When I received your invitation to preach on this occasion, I climbed into the attic of my mind and started to dust off old memories long stored away. And if I had to use one word to sum up my Friedens years: magnificent. I recalled this building, with its massive pipe organ, real bells, the beautiful stained glass and thinking, "Now this is a church." I never before or never since worshipped in a congregation with such earthly magnificence.
And yet, foolish I would be if I took this opportunity to wax nostalgic for the old days. Foolish I would be if all I would do today is take you for a walk down memory lane with funny stories and witty anecdotes. Foolish I would be if I spent this time to bathe with you in the visible grandeur of this congregation. I would be foolish for all such activities because all have nothing to do with the reason you have been blessed with a 150 year history.
The magnificence of Friedens is not this structure, its membership roles, nor even in its 150 year history. The magnificence of Friedens is that despite strife, fear, doubt, depression, tribulation, turmoil, war, economy and everything else this world has tried to throw at her, her voice still proclaims the same peace that caused her founding. And what us the real cause of your jubilee? For the past 150 years, The Risen Lord has stood among you; to dispel your fear; to disperse your doubt; and to declare your mission.
Part I: To dispel your fear
Turning to God's Word for guidance this morning, we see that the Lord stands among his disciples first to dispel their fear. (Text)
Fear and confusion abound this first Easter eve. We are told the doors were locked out for fear for the Jews. If the Jewish leaders had gone to such ends to destroy their master, how much easier would they be dispatched? All kinds of fear filled that room: Fear that Jesus was dead; fear they would be next; the fear of uncertainty; and the fear in trusting our reason over God's Word.
Jesus told them that the gates of hell would not prevail against them, but instead we find them barricaded behind walls and gates. This type of hunker-down mentality is a tell-tale sign that the basis of faith has switched from Jesus' Words to our own reason and ability. All who sit here today are acquainted with such fears.
All it takes for us is a little red ink, a little drop in enrollment and membership, a rise in the crime rate, and increased costs, and a bit of angry rhetoric from an unbeliever and we all are sent running for cover. And there is no more magnificent fortress than Friedens is to hide behind. We hide amid the sea of names on its roster. We can hide in nooks and crannies of this complex. Yet with the might of these walls not one brick eases the fear still persists. Fear is the earmark of a faith that puts his trust in itself.
True peace is found when the Lord stands among us. We are told that Jesus just appeared and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." This was no ghost the disciples saw. Jesus showed them the marks of his passion. With this amazing appearance, they can no longer doubt that Jesus has done what he said he would do. The Lord has risen! This is a fact without dispute!
But the appearance of the Risen Lord itself is frightening. For in the face of Savior your become all to aware how sinful your fear is. You realized how poor your understanding of Scripture is. And in realizing this guilt overwhelms us. Then, like Peter, we cast our eyes to the ground and shout, "Lord away from me, I am a sinful man!" But Jesus gives a double portion of peace: Not only peace that he is alive, but the peace that tells you your sins are forgiven.
For the last 150 years, it has been this double portion of peace that brought Christians together. Each Sunday in hymn, anthem, reading, song, service and class has but one foundation: the Risen Christ. It is the Risen Christ who fills this congregation as they gather in his name, as they hear his word. It is the risen Christ and the empty tomb that provides proof that overcomes fear.
And when become burdened with fear and faithlessness, the Lord stands among us to proclaim the peace of forgiveness. He stands in homes as parent forgives child, in classrooms as teacher forgives student, in conversation as a friend consoles his brother and in pubic and private confession and absolution as his called servants of the Word proclaim that in the stead and by the command of Jesus they forgive you your sins. Indeed! Jesus Christ dispels our fears and fills us with the joy of peace!
Part II: To disperse your doubt
And yet, even the absolution of the pastor sometimes rings hollow with us. All of my vintage will undoubtedly remember Catechism with Pastor Gosdeck. The reason we remember catechism with Pastor Gosdeck is that he invariably would go off into a tangent about some horrific story of death, destruction and pain.
Now at the time, I thought this rather cool because when you are a 13-14 year old boy, such stories are interesting. But 16 years after my confirmation, I think I realize what his point was in telling these stories. The devil, this world, and your own mind is going to do all it can to destroy your faith through bitter pain and agony. Through these great trials this unholy trinity whispers one word, "Doubt."
Doubt in the Lord's Word is the most horrible of sins, yet is as sweet as honey in our ears when the pain comes. Doubt in Jesus tastes good in the mouth of the husband who loses his wife in a car accident. Doubt goes down easy when our child is taken from us. Doubt is easy to when our job is taken from us, our house is foreclosed upon by the bank or our parents abuse us. Doubt is the bucket of cold water that douses the fire of faith.
