Sermons 2025

Text: Revelation 1:4-18

Outline:
Resurrected to be
1.    Be His Prophets
2.    Be His Priests
3.    Be His Kings

As a prophetic community the church mediates the word of God made known in Jesus to the world. As a priestly community the church mediates to the world God’s reconciliation of the world in Jesus, the Sacrificed Priest, and instead of sacrificing to the emperor on the Roman altar, the church sacrifices itself on the true altar of God (cf. 6:9–11). As a royal community the church represents and signifies the rule of God as already present in the world.

Sermon

Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation today is the Revelation of Saint John’s chapter one verses four through eighteen.

Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Have you ever been given a job to do? Maybe mom or dad told you to clean your room, take out the trash, help with the dishes. I know you have a job to do as a student, to obey your teachers, learn everything that you can and be good to your classmates. We have a job to do as Christians. It is a job given to us by Jesus Christ. He gives us the job of going out into all the world, proclaiming what He has done by His death and resurrection from the dead. How can we do this great job? How does Jesus help us? Ponder those questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

1.    Be His Prophets

Christ has Risen! He has risen indeed! Alleluia! This is a very interesting text to have for the Second Sunday in Easter but it is one that gives to us great comfort today. In our text, the Risen Christ stands before Saint John in all of His glory. John turns and  sees the incarnate deity of Jesus. His hair is white as wool, His eyes and feet like blazing bronze. His face is shining stronger than the sun shining in full brightness. John sees Jesus ruling and reigning over all things, holding everything in His hands, especially His beloved Church.

The Lord gives John a simple message for the church. The Lord remains His beloved of who He is. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”   Having been crucified, died, and buried, Jesus is no longer dead. Having been raised from the dead, as the firstborn of the dead, Christ now rules and reigns forever and ever. As the God-man, Jesus is fully using His divine power and authority for our good, the good of His church, and the good of all the nations. 

Thus, why John writes this letter, beginning with the seven churches, that all believers might know the One to whom they belong. That they might have comfort knowing that our Lord is indeed in control of all things, as they do the work that He has given them to do. Christ is our Prophet, our Priest, and our King forever as the anointed messiah seated at the right hand of the Father. As believers, we share in this ministry and work upon this earth.  Through Christ’s threefold office, we share in His works as His prophets, His priests, and His Kings upon this earth.

    Firstly, how are we, His prophets? We share in Christ’s work as His prophets because of what we proclaim to others through our thoughts, words, and deeds. We claim to be Christians. Christ-ian! The ian means little therefor Christian means little Christ. When others interact with, and observe our actions, our actions impact how others view Christ and His Kingdom. Through our thoughts, words, and deeds, we constantly proclaim the wonderous works of what Jesus has done for us, and for the world.  

We show that we are different than others because we reject our sinful nature, the temptation of the devil, and our sinful flesh. We do not indulge or follow our passions because we have been freed from them. We have been freed from their control by the death and resurrection of Jesus. He has claimed us as His own, therefore, we follow Christ. He has redeemed us from the everlasting death and damnation, that we deserve because of our sins, by the shedding of His holy and precious blood up the cross.  Much like the Prophets in the Old Testament, we are not perfect. We make mistakes, we make grievous errors, and sin against His Word. Yet, God in His great mercy and love, still deigns to use our actions and words to proclaim His glory. As we prayed in our Collect this morning, we do indeed prayer that He would help us that by our lives and deeds we may proclaim Christ as God and Lord.

2.    Be His Priests

As we proclaim Christ as God and Lord, we are fulfilling our second task. The task of being His priests. We are greater than the priests of old, not we have any excuse to inflate our pride, but because the sacrifice that we present is greater. Unlike the priest of old who offered sacrifice after sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, we remind the world of Jesus’ great sacrifice upon the cross. There, He paid the price for the sins of the entire world. Jesus fully appeased the wrath of God as proven by His resurrection from the dead. This means that no matter who you are, no matter what you have done. It is forgiven because of Jesus. Throughout our lives, we are mediating throughout the world God’s reconciliation of the world in Jesus, the Sacrificed Priest. Jesus, as God in the flesh, is the great High Priest and Himself became the Victim in our stead. 

In instead of sacrificing to the emperor on the Roman altar, the church sacrifices itself on the true altar of God.  We sacrifice of our very lives to what God has given us to do. It is not easy to follow God’s commands given in His Word. To sacrifice our time, our talents, our treasures to what He has called us to do. It would be much easier to sleep more this morning than go to church. Many people show this same kind of attitude, thinking nothing of the long hours or the great cost of investing in their kids happiness for sports, or drama, or other extracurriculars. Yet, ask them for a mere hour on Sunday, or even more during the week, and many say no they cannot give that much, to the One who has given them everything they have, even their very lives! We emulate Jesus’ great sacrifice as we sacrifice of ourselves, not to earn anything from God, (we are not saying we are better because we are poorer!) but rather to praise Him for giving to us everything. Help us O Lord, to properly steward what you have given to us, including our very lives.

3.    Be His Kings

Thanks be to God that He does indeed give us the help we need to steward everything that He has given to us. In, and through, Christ God has made us rich beyond comparison to anything in this present world. He has made us kings already ruling and reigning with Christ. As Saint Paul tells Timothy in his second letter, “The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him.” And “If we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us.”

We have died and been buried with Christ in the waters of Holy Baptism. Our sins have been forgiven, and we have been washed in the precious blood of the Lamb.  As He now lives and reigns for all eternity so too will we. Even if our bodies turn into dust, they will be raised to life again. When Christ comes again, every eye will see Him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and pay Him the honor that is rightly due to Him as the Father has given Jesus the name that is above every name. 

Conclusion: As we go about our lives, facing the great enemies of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, let us rejoice in the great comfort that Jesus has given to us. He is indeed the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. He is with us always as we do the tasks that He has given us to do, until the Day when all flesh shall be raised and we shall see Him enthroned in glory forever.
Christ has Risen! He has risen indeed! Alleluia!

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