Easter
3B – April 19, 2015
Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4; 1
John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48
St
Stephen Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh PA
The
Rev. Maurice C. Frontz III, STS
Alleluia!
Christ is risen!
The
resurrection of Jesus is not a happy ending.
We
think that the story is neatly wrapped up in a bow.
The
disciples are hidden away in fear and grief and guilt,
and
then the risen Jesus appears,
and
they first tremble with fear and then rejoice in wonder.
But
this does not mean a happy ending,
if
only because nothing is ended.
we
read that the story is only beginning,
for
the risen Jesus says to his disciples,
‘Thus
it is written,
that
the Messiah is to suffer
and
to rise from the dead on the third day,
and
that repentance and forgiveness of sins
is
to be proclaimed in his name to all nations,
beginning
from Jerusalem.
You
are witnesses of these things.’
This
is the part of the story that is still going on today.
It
is why we are here today.
For
the book of Acts shows us St. Peter
boldly
proclaiming that Jesus of Nazareth
is
the promised Messiah of Israel,
and
that those who turn away from sin
and
put their trust in him will be forgiven;
‘their
sins will be wiped out.’
This
story has been told from St. Peter
on
down through the succeeding generations,
until
we in our childhood heard from parents and grandparents,
friends
and pastors and Sunday School teachers
this
story of a man who was God
who
died for us and was raised again.
And
now we are the ones who tell the story.
‘You
are witnesses of these things,’
says
Jesus to those gathered in the Upper Room.
The
passing on of the witness has continued to us,
and
if it is to be passed on, it must continue through us.
This
is why we must be aware
that
the resurrection of Jesus, Easter morning,
is
not yet the happy ending.
It
is the assurance of the happy ending,
but
it is not yet fully come.
We
live believing that it will fully
come,
but
we do not know when it will fully
come,
In
the meantime,
we
are given a task, an identity,
‘witnesses
to these things,’
witnesses
to the Resurrection,
to
tell the same story that was told us,
so
that others may be drawn up into God’s great story
of
forgiveness of sins and salvation through Christ.
This
body of believers
known
as St Stephen Lutheran Church
has
been a witness for many years in this community.
I
must confess,
I’m
not sure if we have any charter members
of
this congregation still with us,
or
if they have all passed into the Church triumphant.
But
some of us will remember some of those first ones
who
gathered in a schoolhouse in the early 1950s
to
start a mission congregation
of
the Lutheran Church/Missouri Synod
in
the growing suburbs south of Pittsburgh.
I
think that it’s important to remember
that
a Lutheran congregation is not constituted by a pastor;
it
is constituted by laypeople,
The
people own the mission;
they
are the ones called to bear witness to the resurrection.
and
when there are enough laypeople gathered together,
they
call a pastor from the wider Church
to
preach and teach in Christ’s name
and
administer the Sacraments among them.
And
so the people of St Stephen were here.
The
witness was here
when
a Christian family came from somewhere else,
or
when a married couple with a young child
realized
they wanted that child to be formed in the faith.
The
witness was here when a person
who
had been away from the faith for a long time
finally
one day came through the door,
drawn
by the cross, drawn by the promise,
‘Christ
welcomes you.’
The
witness was here when a child
was
washed with the cleansing waters of Baptism,
was
nourished with the Word and Holy Sacraments,
taught
at the feet of parents and teachers and pastors,
to
take their place as adult believers,
whether
here or in another place where God led them.
The
witness was here,
and
the witness is here among us,
for
as long as the people hear the call to be witnesses,
the
Gospel will be proclaimed from this people,
in
the cross to the people who pass by,
in
the Word to the people who come in,
in
the Sacraments to those who come to receive them.
The
Risen Christ is indeed in our midst.
If
you are here today,
you
are here because of people you probably never knew
who
were called to bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If
you are here today,
you
too are called to be a witness to the Gospel.
I
think that the word ‘witness’ is a little confusing.
When
we hear that we are to ‘witness,’
we
may think of someone knocking on doors giving out Bibles
or
trying to engage people in conversation about faith.
If
that’s not our thing,
then
we’re not witnesses.
Or
we may say, ‘Well, if we give some food to the food bank,
we
are showing by our actions that we are witnesses, and we don’t need words.’
I
don’t think that either of these are enough
Remember
what I’ve been talking about.
I’ve
been talking about how ‘St Stephen,’
how
our faith community, our congregation, is a witness.
Simply
our being here is a witness to the Resurrection
and
a call to others to celebrate it.
And
so if we believe we are called to be witnesses,
the
first thing we do is rededicate ourselves to the participation in
and
the building up of this ministry,
this
unique and special ministry
which
proclaims repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations.
Our
congregation will be renewed and continue to grow and thrive
if
we hear God’s call to be a witnessing people in new ways.
Your
pastor needs to learn how to be a witness
and
to lead his people in witness.
For
many years I thought that if I preached and taught the Gospel faithfully
and
administered the Sacraments rightly
the
rest of it would take care of itself.
I
believe now that part of the call to being a pastor
is
to be able to aid you and encourage you in articulating a witness,
to
help the congregation in discerning a vision and reason for being,
and
to connect us with the witness of the Church in other places.
So
I ask for your prayers in doing that.
It
is especially imperative for our newer members,
younger
and older,
those
who have been here for a few years or less,
and
there are more of us than we might think,
to
remember that we are here because someone else bore witness,
that
others gave generously and more than generously
of
time and money and sweat and prayer
to
build and maintain this ministry
so
that people they didn’t know,
you
and me, could come here
and
hear the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness.
It
is time that we take up the challenge to do the same,
to
remember that our identity is in God
and
in what he has done for us through Christ,
and
to give our lives for the Gospel;
to
grow this ministry with our time and money and our sweat and prayer
so
that others may be caught up in this story.
But
our long-time members
also
need to hear again the call to be a witnessing people,
for
our witness does not end after a set number of years.
Indeed,
as long as we draw breath
we
can bear witness to the resurrection.
And
so we should not think that our witness must grow fainter.
Instead,
it should grow brighter
as
we look back over the years and see how faithful God has been,
how
many mercies he has shown.
If
this ministry is to grow and thrive and be renewed,
it
will be because we who have the risen Christ in our midst
believe
and understand
that
his resurrection is not the end of the story.
It
is only the beginning.
By
God’s grace we may participate in his writing of new chapters,
by
how we live and how we give
drawing
other people into the story.
I
invite you, with me, to follow our forebears in saying ‘yes’
to
Jesus’ call to be witnesses,
that
we may continue to know his Risen Life
and
to pass it to others.