Thomas is wet with doubt. Despite the testimony of ten other disciples, despite the Scripture, despite all the resurrection miracles that Easter, Thomas would not believe. "You are all under a delusion," is what Thomas tells them. Thomas angrily, almost mockingly, gives a litmus test to his faith (text).
Yet, the Risen Lord stands among them once more, this time to disperse their doubt. Again, he greets them with peace. But this time he singles out Thomas, looks him in the eye and gives him the proof he requires so that he too might share in Jesus' peace. (text)
What is amazing about how the Lord disperses Thomas' doubts is that he singles him out. "Oh, Thomas, you do not believe in the testimony I have given. You need more? You need to see and touch so that you might believe. Very well!" Now Thomas cannot doubt, because before him is not only the same testimony, but the very body he demanded. Jesus singled out Thomas so that he might believe and no longer doubt.
Friends, Jesus has continued to single out each and every member of Friedens for the last 150 years so that they might believe and stop doubting. He has stood among us in the midst of great trials and pain, both as individuals and as a congregation, dispersing our doubt and calling us to believe.
That font has been such a place. For Martin Luther writes, "Tell me, with whom does God speak and deal when you are baptized…You derive the benefit of your Baptism, not others. How then could God speak to you in a friendlier way and more surely and specifically include your person in the Word than he does in Baptism?"
And have you forgotten the immeasurable comfort of those words "Take eat! Take drink" in the Lord's Supper. Here Jesus does give us the very body and blood that was shed once for all to assure us of our salvation, strengthen our faith, and guide us in Christian living. The Lord indeed stands among you and looks at each of you with his unmistakable gaze and lovingly asks you to stop doubting and believe!
And how such a gaze of the Lord among you in water, word, bread and wine has dispersed your doubt! How has the emergency baptism comforted the parents whose child was called quickly home! How has the Lord's Supper restored the faith of Christians and given them a comforting foretaste of the glory of heaven! Yes, the Lord stands among you dispersing your doubt.
Part III: To declare your mission
The abundance of Jesus' peace to his disciples is breathtaking and beyond belief. A double, triple portion of peace he heaps upon plates of faith emptied by fear and doubt. This Lord has continued to heap such comfort through the gospel upon Christians for the last 2000 years. Why?
The 150th anniversary of Friedens is a golden opportunity for each of you to ponder this question. Why has Jesus poured the blessings upon you, not only of his presence in Word and Sacrament, but all the other blessings that surround us today? The answer to all these questions is found in Jesus' words to his disciples, "Verses 21-23." The reason Jesus gives us his abundant peace is so that we may bring the peace to the fearful and the doubting.
The name Friedens is not just the title for your congregation. It is more than a reminder of the peace which Jesus Christ gives to you in abundance. It is a declaration of the divine mission Jesus gives to all of us. For the past 150 years you have had the sign written in the stone declaring your mission, "Friedens Evangelische Lutherische Kirche."
You are a Kirche, a church, a body of believers that has been called out of the darkness of sin to proclaim the wonderful light of Christ. You are Lutheran, making the proclamation of Christ crucified the center of all your preaching. You are Evangelical, Gospel-preaching, calling people to repentance and forgiveness in Christ Jesus.
And by being gospel preaching Lutheran congregation, you complete the mission Jesus gives you, "Predige Friedens! Preach peace!" That is your mission! Your mission as a congregation is the same that St. John had in writing this gospel, "Verse 31."
And what a pulpit of proclamation you have been given! What a billboard God has blessed you with to call the lost! You have a school where Christian teachers not only build your children up in truth, but also to lost families. Your pastors proclaim in pulpit, office, classroom and home. You have a monumental church that even the unbeliever can't ignore when he walks by. The abundance of blessings is given to you for one reason: to proclaim peace to this community!
Yes, Friedens is a magnificent place. But what I cherish most about Friedens is not its grandeur, but the proclamation of its members. I have never forgotten the lessons of Christian sportsmanship I learned from my coaches. I have never forgotten the proclamation of hope in Jesus from a classmate who lost his mother. I have never forgotten the lessons of God's glorious creation from my Pioneer leaders. This is a living heritage not locked away in the attic of my memories, but flowing even now in a heart that beats with faith in the Risen Lord, who stands among you.
Amen
Sermon for the 150th Anniversary of Friedens Lutheran
Text: John 20:19-31 (Gospel for 1st Sunday after Easter)
Preached at Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church, Kenosha, WI
April 23, 24, 2006
