| Redeemer Lutheran Church 1084 W. Bullard Ave. Fresno, CA 93711 Phone: (559) 439-8500 Fax: (559) 439-8585 office@redeemerfresno.com The Reverend Clarence Eisberg Phone: (209) 725-9082 Cell: (209) 631-3108 pastor@redeemerfresno.com Worship ~ 8:30 a.m. & 10:00 a.m. Family Ministries ~ 10:00 a.m. Holy Communion ~ 2nd & 4th Sundays |
| Connecting People to Jesus and to One Another! www.lcms.org |
The Reverend Clarence Eisberg |
April 26, 2009 |
“Loving Your Jerusalem” |
| “Loving Your Jerusalem” He is risen! He is risen indeed! The words of the angel spoken at the empty tomb of personal forgiveness is not to be kept private, locked securely in our hearts for our personal joy. Our joy, and God’s love must be shared. In our gospel lesson today, we find the disciples in an almost impossible situation. They are worried. They are afraid. They are hiding behind locked doors. It’s Sunday. Very early this same morning Peter and John had run to the tomb of Jesus. It was empty. They found only the linen shroud. It is now late Sunday evening. The two disciples were walking home to Emmaus, about 7 miles from Jerusalem. As they walked Jesus came and walked with them. They did not know it was Jesus, but it was always safer to walk in a group. They talked about the events of Good Friday; the death of Jesus. When they arrived at their home they invited Jesus into their home. When he broke the bread and gave thanks, their eyes were opened and they realized it was Jesus… but he was already gone. These two disciples immediately decide to walk back the seven miles to Jerusalem to tell their story to the other 11 disciples. While they were telling their story, and talking about the events of the day, Jesus himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Jesus knew they were worried. Worry. A number of years ago (August 22, 1997) The Sunday supplement magazine, USA Weekend, ran a cover story titled: “Fear: What Americans are Afraid of Today.” After interviewing what was said to be a scientific cross section of the country, the magazine listed the things that Americans feared the most. 54% were afraid of being in a car crash. 53% were afraid of having cancer. 505 were afraid Social Security would fail. 49% were afraid of not having enough set aside for retirement. 36% were afraid of getting food poisoning from meat. 35% were afraid of coming down with Alzheimer’s. 345 were afraid of pesticides and 33% afraid of becoming a victim of personal violence. Understand all this was before the tragedy at Columbine High School, before the tragedy of 9-11; it was before tsunamis rocked the world and hurricanes destroyed much of New Orleans. The world has changed since 1997. One thing hasn’t changed. People are still afraid. People still worry. Worry has been part of our psyche since sin entered the world. After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were afraid to meet their creator. Their son Cain was afraid people might murder him. Jacob was afraid his brother Esau might kill him. Moses was afraid God’s people would not listen to him. Elijah was afraid that he was the only believer left. The disciples of Jesus are afraid that the same Jewish leaders might now be looking for them. Fear is fear. Worry is worry. Their fear told them to keep a low profile. Considering their situation, the death of Jesus, it was probably a good plan. They should not have been surprised when Jesus showed up. He had said that he would rise on the third day. He said, “Peace be with you.” When Jesus said, “peace” he was saying to those who where in the room, “be well;” be whole; be at rest. Hundreds of years before he was born, the prophet Isaiah had promised the Messiah would come and be the “prince of peace.” When the angels announced his birth to the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem, they said he would bring “good news of great joy” and that God’s peace would rest upon mankind. After convincing evidence of his resurrection, Jesus looks at those gathered in the room and takes them through all the O.T. bible passages and said: “don’t keep me a secret!” The Messiah had to suffer, and rise from the dead on the 3rd day and now I want you to tell the world that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in my name. Tell everyone, every where and begin right here in Jerusalem.’ Years ago, an expert on the subject of time management was speaking to a group of business students. To drive home a point, he used an illustration those students will never forget. As this man stood in front of this group of high powered over achievers he said, “OK, time for a quiz.” Then he pulled out a one gallon wide mouthed Mason jar and set on a table in front of him. Next he produced about a dozen fist sized rocks and carefully placed them one at a time into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit in side, he asked the class: “Is the jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes”. The instructor came back: “Really?