Blessed to hear the Word of our Lord.

 

Sermon for Easter 2, April 7, 2024

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.  Amen.

Acts 18:1-11  After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.  ²There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.  Paul went to see them.  ³Because he had the same occupation, he stayed and worked with them, for they were tentmakers by trade.  ⁴Every Sabbath he led a discussion in the synagogue, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks.  ⁵When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was entirely devoted to preaching the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.  ⁶But when they opposed Paul and slandered him, he shook out his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads!  I am innocent.  From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”  ⁷He left that place and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshipper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.  ⁸Crispus, the synagogue leader, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household.  And many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.  ⁹One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid, but keep on speaking, and do not be silent.  ¹⁰For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, because I have many people in this city.”  ¹¹He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. (EHV)

Blessed to hear the Word of our Lord.

Dear friends in Christ,

            Thomas, our Lord Jesus’ disciple, found it impossible to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead, that is, until Jesus stood before him, personally, so that Thomas could put his finger in the nail wounds and his hand in Jesus’ side.  In response to Thomas’ reluctance to believe what he hadn’t seen with his own eyes, Jesus promised people like you and me, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)  Here, in our sermon text, we see that among those whom God has called into His kingdom, they are Blessed to hear the Word of our Lord.

Many people assume that faith is a decision people make of their own volition.  Yet, in our text we find many Jews who refused to listen to Paul’s expounding of Jesus as the promised Messiah.  In fact, after hearing Paul preach a few times, many of those Jews, who had access to all the prophets’ writings, and thus should have been most eager to hear about the Savior coming into the world, were, like their brethren in Jerusalem, stubbornly refusing to believe that Jesus could be the Savior God promised to their forefathers.  In their stubborn refusal to hear God’s messenger, those who rejected the Gospel of Christ Jesus consigned themselves to eternal torment.

Now, it would be nice, marvelous in fact, if we could say this type of foolish rejection no longer happens.  Yet again, experience tells us that it is at least as common today.  Far too many are the supposedly intelligent people who rely on human wisdom rather than trust in the words of our God.  I am certain there is not a person in this room who has not lamented a child, a relative, or a neighbor who has either abandoned faith in Christ Jesus, or who has refused to listen in the first place.

St. Paul, in his love for his fellow Jews, and his concern for their eternal salvation, had diligently preached in the synagogue of every town he came to, hoping to bring the Good News of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection to his own people who had been looking forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises for two thousand years.  Still, in city after city, Paul’s efforts among his fellow countrymen often fell on deaf ears.  In Corinth, Paul’s fellow Jews went so far as to blaspheme Jesus and slander Paul in their stubborn rejection of the Good News of all Jesus has done for them.  Finally, Paul turned his efforts to those who were willing to listen.  “When they opposed Paul and slandered him, he shook out his clothes and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads!  I am innocent.  From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!’”

Jesus had chosen Paul to be His apostle sent especially to the Gentiles, those people not of Jewish background.  Still, in his faithfulness to his Savior, Paul never neglected the Jews.  The Holy Spirit had worked faith in Paul to such an extent that he too wanted all people to know Jesus as Savior and Lord and thus believe in Christ for life and salvation.  Furthermore, as Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slow to do what he promised, as some consider slowness.  Instead, he is patient for your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)  So, Paul never gave up on even the stubborn.

Even so, Jesus had commanded His disciples, “If anyone does not receive you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or that town.  Amen I tell you: It will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.” (Matthew 10:14-15)  The Lord has infinite patience with people and wants all to be saved.  Yet, He will not forever put up with those who refuse His grace.  Along with Paul, and in line with God’s will, we pray for those who turn away from the Lord that at some point they will again open their ears to His Word and return in faith.  At the same time, we must acknowledge that those who refuse to repent and believe in Jesus will suffer eternal condemnation.

Still, if that were our focus, how melancholy our work would be.  If we spent all our time lamenting those who refuse God’s marvelous Gospel, how many others would hear the Good News and believe?  And, that is the point of our text, that the Lord blessed Paul’s work in the same city where his fellow Jews turned him away.  One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid, but keep on speaking, and do not be silent.  For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 

In that riotous city, known far and wide for its immoral activities and idolatrous paganism, God had chosen many to hear and believe the message of Christ crucified for sinners.  Some of those new Christians were Jews, some had been Gentile proselytes to the Jewish faith who likewise now saw the Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Jesus, but many were former idol worshippers who were so glad to hear of a Savior who actually did something for them rather than a religion that demanded continual efforts to appease the imagined angry, sullen, helpless idols of the pagan religions.  Those converts to Christianity of varied backgrounds were Blessed to hear the Word of our Lord.

There are some in our world who claim that God works without means and will elect believers to salvation primarily through miraculous ways.  However, there is nothing in the Bible that promises that fable.  Rather, the Holy Spirit caused St. Paul to write, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)  Because God intends to work saving faith through the means of hearing His Gospel message and by the power of Baptism, God sends out believers willing to share that forgiveness and salvation with others.

Paul and the other apostles spent their lives bringing Christ’s salvation peace to the world, first, in person, and then through the words they recorded under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  God intended that written Word to be told to any and all who might listen, and the Holy Spirit works through that saving truth to develop and grow faith in formerly lost sinners.  Always, it is the Holy Spirit giving faith, for the Bible says, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3)

Because faith came to us in just this way, we too have been Blessed to hear the Word of our Lord.  Just as the Father in heaven loved us when He sent His Son to live, die, and rise again for us, He loved us also by sending the Holy Spirit through the Word of the Gospel to bring us this saving gift.  Furthermore, this is such a marvelous message and gift, because the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf wiped away the guilt that was inherent in all of us.  Furthermore, even if we were once stubborn, rebellious, and hateful against those who willingly brought us to God’s house, our Savior has paid for our sins.

It is undeniable that we all have had moments in which we didn’t want to hear what God has said.  No person, other than Christ, has ever had a perfect faith or trust in the Almighty.  Yet, because Jesus lived that perfect trust in His Father in heaven, and He obeyed perfectly every authority placed over Him on earth, and because Jesus rejoiced to absorb every scrap of the Word of the Bible, you and I are counted as perfectly righteous through faith in Jesus which covers our guilt with His holiness.

Dear friends, last Sunday, we celebrated, again, the resurrection of our Lord from the dead.  Now, as we peer into our futures, we know that most of us are likely to face death before Jesus returns to judge the world.  For many, that can be a terrifying, disturbing reality to face, and will be even more so for those unbelievers alive when Christ returns in glory.  Yet, knowing what Jesus has done for us, and being blessed with faith in Christ, which the Holy Spirit has implanted in us by His Holy Word, we can go about our days, and even face our end in sure hope, the certain confidence that our futures are secure in heaven.  Our Lord Jesus rose from the dead so that we have living proof of His victory over sin and Satan, and the sure promise that we too will be raised, “For as in Adam they all die, so also in Christ they all will be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ as the firstfruits and then Christ’s people, at his coming.” (1 Corinthians 15:22-23)  We are indeed Blessed to hear the Word of our Lord.  Amen.

The Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The Lord be with you all.  Amen.