the temple, and Peter said, "I don't have any silver or gold, but what I've got I'll give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk" (Acts 3:7). Immediately the man got up, leaped and jumped, and praised God. A great crowd gathered around to listen, so Peter began to preach as he usually did when a crowd gathered. He told the crowd that it was by this name of the servant Jesus that the man was healed and able to walk. It was not long until the temple guards, the riot control squad, arrived and dragged Peter and John off to prison for the night. The next day they were brought before the court, and there the question was asked, "By what power or by what name do you do this?" (Acts 4:7). In response Peter spoke those words of our text that it was by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and he explained what Jesus did as he adds, "whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. By Him this man is standing before you well."
 

B. God Chose the Name
 

The way is the name. The name is "Jesus," the name that God the Father chose to give His Son. It is not a name that the Old Testament prophets attributed to the coming Messiah. The name is in the Old Testament but in different forms, in words like Joshua and Hosea. It was God who chose the name for His Son. When it was time for the Messiah to come, God sent His messenger, the Angel Gabriel, to say to Mary, "His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." That is what the name really means, "one who saves." In His sermon to the crowd in the temple, Peter connected that name "Jesus" to the "holy and righteous one," and to the "author of life whom God raised from the dead" (Acts 3:14, 15), making it clear that this "one who saves" is none other than the Son of God Himself.
 

C. The Name Saves
 

In some cultures, it has been common to give the name of Jesus to sons as a way to honor them. That is why some professional ballplayers have names that are variations of the name Jesus, as Jesu, or Jose. Some years ago, a group of mothers sent a protest and request to the archbishop of Mexico. They wanted him to ban the use of the name Jesus and refuse any christening by that name. The reason they gave was that it was sacrilegious to have so many crimes committed by Jesus—and then written on the police record. 
Jesus is the Son of God, the one who is holy and righteous. To live a holy life for us was part of His work on earth. Then He took our sins upon Himself, suffered and died and rose again, making atonement for all sins for all people. That was how He "saved His people from their sins" and became the "author of life."
 

D. The Name Is the Only Way
 

Peter says that it is through this name that we have life with God—and there is no other way. "Saved" in the New Testament means that we are rescued. By nature, you and I and all people are in a state of sinfulness, which the Bible calls death. It is a spiritual death, a life without God. This is the basic cause of the restless search for meaning in life. People are separated from the God who created them and who wants them to be in fellowship with Him. Unless they find the way to God, they will keep on searching and finally die in their sins. 
The way to have that life is through the name of Jesus. It is the only way. Jesus said, "I am come that you may have life, life in all of its fullness." That is His very purpose for dying and rising from the dead, to give us the fullness of eternal life.

E. There Is None Other
 

Only one name, only one way. But the way is for everyone in all of the world.
Yet, many in the world try a wide variety of different ways. There was once a survey of Lutherans which says that 70 percent of young people would agree to this statement: "God is satisfied if I live the best life I can." This is a subtle form of universalism that is, if our neighbor is a good person and lives a good life, he is going to make it. He is going to be all right somehow. Or as I think about my Jewish friends, I would like to believe that they can be saved through the Old Testament, and then I do not have to share Jesus Christ with them. There are many other forms of this kind of subtle universalism which takes away the need for me to share Jesus Christ with them. But we must share Jesus with theme. They need it just as much as we do.
 

F. The Name Must Be Shared
 

It is our privilege and our commission to share that name with other people. Peter gives us the example in our text. He is before the Sanhedrin, that august body, the Jewish high court consisting of 71 members. The high priest is the ex-officio president. There are the wealthy Sadducees, the religious Pharisees, the learned Scribes, the respected elders, and our text even mentions that the priestly family was present. The high priest was supposed to have been a hereditary office and one for life. But under the Roman rule the office was filed with intrigue, bribery, and corruption. Between 37 B.C. and A.D. 67 there were 28 high priests. All but six of them came from four families. Many of those former high priests were here at this court.

So Peter and John were standing before the wealthiest, most intellectual, most powerful men in the country. There Peter, an uneducated, humble fisherman, makes his witness. A number of weeks earlier Jesus went before this same court, and they sent Him to the Romans recommending crucifixion. Peter was then in the courtyard denying that he even knew Jesus. And now Peter stands before this same group of men and says, "You crucified Jesus of Nazareth, but God raised Him from the dead. Now this name is the only name under heaven, the only name in all the world, by which you can be saved." The difference in Peter, of course, is that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. This was after Pentecost, and the Spirit empowered him for his bold witness.
 

That same Spirit is still active today though you. You received the forgiveness of your sins and new life in your baptism. The Holy Spirit came into your life and has been nurturing your faith so that you can trust in the name of Jesus and live a life with meaning and purpose. Just as Peter witnessed to the Sanhedrin, the Holy Spirit can help you be a witness to others, to your friend, your neighbors, and even your own relatives who do not know the way to peace with God through the name of Jesus. 
 

Think of it like sharing the cure of cancer. Someone is dying of cancer. He has taken every known treatment for it, and some of the treatments almost killed him, but he is still dying, and it won't be long now. What if I knew the cure for his cancer? Should I let him die or share the cure so he can live? Do you have friends, neighbors, relatives, who are dying because of the cancer of sin in them? They are separated from God and destined to an eternal death. There is one way to be saved. That is through the name of Jesus. Sharing that name really puts meaning and purpose into life.

Some people can witness better than others. The Bible talks about some having the "gift of evangelism," which means that they can communicate the Good News of the way and help lead a person to trust in the name of Jesus. Of course, it is the Holy Spirit that creates faith, but we are the instruments He uses, His mouthpiece. Some people think about 10 percent of all Christians have this special gift of evangelism. What about the other 90 percent? We also are witnesses, Jesus said, even though we can't do as well as the person with the special gift. Each one of us needs to share as we are able. We share in the daily contacts that we have with people, we show by our words, deeds, and example the wonderous news that Jesus is the only way to salvation, that there is no other name by which we must be saved.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.