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing the pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He smiled and asked the group once more, “Now is the jar full?” By this time the class was onto him and said: “Probably not.” “Good”, he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it filtered into the empty spaces left between the rocks and gravel. Once more he asked the question: “Is the jar full?” No! Responded the class. Without replying the expert pulled out a pitcher of water and began to pour it until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?” One eager student raised his hand and said, “the point is no matter how full your schedule you may be, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it.” “No” the speaker replied, “That’s not the point.” What is the point? The point of the illustration was simply this: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.” (repeat) There is no bigger thing to do than to share, right where you are, right in your Jerusalem, your special story of how Jesus loves you and has saved you. The big thing is to share how Jesus suffered and rose from the dead so that we can have peace with our Creator. God is always at work in the world. He wants you and me to join him. It’s a partnership. “God wants you and me to have both a ministry in the body of Christ and a mission in the world. Your ministry is service to believers. (That was our message last week) Your mission is to share Jesus with unbelievers. If God is at work in the world, your world, your Jerusalem; the places where you live, work, travel & play then would you not agree that he already knows who the unbelievers are in those places? Of course. And he knows in which hearts his Spirit has been at work. We may not know, but He knows. Our responsibility is to watch for an open door. The open door might be an act of kindness, a food basket, an act of friendship that leads to an opportunity to share why you love Jesus. There can be no doubt, a “body of Christ”, a local church must be genuinely friendly, accepting. “We can not proclaim the gospel of God’s love with any degree of integrity if we do not exhibit it in our love for others.” By God’s grace you are exhibiting that love. The results are visible. Each decade, each culture, each generation brings new challenges. Some of us have learned to use the Kennedy Evangelism Explosion or Dialogue Evangelism method of sharing Jesus. We studied and memorized scripture. It gave us an out line for sharing our faith. “There can be no doubt; the essence of the gospel is the person of Jesus himself. When we talk about God’s love we can not but also speak about the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote: “what I received I passed onto you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared….” (I Cor. 15:3- 5) God has used and still uses mass evangelism, the preaching of an evangelist like Billy Graham. Recently, because so many in our American culture are drifting and wondering about life…. “The Purpose Driven Life” has sold more than a 40 million copies and thrust Rick Warren to the capital steps for the prayer for the Inauguration of the President…. For years the prerogative of Billy Graham. On April 15, 1912, one of the great tragedies of modern history occurred. The Titanic, that only a few days prior began her maiden voyage, sank into her watery grave in the icy Atlantic. Just a few days before a steward had uttered these immortal words to Christian Missionary Sylvia Caldwell, “Yes, Lady, God himself could not sink this ship.” Amidst the confusion of the moment, the lack of life boats, the band playing ragtime in the cold night air which would later turn to “Nearer My God to Thee” and the shuffle to survive, on man ran from person to person with a different mission. John Harper, a Scottish evangelist who was on his way to preach at Moody Church in Chicago, went person to person inquiring about their soul. “Are you saved?” he would ask. As the ship continued to sink John Harper was seen praying with individuals and groups of people to receive salvation. Even after he was forced into the icy Atlantic waters, he was inquiring with as many as he came in contact with about their salvation. “Man are you saved?” he asked a fellow Scott who was clinging to the wreckage. “No, I am not,” came the reply. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” Harper urged. The waves swept him out of sight…. And later washed him back along side. “Are you saved now?” Harper persisted. “No, I cannot honestly say that I am.” Came the reply. Harper repeated the Scripture and then lost hold sinking below the frigid water. As that young Scott later told a meeting in Hamilton, Canada, “And there, alone in the night, and with two miles of water under me, I believed. I am John Harper’s last convert.” While many were scrambling to be physically rescued, God was using Harper to rescue people spiritually. Evangelism can take many different forms. Ever since Jesus offered living water to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well and Philip sat beside the Ethiopian in his chariot and told him the good news of God’s love in Jesus. Today God has used the movie “the Passion of the Christ” and the DVD “The Life of Jesus” to reach millions in Asia. The Internet has penetrated the locked walls of Islamic countries where people can hear the story of Jesus in their own language and be followed up with e mail study guides. Each church must evaluate its structure, its personality and find a way to share Jesus. For God so loved the world…. He sent Jesus. Jesus in turn looked at the disciples and said, “I’m sending you.” Because God first loved us so we in turn must demonstrate love and acceptance. In our American culture it is the concrete actions of love, care and friendship that opens the door to share Jesus. Above all else… remember that we are in partnership with God. He is at work in the hearts of people. Our responsibility is to imitate Jesus, keep our eyes open for those He brings into our sphere of influence and then willing to share our faith in Jesus. Peter wrote: “In your hearts set aside Jesus as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect….” (I Peter 3:15) Most of us realize that we ride a sinking ship called planet earth. It collided with an iceberg called sin. It’s sinking. People are lost and looking for purpose in life. God only sent one life boat…. Jesus. We are compelled to get as many people into the life boat as possible. |
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