Easter 7 Draft

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed, alleluia! +

Man, bad stuff will happen. I mean, peel the paint off the wall bad stuff will happen. This is what Jesus tells the disciples that Maundy Thursday evening – and not just bad stuff to Jesus, but bad stuff is going to happen to them. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think that he is offering service to God. And it happens. The disciples in that upper room are all driven out of the community, forced to run – most of them are murdered cruelly and harshly. John dies naturally, but off in exile. Bad stuff will happen.

I use to get really annoyed when I'd have to run into the Christian book store to pick up supplies, because I'd pass the racks of the current best sellers, and so often they'd be these incredibly happy go lucky things. Here's the Christian guide to success and power and victory – it was like walking into a self-help section with a slathering of Jesus tossed onto it, and I would get really annoyed, because it was making a false promise. Jesus doesn't say that everything will go well. In fact, Jesus is quite often blunt, telling us that in this life, in this sinful world where you are surrounded by sinners, bad things will happen. Some you will bring upon yourself – some will just happen to you. And the lives of all the saints of both the Old and the New Testaments are examples of this. Bad things happen – and being faithful doesn't mean that they won't happen to you. In fact, being faithful to God paints a target squarely on you and Satan is going to fire away.

Bad things happen. And Jesus is honest with us about that. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. When bad things happen, we are spiritually assaulted. We are assaulted by Satan and our own sinful flesh. And fears and doubts come crashing in. It wasn't supposed to be like this, did I do something wrong, why isn't God doing X, Y, and Z to fix it? We see the bad things, and we are hounded by Satan and sin with the threat and specter of death – hounded away from Christ.

So, remember what Jesus told you. Jesus has never blown smoke up your skirt about how everything will be rosy. He's not some prosperity preacher – it's take up your Cross and follow Me. That “oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz” song isn't Scripture, it's Janis Joplin. Jesus has been utterly blunt and honest with how there will be hardship and difficulty and pain and death in your life. And so what we see today should be no surprise. Christians don't get a get out of COVID free card, we don't get to ignore governmental regulations without consequence just because we're Christians. No – Jesus has placed you as a Christian squarely in the middle of the real world, the real, harsh world. The real world that will fight tooth and nail against itself and doubly so against you because you are a Christian and Satan wants nothing more than to crush you and drive you away from Christ.

So over and against this, Jesus wants you to stay focused on the message, on the Gospel, on the good news of your salvation. Because you know what is true about all the bad stuff you see – it doesn't change the fact that Jesus Christ has died for you. Do you see your sin? Doesn't change the fact that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary that first Christmas. Doesn't matter how big that sin that bugs you is – Jesus still was born. Is the world gone all crazy and dangerous and foolish? Doesn't change the fact that Jesus, True God and True Man, died and rose for you to win you forgiveness and win you eternal life. Easter service was sort of canceled or just stuck on line – not Easter itself, not the Resurrection itself. All the hardships we face, all the trials – they're not going to catch Jesus off guard. It's not like they are some surprise twist that Jesus didn't see coming – and even with them coming, He did everything He needed to do to be your Savior, to forgive you and redeem you and save you. He doesn't forget you – we're the ones tempted to forget, but Jesus never forgets His love for you.

And thus, He sends the Holy Spirit. When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit – and you know what the Holy Spirit's job is? To give you Jesus. To fix your eyes upon Jesus. To come to you in and by the Word of God, and to place your eyes smack dab upon Jesus, in good days or bad days, in normal days or strange days, yesterday, today, and forever. The Holy Spirit bears witness about Jesus – proclaims over and over to you that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, that this is true, and that nothing in the world can change that fact.

And this is what the Apostles were sent to preach. The Holy Spirit works through the Word, and the Apostles were sent to proclaim the Word of God. And we who have been given the gift of faith by the Holy Spirit, we who have heard the Word – we too are given to proclaim it.

And this is important, something much more important than the question of why do bad things happen? Bad things happen because we are sinners in a sinful world. Don't give me that “why do bad things happen to good people” junk – sinners in a sinful world. You're not “good” - you're a forgiven sinner – you are declared good and righteous in Christ Jesus. And so the bigger, the more profound question isn't “why do these bad things happen” but why did God put you right here, right now, right smack dab in the middle of this badness right now?

When we see bad things, our sinful flesh likes to jump to the idea of punishment, but often that's just our sinful flesh thinking we can dig our way out of things. If I've been bad, maybe I can be good and work my way out of it. Well, I suppose diet and exercise might make me less likely to get sick but there's something more profound at work than Jesus just telling me to put down the junk food. Might be part of it – but only a small part. No – why are you here, right now, in the middle of all this badness?

Let's ponder the Apostles again for a moment. Next Sunday is Pentecost – and we will hear them preach, and it will be neat, and all that. And they get sent into some lousy places, full of badness and wickedness. Why? Not for their own good – but to do good for the people God put into their lives. To be God's instruments of love and compassion, of proclaiming the Gospel. God put them in the middle of the bad because that is where God needed His love proclaimed the most, His love shown the most, His care given forth the most.

Why are you here, now, in the middle of all this badness? To love. To forgive. To show mercy. Over and against and in the midst of all this sin and death surrounding us – you are sent by God to love and serve your neighbor, to care for their bodily needs, as well as to proclaim the peace of Christ Jesus, His forgiveness, and the hope of the resurrection in the midst of a world that desperately needs it. Because really – the world and its situation isn't any more bad now than it was last year at this time. The main difference is perhaps we see it a bit more clearly now. We see the panic, the fear, the danger, the isolation and loneliness all the more clearly. We see it in ourselves more – we feel it more clearly ourselves. And God in His wisdom and in His love for His creation that is being sorely abused by Satan and the powers of hell has forgiven you, and been merciful to you – and He has placed you right into the middle of the fray to be His own instrument of love and mercy and forgiveness to people who desperately need His love and mercy and forgiveness.

And some won't appreciate the love. And some won't want to hear the mercy or peace. And some will scoff at the forgiveness. So be it – Jesus told you that this would happen. Show the love anyway. Forgive people anyway – even if they don't deserve it, because no one deserves God's forgiveness. That's the point of it being forgiveness. Love and forgive each other – and in that way God will see that you yourself receive His love and forgiveness, His encouragement and strength. And God will bless you with the Holy Spirit to keep you and strengthen you in Christ Jesus for the love He would have you show, for the works that He has prepared for you to walk in, even until He chooses and knows that it is best to give you rest. You have received the love of Christ, and He sends you forth with that same love to cover the multitude of sins, of badness that we see unleashed upon this world – because your neighbors need that love just as much as you do.

So, do not fear the badness that you see. Do not be shaken by it. Do not be driven away from Christ Jesus by it. Rather – know it for what it is. It's Satan attacking the world, attacking the people for whom Jesus died for. And Jesus will not stand for that – and so here you are, and He is with you, to give you daily bread as you tend to the daily needs of your neighbors, to forgive you as you forgive those who trespass against you. And He will not lead you into a temptation that you cannot bear, and He will deliver you from evil. He has done so – for you are a baptized child of God, and nothing you see can change that. You need not flee wickedness – God destroys it through His love and forgiveness that He gives to you and through you. This is what Jesus' death and resurrection for you has accomplished. Amen. Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed, alleluia.